Rare Boulton’s Trafalgar Medal 1805 with Paperwork

A very rare piece of original Trafalgar Militaria, it comprises of the medal issued by 19th century philanthropist and silversmith Matthew Boulton, he made one of these medals for every Naval rating that served in the battle, it is made of a base metal which at the time was more commonly known as Britannia metal a mixture of lead, pewter and zinc which could be given a high polished finish to resemble silver. This one is a wonderful example and it has been hand scratch engraved with the recipients monogram, due to wear this is quite faint now, but still visible to the naked eye. It comes with a very interesting piece of paperwork which gives it the most amazing provenance.
Here is a quite unique piece of paperwork, printed and hand written on a sheet of parchment, it is dated for 1811 and details an accident and subsequent pensions allowance for one Charles Pearne who is known to have served at the battle of Trafalgar on HMS Britannia. The vellum is faded and the hand written sections are hard to read but not impossible.....on the 2nd April 1811 Charles Pearne who is described as a 'landsman' was 'scrapping the hull' of HMS Victory when an accident occurred, he fell from a 'port' landing on his arm, he severely damaged the Carpels and Metacarpals of his left hand, so severe was the injury that immediate amputation was called for. On the 28th may 1811 he was granted a pension’s allowance of £14 per annum and the document was signed by the major officers of the ship including the new Captain James Saumarez who was later to become a Vice Admiral of the fleet, the ships surgeon R Eden, a Lieutenant and the master J. Nelson (no relation I think!)
Charles was 30 at the time of his accident and in 1830 at the age of 49 years he was applying for admission into Greenwich hospital as an 'in-pensioner' I'm not sure he was admitted as he applied twice in two months.
Included with this package is Census information and a printed list of the men of Devonport who fought at the battle of Trafalgar, Charles is on the list as serving on HMS Britannia as a 22 year old Landsman. At the battle of Trafalgar HMS Britannia carried the flag of Rear Admiral of the white William Carnegie, Earl of Northesk, during the battle Britannia lost 10 men killed and 42 wounded.
The parchment is just over 200 years old and is in excellent condition all things considered, as I said it is faded but legible, there is some foxing and the edges are rough but otherwise a unique piece of history. It was folded and kept in a small metal box with the medal, so the fold lines are still evident.
This kind of piece never comes up for sale these days unless in an important auction, I am selling this for a member of the Pearne family, so a wonderful piece of 19th century naval history.

Code: 15952