In this section
Press releases
- The Clash’s Paul Simonon’s famous Fender Precision bass to go on display
- Museum of London acquires ensemble inspired by the creativity of the Windrush generation
- Feeding Black: Community, Power & Place opening 16 July at Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of London acquires NHS sign from ZSL London Zoo’s Giraffe House as part of Collecting COVID
- Museum of London sites set to reopen 19 May with extensions of Dub London: Bassline of a City and Havering Hoard: A Bronze Age Mystery
- Museum of London acquires Mayor of Lambeth’s homemade ceremonial chain as part of Collecting COVID project
- Museum of London acquires ‘viral’ Tweets for Collecting COVID
- Weavers’ Company donate £100,000 to the Museum of London’s move to Smithfield
- Museum of London receives Trump Baby blimp ahead of the Presidential Inauguration
- Museum of London to collect COVID dreams
- Arsenal’s captain donates Black Lives Matter shirt to the Museum of London
- Dub London: Bassline of a City opening 2 October at the Museum of London
- Public statement October 2020
- London Sugar & Slavery gallery
- New major exhibition Havering Hoard: A Bronze Age Mystery opens 11 September at the Museum of London Docklands
- Robert Milligan statue statement
- Museum of London sites to reopen 6 August with four-week extension of The Clash: London Calling display
- Public statement
- Museum of London releases first ever recorded soundscapes of London alongside new recordings of London in lockdown as part of Collecting COVID project
- Design concepts for new museum at West Smithfield revealed
- The Museum of London collects shared experiences of Ramadan in lockdown as part of Collecting COVID project
- Unheard oral histories are released by the Museum of London to mark Windrush Day
- Collecting Covid: the Museum of London seeks to mark unprecedented pandemic for the future
- Millicent Fawcett’s ‘Steadfastness and Courage’ brooch to go on permanent display for the first time
- Museum of London submits plans to create a new world-class cultural destination in West Smithfield
- King Charles I’s execution vest to go on display in new major exhibition
- Museum of London to celebrate Dub Reggae and its influence on the capital
- East End bastion Syd’s coffee stall to be donated to the Museum of London
- Free exhibit celebrating the making of The Clash’s ground-breaking album ‘London Calling’ now open
- Museum of London acquires extremely rare plate that belonged to Samuel Pepys
- The story of the Krios of Sierra Leone to be told in the Museum of London Docklands’ latest display
- Museum of London to host The Clash: London Calling exclusive free exhibit of over 100 personal items
- The largest ever Bronze Age hoard in London has been discovered
- Designs for Museum of London’s new West Smithfield home revealed
- Smithfield Street Party
- Museum of London hopes to acquire both the Trump Baby Blimp and the Sadiq Khan Blimp as part of their permanent collection
- Secret Rivers
- Beasts of London
- Recently acquired panorama goes on display for the first time at the Museum of London
- Museum of London appoints leading names to Board of Governors
- Earliest skull ever mudlarked from the Thames to go on display at the Museum of London
- Museum of London acquires beautiful panorama of lost Houses of Parliament
- Bengali arts and culture on show at the Museum of London Docklands family festival.
- Young Londoners to take over Museum of London this March
- Treasured children’s author Jacqueline Wilson’s latest book Wave Me Goodbye inspires family day at the Museum of London Docklands
- Adventures in Peter Pan’s Neverland at Museum of London Docklands
- Photography of Londoners and their pastimes on show at Museum of London
- Museum of London Docklands celebrates Chinese New Year this February half term
- Museum of London Docklands to showcase rare Roman sarcophagus in first public display
- “Reputational whitewashing” investigated in latest display at the Museum of London Docklands.
- Taste not waste: Be inspired by unique recipes using your leftover food for a more sustainable future London
- Whitechapel’s famous monster fatberg is coming to the Museum of London
- An Idea for a Future London open call winner announced
- London Visions: Hypothetical scenarios of a future London
- Rare George Cross medal goes on display at the Museum of London Docklands
- Smithfield street party: Museum of London celebrates 150 years of Smithfield markets
- Technology replacing jobs won’t halt our working spirit
- Learn how to code like a pro and celebrate digital technology at the Museum of London’s free family festival
- Votes for Women programme
- All aboard for the Maritime music festival
- New display reveals complex history of British Army’s West India Regiments
- Paddington returns to Museum of London
- Bonus Levels: Artist Lawrence Lek invites viewers to re-imagine future London
- The Museum of London hopes to acquire Whitechapel 'fatberg'
- The City is Ours: A Tale of New Cities
- Tracking London’s most talked about topics and emojis
- London Nights: Museum of London unveils the city at night in major photography exhibition
- Statement on 20 May 2017
- Malcolm Reading Consultants appointed to run West Smithfield International Design Competition
- What does the future hold for London and cities around the world?
- Museum of London releases third and final Great Fire 1666 Minecraft map
- Museum of London acquires 100 menswear items worn by townscape consultant Francis Golding
- 8,000 years of human history on display at the Museum of London Docklands
- Five Museum of London apprentices appointed
- Museum of London displays recently acquired Sutherland drawings in new exhibition of Blitz artwork
- Mayor of London and City of London Corporation pledge support for new Museum of London at West Smithfield
- Museum of London uses Minecraft to recreate the Great Fire of 1666
- Rare tools give insight into working lives of Roman Londoners at the Museum of London
- Museum of London opens most theatrical exhibition ever to mark 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London
- New display at the Museum of London traces the capital’s obsession with ice skating
- Historic vessels Knocker White and Varlet set sail to new home at Trinity Buoy Wharf
- Missing Bake Off? Take your taste buds back in time with 17th century gingerbread
- Rare Victoria Cross with mysterious story to go on display at the Museum of London
- Museum of London bolsters its art collections
- 17th century fire engine restored for Great Fire exhibition
- Museum of London boosts Great Fire collections with mysterious manuscript
- After dark at The Night Museum
- New display about the life of ‘The Royal African’ and the slave trade
- Joe Corré, Jordan and Richard Boon to appear in an uncensored, live Punk.London debate
- People of Punk bring the year of celebration to an end
- Tunnel: the archaeology of Crossrail
- New research to shed fresh light on the impact of industrialisation
- Our statement on Fabric
- Behind the Scenes of the Museum of London
- Sir Edward Lister joins Museum of London Board of Governors
- Another record-breaking year for the Museum of London
- West Smithfield International Design Competition launched
- Major new gallery at Museum of London Docklands explores history of the world's largest docks
- West Smithfield Design Competition shortlist announced
- Stanton Williams and Asif Khan to design new Museum of London at West Smithfield
Rare Victoria Cross with mysterious story to go on display at the Museum of London
9 November 2016
For Valour
Museum of London
9 November - 15 December 2016
FREE display
The Museum of London today opens its latest display showing a rare Victoria Cross discovered on Thames foreshore. The VC is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
As required, the finder, Tobias Neto, reported his find to the Portable Antiquities Scheme and started researching the medal in the hope of finding out to whom it originally belonged. This display explores this remarkable medal, one of the earliest Victoria Crosses awarded, and the outstanding acts of bravery that may have earned it.
A certain amount of mystery surrounds the medal and who it was originally awarded to. It was given for actions in the Battle of Inkerman during the Crimean War. A number of VC medals were awarded for the Battle of Inkerman, the location of two of those medals are recorded as unknown.
Two men are thought to be possible recipients of the medal: Private John McDermond, from the 47th (the Lancashire) Regiment and Private John Byrne from the 68th (Durham) Light Infantry.
John McDermond, a Scottish Private, saved the life of Lieutenant Colonel O’Grady Haly who was injured and surrounded by enemy while leading a charge against an attacking Russian column. Private McDermond killed the man who wounded the Colonel and drove the others off while the Colonel was brought back behind British lines. John McDermond was invalided out of the Army in 1862 and reports suggest before he died he was in the poorhouse and then buried in an unmarked grave in Scotland.
John Byrne, an Irish Private, earned his medal for successfully returning to rescue a wounded comrade under heavy fire after his regiment had been ordered to retire. His story culminates in 1879 in Monmouthshire when he allegedly shot a man for insulting the VC medal. John then returned home and when confronted by the police, reportedly took his own life.
Further research on these two extraordinary soldiers might be able to tell us more, especially how this important medal ended up in the Thames.
On show alongside the cross will be a record book which includes the engraving details for each VC issued from 1854-1927 and original medal design from Hancocks, the jewellers who make the medals, and a modern copy of a VC with an original c1856 suspender bar and modern ribbon.
The Victoria Cross was created in 1856 by Queen Victoria who proclaimed it would recognise ‘those officers or men who have served Us in the presence of the Enemy and shall then have performed some signal act of valour or devotion to their country.’ Awarded regardless of rank, it was the first medal to be freely attainable, acting both as a reward and motivator.
Further information: www.museumoflondon.org.uk
-ENDS-
Contact us
To contact the press team please visit the News Room page.
About The Museum of London
The Museum of London tells the ever-changing story of this great world city and its people, from 450,000 BC to the present day. Our galleries, exhibitions, displays and activities seek to inspire a passion for London and provide a sense of the vibrancy that makes the city such a unique place.
The museum is open daily 10am – 6pm and is FREE to all, and you can explore the Museum of London with collections online – home to 90,000 objects with more being added. www.museumoflondon.org.uk.