Footnotes

• Each inscription reads;
  Presented To William Watson Esqr. Of Dublin By Several Steam Ship Companies of England & Ireland Who Unite Thus To Acknowledge The Valuable Services Rendered By Him To The Steam Interests Of The United Kingdom In Reference To The Provisions Of The Merchants Shipping Act Of 1854.
  
  The larger salver with the additional engraving to the beginning;
  The Service Of Plate Of Which This Forms a Part is.
  
  The Merchant Shipping Act of 1854 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was issued on 10 August 1854 together with the Merchant Shipping Repeal Act 1854; both of which repealed several centuries of preceding maritime legislation.
  It introduced the keeping of official numbers for registered ships and revised calculations of tonnage. It also changed the management of lighthouses in Scotland and neighbouring islands, vesting it in Northern Lighthouses which was one of the General Lighthouse Authorities the act created. It also (indirectly) created the Sea Gallantry Medal; the only UK state honour created by an Act of Parliament, rather than Royal Warrant.
  As with many older Acts, it was repealed in its entirety by the subsequent Merchant Shipping Act of 1894.

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Category: Decorative Arts / Silver

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