The rare Great War S.G.M. group of six awarded to Canon R. J. P. Peyton-Burbery, Chaplain,...

The rare Great War S.G.M. group of six awarded to Canon R. J. P. Peyton-Burbery, Chaplain, Royal Navy, for his gallantry in saving life at sea off Bermuda Sea Gallantry Medal, bronze, G.V.R. (Rev. Robert J. P. Peyton-Burbery, “Pollokshields” 8th September 1915); 1914-15 Star (Chapn. R. J. P. Peyton-Burbery, M.A., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Chapn. R. J. P. Peyton-Burbery. R.N.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted as worn, together with his black silk stole richly embroidered with the badges of a Naval Chaplain, very fine and better (6) £1,400-£1,800 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, September 1999. S.G.M. presented 25 November 1916: Rev. Robert J. P. Peyton-Burbery, M.A., Chaplain, R.N., H.M.S. Suffolk: ‘On the 7 September 1915, the S.S. Pollockshields (of Sunderland) stranded on the reefs at Bermuda and during the night the vessel broke in two. On the following day a whaler manned by local fishermen was launched and managed to secure a line to the wreck. The boat then veered astern just clear of the surf and Mr. Peyton-Burbery swam over to her from the beach with a line. As it was impossible to take the boat alongside the wreck, the shipboard men were hauled through the water into the boat by means of a buoy with endless line attached, and the boat was then hauled towards the shore and the men were assisted ashore through the surf.’ (BT 261/6, refers). Robert Jackson Peyton Peyton-Burbery was born on 27 October 1881 and was educated at Christ’s College, Cambridge, gaining a B.A. in Special Theology. Ordained as a Priest in 1908 by the Bishop of Winchester, he was appointed a Chaplain, R.N. in June 1909. He subsequently served as sea as Chaplain to H.M. Ships Achilles, 1909-10; Charybdis, 1910; Astraea, 1910-12; Euryalus, 1912; Russell, 1912-13; Suffolk, 1913-16, and Crescent, 1916-19. On retiring from the Royal Navy, he was Rector of St Mary’s, March, until 1968, and Rural Dean of March from 1937 until 1968, when he became Canon Emeritus of Ely, Cambridgeshire. Peyton-Burbery volunteered for service again in the Second World War and served as an Assistant Chaplain of the Fleet in 1939-41. At the Royal Military School at Thurlestone in 1944, when he was 63, it was said that in spite of his age he was still playing rugby and hockey, and that few cadets could beat him at rope-climbing. He lived for some years in retirement in Hampshire, and until his death in 1977 he was believed to be the oldest living clergyman who had been a naval chaplain.