Today is the ninth (and penultimate!) day of Explore Your Archive, a celebration of archives of all kinds across the nation, organised by the Archives & Records Association for UK & Ireland, and today’s theme is ‘Animals’.

Animals (more specifically, horses) were important for St John Ambulance in its early years, as they pulled some of the early ambulances, and featured on some of St John’s competition trophies, such as the Dewar Challenge Shield.

In 1897, the St John Ambulance Association instituted three first aid competitions to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, one of which was the Brigade Competition, for members of the St John Ambulance Brigade. The Dewar Challenge Shield for this competition was presented by Sir Thomas Dewar, Sherriff of London, and it became the main trophy for competition for over a hundred years after being won for the first time in 1897 by the St John’s Gate Ambulance Division.

It is a black painted wooden shield. It has a central shield silver plaque with a highly decorative decoration impressed into it. The decoration features a horse-drawn ambulance to recognise the value of horses in transporting human patients in the background, with five male uniformed Brigade officers tending to a patient on stretcher. Surrounding the central plaque are two borders of small shields dating from 1904-2000 to identify winners of the trophy.

If you’re interested in learning more about competitions, why not check out this recent blog post by Archive Volunteer Pat Halpin, who shares some historical and personal reflections on St John Ambulance competitions.