Royal Niger Company’s Medal

 

The Colonial Wars In Africa 1886 - 1897.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

The Royal Niger Company's Medal was a British Empire campaign medal presented for service in parts of West Africa (which later formed the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria). The medal was instituted in 1899 and was awarded to those who participated in expeditions throughout the company’s territory between 1886 and 1897 in which casualties were sustained.

 

Following the abolition of the slave trade in the 1820's, Britain's control of the West African coast was necessary to prevent continued use by slavers of the ports and estuaries. Trading posts were set up at Bathurst, Freetown, Lagos and Brass and in 1832 a Liverpool trader called Macgregor Laird led an expedition up the Niger River.

 

Following this, in 1841 a government sponsored expedition was launched under the control of several naval officers styled Niger Commissioners. They established a settlement at Lokoja. Both the Laird expedition and the Government settlement were failures largely due to sickness in the area that became known as the white man's grave.

 

Subsequently, in 1866, the Government decided to put an official consulate at Lokoja but this could not be maintained due to the high death rate consequently, most traders in the Niger River area were therefore largely unprotected and remained so until the appearance on the scene of George Goldie-Taubman an ex-army officer who established trading posts all over the Niger basin.

 

Due to Goldie-Taubman's hard work a charter company was formed in 1886, similar in nature to the British South Africa Company, with Taubman at its head and this was known as the Royal Niger Company. As a chartered company it was not just a trading company, it was also responsible for the administration of the area defined in the charter very much like the old East India Company.

 

The life of the charter company was to be short, due to the inadequacies in administration; consequently, a government investigation was set up under Major Claude (Later Sir Claude) MacDonald which led ultimately to the handing over to the British Government all its treaties, obligations and rights.

 

This finally took place on the 1 January 1900. The charter company had been in existence only 14 years, but during that period over 40 expeditions in connection with the law and order matters had taken place, where actual casualties had occurred.

 

As part of the winding up of the charter, company permission was sought and obtained for a medal to be issued. 1000 Bronze medals were struck with approximately 750 being issued and the remainder are held by the United Africa Company Limited - the successors to the trading activities of the Niger Company. 100 silver medals were struck of which 80 were named in the impressed style.

 

Several replacements have been made but in 1984 the United Africa Company Limited still held 5 un-named and 11 of the named medals, there being no forwarding address for these. As far as is known the maximum number of expeditions taken part in by any recipient is 9.

 

 

The medal is circular, 39mm in diameter and was struck in either silver or bronze. The obverse of the medal depicts the bust of Queen Victoria and the inscription; ‘VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX’. For those medal struck after 1933, the makers name; ‘THE ‘SPINK & SON’ can be found below the bust.

 

The reverse depicts a shield with flags and weaponry located behind, with the separate inscriptions; ‘PAX, JUS, ARS’ located within. A laurel wreath surrounds the whole design.

 

The silver medal was issued to European recipients while the bronze medal was issued to native ones.

 

The ribbon suspender is of the plain, straight and swivelling style, attached to the medal by a claw mount.

 

The recipient's details can be found on the medal's rim impressed in bold upright serif capitals, although several engraved medals were also issued.

 

The bronze medal was generally issued to native soldiers un-named, but approximately 1000 medals were numbered between the range of 1 and 2361, however, 12 medals that were issued to native soldiers that were named, are also known to exist.

 

 

 

 

The ribbon is 31mm wide and yellow, black and white in colour.

 

 

This medal was issued with the following clasps:-

 

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The Royal Niger Company.

- Colonial Nigeria.

 

The Royal Niger Company - The Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company chartered by the British government in the nineteenth century. It was formed in 1879 as the United African Company and renamed to National African Company in 1881 and to Royal Niger Company in 1886.

 

The company existed for a comparatively short time (1879-1900) but was instrumental in the formation of Colonial Nigeria, as it enabled the British Empire to establish control over the lower Niger against the German competition led by Bismarck during the 1890s.

 

In 1900, the company-controlled territories became the Southern Nigeria Protectorate, which was in turn united with the Northern Nigeria Protectorate to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914 (which eventually gained independence within the same borders as the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1960).

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

Colonial Nigeria - Influence of the British Empire on the territories which now form Nigeria began with prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. The resulting collapse of African slave trade led to the decline and eventual collapse of the Oyo Empire. British influence in the Niger area increased gradually over the 19th century, but Britain did not effectively occupy the area until 1885, and then under competition from France and Germany.

 

The colonial period proper in Nigeria lasted from 1900 to 1960. In 1900, the Niger Coast Protectorate and some territories of the Royal Niger Company were united to form the Southern Nigeria Protectorate, while other Royal Niger Company territories became the Northern Nigeria Protectorate.

 

In 1914, the Northern and Southern Nigeria Protectorates were unified into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria while maintaining considerable regional autonomy among the three major regions. Progressive constitutions after World War II provided for increasing representation and electoral government by Nigerians. In October 1960, Nigeria gained independence.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.