From the Collection: A rare gold watch presented to Capt. Nickerson by the Lisburn Relief Committee 1863
Watch presented to Capt. Nickerson by the Lisburn Relief Committee 1863
Purchased USA, 2017
As a ‘token of their respect and esteem’ the Lisburn Relief Committee presented this gold watch and chain to Captain Moses Nickerson (1812-71), of the Mary Edson, at a special lunch at the Belfast Harbour Office in July 1863. Purchased from Gilbert & Son, High Street, Belfast, the engraving reads:
Presented
by the
Lisburn Relief Committee and others
To Captain Nickerson
of the Barque Mary Edson
The good ship that bore across the Atlantic
The noble gift bestowed on his suffering countrymen
by
A.T. Stewart Esq. of New York,
July 1863.
This watch was on display as part of the Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum’s 2017 exhibition ‘New from the Collections’, which featured the fascinating story of the Lisburn Cotton Famine.