St. Jean d’Acre 1840, silver (C. S. Norman. Mate H.M.S. Edinburgh.) contemporarily engraved naming, pierced with ring suspension, very fine £300-400

Charles Spry Norman entered the Royal Navy on 6 January 1829, passed his exam for Lieutenant, and was promoted to Mate on 23 April 1835. He served as a mate in H.M.S. Cornwallis, Minden, Royal Adelaide, and Pilot before joining H.M.S. Edinburgh on 29 April 1839. Whilst in Edinburgh he was promoted Lieutenant on 4 November 1840 ‘as a reward’ for assisting the boats under Captain Fraser Hastings in removing a quantity of powder from the Castle of Beyrout (London Gazette 17 November 1840).

On 28 May 1841 Norman transferred to H.M.S. Cornwallis during the latter part of the First China War, moving to H.M.S. Cruizer on 25 January 1842 and thence to H.M.S. Nimrod on 14 September of that year. He was subsequently appointed Senior Lieutenant in H.M.S. Comus on 25 February 1845, and took part in the campaign against General Rosas in the Parana River in the Argentine (for which no medals were awarded), following which he was promoted to Commander on 18 November 1845.

He subsequently served as a Commander in the Coast Guard, as an Inspecting Commander serving at Scilly, Salcombe, and Great Yarmouth. His final appointment was as ‘Agent for Mails’ from 31 January 1861. He retired with the rank of Captain on 1 August 1867, and died on 13 December 1871.

Note: Norman’s Naval General Service Medal with clasp for Syria is held by the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth, as part of the Douglas-Morris Collection, accompanied by a St. Jean d’Acre Medal in gold. The explanation given is that, “Commander Norman was at Constantinople during the Crimean War and was presented to the Sultan who, noticing the Syria medal and hearing that he had been wounded, remarked that he ought to have a gold medal.” The gold medal at Portsmouth is engraved ‘Comr. C. S. Norman R.N.’ (whereas the silver medal, which was of course the first medal that Norman received, is named in the rank in which he actually served); presumably upon receiving it Norman dispensed with his original silver medal.