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Stokes & Son, Medal Makers, Melbourne, Victoria & Sydney, New South Wales
Thomas Stokes was born in Edgeburston, Birmingham, England, in 1831. He was apprenticed to a diesinker, and migrated to Australia in search of gold in the 1850s. He did not succeed, but returned to his trade as a diesinker and button maker. In 1856 he established a successful business at 15 Mincing Lane, Melbourne, and soon moved to larger permises at 115 Flinders Lane.
In 1857 Stokes acquired a press from W.J. Taylor and began to mint large numbers of tradesmen's tokens, some 82 varieties in all (this has more recently been contested). He also commenced the Australian Medallic Issues. Within a short time the business moved again, to 100 Collins Street. In 1873 Stokes took a partner, Martin, and the business was re-named Stokes & Martin. It added silverware to its product line, but the new direction was not well received.The business relocated to 29 Little Collins Street, where in 1893 a disastrous fire damaged a large portion of the business. Unfortunately Martin had forgotten to renew the fire insurance policy, and the partnership was dissolved as a result. Stokes rebuilt the business as Stokes & Son.
The business became a proprietary concern in 1911, re-named Stokes & Son Pty Ltd. Its medals ceased being artistically significant, although remained technically sound. It began to focus on mass-produced medals at competitive prices, rapidly produced with insufficient time to develop artistic designs.
In 1935 the business moved to Albert Street, Brunswick, and in 1962 Stokes became a public company, renamed Stokes (Australasia) Pty Ltd. By 2005, the business had relocated to Ringwood.
References:
Carlisle, L.J. (1983). Australian Commemorative Medals and Medalets from 1788. B & C Press Pty Ltd, Sydney.
Sharples, John P. (1990). Medals as Art: Australia and the Meszaros Tradition, p.16.
Stokes, Tom (1974). 'A Short History of Stokes Limited.' Australian Coin Review. August, pp.15-16.
(showing 1 - 9) 9 items
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Badge - Ford Australia, Employee M 1230, Victoria, circa 1930s
Metal employee identification badge by Stokes, Melbourne, issued by Ford, Australia. Believed to have been issued to an employee at the Geelong manufacturing plant. Assuming the badges ...
Images: 2 -
Medal - Leeton Rowathon, 1st V/H Section, Australia, 1976
Medal minted by Stokes and awarded to B. O'Sullivan, B. Napthene and B. Morris (Cox) for winning first place in the V?H Section of the 1976 Leeton Rowathon. The Leeton Rowathon was an ...
Images: 1 -
Badge - Blind Institute Royals Cricket Club, Member, Stokes & Son, circa 1920s-1950s
Alternative Name(s): Button Membership Badge for the Blind Institute Royals Cricket Club manufactured by Stokes & Son, circa 1920s-1950s. Blind cricket was invented in Melbourne in 192 ...
Images: 1 -
Letter Opener - Royal Victorian Institute for The Blind, Stokes, circa 1940s-1960s
Letter opener with Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind (RVIB) logo on the front, manufactured by Stokes, circa 1940s-1960s. The lighthouse logo featured on the letter opener was ado ...
Images: 2 -
Badge - 'For France, Tasmania', 1918
Alternative Name(s): Button Small metal badge featuring an allegorical female figure of Liberty. It is inscribed 'For France', 'Tasmania', '1918'. Made by prolific medal-maker Alfred ...
Images: 2 -
Photograph - Stokes Australia Ltd Exhibit, The Melbourne International Centenary Exhibitio ...
Colour photograph of the Hon Angus Ogilvy visiting the exhibit of Stokes Australia Ltd at the Melbourne International Centenary Exhibition held at the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Melbou ...
Images: 1 -
Photograph - Stokes Australia Ltd Exhibit, The Melbourne International Centenary Exhibitio ...
Colour photograph of the Hon Angus Ogilvy being presented with the Exhibition's Gold Commemorative Medallion while visitng the exhibit of Stokes Australia Ltd at the Melbourne Internati ...
Images: 1 -
Photograph - Stokes Australia Ltd Exhibit, The Melbourne International Centenary Exhibitio ...
Colour photograph of the Stokes Australia Ltd exhibit at the Melbourne International Centenary Exhibition held at the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne, between 23 September and 5 O ...
Images: 1 -
Buttons - Nurse's Uniform, World War I, Australia, 1915-1920
A bag of 13 buttons (nine large and four small) and two Australia badges removed from Sister Selina Lily (Lil) Mackenzie's World War I nursing uniforms. The buttons, manufactured by Sto ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 2
