New Zealand War Medal, awarded to Lieutenant (later Captain) William Edward Chapman, 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment

Circular, silver medal with, on the obverse, a portrait of Queen Victoria wearing diadem and veil, with the inscription, 'Victoria D: G: Britt: Reg: F:D:'; on the reverse, a laurel wreath and the inscription, 'New Zealand' and 'Virtutis Honor' (Honour of valour). The medal is suspended from a ribbon with a red vertical stripe flanked by dark blue vertical stripes.

Chapman joined the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment in 1861 as an ensign, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1866. The regiment was stationed in New Zealand from July 1863, and served in the Waikato (1863) and Second Taranaki campaigns (1863-1866) and Titokowaru's War (1868).

In 1868 Chapman transferred to the 1st (King's) Dragoons Guards and was promoted to captain the following year. After being put on half pay in 1874, Chapman joined the 7th Royal Lancashire Militia, moving to the Durham Artillery Militia in 1878 and finally the 2nd Brigade, Northern Division, Militia Artillery in 1881. He retired in 1882.

This campaign medal, designed by J S and A B Wyon, was authorised in 1869 and was awarded to British and Imperial troops involved in the Maori Wars (1845-1847 and 1860-1866).