Badge and star: Order of St John of Jerusalem

Awarded to Admiral Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford (1838-1913) in 1908. Badge: White enamel Maltese cross, set in silver, embellished alternatively in each of its principal angles with a lion and a unicorn in silver. Suspended by a ring from a black watered silk neck ribbon. Star: The same design as the badge except it is uniface and has a pin fastening on the back.

Admiral Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford (1838-1913) entered the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, in 1852. He served on HMS ‘Swallow’ during the Crimean War and was present at the bombardment of Odessa and Sebastopol. From 1856-1858, he was posted on the Pacific Station on board HMS ‘Satellite’.
He was promoted Lieutenant in November 1859 and served in the Mediterranean until the following year. Bedford was promoted Commander in February 1872 and became flag-captain to Rear-Admiral de Horsey, commanding HMS ‘Shah’ in 1876 during the engagement with the Peruvian ironclad ‘Huascar’.
He was appointed Captain of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1880. Notably, he also organised the flotilla on the Nile for the relief of General Gordon in 1884. From 1889-92 he was Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, and from 1892-95 was Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Stations. In 1894-95 he also took part in punitive anti-slavery expeditions along the West African coast.
He became Second Sea Lord of the Admiralty on 5 May 1895 and was appointed Governor of the State of Western Australia in 1903.