Trophies and awards
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The BPMA museum collection includes around 200 trophies and awards.These awards are our links to the people who worked in the Post Office, and their hobbies and pastimes. They tell us of the type of sports and activities going on in the Post Office, and the types of teams and regional organisations in which Post Office people participated.
The earliest trophy dates from 1873 and the most recent trophy was awarded in 1999. Recognition was given for sporting, horticultural and artistic achievement. There are silver-plated cups, large wooden shields, and small metal medallions. Here is a selection of the trophies we hold.
Olive Webb Rose Bowl, accession number: OB1994.129
The Olive Webb Rose Bowl shown here, came from the King Edward Building
Horticultural Society (KEBHS), which disbanded in the early 1990s. The bowl was awarded annually from 1943 (to W J Coombs), until 1990 (to I Falkner).
Around 70 of the awards in our collection were presented for gardening. They were presented for excellent fruit, flowers and general gardening skills. Those who took part in the competitions grew chrysanthemums, gladioli, and roses, as well as fruit like apples and pears. The Olive Webb Rose Bowl was awarded to the person with the best rose.
Inter-Office Challenge Trophy, accession number: 2005-0098
This wooden shield was the Inter-Office Challenge Trophy, first awarded in 1928. Trophies like this one were awarded to members of the GPO Arts Club at the annual
exhibition of their work. A theme was chosen each year, and offices would submit a group of paintings inspired by the theme.
The GPO Arts Club was founded in 1906, and held its first exhibition at Mount Pleasant. It was open to all grades of officers of the Post Office in the UK and the colonies. Meetings were held monthly, where work was submitted for criticism by the club members and professional artists.
The Lambert Challenge Cup No. 3, accession number: 2005-0030
This is the earliest trophy in the BPMA collection. It dates from 1873 and was presented to the E Company of the 49th Middlesex PO Volunteers for shooting competitions. It is a three handled pewter tankard with glass base, and was shot for twice a year.
Whoever won the cup three times in a row got to keep it. This cup was won outright by Sergeant R R Hoade. The competition continued with new trophies, and we have both the Lambert Challenge Cup No. 3 and No. 12 in our collection.
Find No. 3 and No. 12 in the catalogue
Challenge Cup Bowl, possibly also known as the Stanley Cup, 1901 accession number: 2005-0103
According to the engraving, this silver presentation bowl was presented by the Rt Honourable Lord Stanley CB MP, Postmaster General, for the competition between Manchester Postal Service's Association Football Clubs.
Lord Stanley (Edward George Villiers) was Postmaster General from 1903 -1905. The hallmark on the cup shows that it was made in 1901. It was last awarded in 1961.
This cup is of a similar design to one donated by Lord Stanley’s father Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby. He gave the earlier cup as a prize to Canada’s top ranking amateur ice hockey club in 1892 It was adopted by the National Hockey League in 1926 as the championship prize in North American professional hockey, and the Stanley Cup is still played for today.
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