Crown at the top
V. for Victoria at the centre over an anchor
Raised gold lettering around
"For gallantry in saving life at sea"
All spaces in blue enamel
In commemoration of the life of Prince Albert

I have a plaster cast mould (a model) of the original medal taken when finished in 1867. Dad had taken care of it.

As a first class jeweller, he commanded a good salary on his return to London. By the death of the Queen's Consort, Prince Albert (1861) and the trade depression after the war in the Crimea (1853-1856) the jewellery trade was seriously affected and there was extreme unemployment, so the Government set all those jewellers to the unusual job of building the Marble Arch at the entrance to Hyde Park. There were 300 employed and they completed a beautiful edifice.

Business generally continued to remain bad (as after any war, as we know to our cost) and people became unsettled and endeavoured to find release by leaving the country and London in particular. John, too, caught the fever, though he was steadily employed, but he had a wife and five children to face possible adversity in the near future. So he made up his mind to leave the country for pastures new. He chose to go to Newfoundland or to New Zealand and applied for a position in the first, but he did not succeed because the position was filled. He was chosen for New Zealand by Coates and Company, Christchurch, on a contract for three years.

Mother told me it was exciting and a great effort to get away to sail the high seas. Everything in the household was disposed of, and all her treasures, nick nacks and silver were sold to pay passage money etc. Having said goodbye to their parents and all the rest of the relatives, they set sail on the frigate built ship Monarch (Captain Paddle) on 24 May 1870 from Victoria Docks on the Thames. It was a fine day and being also the Queen's Birthday, Dad said he heard the guns firing the salute from Hyde Park as the ship was leaving London. It was a three masted ship and not a big one, and a full complement of passengers, mostly immigrants. On the voyage, my father acted as schoolmaster to the children for which he was paid the handsome sum of forty pounds. The Monarch arrived in Lyttelton on 21 September 1870. I was two and a half years when we left London and can just remember the incident of looking through the portholes of the ship.

On arrival, my father installed himself in his new position and at five pounds a week everything seemed to be paradise, but house accommodation and furniture were difficult to procure. Yet all our troubles were overcome to some extent. After three years with Coates and Company, he set up in business on Cathedral Square for himself, where he manufactured the Bishop's Crozier and Cross for the new cathedral in 1876. This cross for some reason or other is not used now, but has been laid to rest. It can be seen in a glass case in a room of the cathedral. The price paid for these two items was about one hundred and forty pounds. Whenever you are in Christchurch, call on the cathedral verger to show you the exhibit.

After a few years in business, in the years 1880-1882, trade was so poor that my father went to Taranaki - Hawera in particular - where he established a business which eventually became well known throughout the province. He also took a great interest in municipal, public and social affairs and received an appointment as Justice of the Peace. He died on 16 October 1912, leaving the business to his wife. She died on 26 July 1918 and the business passed to me, Herbert Antony."

Both Herbert and his father were at different times Town Councillors in Hawera, and John senior was a prominent Mason. There is an account of his life in the vanity Cyclopoedia for ?Wellington/Taranaki pub. late 1900's. Herbert married, but had no children. The Brunette family was quite large (eight children), my husband John is descended from the second of the four sons. The descendants are scattered throughout New Zealand, NSW, Queensland and Great Britain. The five children who came on the Monarch ranged in age from Bessie who was 12 to Herbert almost 3. Another three were born in Christchurch. If you have a connection with this family or would like to know more please contact Melda Brunette.