MARITIME

[Sir John Michael de Robeck, Admiral of Patrols in the Royal Navy.] Autograph Note Signed with aphorism.

Author: 
Sir John Michael de Robeck (1862-1928), Admiral of Patrols in the Royal Navy
Publication details: 
1919. No place.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 11 x 7 cm piece of grey paper, presumably cut from an album. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from mount on reverse. Reads: ‘Try & trust will move mountains - / J. M. de Robeck / 1919’. See Image.

[‘The most distinguished marine artist of his day’: W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie].] Autograph Letter Signed to S. W. Luard, declining a dinner invitation from the Salters’ Company, as he is starting for Norway at the end of the month.

Author: 
W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie] (1851-1931), ‘the most distinguished marine artist of his day’ [S. W. Luard; the Salters' Company, City of London]
Publication details: 
1 June 1910; on embossed letterhead of Tower House, Tower Street, Portsmouth.
£60.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘W. L. Wyllie.’ He is sorry that he will be unable to avail himself of ‘the kind invitation to dinner sent me by the Master of the Salters Company’. He is starting for Norway on the last day of the month, and will not return until the end of July.

[Battle of Cape Spartivento, 1940, between the Royal Navy forces under Admiral James Somerville, and Italian ships.] Printed item: ‘Supplement to the London Gazette’, containing a 'Narrative of the action', with fold-out maps.

Author: 
[Battle of Cape Spartivento, 1940, between Royal Navy forces under Admiral James Somerville and Italian ships, during the Second World War Battle of the Mediterranean] The London Gazette
Publication details: 
4 May 1948. Printed and published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.
£120.00

A scarce item. See Somerville's entry in the Oxford DNB, for the controversy, involving Churchill. 8pp, 8vo. With two plates of maps, the first a fold-out extending to the width of three pages. Stapled. In fair condition, on lightly worn and discoloured paper. In the customary double column. Begins, despite the date of the number, 'Wednesday, 5 May 1948 / Action between British and Italian Forces off Cape Spartivento on 27th November 1940. / The following Despatch was submitted to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty on the 18th December, 1940, by Vice-Admiral Sir James F.

[W. W. Jacobs, writer noted for his ghost stories and tales of the sea.] Autograph Signature.

Author: 
W. W. Jacobs [William Wymark Jacobs] (1863-1943), English short-story writer, noted for his tales of the sea and ghost stories
Publication details: 
No date. On letterhead of 'Beechcroft, / Berkhamstead.'
£20.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 10 x 7 cm piece of paper, cut down from letterhead. In good condition, lightly aged, with pin holes at top left. Clearly sent in response to a request for an autograph. Reads: 'Yours very truly / W. W. Jacobs'. See scan

[The Navy Office, London.] Manuscript document, addressed to ‘Mr: Turnpenny’ from the Navy Office, in the matter of ‘the Hire of the Pulteney Advice Boat’, regarding a request to delay payment of a bill, signed by six Commissioners of the Navy.

Author: 
The Navy Office, Seething Lane, City of London [Commissioners of the Navy; Navy Board; Royal Navy; Admiralty]
Publication details: 
30 December 1748. Navy Office [Seething Lane, City of London].
£50.00

The War of Jenkin’s Ear had ended a few months before, and Daniel A. Baugh, ‘British Naval Administration in the Age of Walpole’ (Princeton, 1965) describes the sorry state into which the Navy Board had fallen at this point. 1p, foolscap 8vo. On recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, the verso of the second leaf being addressed ‘To / Mr Turnpenny / Navy Office’ and docketted ‘Com[missione]rs of Navy to Mr Turnpenny’. In poor condition and urgent need of archival repair. The laid and watermarked paper is flaking away, and part of text, including a couple of the signatures, is lacking.

[Admiral Beatty [Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty], First Sea Lord.] Autograph Signature from album.

Author: 
Admiral Beatty [Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871-1936)], First Sea Lord, 1919-1927, commander of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland in 1916
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£25.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, in which ‘deep professional commitment and mental toughness’ are said to be qualities whose possession he demonstrated ‘heroically’. On 8 x 5 cm piece of light blue-grey paper. Good large firm signature 'Beatty'. No other writing on page. In good condition, lightly aged.

[Admiral Sir Percy Scott, Royal Navy officer, pioneer of naval gunnery with his ship HMS Terrible.] Autograph Signature cut from end of letter.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Percy Scott [Sir Percy Moreton Scott] (1853-1924), Royal Navy officer and engineer, pioneer in the field of naval gunnery, with his ship HMS Terrible active during the Boxer Rebellion
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£25.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. A 10 x 3 cm slip of paper, cut from the end of a letter in response to a request for an autograph. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: ‘Yours Sincerely / Percy Scott’. Beneath this, in contemporary hand, in pencil: ‘Admiral Sir Percy Scott (Terrible)’.

[Royal Navy ephemera.] Printed commemorative newspaper: ‘Siver Jubilee Naval Review 1935’. Filled with articles, advertisements and illustrations. Contributions by Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, Frank C. Bowen and Evelyn H. Healey.

Author: 
Silver Jubilee Naval Review 1935 [Royal Navy; Spithead; Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers; Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes; Frank C. Bowen; Evelyn H. Healey]
Publication details: 
1935. ‘Published by Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers, Limited, Stanhope Road, Portsmouth. Price ONE PENNY.’
£180.00

A scarce item: no copies on WorldCat or JISC, nor at the Caird Library, National Martime Museum (though the latter does have a signed print of one of the illustrations). Twenty-six broadsheet pages, on news stock paper, in shiny paper covers printed in red, blue and brown. Filled with illustrations and topical advertisements for everything from corsetry to bicycles, from a full-page one on the inside front cover for ‘Brickwoods Jubilee Brew / 4d. per Small Bottle in Public Bars’, to one on the back cover reading ‘On Review / United Ales & Stout Are Supreme’.

[Dreadnought designer: Sir Philip Watts, naval architect.] Offprint with presentation inscription by author: ‘Ships of the British Navy on August 4, 1914, and some matters of interest in connection with their production.’ With four fold-out plates.

Author: 
Sir Philip Watts (1846-1926), British naval architect who designed the revolutionary battleship HMS Dreadnought, and several Elswick cruisers [Institution of Naval Architects, London]
Publication details: 
Read at the Spring Meeting of the Sixtieth Session of the Institution of Naval Architects, April 9, 1919’. London. [Printed by Unwin Brothers, Limited, Woking and London.]
£320.00

This offprint is scarce. The only copy on WorldCat at the Caird Library of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. See Watt's entry in the Oxford DNB, which underlines his pre-eminence: 'At the battle of Jutland (31 May 1916) twenty-nine of the thirty-four British battleships and battle cruisers engaged were of Watts's design.' The item is an offprint from the Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects, vol. 61 (1919). 65 + [1]pp, 4to. Side-stapled, with no covers.

‘Lease of the Dock Yard at Plymouth’: Manuscript draft by lawyers Wimburn, Colletts & Dyson, of indenture between Sir John St Aubyn and ‘The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty’s Navy’.

Author: 
[Plymouth Royal Navy Dock Yard] Sir John St Aubyn (1758-1839), 5th Baronet, landowner, politician and fossil collector
Publication details: 
Draft indenture dated 1 November 1830.
£180.00

St Aubyn’s entry in the Oxford DNB makes no mention of Plymouth or the Royal Navy. 9pp, foolscap 8vo, on nine leaves of laid paper with fleur-de-lys watermark. In poor condition: an attempt has been made to burn the document, and the left-hand side of each leaf has been badly damaged, with much of it crumbled away in burnt flakes, and the surviving text badly marked on that side. The description on the outside of the packet states that the draft is ‘For the perusal of Mr. Jones’ (presumably St Aubin’s lawyer).

[Sir Reginald Tupper, Royal Navy admiral.] Two Autograph Letters Signed from him to Gerald Henderson, with two Autograph Letters Signed from his second wife Lady Caroline Tupper ('Carrie'), also to Henderson.

Author: 
Sir Reginald Tupper [Sir Reginald Godfrey Otway Tupper] (1859-1945), Royal Navy admiral, active in the First World War, and his second wife Lady Caroline Tupper (1863-1948)
Publication details: 
Tupper’s letters: 3 and 10 February 1937, both on letterhead of 22 Draycott Place, S.W.3. [London]. Lady Tupper’s letters: 17 December 1943, on letterhead of The King’s House, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey; and 13 July 1944; on Draycott Place letterhead.
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states: ‘After the death of his first wife he married second, on 24 June 1933, Caroline Maud Abadie (1863–1948), the widow of General Sir Henry Richard Abadie; she was the daughter of Colonel Fanshawe Gostling, of the Royal Berkshire regiment.’ In addition to the two letters apiece from Sir Reginald and Lady Tupper, the material includes, as Item Five, a leaf carrying a 26-line postscript from Lady Tupper to a lost letter. All but Item Five below are on uniform 12mo leaves of grey paper.

[RMS Queen Mary, Cunard White Star ocean liner, maiden voyage.] Printed card for 'Kocktails and Kisses / With Harry Hayes', depicting one of the ship's 'mural carvings by John Skeaping'. With printed names of nine prominent guests.

Author: 
RMS Queen Mary of the Cunard White Star line, launched 1937, built in Glasgow, registered in Liverpool and now a tourist attraction at Long Beach, California
Queen Mary
Publication details: 
'Cunard / White Star'. 'MAIDEN VOYAGE / R.M.S. QUEEN MARY May 31 1936.' 'Printed in England. Q.P.D. 3.'
£120.00
Queen Mary

A scarce and interesting piece of Queen Mary ephemera. No other copy traced. 13 x 16 cm bifolium card. In fair condition, lighly aged and worn. Printed on the front cover in metallic grey and bronze is an image captioned on the back cover: 'One of the three large mural carvings by John Skeaping, Starboard Gallery, Promenade Deck, R.M.S. Queen Mary.' On reverse of cover: 'KOCKTAILS / AND / KISSES / With HARRY HAYES / To-day's great thought: / Are You happy in your work?' On recto of second leaf: 'Amongst the Guests: / Bill Bailey and Liverpool Staff / Dr.

[HMS Alfred [originally HMS Asia] (1811), a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.] Manuscript statement of ‘Armament of H. M. Ship Alfred June 26th. 1833.-’

Author: 
HMS Alfred [originally HMS Asia] (1811), a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy
Publication details: 
26 June 1833.
£250.00

Launched at Frindsbury in 1811 as HMS Asia, played an active role in the War of 1812: in the bombardment Fort McHenry, and the attack on New Orleans, and sharing in the proceeds of the capture of the American vessels in the Battle of Lake Borgne in 1814. She was renamed HMS Alfred in 1819. By the time of this item she had been reduced to a 50-gun fourth rate Frigate. She was eventually broken up in 1865. 1p, small 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. On reverse: ‘Armament / of / H. M. Ship / Alfred’. The front page, in the same hand, is headed: ‘Armament of H. M.

[HMS Comet (1807), Royal Navy ship: 'Sick List'.] ‘Weekly Return of the Sick and Wounded of His Majesty’s Sloop Comet’ on printed form completed in autograph and signed by ‘John Bunting Surgeon’.

Author: 
HMS Comet (1807), Royal Navy Thais-class fireship, re-rated as a sloop in 1808, re-rated again in 1811 as a 20-gun sixth rate, an East Indiaman from 1816 [John Bunting, RN, surgeon]
Publication details: 
HMS Comet, 'at Sea'. Weekly return between 4 and 11 September 1811. On paper watermarked 'W & T CHANDLER / 1809'.
£120.00

1p, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, on watermarked laid paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased and chipped at edges. Folded twice. A printed form in a grid headed (with Bunting's autograph in square brackets): 'WEEKLY RETURN of the Sick and Wounded of His Majesty's [Sloop Comet] between [4th] Day of [September 1811] and the [11th.] Day of [September], employed in [at Sea]'. A grid of nine columns, from 'Disease' to 'Invalided' (subdivided into 'Harbour Duty' and 'Unserviceable'.

[Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby, hero of the Battle of Lissa, Lord of the Admiralty.] Autograph Letter Signed Phipps Hornby, as Superintendent of the Victualling Yard, Plymouth, discussing what to do with the butter and cheese for 'the Ordinary'.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby (1785-1867), senior Royal Navy officer, hero of the Battle of Lissa, 1811, Lord of the Admiralty, Superintendent of the Naval Hospital and Victualling Yard, Plymouth
Publication details: 
‘Navl Hospl [Naval Hospital, Plymouth] / June 21st. [1834]’.
£90.00

See his entry, and that of his son, in the Oxford DNB. Hornby served as Superintendent of the Royal Naval Hospital and Victualling Yard at Plymouth between 1832 and 1838. This item is 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium with thin mourning border. Fifty lines, neatly and closely written. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight damage and a few closed tears around gutter. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Phipps Hornby’, and with recipient (‘My dear Sir’) unnamed. Pencil note giving note by recipient at head of first page, giving prices for butter and cheese ‘for the Year 1834’.

[Sir John Barrow, geographer and author, Second Secretary to the Admiralty.] Autograph Letter in the third person to ‘Mr. Clowes’, regarding his ‘Art[icle]. on Egypt’.

Author: 
Sir John Barrow (1764-1848), geographer and author, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, 1804-1845
Publication details: 
'Tuesday' (no place or date).
£100.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Laid down by the four corners to piece of paper neatly cut down from a leaf of an album. Reads: 'Sir J. Barrow will thank Mr. Clowes to let him have the Art. on Egypt, as soon as set up, as he will have considerable alterations to make towards the

[John Masefield, Poet Laureate and children's writer.] Autograph Signature on inscription to 'Grace', on the back of part of a Book Token.

Author: 
John Masefield (1878-1967), Poet Laureate and children's writer
John Masefield
Publication details: 
31 August 1956. No date.
£90.00
John Masefield

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a 9 x 12.5 cm piece of paper: formerly the first leaf of a bifolium card, the second leaf, which carried the actual book token, having been detached by perforation. In good condition, lightly aged, but with traces of mount at the corners of the reverse, which carries a colour reproduction of a painting by Leonard Richmond. The page with the inscription is a printed form, and Masefield has written 'For Grace.' and 'John Masefield. / August the 31st. 1956.' See Image.

[Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1800.] Printed Privy Council Order in Council, in the name of ‘W. Fawkener’, regarding ‘modes of Payment by Allotments, and other new Regulations respecting Tickets’.

Author: 
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1800 [William Augustus Henry Fawkener (c.1750-1811), Clerk to the Privy Council; the Royal Navy; King George III]
Publication details: 
‘At the Court at St. James’s, The 28th of May, 1800.’ Slug: ‘Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.’
£50.00

1p, folio. On recto of the first leaf of a bifolium of watermarked laid paper. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight wear and spotting to the extremities. With ‘(L.S.)’ at top right and at the foot the slug ‘Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.’ Headed: ‘At the Court at St. James’s, / The 28th of May, 1800. / PRESENT, / The King’s Most Excellent Majesty / in Council.’ Thirty-four lines of text, including a twenty-three line transcription of an Admiralty memorandum, in smaller type.

[Napier of Merchistoun: William John Napier, 9th Lord Napier of Merchistoun.] Long Autograph Letter Signed ‘To Colonel Napier / Royal Artillery’ [Charles Napier?], regarding genealogical matters, and with a Royal Navy reminiscence.

Author: 
Lord Napier of Merchistoun [William John Napier, 9th Lord Napier (1786-1834), Royal Navy officer and Chief Superintendant of Trade in China [Col. Charles Napier (d.1849), Royal Artillery?]
Publication details: 
‘Thirlestane - Selkirk Decr 19 / 1831’.
£220.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is presumably the Captain Charles Napier (d.1849) of the Royal Artillery who ‘received eight wounds from the bursting of a shrapnel shell’ at Waterloo (see Dalton’s ‘Waterloo Roll Call’, p.194). 8pp, 4to. Closely and neatly written on two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged, but folded three times into a packet, and with some closed tears to the creases. Addressed ‘To Colonel Napier / Royal Artillery’ and with the valediction ‘I will now bid you adieu & subscribe myself / Yr very faithful Kinsman / Napier’.

[‘Lord Wellington is in full pursuit of the French’: Col. Thomas Abernethie of the Royal Marines, 1811.] Autograph Letter Signed from Major Thomas Abernethie, Royal Marines, to Cox and Son, regarding a cask of madeira and news of the Peninsular War.

Author: 
Col. Thomas Abernethie (c.1759-1840) of the Royal Marines [Duke of Wellington; Peninsular War; Madeira Wine, Portugal]
Publication details: 
‘Lisbon 16 March 1811’.
£150.00

He receives the briefest of obituaries in the Gentleman's Magazine, July 1840: 'May 10. At Exeter, aged 81, Col. Thomas Abernethie, K.H. on the retired list of the Royal Marines.' 3pp, 4to. Bifolium. On aged and discoloured paper, with the usual damage to the second leaf from the breaking of the seal. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with postmark, to ‘Messrs Cox & Son / 20 Bartletts Buildings / Holborn / London’. Signed ‘Thos. Abernethie’ and docketed ‘Maj: Abernethie / 16 March 1811’. Begins: ‘Gentlemen / I have requested a Cap.

[W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie], distinguished English maritime painter.] Autograph Note Signed to Douglas A. Wenslow, supplying an autograph.

Author: 
W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie] (1851-1931), distinguished English maritime painter
Publication details: 
26 July 1899. On letterhead of Hoo Lodge, Hoo Saint Werburgh, Nr. Rochester.
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo, on the first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition. Folded once for postage. Addressed to 'Douglas A. Wenslow Esq'. Reads: 'Dear Sir / Many thanks for your kind letter. / Here is the Autograph / yours truly / W L Wyllie'.

[W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie], distinguished English maritime painter.] Autograph Card Signed to 'Miss Swan' (daughter of artist John Macallan Swan) regarding 'the copy of Cape St Vincent' and a roll that is unsuitable for a panorama.

Author: 
W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie] (1851-1931), distinguished English maritime painter [John Macallan Swan (1847-1910), RA, painter and sculptor]
Publication details: 
24 March 1931. Letterhead: 'From / W. L. Wyllie, / Tower House, Portsmouth / Tel. 2598.'
£45.00

See his entry, and that of Swan, in the Oxford DNB. From the Swan papers. On both sides of an 11.5 x 9 cm card. In good condition, lightly aged, and with faint ink line at foot. Signed 'W L Wyllie'. Begins: 'Dear Miss Swan / Very many thanks for sending me the copy of Cape St Vincent. It is quite fine I will try if I cannot steal a bit for my big picture.' He turns to a 'roll' which is 'not long enough to make a panorama', but which he hopes to be able to 'drive round and look at' when the weather is warmer.

[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.

[American shipbuilding, Massachusetts, 1866.] Manuscript ‘Contract for building a Schooner’ between William Greenleaf Blackler of New Bedford and six Fairhaven carpenters, with all their signatures and that of witness Moses H. Delano.

Author: 
American Shipbuilding, New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts, 1866; William Greenleaf Blackler; Ebenezer Bryden; Benjamin Westgate; George F. Eldred; Charles H. Coombs; Moses H. Delano
Publication details: 
[Fairhaven, Massachusetts, United States of America.] ‘made this day March 20th 1866’.
£220.00

Blackler’s papers are in the New Bedford Whaling Museum. 4pp, foolscap 8vo. Eighty lines of text, with last page written crosswise. On wove paper with stationer’s embossed mark. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper with light staining at edges. Text clear and entire. Begins: ‘Contract for building a Schooner made this day March 20th 1866 by and between Wm G.

[Louis Alexander Mountbatten [formerly Prince Louis Alexander of Battenberg], 1st Marquess of Milford Haven.] Autograph ‘Note for Secretary’, with monogram Signature ‘LB’, regarding to the ‘relative positions of “Iris” & “Phoebe”’.

Author: 
Louis Alexander Mountbatten [formerly Prince Louis Alexander of Battenberg], 1st Marquess of Milford Haven (1854-1921), First Sea Lord, German prince related by marriage to the British royal family
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. With mourning border. In fair condition, aged and worn, with remains of white 'star' wafer mounts adhering to the four corners. Beneath the underlined heading 'Note for Secretary' reads: 'The relative positions of Iris & Phoebe do not appear to agree in papers marked (2) and (4) in my letter. Please let me know which is right. / LB.' Presumably Iris and Phoebe were ships.

[Napoleonic Wars: Eleven-ship British North Sea Convoy, from Hull to Tønning, Duchy of Schleswig, Denmark (now Tönning, Germany), 1805.] Detailed and lengthy manuscript ‘Statement & Division of 11 Ships Freight to Tonning 1st Round 1805’.

Author: 
Napoleonic Wars: British North Sea Convoys [Hull to Tønning, Duchy of Schleswig, Denmark (now Tönning, Germany), 1805; Royal Navy]
Convoy
Publication details: 
No place or date, but an English document relating to a convoy from Hull, England, to Tonning [Tønning], Duchy of Schleswig, Denmark [now Tönning in Germany], in 1805.
£350.00
Convoy

An interesting indicator of the economic impact of the continental blockade in the year of the Battle of Trafalgar. Roger Knight provides an excellent overview of the background to the present document in his ‘Convoys: The British Struggle against Napoleonic Europe and America’ (2022), and in particular the fifth chapter, which deals with North Sea Convoys between 1804 and 1812.

[Royal Navy, 1704.] Printed House of Lords paper comprising Admiralty tables headed ‘A Monthly Account of Cruizers [Home-Convoys], from the First of January, to the First of November.’

Author: 
Royal Navy, 1704 [Admiralty: Monthly Account of Cruizers and Home Convoys; House of Lords; Parliament]
 Monthly Account
Publication details: 
Ordered to be printed 5 February 1705 by the House of Lords (Houses of Parliament, London). Covering period ‘from the First of January, to the First of November [1704]’.
£220.00
 Monthly Account

A scarce piece of naval ephemera. Six copies on COPAC: Chetham’s Library, Lambeth Palace, NLS, Oxford, Society of Antiquaries and BL. According to ESTC, the journals of the House of Lords state that it was ‘presented to the House on 17 January 1705, and ordered to be printed 5 February 1705’. In landscape on one side of a folio sheet of watermarked laid paper, folded into a two-page bifolium.

[Major John Lodington, Royal Marine, future Naval Officer at Dominica.] Two Autograph Letters Signed by him, and one by his wife, to Messrs Cox & Son, Royal Marine Agency Office, regarding a creditor's 'unpleasant letter', 'Monte Video Prize Money'.

Author: 
Major John Lodington, Royal Marines, Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Dominica, the Earl of Huntingdon [HMS Ardent; Messrs Cox & Son, Royal Marine Agency Office, London]
Publication details: 
Lodington’s two letters: first, 25 May 1808, Royal Marine Barracks; second, 8 June 1808, ‘H.M.S. Ardent, Sheerness’. Mrs Lodington’s letter, 29 May 1808; Norwich.
£100.00

Lodington would be ‘appointed naval officer at Dominica’ in 1814, and the last heard of him is in a letter of 1824 from the same place (offered separately), where ‘Lieut. Col. Lodington’ is awaiting trial, having been abandoned by the Governor, the Earl of Huntingdon. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged, and each is docketed on the reverse, with the usual folds for postage. ONE: Lodington to ‘Charles E. Cox Esqr | For Cox & Son’, 25 May 1808, ‘Royal Marine Barracks’. 1p, 4to. Signed ‘John Lodington / Major Royal Mars’.

[High Court of Admiralty (Sir William Scott): the wreck of the Eliza (James Driver, Master), 4 August 1818.] Two manuscript documents: an affidavit by 'Messrs. Cobb & Son / Margate / by favor of Mr. Meagher', and a memorandum regarding a dispute.

Author: 
High Court of Admiralty, London (Sir William Scott): The wreck of the Eliza (James Driver, Master), 4 August 1818 [Messrs Cobb & Son, Margate]
Publication details: 
[High Court of Admiralty, London.] Neither item dated, but both circa 1819 (the memorandum on paper watermarked 1817).
£120.00

The Eliza was on her way to Bristol from Memel in Prussia when she was wrecked on the Kentish Knock on 4 August 1818. The court is not named, but the second document contains a reference to 'the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court'. ONE: Affidavit headed ‘Eliza James Driver Master.’ 1p, foolscap 8vo. Forty-six lines, closely written. Text clear and entire on aged paper with chipping along head of leaf. On reverse: ‘Messrs. Cobb & Son / Margate / by favor of Mr.

[Admiral Sir Thomas Sabine Pasley, Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard and Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth.] Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed ‘Major’, rescheduling an engagement cancelled for 'the best possible reason'.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Thomas Sabine Pasley, 2nd Bart (1804-1884), senior Royal Navy officer, Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard and Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth
Publication details: 
2 December 1872. On letterhead of Moorhill, Shedfield, Fareham, Hants.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. With thin mourning border. Extraction from an album has resulted in some wear to the border at the right of the page: otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘My dear Major’ and signed ‘Thos Sabine Pasley’. He is sorry the recipient ‘can’t come on Wednesday’, but he has ‘the best possible reason for not doing so’. He asks to be remembered ‘very kindly to your father on that day’. He asks if he can ‘come on Wednesday week’, as he has engaged a family (illegible) to meet him that day.

Syndicate content