HMS

[Rt Hon. Robert Gambier Middleton, Scottish Royal Navy officer who served under Nelson as Captain of HMS Flora.] Three Letters Signed, giving instructions to his midshipman on the Flora John Hawkins, one from Gibraltar.

Author: 
Rt Hon. Robert Gambier Middleton (1774-1837), Scottish Royal Navy officer who served under Nelson as Captain of HMS Flora, nephew of Admiral Lord Barham
Publication details: 
All three written from HMS Flora. ONE: ‘at Sea the 26 of June 1798’. TWO: ‘in Gibraltar Bay the 18th. July 1798’. THREE: ‘as Sea, the 28th. March 1800’.
£320.00

Providing a good view of the day-to-day practicalities of Nelson's navy. Middleton was the nephew of Admiral Lord Barham. In 1795 he removed from the Lowestoffe to the Flora, serving under the Nelson off Genoa in support of the Austrian Army, and during July 1796 at the occupation of Porto Ferrajo. All three 1p, foolscap, and somewhat discoloured and worn, the first and last with chipping at head, but all with text entire.

[Irishman in the Royal Navy, 1825.] Two documents regarding the estate of Lieut. James Peter O’Ferrall of HMS Revenge: Letters of Administration and Power of Attorney, the later signed by the father Hugh O’Ferrall MD.

Author: 
[Irishman in the Royal Navy, 1825] Lieut. James Peter O’Ferrall of HMS Revenge, son of Hugh O’Ferrall, MD
rishman in the Royal Navy
Publication details: 
Letters of Administration dated 15 November 1825 ('Extracted by R: E Pownall Proctor Doctors Commons'). Power of Attorney, 21 November 1825.
£120.00
rishman in the Royal Navy

Both items in fair condition, with age and wear. ONE: Letters of Administration, 15 November 1825. Printed on square of parchment, with embossed seal appended and usual tax stamps. Completed in manuscript with regard to ‘Hugh O’Ferrall the natural and lawful Father of James Peter O’Ferrall late a Lieutenant belonging to His Majesty’s Ship Revenge at Sea Bachelor deceased’, whose estate is ‘Sworn Under One Hundred Pounds.’ Signed by three deputy registrars.

[Royal Navy, 1838.] Manuscript ‘Return of Treasure conveyed’ by HMS Dublin (Captain Robert Tait), flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Hamond, Commander-in-Chief of the South American station. Signed by Ralph Barton, Senior Lieutenant.

Author: 
Royal Navy, 1838 [HMS Dublin (Captain Robert Tait), flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Hamond, Commander-in-Chief of the South American station; Ralph Barton, Senior Lieutenant]
Publication details: 
Compiled to 31 March 1838. No place.
£180.00

The 1812 HMS Dublin was the third Royal Navy ship of that name. At the time of this document she was a 40-gunner, and the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief of the South American station Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Hamond (1779-1862). See the entries on Barton, Hamond and Tait in O’Byrne’s ‘Naval Biographical Dictionary’ (1849), and Hamond’s in the Oxford DNB. 1p, landscape foolscap 8vo. Aged and creased. Docketed on reverse: ‘Dublin / Treasure conveyed. / 31. March 1838. / E1/1 / Entd 2d. April. / W Let’.

[' there are 5 french frigates at sea escaped from Toulon': Captain Sir Peter Parker and HMS Menelaus (Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars).] Autograph Letter Signed from midshipman Robert Kennedy Thomson, describing his exploits to his mother.

Author: 
Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars; Captain Sir Peter Parker and the Menelaus] Lieutenant Robert Kennedy Thomson (fl. 1849) of Dalgarrock, Ayrshire, Scotland
Publication details: 
26 December [1812]. ‘H M. Ship Menelaus’. With ‘Ship Lre’ postmark from Portsmouth Dock’.
£220.00

Real Hornblower stuff: a breathless letter full of interesting content. The Oxford DNB entry for Sir Peter Parker the younger (1745-1814) gives the background: ‘in January 1812 he joined Sir Edward Pellew at Port Mahon, where he remained for the greater part of the year, attached to the in-shore squadron before Toulon. There he had more than one opportunity of distinguishing himself in a brilliant skirmish with the enemy's advanced ships.

`[HMS Beacon, HMS Britannia and HMS St Vincent.] Three separate returns of armaments for three Royal Navy ships, each in manuscript, two on printed forms.

Author: 
HMS Beacon, HMS Britannia, HMS St Vincent [Royal Navy ships in the nineteenth century; the Admiralty, Whitehall]
Publication details: 
Return for HMS St Vincent dated 31 July 1833; the other two from the 1830s. [to the Admiralty, Whitehall]
£280.00

HMS Beacon (launched in 1820 as HMS Meteor and renamed in 1832) was a survey ship (having been under her previous name a Hecla-class bomb vessel), sold in 1846. HMS Britannia, the third of the name, was launched in 1820. She took part in the Siege of Sebastopol, and later in 1854 was driven ashore on the Russian coast, thereafter serving as a training ship until being sold for breaking in 1869.

[Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars] Autograph Letter Signed from Richard Truscott, purser of HMS Ocean, to James Sykes, London navy agent, discussing anomalies in the ‘Accounts for the Ocean’ and his recent travels.

Author: 
[Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars] Richard Truscott, purser of HMS Ocean [James Sykes, London navy agent; Admiral William Truscott?]
Publication details: 
‘Ocean Hyeres Bay 18th. April 1814’.
£220.00

Providing an interesting view of the administrative aspect of the Georgian navy. Closely and neatly written on 2pp, foolscap 8vo, on first leaf of a bifolium. 64 lines of text. The letter is signed ‘R Truscott’, but the docketing identifies the writer as ‘Richd. Truscott’. Adressed on reverse of second leaf, with red wax seal and two Plymouth postmarks, to ‘James Sykes Esqr. / Navy Agent / Arundel Street / London’. Around this address are the docketing and some calculations. The seal has a good impression of the crest of ‘RT’, with motto ‘PEACE AND PLENTY’.

[A Scottish Royal Navy Midshipman in the Napoleonic Wars.] Autograph Letter Signed to his mother from Robert Kennedy Thomson of Daljarrock, giving news from HMS Imperieuse, and commenting on news from Scotland.

Author: 
Robert Kennedy Thomson of Daljarrock, Ayrshire, Scotland, Royal Navy Officer in the Napoleonic Wars [HMS Imperieuse; Sir Henry Duncan; Vice-Admiral Sir Joshua Ricketts Rowley]
Publication details: 
‘H.M. Ship Imperieuse Port Mahon [Minorca] / Jany. 12th. 1813.’
£180.00

See Thomson’s entry in O’Byrne’s ‘Naval Biographical Dictionary’ (1849). He had entered the navy in 1811, ‘on board the Impérieuse 38, Capt. Hon. Henry Duncan’, and would retire with the rank of Lieutenant, after a reasonably eventful career, in 1829. In 1849 he was said by O’Byrne to be ‘a Captain in the Ayrshire Militia’. On 30 September 1864 the London Gazette listed him among the ‘Lieutenants on Reserved List, to be Retired Commanders’.

[‘The Reefer’s pain’: Royal Navy, 1806.] Unpublished Autograph Poem ‘The Cockpit’, Signed by ‘J H Grose Assistant Surgeon’, HMS Captain, describing a midshipman's life, with reference to Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds and Thomas John Dibdin.

Author: 
J. H. Grose, Royal Navy Assistant Surgeon of His Majesty’s Ship Captain, 1806 [Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds; Thomas John Dibdin; Lord Nelson]
Publication details: 
3 February 1806. On board HMS Captain.
£280.00

An interesting and well-written poem, unpublished, casting light on the life of a midshipman in the Royal Navy in the year after Trafalgar. The author of this poem is frustratingly elusive (he was perhaps a member of the family of the antiquary Francis Grose, 1731-1791), but the 1787 Captain was a 74-gun third rater of some renown, having been captained by Nelson at the 1797 Battle of St Vincent. In the year following this poem she would act as one of the escorts for the expedition that left Falmouth and eventually attacked Buenos Aires.

[William Marsden, orientalist and numismatist, First Secretary to the Admiralty who broke the news of the victory at Trafalgar.] Autograph Signature ‘Wm Marsden’ to printed Admiralty circular, sent to HMS Kemphaan.

Author: 
William Marsden (1754-1836), Anglo-Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist, and Royal Navy official, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, 1795-1804, First Secretary, 1804-7; HMS Kemphaan; Trafalgar
Publication details: 
London. ‘Admiralty Office, 7 July, 1800.’ 'Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.'
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that ‘it fell to him in October 1805 to wake Lord Barham, as first lord of the Admiralty, with the news of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson’. 1p, folio. Discoloration and wear along gutter, otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice into a packet. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the second leaf being blank, apart from one word of docketing in manuscript ‘Kemphaan’.

[William Marsden, orientalist and numismatist, First Secretary to the Admiralty who broke the news of the victory at Trafalgar.] Autograph Signature ‘Wm Marsden’ to printed Admiralty circular, sent to HMS Staunch.

Author: 
William Marsden (1754-1836), Anglo-Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist, and Royal Navy official, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, 1795-1804, First Secretary, 1804-7 [HMS Staunch; Trafalgar]
Publication details: 
London. ‘Admiralty Office, 7 July, 1800.’ 'Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.'
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that ‘it fell to him in October 1805 to wake Lord Barham, as first lord of the Admiralty, with the news of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson’. 1p, folio. Discoloration and wear along gutter, with two leaves half detached from head; otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice into a packet. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the second leaf being blank, apart from one word of docketing in manuscript ‘Staunch’.

[William Marsden, orientalist and numismatist, First Secretary to the Admiralty who broke the news of the victory at Trafalgar.] Autograph Signature ‘Wm Marsden’ to printed Admiralty circular, sent to HMS Steady.

Author: 
William Marsden (1754-1836), Anglo-Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist, and Royal Navy official, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, 1795-1804, First Secretary, 1804-7 [HMS Steady; Trafalgar]
Publication details: 
London. ‘Admiralty Office, 7 July, 1800.’ 'Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.'
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that ‘it fell to him in October 1805 to wake Lord Barham, as first lord of the Admiralty, with the news of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson’. 1p, folio. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice into a packet. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the second leaf being blank, apart from one word of docketing in manuscript ‘Steady’.

[‘The Sicilians are not quite so well disposed towards us’: Edward Foord Bromley, Royal Navy surgeon and source of Tasmanian scandal.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Sidney Smith, from HMS America at Palermo, describing the unsettled state of Sicily.

Author: 
Edward Foord Bromley (1776-1836), Royal Navy surgeon and Naval Officer at Hobart Town, Tasmania, putative embezzler [Sir Sidney Smith; HMS America; Sicily; Sicilians]
Publication details: 
‘H M Ship America Palermo. / Septr 11. 1813.’
£180.00

An excellent letter, describing the state of affairs in Sicily during the period of British occupation, 1806-1814. The recipient Sir Sidney Smith (see Oxford DNB) was second in command to Sir Edward Pellew, head of the Mediterranean squadron which included Bromley’s ship HMS America, a 76-gun third-rater, launched only three years before, in 1810. The present letter is written with the ship on the verge of a notable engagement (described in the European Magazine, March 1814, pp.245-247, quoting from the London Gazette). From Bromley’s entry by P. R.

[Admiral Sir Richard Rodney Bligh, Royal Navy officer in American War of Independence.] Autograph Letter Signed to the Admiralty, regarding ‘Her Majesty’s Sloop the Wasp under my Command’.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Richard Rodney Bligh (1737-1821), GCB, Royal Navy officer who saw service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars [HMS Wasp]
Publication details: 
‘Wasp, Portsmouth 1st. Decr. 1775.’
£180.00

Bligh’s entry in the Oxford DNB does not note his service on HMS Wasp, to which he was appointed in October 1774. According to one authority the ship ‘saw service out of Passage, County Cork, Ireland from [November 1774]. In October 1775 [Bligh] brought sixty volunteers from Ireland into Plymouth, and in June 1776 sailed from Portsmouth to Plymouth with money for the dockyard artificers.

[William Westall, artist and engraver.] Autograph Letter in the third person to ‘Miss Macirone’ [the composer Clara Angela Macirone], anticipating ‘the greatest pleasure’ in attending her morning concert.

Author: 
William Westall (1781-1850), ARA, artist and engraver, who in his youth travelled to Australia as artist on Matthew Flinders’ HMS Investigator [Clara Angela Macirone (1821-1895), pianist and composer]
Publication details: 
7 June 1847; 7 Pavilion Place, Battersea.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice for postage. Begins: ‘Mr. Westall presents his compliments to Miss Macirone & begs to assure her how very much obliged to her he feels for the honor she has done him in sending him two tickets for her morning concert’. He will have ‘the greatest pleasure in attending’ the concert, and is ‘quite sure he shall be very much delighted’.

[W. H. Smith, newsagent and politician, the ‘Sir Joseph Porter’ of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore.] Autograph Letter Signed to George Townsend Warner, discussing a request to fish in his private stream.

Author: 
W. H. Smith [William Henry Smith] (1825-1891), founder of the fortunes of the British chain of newsagents, Conservative politician, First Lord of the Admiralty [George Townsend Warner (1865-1916)]
Publication details: 
5 March 1891; on letterhead of 10 Downing Street, Whitehall. [London.]
£50.00

From the first Smith has been considered as the model of the ‘Sir Joseph Porter’ of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘HMS Pinafore’, and Disraeli himself is said to have referred to him as ‘Pinafore Smith’. See Smith’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is signed ‘W. H. Smith’, addressed to ‘Mr Townsend Warner’, and headed ‘Private’. The recipient is the historian and Harrow housemaster George Townsend Warner (1865-1916), father of the novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.

[‘Not well fitted for stimulating the Imperial British sentiment’: Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace, Times foreign correspondent, assesses a volume on South Africa with ‘Cape Dutch’ sympathies.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘D. M. Wallace’) to Lady Jersey.

Author: 
Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace (1841-1919), Scottish journalist, foreign correspondent of The Times, Private Secretary to future King George V [Margaret Villiers (1849-1945), Countess of Jersey]
Publication details: 
14 February 1902; on letterhead of St. Ermin’s Mansions, Caxton Street, S.W. [London]
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. On bifolium. A thin strip (no more than 1 cm deep) has been cut away at the head of the first leaf, with no loss of text, otherwise in good condition. Folded once. Written a few months after Wallace’s return from his duties as Private Secretary to the future King George V on his world tour on HMS Ophir, and during the Second Boer War. Wallace has just been struck by the thought that ‘though I returned the Volume on South Africa to the address in Victoria Street’ he forgot to give her his opinion of it.

[H.M.S. Tyne, Flagship; Japan; Pacific Fleet] Two Typescripts (cyclostyled or similar): H.M.S. Tyne's Commission. Pacific Fleet 1944-46 AND Guide to Japan AND Plan of Yokohama Port

Author: 
H.M.S. Tyne, Flagship; Japan; Pacific Fleet
Publication details: 
1944-46 AND 21 March 1946.
£1,350.00

A. H.M.S. Tyne's Commission. Pacific Fleet 1944-46, typescript (cyclostyled or similar), 14pp., fol., stapled, small coloured image of desert island with palm trees on front cover, covers dusted, sl. chipped and stained, but complete and fully legible. Preliminary page detailed list of places visited on the way to Yokohama (dates, distances, etc). Then The Commission of 'H.M.S. Tyne', 1944-46, pp.1-14, details and descriptions of voyage and stops- Port Said, Trincomalee, Sydney, Japanese ports, etc., including wartime activity as it affected the Fleet (e.g.

[Frederic Yates, English artist active in America.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Fred Yates') to Mrs Oldham, describing his examination of the wreck of HMS Foudroyant, for a painting she has commissioned. With sketches of the ship in ink and pencil.

Author: 
Frederic Yates [born Frederic Keeping] (1854-1919), English artist who found fame in America before settling in the Lake District [Oldham family; HMS Foudroyant; Royal Navy; Plymouth; Devonport]
Publication details: 
Letter: 'Sunday noon' [no date]. On letterhead of the Royal Hotel, Devonport. Pencil sketches without date or place.
£450.00

Yates studied in Paris before setting up a successful practice in San Francisco, also teaching there at the Art Student League. His portraits include the educator John Haden Badley and the only president of Hawaii, Sanford Ballard Dole. He returned to England in 1900, but was invited back to America to attend the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson and to paint his portrait. Wilson presented Yates with the flag that his hand rested on whilst he took his oath of office. The Oldham family moved in artistic circles, and Constance Oldham was John Ruskin's god-daughter and corresponded with him.

[Vice Admiral Thomas Brodrick.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Thos: Brodrick') to the Board of Ordnance, renewing a request for an armorer for his ship the Phoenix, 'now that I am going to Longreach and my Smallarms Coming on Board'.

Author: 
Vice Admiral Thomas Brodrick (died 1769), Royal Navy officer who served with distinction in the War of the Austrian Succession, the War of Jenkins' Ear and the Seven Years' War [Board of Ordnance]
Publication details: 
Deptford; 24 August 1743.
£150.00

For Brodrick's distinguished and eventful career, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, folio. In fair condition, aged and worn, with chipping to one edge carrying traces of grey paper mount, and closed tear at foot repaired on reverse with archival tape. Addressed at bottom left 'To the Honle: Board of Ordnance'. Reads: 'Gentlemen | I wrote you the 7th Inst: to desire that you would please to appoint an Armorer for his Majestys Ship the Phoenix under my Command and now that I am going to Longreach and my Smallarms Coming on Board I beg you Will appoint for me'. Endorsed: 'answer'd 26 August'.

[ The Spanish Civil War: Royal Navy evacuation of refugees in 1936. ] Original duplicated copy of an account titled 'H.M.S. “Shropshire” at Barcelona. 22nd August 1936 to 16th September 1936'. With thirteen photographs, including eight of refugees.

Author: 
Spanish Civil War; HMS Shropshire, Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet 1st Cruiser Squadron; Admiral Sir Thomas Hugh Binney (1883-1953); the Spanish Civil War
Publication details: 
'For private circulation only". Dated from 'H.M.S. "Shropshire", | 27th September 1936.'
£1,000.00

HMS Shropshire was a Royal Navy 'London' County-class heavy cruiser, launched in 1928 and decommissioned in 1942. In July 1936, as part of the Mediterranean Fleet 1st Cruiser Squadron, she sailed to Barcelona, relieving HMS London, the first ship to arrive to take off refugees from the Spanish Civil War. The present item (possibly written by Admiral Binney) is excessively scarce: the only other copy traced is in the Hampshire Archives. [3] + 19pp., foolscap 8vo. The original document from the 1930s, spirit-duplicated in aniline ink, with pages on one side only of 22 leaves.

[ Mutiny on HMS Winchester, 1854, and initiation ceremony for blue jackets. ] Proof of the start of an article, including a diary of 'The Winchester's Last Commission' and extract from letter by Sir Charles Fellowes.

Author: 
Anon. [ HMS Winchester and Admiral Sir Charles Fellowes (1823-1886), Commander in Chief, Channel Fleet; mutiny ]
Publication details: 
Without place or date, but after Fellowes' death in 1886.
£180.00

This item appears to be a proof of the first eight pages of an unpublished 'account of the mutiny' on board HMS Winchester in the South China Seas in 1854 (while on its way to take part in the Second Burmese War, in which the Winchester's captain Granville Gower Loch (1813-1853) would be killed). The mutiny, which was quashed by Rear Admiral Fleetwood Pellew (1789-1861), is described by the author of the present item as the ship's 'skeleton in the cupboard'. The text breaks off before the mutiny takes place, with the Winchester having left Point de Galle, and on its way to Trincomalee.

[ A Royal Navy engineer in the Far East and Pacific, 1882-1891. ] Account book of George Parsons, latterly Chief Engineer of HMS Champion, recording his personal and professional expenses on various tours of duty.

Author: 
George Parsons, nineteenth-century Royal Navy Chief Egineer on HMS Champion [ Naval and Maritime ]
Publication details: 
Between August 1882 and May 1891. At locations including Port Said, Alexandria, Portsmouth, London, Suez, Malta, Hong Kong, Yokohama, Tokyo, Vladivostock, Shanghai, San Francisco, Vancouver, Esquimault, Honolulu, Halifax. Further accounts,1889-1911.
£320.00

73pp., in a 12mo account book with printed red rules, in dark marbled boards with black cloth spine. Internally in fair condition, aged and worn, in heavily worn binding. Inscribed 'G. Parsons' twice on front endpapers. (Parsons' Royal Navy certificates as an assistant engineer (1872) and engineer (1878) are held by the National Archives.) The present volume contains a full set of accounts, 1882-1891, over 52pp.; less-detailed accounts, 1898-1911, over 8pp.; desultory accounts over 5pp., including two-pages of the 'Furniture Fund | H.M.S.

[ Royal Navy ] Autograph Letter Signed "R B Farquhar" to "Hall", about the revision of regulations and the Russian Fleet's firing on fishing boats at Dogger Bank.

Author: 
R.B. Farquhar [ Captain, later Admiral Richard Bowles Farquhar, C.B., Royal Navy (1859–1948)].
Publication details: 
HMS Resolution [printed] changed to 'Essex' in MS, Cromarty 25 Oct. 1904.
£85.00

Seven pages, 12mo, two bifoliums, fold marks, staining caused by (removed) sellotape, text clear and complete. "I have read with great interewst the proposed draft revision of the present Regulations governing the exams & advancement of acct. officers." He hopes they will be adopted, but then raises "points of criticism" about hard-working secretaries, officers who fail first time, fewer different certificates of service, presentation of certificates by candidates, disuse of a writer as a clerk, etc. He had taken command of the "Essex" on the 14 September (i.e.

[First World War Royal Navy Night Order Book.] Autograph Signed night order book of Lieut. Commander E. T. R. Chambers, relating to the destroyers HMS Kennet, HMS Welland and HMS Otter, and mostly spent around China.

Author: 
Lieut. Commander Ennis Tristram Ratcliffe Chambers (b.1884), Royal Navy [HMS Kennet; HMS Welland; HMS Otter; Commander R. M. Alleyne, RN]
Publication details: 
In 'S.553' Night Order Book ('Revised December, 1910') by Waterlow & Sons Limited, Printers, London Wall, London. 25 October 1911 to 4 March 1915.
£400.00

82pp., small 4to. In good condition, on lightly aged paper, in worn black cloth, with large printed official 'NIGHT ORDER BOOK' label on front cover, to which Chambers has added 'Captain's' in large letters, and 'TO BE RETURNED TO MY CABIN'. Ruled pages, with printed 'NIGHT ORDER BOOK, H.M.S. [name of ship in manuscript] | ORDERS.' at head.

[HMS Berwick, Royal Navy cruiser.] Duplicated 'List of Urgent Defects', ninety-two in number, with the priority of the necessary work indicated in manuscript, compiled on the verge of the ship's decommissioning in 1946.

Author: 
[HMS Berwick, Royal Navy County class heavy cruiser, of the Kent subclass, launched 1926 and decommissioned 1946; Second World War; North Sea convoys; Norwegian campaign]
Publication details: 
No place. [Admiralty, Whitehall.] Latest reference to December 1944.
£150.00

9pp., foolscap 8vo. Duplicated carbon, printed in purple (except for Item 27, added in black), with the type breaking up heavily at points. Listing 92 numbered items, with columns for 'Departmental Serial No.' and 'Priority', the latter marked up in red pencil with 'A' (top priority), 'B' and 'C'. The list is divided into the following subsections: 'Hull & Miscellaneous', 'Auxiliary Machinery & Gunmountings', 'Electrical', 'First Fitting Stores'. The document was presumably produced as part of an assessment of whether the ship should be saved or scrapped.

[HMS Arethusa, ship's log, 1837.] Manuscript log of HMS Arethusa, while stationed in 'Passa D'Arcos Bay' [Paço d'Arcos, Portugal] and travelling from Cadiz to Lisbon. With 'Remarks' including a death and burial at sea, and punishment by lashing.

Author: 
[HMS Arethusa, 46 gun fifth-rate Royal Navy ship, launched in 1817]
Publication details: 
Passo de Arcos First entry while 'At Single Anchor in Passo D'Arcos Bay' [Paço d'Arcos, Portugal], dated 24 July 1837; last entry from 'Fort St. Julian' [on the mouth of the Tagus river], dated 30 September [1837]
£500.00

HMS Arethusa, the fourth of nine Royal Navy ships to bear the name, was a 46-gun fifth rate launched in 1817. (Fifth-rate ships served as fast scouts or independent cruisers. Owing to their combination of manoeuvrability and firepower, they were often assigned to interdict enemy shipping.) She was was renamed HMS Bacchus in 1844 on conversion into a hulk, and was broken up in 1883. The present item is 21pp., 8vo. Stitched. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn grey paper. With loose heavily worn remains of brown marbled wraps (front and back cover detached from one another).

[Samuel Read of Chatham Dockyard and the School of Naval Architecture.] Autograph Letter Signed ('S: Read') to Viscount Ingestrie, attacking in detail Sir Charles Adam's conduct regarding the construction of the wooden steam paddle frigate HMS Gorgon

Author: 
[Sail to Steam] Samuel Read (1796-1863) of Chatham Dockyard and School of Naval Architecture [Admiral Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, Viscount Ingestrie (1803-1868); Admiral Sir Charles Adam (1780-1853)]
Publication details: 
Chatham. 12 March 1839.
£420.00

A substantial letter, 3pp., foolscap 8vo. 100 lines of text. Bifolium. In very good condition, on aged paper, with one closed along crease line neatly repaired with archival tape. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with Chatham postmark, frank, and black wax seal, to 'Viscount Ingestrie M:P. | 2 Wilton Crescent | Belgrave Square | London'. An interesting document, in which a distinguished Victorian naval architect makes detailed criticisms of an innovation in his field. (HMS Gorgon was designed by Sir William Symonds and launched in 1837.

[New Zealand; Maoris; Admiral David Robertson-Macdonald.] Autograph transcripts of 3 documents (defence of Kororarika, NZ, against an attack by 'natives' during the Flagstaff War). With 88 (eighty-eight) newspaper obituaries and other biographical matter.

Author: 
Admiral David Robertson-Macdonald (1817-1910), Scottish Royal Navy officer who served under six sovereigns [his son David Macdonald Robertson-Macdonald (1857-1919)]
Publication details: 
[Edinburgh, Scotland; Kororarika, Nelson and Auckland, New Zealand.] The transcripts, made by the Admiral towards the end of his life, from documents dating from 1845. The newspaper obituaries all dating from 1910. Other matter from 1918.
£950.00

At the outbreak of the Flagstaff War, Robertson-Macdonald was serving as Commander of HMS Hazard. On 11 March 1845 he was severely wounded while leading the defence of the town of Kororarika (now Russell) from 'the attack of an overwhelming body of natives', resulting in the loss of six of his men. The three transcripts that form Item One below relate to this action, and were presumably made out by the Admiral himself towards the end of his life, in a shaky hand and with a number of errors.

Autograph Letter Signed from Lieut. George Thorp to his brother Robert, written while serving on board HMS Aigle off Smyrna, describing two visits by 'Captain Pacha' [presumably Cenaze Hasan Pasha, sometime Grand Vizier]

Author: 
Lieutenant George Thorp (1777-1797) of HMS Aigle or L'Aigle, son of Robert Thorp, Archdeacon of Northumberland [Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha (1713-1790) of Algiers, Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Empire]
Publication details: 
'L'Aigle Smyrna Sept 5th [1795]'.
£750.00

3pp., 4to. 59 lines of text. Bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with two postmarks and a manuscript note by forwarding agents the Frères Smitmer of Vienna, to 'Robert Thorp Esqr | Alnwick | Northumberland | England'. Addressing his letter to 'My Dear Brother', Thorp begins by congratulating him on his wedding: 'Sailors are bad hands at Complements [sic] but I cannot avoid expressing the satisfaction I had in hearing who my new Sister was'.

Part of autograph 'Diary of the War' of Assistant Paymaster (later Rear-Admiral) Noel Wright, describing three months of his service with Jellicoe's Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow, and reporting the Battle off Texel and sinking of HMS Audacious.

Author: 
Rear-Admiral Noel Wright (1890-1975), Royal Navy [Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Jellicoe, Commander of the Grand Fleet, Scapa Flow; Battle off Texel; sinking of HMS Audacious]
Publication details: 
Covering the period from 18 October 1914 to 4 January 1915.
£1,250.00

163pp., 12mo. In a sturdy notebook, with brass clasp, covered in grey paper. Wright has written '4 | N W' on the front board. On the recto of the first leaf he gives the addresses of 'T', 'C', 'J', 'Adml Campbell' and 'Young'; and on the verso he writes the title 'DIARY OF THE WAR | VOLUME II', above the oval stamp 'SUPPLIED FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE'. He signs 'Noel Wright' at head of the recto of the second leaf.

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