BRONZE MEDALS COMMEMORATING PRINCE EDWARD AND ADMIRAL KEPPEL

the first commemorating Prince Edward's short-lived appointment unsigned, inscribed APPOINTMENT AS GOVERNOR OF GIBRALTAR, bronze medal, 1802, obverse, his bust facing left, in uniform, reverse, North view panorama of the rock of Gibraltar with the harbour -- 3.85mm.; Admiral Keppel, The Battle of Ushant, a bronze medal, 1778, signed 'I.H'., obverse, his bust in uniform three-quarters facing right, reverse, legend within a wreath inscribed JUDICIOUS BRAVE AND GALLANT -- 4.05mm.; Keppel acquitted by Courts Martial, a bronze medal, 1779, unsigned, obverse, bust three-quarters facing right, reverse, figure of Justice tramples on envy inscribed JUSTICE TRIUMPHANT – MALICE DEFEATED -- 3.45mm.

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Literature: Brown, Laurence, British Historical Medals 1760-1960, 3 vols., London 1980-1995, nos. 531, 214, 221.

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767-1820) was appointed Governor of Gibraltar in March 1802 to restore discipline but the garrison mutinied against him. Three ringleaders were shot and another flogged to death. He was recalled in May 1803; Augustus Keppel (1725-1786) had a long naval career and was also a Member of Parliament (1775-1782). He saw action in the War of the Austrian Succession. He was Commodore on the North American Station and then, during the Seven Years’ War, Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica. He was appointed a Senior Naval Lord then C-in-C of the Channel Fleet. His conduct at the Battle of Ushant, during the American Revolutionary War, led to the Court Martial, but both he and his accuser, Sir Hugh Palliser, were acquitted. By the end of the War he achieved his final post, the First Lord of the Admiralty.