Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 57 14 Apr 2021
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The Portland Collection, Commemorative Medals, Engineering: Gas, William Murdoch (1754 - 1839), the Birmingham Medal, struck in gold, of the Institute for the Manufacture & Application of Coal Gas, instituted 1881, by Joseph Moore, 'Awarded to William Andrew McIntosh Valon, Civil Engineer, 1894, John West, President', bust of William Murdoch l., rev. panel over gasometer, with the conjoined busts of Perkin, Bunsen, Malam and Clegg, edge named, wt. 170.23gms., 64mm., in Victorian fitted case (for a presentation medal of the Great Western Railway), certified and graded by NGC as Proof 64 Ultra Cameo, extremely rare
William Murdoch, known as the father of gas innovation, worked for Boulton and Watt at Soho and lived at Sycamore Hill House in Birmingham. It was he who coined the name gasometer, so it is fitting the medal should depict one. The Birmingham Medal was created in 1881 and 'awarded to encourage the extension of the uses of coal, and can be given to persons of any nation'.
William Andrew McIntosh Valon (1838-1909), trained at the works of Thomas Cubitt as a civil engineer, before moving to the Equitable Gas Co.. He moved to the London Gas Co., then the Commercial Gas Co., before becoming engineer and manager of the Isle of Thanet Gas Co., in 1870. He undertook many major projects at Ramsgate and it would seem that it was for this he received the Birmingham Medal. He also had a considerable private practice as a consulting gas and water engineer. He was elected a Member of the British Association of Gas Managers in 1872 and was President in 1892. He was a Member of the Institute for the Manufacture & Application of Coal Gas from 1880, and was also an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
William Murdoch, known as the father of gas innovation, worked for Boulton and Watt at Soho and lived at Sycamore Hill House in Birmingham. It was he who coined the name gasometer, so it is fitting the medal should depict one. The Birmingham Medal was created in 1881 and 'awarded to encourage the extension of the uses of coal, and can be given to persons of any nation'.
William Andrew McIntosh Valon (1838-1909), trained at the works of Thomas Cubitt as a civil engineer, before moving to the Equitable Gas Co.. He moved to the London Gas Co., then the Commercial Gas Co., before becoming engineer and manager of the Isle of Thanet Gas Co., in 1870. He undertook many major projects at Ramsgate and it would seem that it was for this he received the Birmingham Medal. He also had a considerable private practice as a consulting gas and water engineer. He was elected a Member of the British Association of Gas Managers in 1872 and was President in 1892. He was a Member of the Institute for the Manufacture & Application of Coal Gas from 1880, and was also an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.