An exceedingly rare Irish Sea off County Dublin February 1873 Tayleur Fund Medal in Silver, as awarded to a local man from Portrane, Charles Smart, who together with the three brothers, Charles, Joseph and William Davis, and Richard Twohig, was involved in the rescue of three mariners who were lashed to the rigging of the wrecked cargo vessel Ada off Portrane, County Dublin, on 2 February 1873. The Ada, having departed from Liverpool the previous day with a cargo of superphosphate manure, was caught in a savage storm. She was sighted by the Portrane coastguards drifting towards the shore. The vessel struck rocks some 600 yards off shore. The coastguards failed with the rocket apparatus to get a line to the ship and the coastguard boat was too far away to be brought. The vessel began to break up and the crew in desperation lashed themselves in the rigging. The coastguards renewed their efforts with the rocket apparatus when the tide had receded, but the lines still fell short. Local Portrane resident, Joseph Davis, having witnessed these failed attempts, decided to make his own rescue effort. Accompanied by his brothers, Charles and William Davis, Charles Smart and Coastguard Richard Twohig, Joseph Davis went out in a small boat and rescued the three surviving crew, cutting them down from the rigging where they had been for seven hours. The fourth member of the crew, the 14-year-old son of the captain, had died of exposure. In all only 3 Gold and 48 Silver Tayleur Fund Medals were awarded between 1861 and 1913. Smart’s award was presented to him by Lord Talbot de Malahide on 25 February 1873.
Tayleur Fund Medal in Silver, fitted with original swivel suspension, the obverse bearing the image of the stricken emigrant vessel Tayleur, the embossed wording: ‘Tayleur Fund for the Succour of Shipwrecked Mariners’, the reverse plain and engraved: ‘PRESENTED / - TO - / Charles Smart / For prompt courage in saving / life from the wreck of the / ADA at PORTRANE / 2nd: Febry. 1873 / Lord Talbot de Malahide / - Chaiman -‘. Fitted to an old period ribbon for the Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, this fitted with an old silver ribbon buckle.
Provenance: Smart’s medal, engraved ‘PRESENTED TO Charles Smart For prompt courage in saving life from the wreck of the ADA at PORTRANE 2nd Febry 1873 Lord Talbot de Malahide Chairman’, was possibly in the E H E Dalrymple collection and sold at Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, on 26 July 1922 and part of lot 317 (where it was described as to ‘Chas. Stuart’); more definitively, it was in the Alan Garnett collection, sold at Glendinings, 22 November 1933, lot 306 (with an unrelated medal), for 16s; it was later in the Fevyer collection, sold at DNW, 25 September 2008, lot 179.
Charles Smart was born in late 1835 or early 1836 probably in Donabate, County Dublin, Ireland, the son of Edward Smart and his wife Anne (née Carrol). He was baptised in Donabate on 23 January 1836. He would go on to work as a labourer, small farmer, and sailor. He married Jane Dockrell (c.1837-1914) in the late 1850s or early 1860s and together they had at least six children: Thomas (1864-), Anne Eliza (1866-), Jane (1869-), Charles (1872-), Elizabeth (1874-), and John (1877-).
In January 1854 the emigrant ship Tayleur had foundered on Lamtray Island, Dublin, Ireland. A fund was started for the relief of the survivors and the surplus used to issue silver lifesaving medals bearing the legend of the Tayleur Fund for the Succour of Shipwrecked Mariners. In all only 3 Gold and 48 Silver medals were awarded before the residue of the Tayleur Fund was transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in December 1913 and the issue of medals was terminated.
Charles Smart was awarded his Tayleur Fund Medal in Silver, for bravery at the wreck of the Ada at Portrane, County Dublin. The citation reads as follows: ‘On 2 February 1873, the Ada, having departed from Liverpool the previous day with a cargo of superphosphate manure, was caught in a savage storm. She was sighted by the Portrane coastguards drifting towards the shore. The vessel struck rocks some 600 yards off shore at Portrane, County Dublin. The coastguards failed with the rocket apparatus to get a line to the ship and the coastguard boat was too far away to be brought. The vessel began to break up and the crew in desperation lashed themselves in the rigging. The coastguards renewed their efforts with the rocket apparatus when the tide had receded, but the lines still fell short. Local Portrane resident, Joseph Davis, having witnessed these failed attempts, decided to make his own rescue effort. Accompanied by his brothers, Charles and William Davis, Charles Smart and Coastguard Richard Twohig, Joseph Davis went out in a small boat and rescued the three surviving crew, cutting them down from the rigging where they had been for seven hours. The fourth member of the crew, the 14-year-old son of the captain, had died of exposure.’
Lord Talbot de Malahide presented the awards for this rescue on 25 February 1873, with five Tayleur Fund Medals in Silver being awarded for this incident, the other recipients being the three brothers, Charles, Joseph and William Davis, and Richard Twohig.
Charles Smart died at Portrane on 22 December 1897 from heart disease from which he had suffered for the previous five years. His widow, Jane, registered his death on 5 January 1898. By 1911 Jane was described as a farmer, aged 70, living at Burrow with a niece and nephew, Mary and Terence Dockrell. Jane died on 28 July 1914, age 77, from the effects of senile decay and heart failure, her son Charles registering her death on 5 August that year.
