France, Napoleon I Bonaparte. Bronze medal commemorating Napoleon's reception aboard the Bellerophon, 1815
- KOD: 4607204RMA
France, Napoleon I Bonaparte. Bronze medal commemorating Napoleon's reception aboard the Bellerophon, 1815, Webb & Brenet, Denon, Bramsen 1691, Julius 3431, Bronze 40 mm, weight 37,56 g., Condition aUNC, nice brown patina with lustre, green tarnish on the reverse in places, minor edge nicks.
Napoleon surrendered to Captain Frederick Maitland of the 'Bellerophon', 74 guns, on 15 July 1815. On 26 July, the British government decided that Bellerophon be moved from Torbay towards Plymouth Bay, to prevent the Emperor from setting foot on British soil. However for days, curious sightseers in a multitude of little boats hovered around Bellerophon waiting excitedly for a possible glimpse of the “ogre”, as represented later by Jules Girardet in a painting now preserved in Plymouth. source: Napoleon.org
The Bellerophon was already near the end of her working life in 1815 and had almost been destroyed three times in battle against Napoleon. She went on to be converted into a prison ship and was renamed ‘Captivity’. She was finally broken up at Stonehouse Creek. Ship’s surgeon George Bellamy purchased some of the timbers to build his house, Burrow Lodge, which still stands in Plymstock.
źródło: plymouthhistoryfestival.com