First World War Merchant Navy Medal Pair – Captain Robert Nixon Hodgson
British War Medal - ROBERT N. HODGSON
Mercantile Marine Medal - ROBERT N. HODGSON
Captain Robert Nixon Hodgson, born in Maryport, Cumberland, in 1874, was a long-serving Master Mariner whose career spanned the late Victorian and First World War eras. He was the son of William Taylor Hodgson, a mariner, and first went to sea in the 1890s, gaining his Second Mate’s Certificate in 1896, First Mate’s in 1898, and Master’s Certificate (No. 028458) at Liverpool in May 1901.
By the outbreak of the First World War, Hodgson was serving as Master in the China Mutual Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. and was in command of the SS Stentor (Official No. 110572) of Liverpool. Crew agreements and Board of Trade records confirm that he commanded Stentor through multiple voyages between August 1914 and February 1915, before taking command of the SS Yangtsze (Official No. 110093) from May to October 1915 — both vessels engaged in hazardous Far Eastern and homeward-bound trade during wartime conditions.
For his “zeal and devotion to duty shown in carrying on the trade of the country during the war,” Captain Hodgson was commended by the King, his name being published in the London Gazette (6 August 1918, p.9339) among a select group of Mercantile Marine officers recognised for distinguished service.
Hodgson married twice — first in 1899 to Isabella Hodgson at Cross-Canonby, Cumberland, and again in 1915 to Margaret Graves at Toxteth, Liverpool — and continued to serve at sea after the war. Passenger records show him still active in 1920, sailing to New York aboard the Kroonland of the Red Star Line. His Mercantile Marine Medal and British War Medal were both issued to him via the Mercantile Marine Office, Cardiff, with his application dated 25 September 1919.
A fine and well-documented pair to a Maryport-born Master Mariner who commanded Far Eastern steamers during WW1 and received Royal Commendation for his services.
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AJMS Medals