The British South Africa Company Medal (1890–97). In 1896,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

sanctioned the issue by the British South Africa Company of a medal to troops who had been engaged in the

First Matabele War The First Matabele War was fought between 1893 and 1894 in modern-day Zimbabwe. It pitted the British South Africa Company against the Ndebele (Matabele) Kingdom. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, had tried to avoid outright war with the compa ...

. In 1897, the award was extended to those engaged in the two campaigns of the

Second Matabele War The Second Matabele War, also known as the Matabeleland Rebellion or part of what is now known in Zimbabwe as the First ''Chimurenga'', was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region later known as Southern Rhodesia, now modern-day Zimbabwe. ...

, namely Rhodesia (1896) and Mashonaland (1897). The three medals are the same except for name of the campaign for which the medal was issued, inscribed on the reverse. In 1927, the government of

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

re-issued the medal and instituted a new clasp, to commemorate the

Pioneer Column The Pioneer Column was a force raised by Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company in 1890 and used in his efforts to annex the territory of Mashonaland, later part of Zimbabwe (once Southern Rhodesia). Background Rhodes was anxiou ...

that operated within Mashonaland in 1890. Those previously awarded the medal were required to exchange it for the new version. The majority of awards were to colonial and locally raised troops, rather than members of the regular

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Description

The medal is circular, made of silver and in diameter. It was manufactured by Heaton and Company of Birmingham. The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

depicts a left facing effigy of

wearing a diadem and veil. Around the edge is the inscription ''Victoria Regina''. The reverse, designed by

Richard Caton Woodville Jr Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

, depicts a charging lion, wounded in the chest with an assegai. In the foreground are native weapons and a shield, in the background is a mimosa bush, and below the scene the inscription: ''BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY''. The recipient's first eligible campaign is inscribed at the top on all versions of the medal except the 1927 issue. The medal is mounted on an ornate swivelling suspension bar decorated with shamrocks,

thistles Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

and

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s. The medal hangs from a wide ribbon of watered silk in golden yellow with three dark blue stripes. They were named to the recipient using a number of different engraved and impressed styles, depending on when the medal was issued.

Clasps

The recipient's first eligible campaign is inscribed on the reverse, either ''MATABELELAND 1893'', ''RHODESIA 1896'' or ''MASHONALAND 1897'', with any subsequent campaign indicated by an appropriate clasp. The one exception is the medal for Mashonaland 1890, issued in 1927, where the reverse bears no details of the campaign, with all eligible campaigns represented by a clasp. The four clasps issued were: # Matabeleland 1893 (Only awarded with the 1927 medal. Originally recipients received the medal without clasp, with the campaign inscribed on the reverse) # Rhodesia 1896 # Mashonaland 1897 # Mashonaland 1890 (Awarded in 1927) Four men were entitled to the medal with all four bars, although only one was issued. Twelve medals were awarded with three bars.

Notable recipients

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...

- service in: Rhodesia (1896) *

Frederick Russell Burnham Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa, and for teach ...

- service in: Matabeleland (1893) ; Rhodesia (1896) * James ffolliott Darling * Col. Frank Rhodes *

Frederick Selous Frederick Courteney Selous, DSO (; 31 December 1851 – 4 January 1917) was a British explorer, officer, professional hunter, and conservationist, famous for his exploits in Southeast Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir Henry R ...

- service in: Mashonaland (1890) ; Matabeleland (1893) ; Rhodesia (1896)

References

External links

The Guide to British War Medals
{{British campaign medals British campaign medals

Medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...