Lot 4346

Description

Order of St John of Jerusalem Bronze Life Saving Medal, (type 2) named on edge to Miss Ellen Pritty 1901. Ribbon damaged, otherwise very fine and rare.

Miss Ellen Pritty, Cretingham, Suffolk - For great gallantry and presence of mind displayed at Hope Lodge, Cretingham, on the 3rd August, 1900 in a courageous endeavour to rescue a man named Charles Mann, who was overcome by foul gases at the bottom of a well, 48ft deep. The man at the top having refused to go down, Miss Pritty clambered through the framework and got into the bucket, and was let down. She reached the man, gave him a brandy, and attempted to revive him, but as there was no second rope available, she was obliged to leave him. The medal presentation was made on 17th July 1901 at Marlborough House, by His Majesty the King, acting on behalf of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Grand Prior, absent in the Colonies.