Commemorative medal depicting the 'John Williams' Missionary ship. Obverse: Starboard broadside view of the three-masted vessel 'John Williams', barque rigged, under plain sail, inscription in exergue. Legend: 'THE JOHN WILLIAMS MISSIONARY SHIP'. Exergue: 'LAUNCHED AT HARWICH MAR. 20 1844. 296 TONS; LENGTH 103 FEET. BREADTH 24 FEET 8 INCHES DEPTH IN HOLD 10 FEET; HAS 10 STATE ROOMS.' Reverse: Inscription, 'THIS SHIP THE PROPERTY OF THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY SAILED FROM GRAVESEND JUNE 12 1844 WITH MISSIONARIES FOR THE STH PACIFIC & AFTER AN ABSENCE OF THREE YEARS DURING WHICH TIME SHE VISITED VARIOUS GROUPS OF ISLANDS IN THAT OCEAN AND SAILED UPWARDS OF 100,000 MILES, RETURNED TO ENGLAND AND ANCHORED IN THE THAMES MAY 16, 1847. SHE WAS PURCHASED FROM A FUND RAISED BY THE JUVENILE FRIENDS OF THE SOCIETY & IS ENTIRELY DEVOTED TO THE SERVICE OF CHRIST AMONG THE HEATHEN'. Suspension hole. John Williams was a missionary, working in the Pacific from 1817 until his death in 1839, killed by islanders in the New Hebrides. The London Missionary Society launched a series of seven vessels named after him, the first in 1856.