Baldwin & Sons
Auction 108 8 Nov 2022
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Victoria, with Prince Albert (1837-1901). Great Exhibition of 1851, Council Medal awarded to B Hick & Son, Class VI, Bronze medal (89mm, 431.71gm.) issued by The Royal Mint by W. Wyon and J. F. Domard, after H. Bonnardel, dated 1851. Jugate heads of Victoria, laureate, and Albert left; dolphins below, trident behind, VICTORIA D : G : REG : F : D : ALBERTUS PRINCEPS CONJUX. Rev. Britannia facing, standing in front of throne, crowning figures of Commerce and Industry who clasp hands; banners and products of commerce and industry behind, EST ETIAM IN MAGNO QUAEDAM RESPUBLICA MUNDO, in exergue MDCCLI, Edge, punched – COUNCIL MEDAL OF THE EXHIBITION. B. HICK & SON. CLASS VI. (Eimer 1455). Good Extremely Fine, superb bronze reflective toning. Not in original box but in a very well-made wooden box probably dating from the last century.
The Council Medal was presented to only 170 exhibitors in the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Royal Commissioners set up a Council of Chairmen of the Juries who had the decision on which recommendations from the Juries would receive this most exclusive award. Medals were presented alongside a decorated certificate signed by Prince Albert and illustrated with detailed engravings of the medal design, and a bound copy of the extensive Juries' reports on the exhibits. The Bolton engineering company of B Hick & Son received one of these coveted medals for exhibiting models of an 'Hydraulic Press', an 'Oscillating Engine' and a locomotive – plus steam-engines, wheat cleaning machines, drilling machines and many other items. Hick's wheel design was used on a number of Great Western Railway engines including what may have been the world's first streamlined locomotive; an experimental prototype, named Grasshoper, driven by Brunel at 100 miles per hour in around 1847. Between 1837 and 1840 the company subcontracted for Edward Bury and Company, supplying engines to the Midland Counties Railway, London and Birmingham Railway, North Union Railway, Manchester and Leeds Railway and indirectly to the Grand Crimean Central Railway via the London and North Western Railway in 1855. B Hick & Son were a very important part of British industrial history – and especially Railway history. Situated in Northwest England, the centre of Britain's cotton and coal industries, Benjamin Hick built up his Bolton foundry business to employ over 400 men before his death in 1842. Hick manufactured a vast range of stationary and locomotive steam engines, boilers, water wheels and mill gearing to customers at home and overseas 1864, they were also responsible for the introduction of the highly efficient American Corliss valve gear into the UK.
The Council Medal was presented to only 170 exhibitors in the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Royal Commissioners set up a Council of Chairmen of the Juries who had the decision on which recommendations from the Juries would receive this most exclusive award. Medals were presented alongside a decorated certificate signed by Prince Albert and illustrated with detailed engravings of the medal design, and a bound copy of the extensive Juries' reports on the exhibits. The Bolton engineering company of B Hick & Son received one of these coveted medals for exhibiting models of an 'Hydraulic Press', an 'Oscillating Engine' and a locomotive – plus steam-engines, wheat cleaning machines, drilling machines and many other items. Hick's wheel design was used on a number of Great Western Railway engines including what may have been the world's first streamlined locomotive; an experimental prototype, named Grasshoper, driven by Brunel at 100 miles per hour in around 1847. Between 1837 and 1840 the company subcontracted for Edward Bury and Company, supplying engines to the Midland Counties Railway, London and Birmingham Railway, North Union Railway, Manchester and Leeds Railway and indirectly to the Grand Crimean Central Railway via the London and North Western Railway in 1855. B Hick & Son were a very important part of British industrial history – and especially Railway history. Situated in Northwest England, the centre of Britain's cotton and coal industries, Benjamin Hick built up his Bolton foundry business to employ over 400 men before his death in 1842. Hick manufactured a vast range of stationary and locomotive steam engines, boilers, water wheels and mill gearing to customers at home and overseas 1864, they were also responsible for the introduction of the highly efficient American Corliss valve gear into the UK.