A 1915 gold award medal from Trinity College, Dublin presented to pioneering biochemist William Robert Fearon (1892-1959) made a hammer price of £6,500 at Noonans sale of Historical Medals in London this week. The top lot of the auction, from an Irish collector, had been estimated at £2,400-3,000. It attracted interest from all over the world and was purchased by a collector in the Far East. The medal achieved a record price for any medal from Trinity College Dublin.
William Robert Fearon (1892-1959), pioneer biochemist was educated at St Andrew’s College, Dublin between 1908-11, followed by Trinity College between 1911-17, where he received a BA in natural science and was awarded the gold medal, a Harvey research prize from the Royal College of Physicians, Dublin in 1918, and the Carmichael prize from the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin. He went on to work as a researcher for the British food ministry and the food investigations board between 1917-19. He was a Mackinnon research student of the Royal Society at Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1919-21 and was elected fellow of Trinity College Dublin in 1921. The chair of biochemistry at Trinity was founded for him in 1943 and he represented the Dublin University constituency in Seanad Éireann from 1943 until 1959, sitting on many government committees.
