Medals of James Roland Rider, Veterinary Surgeon

The collection is composed of 14 academic session medals (5 silver and 9 bronze) awarded to James Roland Rider between 1913 and 1918. The medals were awarded by both the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, Edinburgh, and the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.

The medals can be described thus:

• - 1913 - silver - obverse: decorated with raised seated classical figure with Scottish armorial shield honouring figures representing agriculture and industry, with the inscription SEMPER ARMIS - NUNC ET INDUSTRIA - reverse: Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, To J.R.Rider, for Junior Anatomy, Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, Edinburgh, 1913, Inst. MDCCLXXXIV -
• - 1913 - silver - (as above) To J.R.Rider, for Chemistry
• - 1914 - silver - (as above) To J.R.Rider, for Senior Anatomy
• - Session 1913-1914 - silver - obverse: decorated with lion with raised paw being treated by kneeling figure, framed by palm trees and cliff - reverse: Royal Dick Veterinary College, Edinburgh, Presented by O. Charnock Bradley M.D., D.Sc., Practical Anatomy, Gained by J.R.Rider, Session 1913-14
• - Session 1917-1918 - silver - obverse: Royal Dick Veterinary College, Edinburgh, decorated with armorial bearing of the City of Edinburgh and inscription NISI DOMINUS FRUSTRA - reverse: decorated with thistle wreath surrounding the inscriptions thus, Obstetrics. J.R.Rider, Session 1917-18
• - Session 1913 - bronze - obverse: Royal Dick Veterinary College, Edinburgh, decorated with armorial bearing of the City of Edinburgh and inscription NISI DOMINUS FRUSTRA - reverse: decorated with thistle wreath surrounding the inscriptions thus, Biology. J.R.Rider, Session 1913
• - Session 1913-14 - bronze - obverse: Royal Dick Veterinary College, Edinburgh, decorated with armorial bearing of the City of Edinburgh and inscription NISI DOMINUS FRUSTRA - reverse: decorated with thistle wreath surrounding the inscriptions thus, Stable Management. J.R.Rider, Session 1913-14
• - Session 1913-14 - bronze - (as above) Physiology
• - Session 1916-17 - bronze - (as above) Materia Medica
• - Session 1916-17 - bronze - (as above) Hygiene
• - Session 1916-17 - bronze - (as above) Pathology
• - Session 1917 - bronze - obverse: decorated with seated classical figure representing the arts and sciences who is crowning a seated figure with a laurel crown - reverse: decorated with laurel wreath and inscription thus, Awarded to J.R.Rider. Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, For Bacteriology, 1917
• - Session 1917-18 - bronze - obverse: Royal Dick Veterinary College, Edinburgh, decorated with armorial bearing of the City of Edinburgh and inscription NISI DOMINUS FRUSTRA - reverse: decorated with thistle wreath surrounding the inscriptions thus, Medicine. J.R.Rider, Session 1917-18
• - Session 1917-18 - bronze - (as above) Surgery

Medal 4 above is noted as having been presented by O. Charnock Bradley. Professor Orlando Charnock Bradley, MD, DSc, ChB, FRSE, FRCVS (1871- 1937) was the Principal of the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College (as it was then known) from 12 June 1911 until his death on 21 November 1937.

The son of a veterinary surgeon, James Roland Rider was born in Beamish, Durham, in N.E.England, on 13 November 1894. He was educated at St. Bees, Cumbria, and at Newcastle Royal Grammar School. In 1912 he went to Edinburgh to study at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College but in 1914 the outbreak of war interrupted his studies. Rider enlisted in the Scots Greys and he served at Gallipoli. In 1916 he returned to the Dick Vet', and graduated in 1917, becoming a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. He then re-enlisted, serving as a Captain in the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC) until the end of the Great War. He was awarded the British War and Victory medals.

From 1919 he was employed as a vet by Pease and Partners Ltd. owners of several mines in the coalfields of Durham and Teeside. In 1928 he declined the offer of a Lectureship at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, only to suffer a cut in working hours the following year due to the Depression which began in 1929. In 1930 however, Rider began his own private practice in Darlington.

In 1932 he published a paper on 'Hypertrophy and diverticulae in the ileum in pit ponies' for the Veterinary Record, British Veterinary Association.

James Roland Rider died of pulmonary tuberculosis in Urpeth, Durham, on 19 November 1942.

Access should be unrestricted but please check in advance of any consultation.