Beschreibung:

The John Goddard Collection of Important Naval Medals and Nelson Letters Yeoman of the Powder Room Richard Levertine, whose medal is one of just five issued with 6 clasps and represents an outstanding naval career including the great victories of the Glorious First of June, Camperdown, Copenhagen and Trafalgar, besides the gallant lesser-known actions of the frigate Anson, whose gallant Captain Charles Lydiard perished when the ship was wrecked in December 1807 Naval General Service 1793-1840, 6 clasps, 1 June 1794 [538], Camperdown [298], Copenhagen 1801 [548], Trafalgar [1611], Anson 23 Augt 1806 [6], Curacoa [62] (Richard Levertine A.B.) “tine’ and “A.B.” corrected, with good original ribbon sewn with button-hole for wearing, nearly extremely fine £24000-28000 Footnote Provenance: Spink in association with Christie’s, September 1993. Previously for many years held in the stock of a firm called Flemings, of Southsea, near Portsmouth, which went into receivership earlier in 1993. 1 June 1794 [538 issued] - including 13 to Orion. Camperdown [298 issued] - including 19 to Veteran. Copenhagen 1801 [548 issued] - including 19 to Veteran, Richard ‘Leverton’ being verified aboard. Trafalgar [1611 issued] - including 51 to Temeraire. Anson 23 Augt 1806 [6 issued] - James Burke Ord (Known); Christopher Coucher, L.M. (Honeyman Collection, Huntington Library, U.S.A.); Stephen Coward, Pte. R.M.; Robert Henley, Quarter Gunner (Known); William Jeffery, Coxswain; Thomas B. Sullivan, Lieutenant R.N. (Royal Naval Museum). To this number must be added Richard ‘Liverton’ or ‘Libertine’ who is verified aboard but not shown on the Admiralty roll. Curacoa [62 issued] - including 13 to Anson. Richard Levertine served as Able Seaman aboard Orion at the ‘Glorious First of June’ and aboard Veteran at Camperdown and Copenhagen. He was a Gunner’s Mate aboard Temeraire at Trafalgar, and Yeoman of the Powder Room aboard Anson at the capture of the Spanish frigate Pomona in August 1806 and at the capture of Curacoa in January 1807. This fully verified medal brings to five the number of 6-clasp medals issued. The research and verification of Richard Levertine’s medal by the professional researcher Gillian Hughes was the subject of a detailed article published in the Summer 1995 journal of the Orders and Medals Research Society and is largely quoted here: ‘I was recently asked to research the service career of a man who received a Naval General Service medal with six clasps, and prove his entitlement to those clasps. Five of the clasps were listed in the Naval General Service Medal Roll 1793-1840 by Captain Douglas-Morris, namely 1 June 1794, Camperdown, Trafalgar, Anson 23 Augt 1806, and Curacoa, though for the Anson clasp the recipient was ‘verified aboard but not on roll’. My researches at the Public Record Office [now The National Archives] would seem not only to confirm his entitlement to those five clasps, but also to prove that he was ‘verified aboard but not on roll’ for the sixth clasp, namely Copenhagen 1801, and thus also entitled to that clasp. The medal is named to Richard Levertine, with the last letters of the surname altered (as described in Spink’s auction catalogue, September 1993). This man appears variously on pay and muster books, allotment and remittance registers in the Public Record Office as Liverton, Leverton, Liberton, Lebertin, Libertine and Liberting. It is perhaps not surprising that the naming of the medal with which he was issued by the authorities needed to be altered. His service with the Royal Navy began on 8 September 1791 when he entered the 74-gun ship H.M.S. Orion, Captain Duckworth. As number 50 on the ship’s pay books Richard Liverton, rated Able Seaman, was described as from Newton Bushel, aged 21. It would appear from this date of entry and those of subsequent ships in which he served that he was born in about 1770, though his death certificate would suggest an earlier date. Whilst serving in Orion he made a will