The Albert Medal for Lifesaving was a British medal awarded to recognize the saving of life. It has since been replaced by the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...

. The Albert Medal was first instituted by a royal warrant on 7 March 1866. It was named in memory of Prince Albert and originally was awarded to recognize saving life at sea. The original medal had a blue ribbon " (16 mm) wide with two white stripes. A further royal warrant in 1867 created two classes of Albert Medal, the first in gold and bronze and the second in bronze, both enamelled in blue, and the ribbon of the first class changed to 1 " (35 mm) wide with four white stripes. The medal was made of gold (although early examples are gold and bronze), which was enameled blue. There were miniatures of all four types (two classes each for sea and land, with the gold awards believed to be gilt. The first recipient of the medal was Samuel Popplestone, a tenant farmer, who on 23 March 1866 helped to rescue four men after the cargo ship ''Spirit of the Ocean'' lost its battle with force eleven gales and was torn apart as it was swept onto the notorious Start Point rocks in Devon. Witnessing the accident, Popplestone paused only to raise the alarm before setting off alone for the wreck, armed with just a small coil of rope. He clambered out onto the rocks and although swept off several times, he eventually managed to lift four men out of the water and drag them up the cliff to safety. As the story of Popplestone's bravery became known through the press, he was hailed as a hero and as a result of his heroism he became the first recipient of the brand new award for civilian gallantry. In 1877, the medal was extended to cover saving life on land and from this point there are two medals with different inscriptions to depict which they were awarded for. The land version was enamelled in red, with a red ribbon. The titles of the medals changed in 1917, the gold "Albert Medal, first class" becoming the "Albert Medal in gold" and the bronze "Albert Medal, second class" being known as just the "Albert Medal". The event that led to the introduction of the Albert Medal for Gallantry on Land was the Tynewydd Colliery disaster which occurred on 11 April 1877. In many ways, although it was tragic the disaster at Tynewydd was, by the standards of the time when single

mining accident A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining, although accidents also occur in hard rock mining. ...

s often claimed hundreds of lives, relatively unremarkable. However, as the enthralling saga of the determined, dangerous and stoic rescue of the surviving colliers was dramatically and episodically reported in the press it captured the imagination of the public and MPs. Consequently, released from

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

on 25 April 1877, it was announced that "the Albert Medal, hitherto only bestowed for gallantry in saving life at sea, shall be extended for similar actions on land, and that the first medals struck for this purpose shall be conferred on the heroic rescuers of the Welsh miners". Aya-I-Ga, Neighbour or Nipper (c.1882 – 21 June 1954) was a police tracker and stockman in the Northern Territory of Australia. He is the first Indigenous Australian to win a medal for gallantry, for saving a policeman from drowning in 1911. HMS Ramillies Memorial

The Albert Medal in gold was abolished in 1949, being replaced by the

, and the second class of Albert Medal (in bronze) was only awarded posthumously. In 1971, the Albert Medal was discontinued (along with the

Edward Medal The Edward Medal was a British civilian decoration which was instituted by royal warrant on 13 July 1907 to recognise acts of bravery of miners and quarrymen in endangering their lives to rescue their fellow workers. The medal was named in hono ...

) and all living recipients were invited to exchange the award for the

. From the total of 64 eligible to exchange, 49 took up the option. The last two awards were promulgated in the ''London Gazette'' of 31 March 1970, to the late First Officer Geoffrey Clifford Bye of

Boolaroo, New South Wales Boolaroo is a suburb of Greater Newcastle, city of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, located west of Newcastle's central business district in Lake Macquarie's West Ward. It was the epicenter of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake. Boo ...

, Australia, and on 11 August 1970 to the late Kenneth Owen McIntyre of

Fairy Meadow, New South Wales Fairy Meadow is a suburb in the City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Located in the Illawarra region and only 4 km from the city centre, it is a mainly low-density residential area, with a large strip of commercial and industri ...

, Australia.

Awards made

References

External links

Albert Medal and Edward Medal
{{Former Australian Honours Civil awards and decorations of the United Kingdom Courage awards Awards disestablished in 1971 1971 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Awards established in 1866 1866 establishments in the United Kingdom Lifesaving