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Under the terms of the Will of the first Headmaster, Mr Ralph Herbert Dickinson, who died in July 1944, the sum of £200 was bequeathed to Glossop Grammar School to provide an annual medallion for the Senior Boy Prefect and the Senior Girl Prefect. The firm of Thomas Fattorini Limited, of Birmingham, was commissioned to provide the medallions. The first medallions, presented in 1946, were Hall-marked silver and inscribed “The Susannah Dickinson Award” and “The R H Dickinson Award”, the name of the recipient and year presented being engraved around the outside edge. After payment for the initial Dies, the remainder of the money was invested in Government War Stock with the interest generated being sufficient to purchase the two medals annually. The total cost for the first order was the sum of £56.12s (£56.60) being £54 for the Dies and £2.12s for the 2 medals. In 1961 four medals were requested for the years 1961 & 1962, then in 1963 the tradition of the presentation of two medals differed in that 2 medals for Head Boy and 3 medals for Head Girl were requested. The consequence of this, coupled with the fact that since 1961 the cost of silver had trebled, was that the interest from the investment was insufficient to cover the cost of 5 medals. Enquiries were made with the solicitors to establish whether the terms of the Will could be varied to address this problem, however the answer was “no”. The presentation of the medals continued with the extra cost being met from other resources. In 1966 the problem of cost arose again; four medals were requested, as an order had omitted to be placed in 1965. The price of silver had increased substantially and the Headmaster thought it prudent to keep the costs within budget by having the medals cast in silver plated base metal. The same refined appearance could not be obtained, but the tradition could continue. Although the school was now named Glossop School, the cost to change the Dies could not be met, so the medals continued with the original wording of Glossop Grammar School. In 1968, possibly again as a consequence of the rising cost of silver, a request was sent to Thomas Fattorini Limited for the return of the four Dies used to cast the medallions. The Dies were subsequently forwarded to The Coventry Silvercraft Company Limited and an order placed for four medals for the years 1969 and 1970. Unfortunately, no record exists regarding the difference in costs between the two firms of Silversmiths. | |
