[?Billy Blue?: Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, as Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station.] Manuscript Copy of letter to Philip Stephens, Secretary to the Admiralty, suggesting five ?additional Lieutenants?.

See his entry, and that of the recipient, in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, foolscap 8vo. Laid-paper bifolium with ?I TAYLOR? Britannia watermark. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice into a packet. Reverse of second leaf docketed: ?12 March / Copy / to Philip Stephens Esqr / Duplicate - left at Santa Cruz / Triplicate. sent by the shop from Port Praya Bay 24th. March 89.? See the ODNB: ?When his brother Earl Cornwallis was appointed governor-general of Bengal, Cornwallis was sent out as commodore and commander-in-chief in the East Indies in October 1788?. Unsigned, and with two emendations made at the end of the letter. The handwriting does not appear to be Cornwallis?s. Begins: ?Sir, / I wrote to you for their Lordships information from Madeira, but the Anchorage there not being very safe at this season, and the weather threatening, I thought it most advisable to proceed to this Island to take in Wine and Water for the Ships, which is nearly completed, and I hope to sail to-morrow.? He explains that as the sloop Ariel was put under his command, ?and sailed without a Commander?, he has given ?Lieutenant Moorsom an order to command that Sloop, and Mr. Percy Fraser an order to be first Lieutenant of her?. He proceeds to make suggestions to the Lords of the Admiralty of appointments to the ships the Crown and the Phoenix, and to the sloops Ariel and Atalanta, as he understands that it has ?been frequently the practicec to appoint additional Lieutenants to each ship soon after they have sailed for the East Indies?, and as a ?number of very deserving Gentlemen have most readily undertaken this Voyage, who have been long qualified to be Officers, and who will, I dare believe if opportunities offer, in future do credit to that situation to the Service and their Country?. He names ?Mr. William Cumberland?, ?Lieutenant Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin?, ?Mr. Edward Pierce?, ?Lieutenant Edward Oliver Osborne? and ?Mr. Henry Powlet?. (Powlet went on to become a vice-admiral, Cumberland was the son of the dramatist, and Gosselin's naval career is described in the ODNB.)