Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (G. J. Penny P.O 1st Class H.M.S. Dart.)

Medal Verification: Petty Officer 1st Class George James Penny is confirmed to have been awarded his Naval LS&GC medal in February 1892, shortly after his joining H.M.S. Dart on the Australia & Pacific Station, per the award notice published in the Naval and Military Record issue of 18 February 1892

The recipients service sheets are extant and accessible at The National Archives

Photograph of Recipient: See the Ancestry genealogical website for a portrait photograph of George James Penny in later years together with his wife

James George Penny, second son of William Penny (recorded in 1871 as a naval 'Pensioner') and Eliza Penny (nee Setford) was a native of Landport, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, where he was born on, 13 January 1858. By trade a 'Seafarer' James G. Penny - like his father before him - joined the Royal Navy, on 14 January 1874, at which time he was rated 'Boy II Class'. In 1889. James was promoted to Petty Officer 1st Class. James took his discharge from the Royal Navy on, . He subsequently joined the Royal Fleet Reserve on, 17 January 1901, and took his final discharge from the Royal Fleet Reserve on, 13 December 1908, due to reaching his age limit for further service

An Important Medal for Surveying of New Hebrides (now call Vanuatu): Petty Officer Penny was a member of the crew of H.M.S. Dart between 17 January 1889 through 3 April 1892, during which time H.M.S. Dart carried out her charting and surveying voyages of the South Pacific islands of New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). Referring to the good work's carried out by H.M.S. Dart in the New Hebrides, the below following artcile was published in the Aberdeen 
 
H.M.S 'Dart': The topsail schooner was built by the Barrow Shipbuilding Company, Barrow and launched in 1877 as 'Cruiser' for Lord Eglinton. She was subsequently purchased by the Colonial Office for the use of Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon as governor of the Fiji Islands. On his appointment to New Zealand, Cruiser was purchased by the Royal Navy as a tender for the training ship Britannia and the name changed to 'Dart' in March 1882 and was intended to be used as the official yacht for the Royal Navy Admiral in charge of the Australia Station. Instead she was fitted out and used as a survey ship, working with several other smaller craft, to survey large areas of the Australia Station including the Pacific Islands and New Zealand. 'Dart' had a single steam engine which was used when surveying but she stretched out her small coal supply by making long passages under sail. She was built in 1882 and arrived in Australia in 1883. Until 1903 she was continually involved in coastal and ocean surveying. In 1904 'Dart' was lent to the NSW government for use as a seagoing tender for the government's boys school ship 'Sobraon'. In 1912 'Sobraon' was taken over by the infant Royal Australian Navy as the stationary training ship HMAS 'Tingira'. 'Dart' was sold on 9 May 1912 to the Victorian government as a training ship

Uncommonly - and fortuitously for historians - a literate member of the crew of H.M.S. Dart - Frederick Dack (1871-1947)- kept an extraordinary detailed log (and photographic album) of the surveying voyage to the South Pacific & New Hebrides, 1 January 1890 - 3 January 1891 (inc)  throughout which period Petty Officer Penny was present on every single day of the expedition, which included many periods ashore in the interior of the New Hebrides islands. That log is held by the New Zealand National Library, and can be accessed by download by copying the below link for insertion into an internet search engine:

- https://natlib.govt.nz/records/36384529?search%5Bi%5D%5Bname_authority_id%5D=-82535&search%5Bpath%5D=items

With courtesy and thanks to the The National Library of New Zealand provides the below following  item description of the log & photograph album is quoted:

Quote,

Volume comprised of two separate works - a journal account and a photographic documentation. The first is a written account on 207 pages by the Ordinary Seaman Frederick Dack describing his naval experiences aboard the HMS 'Orlando' and the HMS 'Dart' in 1890-1891. The account commences on 1 January 1890 when Dack, who joined the crew of the HMS 'Orlando' at Sydney after travelling from England on the Orient Line's 'Iberia' the previous year, describes both life on board and on shore at Sydney. Departing from Sydney on 6 January, the account goes on to describe the sighting of Stewart Island and entering Milford Sound on 11 January, arrival at Port Chalmers on 12 January and at Akaroa the following day. The voyage continues to Lyttelton Harbour on 16 January, Wellington Harbour 21 January, White Island on 25 January and Auckland the following day. Preparation and participation in the Auckland Anniversary Regatta is described. The expedition departs from Auckland on 18 February and after calling at Russell in the Bay of Island, heads for Tasmania, arriving at Hobart on 25 February, and from there to Melbourne via Bass Strait on 15 March. Dack served on the HMS 'Orlando' until 8 May 1890 when he joined the crew of the survey ship HMS 'Dart' and left Australia for the Pacific on 22 May 1890. The journal then gives an account of visits to a number of Pacific Islands and closes with a final entry dated 3 January 1891 after the ship has returned to Sydney. The second, commencing backwards from the lower boards of the volume is a photographic work created by the hydrographic surveyor Lieutenant Boyle Somerville aboard the HMS 'Dart'. Photographs depict shipboard life aboard the HMS 'Dart' as well as capturing views and scenes from the lives of the local peoples of Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Norfolk Island, and other Pacific Islands. Also includes a portrait of Victor Doucere and four portraits of unidentified Māori women.

Unquote

The recipients Naval Sheet(s) are extant and accessible at The Naval Archives
A fascinating and rare Naval Medal of considerable New Hebrides historical interest in the context of the colonial history of the South Pacific islands

Condition: Mild toned about EF

Code: 26251