robgdad

Hi there, An "old" collector but just joined this Forum. Some comments. A photograph of the group with the gold star to Mayor Oliver appears in Hibbards Book on Tribute medals. Pity the medal order in the photograph is wrong. Bill's book also includes good close-up photographs of the two gold medals, the card which accompanied the medal, and a full length photograph of Oliver in his Mayoral regalia. Oliver's star was manufactured by the Kimberley jeweller W.A.Rayner who himself earned the CGHGS medal bar Bechunanaland, QSA bar DoK as No 59 private with the Kimberley Vol, Rifles and the standard Mayor's Kimberley Star. The mayor's group is now in the McGregor Museum in Kimberley. The standard silver star was struck in Birmingham by Darby and Sons and is known with the "a", "b", "c" and "d" mintmarks. It was issued in white cardboard boxes with the makers name printed on the lid - at least 2 different boxes are known, Presentation stars, (identical to the standard issue) were issued in plush hinged black boxes with gold lettering on the lid (also by Darby and Sons". It is known that such boxes were issued to Sir David Harris, Mayor Henderson who was Mayor before Oliver and Sir Thomas Smartt. Mayor Oliver's Star was also presented in a similar case. The second gold star engraved to Mr Archibald was seemingly not made by Rayner (It has no mintmark and the standard of workmanship is inferior). Miniature gold Kimberley Stars sometimes surface. The story goes that these were given to the members of the working crew who make the gun Long Cecil in the De Beers workshops. Presumanbly they did not attest for service as were they hard at work! - and accordingly did not get the standard silver star. Archibald was the Manager in charge of the De Beers workshop and I presume that this explains the award given to him. The standard star exists in several die varieties - for both obverse and reverse. Some are very "concave" and some very "convex" in shape particularly on the obverse while most are in between. I believe that one of the reasons for the general issue of the Star rather than perhaps the earlier supressed circular medal is the reduced amount, and therefore the cost of silver necessary for it's manufacture which was funded by Mayor Oliver. The Star adds a nice touch to add to any Defence of Kimberley QSA medal. It reminds us just how advanced this small town was in the far distant Cape Colony at that time. The first town inthe southern hemisphere to have street lights and the place where the first rugby football game was played with 'linemen" or "touch judges"! RobM