The rare Transport Medal group of three awarded to 1st Class Engineer W. J. Barrett,...

The rare Transport Medal group of three awarded to 1st Class Engineer W. J. Barrett, Mercantile Marine, who served aboard the American Ladies Hospital Ship Maine during the Boxer Rebellion and the Boer War Transport 1899-1902, 2 clasps, China 1900, S. Africa 1899-1902 (J. Barrett) note single initial but as given on the roll; British War and Mercantile Marine War Medals (William J. Barrett) official correction to one letter of surname, together with hospital ship Maine white metal commemorative medallion for the American Ladies Hospital Ship Fund and ‘United Spanish War Veterans 1898-1902’ lapel badge, the reverse stamped U.S.S. Maine, nearly extremely fine and rare (5) £2,600-£3,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, December 2006. William John Barrett was born in London in 1871 and was apprenticed to Lester & Perkins, Shipwrights in January 1888. That apprenticeship served, he joined the Atlantic Transport Line in 1893, an American company that operated its ships under the British flag. Barrett subsequently served in the company’s steamers as a Junior Engineer from December 1893 to June 1897, as 5th, 4th, and 3rd Engineer and, from August 1897 to July 1901, as 2nd Engineer. And it was in the latter rank that he served off South Africa and China in the American Ladies Hospital Ship U.S.S. Maine from September 1899 until January 1903. The Maine was originally the Atlantic Transport Line steamer Swansea, renamed in 1899 and lent to the British Government as a hospital ship for use in the Boer war and later in China during the Boxer rebellion. The Maine was fitted out as a hospital ship in London by Messrs. Fletcher & Son and Fearnall Ltd, the costs being met by the American Ladies Hospital Ship Fund, under the Chairmanship of Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of the future Prime Minister, who struck the above medallion to help with their fund raising. Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including the recipient’s Board of Trade Continuous Certificates of Discharge (2), and his Certificate of Competency as First Class Engineer, together with several letters of recommendation (1895-1903), including those written by the Master and Chief Engineer of the Maine; his application for U.S. citizenship in New Orleans in 1905; Permission to Wear the War Medals of the Mercantile Marine authority and related forwarding letter, dated 29 May 1924; and a selection of card-mounted family photographs, including the recipient in uniform.