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Exceedingly rare winner's medal awarded to Harry Scott Freeman, captain of the gold medal-winning English field hockey team at the London 1908 Olympic Games. Gold, 34 mm, 28 gm, designed by Bertram Mackennal, Birmingham; manufactured by Vaughton & Sons, England. The front, inscribed, "Olympic Games, London 1908," features a victorious athlete being crowned with a laurel wreath by two seated females; the reverse depicts St. George, the patron saint of England, slaying a dragon as a goddess looks on. The edge is stamped with Vaughton mint marks and engraved with the placing and event, “Winner, Hockey.” Includes its original red leather presentation case with bold gilt lettering: “Olympic Games, Winner, Hockey, London, 1908."
Includes two official winner's medal diplomas issued to Harry Freeman, 20.75 x 14.75 and 25 x 19.75, both decorated with elaborate classical scenes centered on the winged figure of Victory surrounded by athletes, musicians, and Greco-Roman figures. The diplomas are inscribed, respectively, “H. S. Freeman, Member of the English Team, Winner of First Prize for Hockey, at the Olympic Games London 1908” and “To H. S. Freeman, Winner of First Prize for Hockey at the Olympic Games London 1908.” Both bear printed signatures of William Henry Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough, the founding Chairman of the British Olympic Association. Accompanied by a large 10.5 x 16.75 matte-finish portrait of Freeman with his field hockey stick, which includes its original hand-painted presentation mat identifying Freeman as “Captain,” listing other members of “England’s Hockey Team,” and bearing an embroidered rose patch, the very kind pictured on Freeman’s shirt pocket. Also included is a silk tie and boater hat band attested as having been issued to team members. The diplomas show considerable wear, including tears and staining; however, most of the flaws are confined to the outer borders and could be readily matted out for display.
Solid gold medals were awarded at only four Olympic Games – 1900, 1904, 1908, and 1912 – making this an especially desirable relic from the formative years of the modern Olympic movement. The London 1908 field hockey tournament marked the sport's Olympic debut and was contested by six teams, with England defeating Ireland, 8–1, in the final. Olympic medal-awarding practices at the time did not necessarily provide gold medals to every member of a victorious team. Contemporary examples from other team events at the 1908 Games demonstrate that designated representatives, such as captains or first mates, were sometimes awarded the gold medal on behalf of the winning side, while other team members received silver winner's medals. As captain of the championship English side, Harry Scott Freeman received this gold winner's medal, a remarkable survivor from hockey's first Olympic competition.
Harry Scott Freeman (1876–1968) was a fullback for Staines Hockey Club, Middlesex, and England, and was chosen to captain the English side at the 1908 Olympic Games. Following his Olympic triumph, Freeman retired from international competition but remained a prominent figure in the sport, continuing to captain Staines and Middlesex and later serving as Honorary Treasurer of the Hockey Association and as a member of the International Hockey Board.
