John McDouall Stuart’s gold watch, awarded to him by the prestigious Royal Geographical Society of London in 1859, has been bought by the National Museum of Australia. The fall of the hammer price was $ 85,400, including premium.

A consortium of interests, headed up by History SA and including the Stuart Society, were losing bidders. A handful of interesting documents accompanied the watch.

The watch was sold by family of John Arthur, Edinburgh, Scotland. Stuart’s sister Margaret married John Arthur of Paisley and the watch & papers have been with that family since Stuart’s death. The family felt that the watch  should reside in Australia. It was auctioned by Bonhams on November 25th 2013, in Sydney.