| Product
Code |
: |
PUD NO_931-1_AE |
| Subject | : | Willingdon's Viceroy Presentation Medal |
| Size | : | 51.5 mm |
| Metal | : | Copper |
| Year | : | 1931 |
| Description | : | , obv. Conjoined busts of the Earl and Countess of Willingdon, right, around border : THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE EARL OF WILLINGDON, G.M.S.I., G.C.M.G., G.M.I.E., G.B.E. AND THE COUNTESS OF WILLINGDON. rev. Lord Willingdon's arms with motto : HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY. Above : PRESENTED BY, below : THE VICEROY.
Calcutta Mint records state that the first issue was on 31 May 1932. Found both with and without a claw and ring suspender. Willingdon broke the tradition of the previous five Viceroys by returning to the ‘conjoined busts’ medal last used by Curzon. His medal was named on the edge.
Willingdon was the first Viceroy who had previously been governor of both Bombay and Madras. When he took over the Governorship of Bombay in 1913 Harcourt Butler (925.5) wrote of him ‘we are getting a poor creature to succeed Lord Sydenham at Bombay’. He was regarded as a minor politician getting his reward of a plum post in the colonies. With the help of the formidable Lady Willingdon, and his own charm and likeability, he silenced most of his doubters and muddled through. By the time he assumed the Viceroyalty, in April 1931, after serving as Governor-General of Canada, he seemed like a natural choice for the position and although doing little work he had roads, buildings and sports club named after him and his presence in India, long after the Raj ended, was much stronger than more illustrious Viceroys. His term ended when the Marquess of Linlithgow assumed the Viceroyalty in April 1936. |
