Craigdarroch Castle : Object : pendant, insignia [2015.018.002.002]

Object

Accession Number

2015.018.002.002

Alternate Name

medal

Description

One silver and white enamel pendant attached to a black grosgrain ribbon. The pendant is a four, double pointed cross. Alternating small silver lions and unicorns are situated between the arms of the cross. The Back of the ribbon has a pin for attaching to clothing.

Narrative

This silver and enamel medal in velvet-lined hard leather case was presented to Mary Jean Dunsmuir (1862-1928), AKA Mrs. Henry Croft, in recognition of her appointment as a Lady of Grace in the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. The honor was bestowed because of her charitable work for the Order during World War I, which involved numerous volunteer activities and personal gifts of money.

Directly connected to this medal are documents acquired previously by The Castle Society (see accession 2014.14.13) including an illuminated vellum certificate and associated letters from Evelyn Cecil (1^st Baron Rockley), the Order’s Secretary General, and an explanatory letter from Hon. F.S. Barnard, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, dated May 30, 1917.

Mary Jean Dunsmuir was active in other charitable work in Victoria, including with the Imperial Order Daughters of The Empire (I.O.D.E). She was a founding member of the Alexandra Club, Victoria’s first club for women. This medal and its associated documentation illustrate the philanthropic roll played by a prominent Dunsmuir family member in Victoria Society during The Great War.

The following information is from the website of Government House (Ottawa):

"Established in 1888 by Queen Victoria, the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem is a working order of charitably minded men and women whose philanthropy is expressed principally through its two foundations, the St. John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem and St. John Ambulance. The Order traces its origins to the Knights Hospitaller, of the Crusades, who served the Abbey of St. Mary’s small hospital for sick pilgrims in Jerusalem in the 12th century. The Order was brought into the Canadian Honours System in 1990. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the Order’s Sovereign and the Governor General is its Prior in Canada.

Grades in the Order are:

Bailiff Grand Cross or Dame;
Knight or Dame (previously Lady of Grace);
Commander;
Officer; and
Serving Member.

The insignia for all grades of the Order consists of a Maltese cross, embellished alternately in each of its principal angles with a lion and a unicorn. The four arms of the cross symbolize the virtues of Prudence, Temperance, Justice and Fortitude."

History of Use

This object used by Mary Jean Dunsmuir (Mrs. Henry Croft) at her Esquimalt house named Mount Adelaide until her death in 1928. It was then inherited by her sister Elizabeth's son, John William Bryden (1869-1953) of Royston, BC. It was then inherited by his son, the late Gerald Robert Bryden (1913-1992), also of Royston, B.C., and then by his daughter from whom it was acquired in 2013.