NAPOLEONIC

[The Fall of Fort Bowyer to the British, following the Battle of New Orleans, 1815.] Contemporary Manuscript Copy of Autograph Despatch from Major John Lambert to Earl Bathurst, describing the action.

Author: 
Sir John Lambert (1772-1847), British Army general in the Napoleonic Wars [Henry Bathurst (1762-1834), 3rd Earl Bathurst; Battle of New Orleans and Fall of Fort Bowyer, 1815]
Publication details: 
'Head Quarters Isle Dauphine | February 14th. 1815.' [On paper with Golding & Snelgrove watermark dated 1811.]
£450.00

3pp, foolscap 8vo. On laid paper with watermark: 'GOLDING | & | SNELGROVE | 1811'. Aged and worn, with closed tears along folds, but with text complete and clear. The document includes two passages written in red ink which has faded but is still legible. The background to the present letter is given in Lambert's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'On 4 June 1813 Lambert was promoted major-general, and was appointed to a brigade of the 6th division. [?] Having been sent to America, he joined the army under Sir Edward Pakenham below New Orleans on 6 January 1815, with the 7th and 43rd foot regiments.

[‘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.

[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.

[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.

[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’.

[Royal Navy, 1804: Board of Admiralty, Whitehall.] Contemporary Manuscript Translation of 'Project' by 'Hy: Ernst: Seiffert, senior' of Hamburgh, who offers to arrange for the inventor of a naval weapon to come to England with 'four proper workmen'.

Author: 
[Royal Navy, 1804: Board of Admiralty, Whitehall] Heinrich Ernst Seiffert senior, Hamburgh, Germany
Publication details: 
'Hamburgh. 6 Nov 1804'. Postscript dated from same place, 9 November 1804. On paper with Britannia watermark, dated 1803.
£220.00

There is a record of one 'Heinrich Ernst Seiffert aus Altona bei Hamburg' in 1787. The letter is clearly addressed to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, whom, we may be sure, were not taken in by what was either the production of a madman or a clumsy confidence trickster. 3pp, foolscap 8vo. On bifolium of gilt-edged paper. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper with slight wear and short closed tears to extremities. Folded twice.

[The Royal Marines in the Napoleonic Wars.] Autograph Letter Signed from Charles Homfray, 2nd Lieutenant, Royal Marines, regarding ?some mistake? in the statement of his half pay.

Author: 
The Royal Marines in the Napoleonic Wars; Charles Homfray of Broadwaters, Worcestershire
Publication details: 
?Broadwaters [Worcestershire] March 23rd. 1803?.
£75.00

For the family see the entry on ?HOMFRAY, of Wollaston Hall, and The Hill, near Stourbridge; Broadwaters, Kidderminster; and The Hyde, Kinver, Staffordshire?, in H. S. Grazebrook, ?The Heraldry of Worcestershire? (1873). 1p, 8vo. Text clear and complete, on aged paper worn and chipped at edges, with one short closed tear. Previously folded into a packet. Endorsed. Reads: ?Sir / I have just rec?d yours enclosin [sic] a statement of the Half Pay which you say is 33? - 8s - [?]d & that there is only 12? . 15s due to me for 6 months.

[The Duke of Wellington, British soldier, conqueror of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.] Manuscript letter by a secretary, on his behalf, to 'Mr: Briggs', suggesting a meeting with 'the Gentleman mentioned in Mr. Briggs's note'.

Author: 
The Duke of Wellington [Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington] (1769-1852), conqueror of the French in the Peninsular Campaign, and of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo; prime minister
Duke of Wellington
Publication details: 
27 November 1826. London.
£120.00
Duke of Wellington

1p, 4to. In fair condition, on aged and somewhat brittle paper, with unobtrusive repair to one corner. Folded three times. Certainly not in Wellington's distinctive hand. Reads: 'The Duke of Wellington presents his Compliments to Mr: Briggs and begs to acquaint him that he is going out of Town this night. / But he will be happy to receive the Gentleman mentioned in Mr. Briggs's note at the Ordnance Office Pall Mall on Friday next at three oClock. / London / 27th: Novr: 1826.' See Image.

[General Sir James Pulteney [Sir James Murray-Pulteney, 7th Baronet], Scottish soldier.] Autograph Signature, as Secretary at War, to War Office printed circular regarding clothing, made out ‘for the Establishment of the Cambridge Regiment of Militia

Author: 
General Sir James Pulteney [Sir James Murray-Pulteney, 7th Baronet (c.1755-1811), Scottish soldier with the British Army in the American War of Indendence, Member of Parliament and Secretary at War
Ja: Pulteney
Publication details: 
'(CIRCULAR.) / WAR-OFFICE, / 10th JULY, 1807.' [Whitehall, London.]
£120.00
Ja: Pulteney

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Folded twice. A printed circular, completed in manuscript by a secretary for the ‘Earle of Hardwicke Kt’ (as Colonel of the Cambridge Regiment of Militia), and signed by Pulteney ‘Ja: Pulteney’. Note at head of page in a third contemporary hand: ‘Copied for Col. the Rt. Hon. Chas. Yorke - 14/7/7’.

[Lieut.-Gen. Sir Manley Power, British Army officer in the Peninsular War and then Lieutenant Governor of Malta.] Autograph Signature (‘M. Power / M Genl. Comm[andin]g’).

Author: 
Lieut.-Gen. Sir Manley Power (1773-1826), British Army officer who lead a Portuguese brigade in the Peninsular War, later appointed Lieutenant Governor of Malta
Power
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£50.00
Power

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On piece of 8.5 x 4.5 cm laid paper cut. In fair condition, on aged paper with reverse bearing traces of glue from mount. Reads: ‘M. Power / M Genl. Comm[andin]g’. Endorsed on reverse: ‘M General / Sir Manley Power / K.C.B’. See Image.

[Lord Fitzroy Somerset, later Lord Raglan.] Secretarial Letter, Signed by him, regarding the application to purchase a commission by Captain Thomas Monck Wilson, 59th Foot, on behalf of his son Charles.

Author: 
Lord Fitzroy Somerset, latterly Lord Raglan [Field Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan], Private Secretary to the Duke of Wellington, commander of British troops in the Crimean War
Publication details: 
'Horse Guards [Whitehall, London] / 1st August 1846'.
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, on aged paper with nicks and small closed tears to extremities. Addressed to ‘Thos. M. Wilson Esqre / the Captain 59 foot’, and signed ‘Fitzroy Somerset’. The document is in a secretarial hand, only the signature being in Somerset’s autograph.

[Napoleonic Wars: the arming of six British merchant ships, c.1807.] Manuscript ‘Account of Sundry Stores received from the Pilot Boates [sic]’, ‘Respecting Arming Pilot Boates / Account of Stores’.

Author: 
Napoleonic Wars: the arming of six British merchant ships, c.1807 [Brittania, Stephen Brown; Sloop Neptune, John Hurry; Syren, William Jackson; Fox, Thomas Lundie; Rover, Robert Jackson]
Publication details: 
Entries dated between May 1805 and June 1809. On paper watermarked ‘J WHATMAN / 1807’.
£280.00

None of the boats and captains named in the present item are present in contemporary Navy Lists, so they would appear to be merchant ships. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. Aged and worn, with slight loss along edges and faded to a small portion of text. Folded four times into a packet, named (on the reverse): ‘Respecting Arming Pilot Boates / Account of Stores’. The whole of the recto is filled with text, divided into six rectangles in two columns of three rectangles each, under the heading ‘Account of Sundry Stores received from the Pilot Boates’.

[Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1796.] Appointment of John McKenzie ‘to Command His Majesty’s Gun Boat the Morwelham’, signed by Sir Philip Stephens, James Gambier, Sir William Young, and Secretary to the Board Evan Nepean.

Author: 
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1796 [signed by Sir Philip Stephens, James Gambier, Sir William Young, and by Evan Nepean, Secretary to the Board of Admiralty; John McKenzie of the Morwelham]
Publication details: 
16 September 1796. [The Admiralty, Whitehall, London.]
£280.00

1p, foolscap 8vo. On piece of wove paper with Britannia watermark. Lightly aged and in fair condition, but with some creasing and nicking at the head. Folded three times into a packet. A printed document, completed in manuscript.

[' 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.

[John Cooke of Hendon, English cartographer.] Engraved map of Cairo, Egypt, titled 'Plan du Kaire et des Environs', including plan of the 'Chateau du Kaire' and key to 'Ghize'.

Author: 
John Cooke of Hendon (c.1765-1845), English cartographer, successively of Mill Hill, Hendon, Middlesex, and (from 1799) Howland Street, London [Cairo ('Kaire'), Egypt; Pierre Didot, Paris publisher]
Publication details: 
[Paris: Pierre Didot, 1802.] Engraved at bottom right: 'John Cooke, sc. 50 Howland St' (London).
£220.00

Thirty-six works by Cooke are listed between 1790 and 1843. The present item, along with its companion piece ‘Carte de la basse Egypte: dressée d'après les observations astronomiques de C. Nouet, et les reconnaissances des ingénieurs et officiers employés à l'Armée d'Orient’, appeared in ‘Planches du Voyage dans la Basse et la haute Egypte, par Vivant Denon’, published in Paris by P. Didot in 1802. Both have the engraved signature ‘John Cooke, sc, 50 Howland St.’ The dimensions of the map are approximately 31.5 x 23.5 cm.

[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’.

[Sir Charles Adam, Admiral of the Royal Navy and Lord of the Admiralty.] Manuscripts (presumably both Autograph) giving itemised lists of fees incurred in 'two appeals' by ‘Captn. Chas. Adams - Royal Navy’ and ‘William Adam Esr.’

Author: 
Sir Charles Adam (1780-1853), Admiral of the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars, Lord of the Admiralty and Member of Parliament, son of William Adam (1751-1839) of Blair Adam, Kinross
Publication details: 
Items in Captain Charles Adam’s list dating from November 1805 and March 1807. Items in William Adam’s list dating from July 1805, January and December 1806 adn July 1808. [Kinross, Scotland?]
£50.00

Sir Charles Adam was great-grandson of the architect William Adam, and his father (also William Adam) was a friend of Sir Walter Scott. See the entries for Charles Adam and his father in the Oxford DNB. William Adam had a son - Charles’s brother - named William George Adam (1781-1839), but the reference to ‘Wm. Adam Esqr. Senior and Junior’ appears to suggest the father. Each of the two items is 1p, 4to. They are on different paper stock. Both in good condition, lightly aged. Both endorsed with modern note in pencil: ‘enclosed in Spottiswoode to W. A. - 23 July 08’. ONE: ‘Captn. Chas.

[Conquest of Cayenne, 1809.] Manuscript Petition to King George III, signed by Thomas Sevestre, surgeon of HMS Confiance, asking permission to 'enjoy the Privileges' of a Portuguese order. With seal of Portuguese ambassador Sousa Coutinho.

Author: 
Conquest of Cayenne, 1809 [French Guiana conquered by the Portuguese under British leadership]; Sir Thomas Sevestre (1784-1842) [Sir James Lucas Yeo (1782-1818)]
Publication details: 
Certified correct in London on 31 March 1810.
£250.00

The Conquest of Cayenne - part of Britain’s strategy of using its naval power to attack French colonial interests in the Napoleonic Wars - is described in the fifth volume of William James’s ‘Naval History of Great Britain’ (1827). Britain was only able to contribute HMS Confiance, but its captain James Lucas Yeo was put in charge of the whole expedition, and he and his crew performed with distinction (see Yeo’s entry in the Oxford DNB).

[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, First Secretary to the Admiralty who broke the news of the victory at Trafalgar.] Autograph Signature ‘Wm Marsden’ to printed Admiralty order, addressed to Commodore Darby, regarding overmanning with 'young Gentlemen'.

Author: 
William Marsden (1754-1836), Anglo-Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist, and Royal Navy official, First Secretary to the Admiralty, 1804-7 [Admiral Sir Henry D'Esterre Darby (1749-1823)]
Publication details: 
Admiralty Office [Whitehall, London]. 6 May 1802.
£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’. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with creasing at head. Folded into packet. 1p, folio, and docketed on reverse: ‘Admiralty Order of 6 May 1802 respecting Bearing Boys of 1st Class recd. 1 July 1802 -’. Signed by Marsden, and addressed by him ‘To / Commodore Darby / &c. &c.

['The most respected soldier of his time' after Wellington: Sir George Murray.] Autograph Letter in the third person, sending a copy of his ‘speech on the Catholic Relief Bill’.

Author: 
Sir George Murray (1772-1846), distinguished British soldier and Tory politician, Wellington’s quatermaster-general during the Peninsular War, Governor of Sandhurst [Catholic emancipation]
Publication details: 
5 April 1829. 5 Belgrave Square [London].
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that he 'was after Wellington the most respected soldier of his time in Britain, whose opinion carried immense weight both at home and abroad and not only on military matters'. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight creasing at head. Reads: ‘Sir George Murray has to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Wrights letter of the 4th.

[‘Nor will I lose a farthing for all the Generals in the Kings dominions’.] Autograph Letter Signed from future Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Dashwood, concerning prize money for the Danish ship the Venus, captured by him at the Battle of Copenhagen, 1807

Author: 
Sir Charles Dashwood (1765-1847), Royal Navy Vice-Admiral who served during the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and War of 1812 [Battle of Copenhagen, 1807]
Publication details: 
‘Franchise [HMS Franchise], Spithead / 16th Feby. 1808.’
£250.00

See his long obituary in the Gentleman’s Magazine, December 1847. This letter, which concerns the prize money for the capture of the 36-gun Danish fifth-rater the Venus, captured by Dashwood at the Battle of Copenhagen, 1807. 2pp, 4to, on the first leaf of a bifolium, the reverse of the second leaf is addressed, with two postmarks, to ‘James Sykes Esqe / Arundle St / London’, and docketed ‘C. Dashwood / 16 Feb 1808 / Recd 17 do’. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight damage to second leaf from breaking open of the wafer. Folded for postage.

[‘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.

[Prize Ships; Royal Navy: Admiralty; Napoleonic War.] Manuscript Letter from Edmund Hurry & Co to the London marine Charles Cox, offering to ‘take charge of the disposal of the Ships and their Cargoes’ in Gosport.

Author: 
[Prize Ships; Royal Navy; Admiralty; Napoleonic War.] Edmund Hurry [Edmund Cobb Hurry (1762-1808)] of Gosport [Charles Cox and Co., London marine agents]
Publication details: 
‘Gosport May 30th 1803.’
£220.00

An interesting piece of Royal Navy and Napoleonic War ephemera, casting light on the implementation of Admiralty Prize Law. See the reference to the writer of this letter in the 1926 ‘Memorials of the family of Hurry of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and of America, Australia, and South Africa’: ‘Edmund Cobb [Hurry], born at Great Yarmouth, in 1762, admitted a freeman by birthright, 23rd of August, 1782. He settled as a merchant and banker, at Gosport, where he married a Miss Liddell.

[Henry Legge, E. Bouverie, and another, of the Navy Office; Mary Ross, Woman Shipbuilder] Secretarial Letter Signed by Henry Legge, E. Bouverie and another of the Navy Office about a plan sent to Mary Ross for fitting an orlop to ships in her Yard.

Author: 
Henry Legge, E. Bouverie, and another (name not construed) of the Navy Office.
Publication details: 
Navy Office, 30 May 1809.
£220.00

One page, folio, bifolium, edges marked, fold marks, some staining, small hole (seal removed), text clear and complete. Addressed to Mrs Ross | Rochester, On HM Service. Text: We sent you last evening, by the Coach, a plan for fitting the orlop of a 74 Gunship, to which We desire you will conform in fitting His Majesty's Ships Vigo and Stirling Castle, acknowledging the receipt of it. | We are | Your affectionate Friends | [SIGNED] [undeciphered name], H. Legge | E Bouverie. Note: Mary Ross (Wikipedia): Mary Ross [...] was an English shipbuilder.

[Henry Legge, E. Bouverie, and another, of the Navy Office; Mary Ross, Woman Shipbuilder] Secretarial Letter Signed by Henry Legge, E. Bouverie and another of the Navy Office about a plan sent to Mary Ross for fitting an orlop to ships in her Yard.

Author: 
Henry Legge, E. Bouverie, and another (name not construed) of the Navy Office.
Publication details: 
Navy Office, 30 May 1809.
£220.00

One page, folio, bifolium, edges marked, fold marks, some staining, small hole (seal removed), text clear and complete. Addressed to Mrs Ross | Rochester, On HM Service. Text: We sent you last evening, by the Coach, a plan for fitting the orlop of a 74 Gunship, to which We desire you will conform in fitting His Majesty's Ships Vigo and Stirling Castle, acknowledging the receipt of it. | We are | Your affectionate Friends | [SIGNED] [undeciphered name], H. Legge | E Bouverie. Note: Mary Ross (Wikipedia): Mary Ross (18th-century – 1847) was an English shipbuilder.

[General Andrew F. Barnard; Waterloo] Substantial Autograph Letter Signed A F Barnard to Wilson

Author: 
A.F. Barnard [General Sir Andrew Francis Barnard (1773 – 1855) Irish British Army officer.]
Publication details: 
Sudbury, 6 January 1841
£220.00

Four pages, 12mo, bifolium, fold marks, some minor blotching, mainly good condition. Text: Many thanks [...] | I think one or possibly two Eagles [Standards] were found in the Coira by the Peasantry some time after the affair of Foz de Arouce but Lord J Somerset can give you accurate information on the subject.

[James Gambier; William Young and another, Admirals] Printed Document Signed by three Commissioners, one signature undeciphered (see image), other signatures of J Gambier and W Young, Commissioners, about marking barrels of gunpowder.

Author: 
[James Gambier, Admiral; William Young, Admiral; signature of third unidentified but all Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of Great-Britain and Ireland]
Publication details: 
Date added in manuscript, 31 January 1799 (Watermark 'GR 1794').
£320.00

One page, folio, good condition. In the form of an instruction/letter addressed to The respective Captains, Commanders, and Commanding Officers of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels and Concludes By the Command of their Lordships [Autograph] W Marsden. Marsden (Wikipedia): William Marsden FRS FSA (16 November 1754 – 6 October 1836) was an Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist who served as Second, then First Secretary to the Admiralty during years of conflict with France. James, Lord Gambier and Sir William Young, both Admirals, also feature strongly in Wikipedia.

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