Item Details

British Royal Navy [His/Her Majesty’s Ships] collection of research materials and legal documents on ship bounties and maritime activities.

[(1663)-1900]. Unique. In folder. The collection, perhaps aggregated as research notes for a forthcoming publication, does not have a compiler associated with the materials. Each piece has individual value, however, as a whole illustrates 19th century British maritime history. It is apparent the researcher was compiling examples of the history of bounty during this period and the laws governing such and a specific selection of the Royal Navy’s major war and commerce ships during the 19th century.

Collection includes:

1) Slave Trade (Tonnage Bounties, &c.) 1870. Ordered by the House of Commons. Records the vessels captured for illegal slave trading including the date, names of vessels, number of slaves, crew names, amounts of bounties, etc. Bound with string, with discoloration to edges and fraying. England decreed slave ship trading illegal in 1807.

2) Royal Hospital Greenwich. St. Eustatius advertisement [reprinted 1819] concerning the capture of St. Eustatius island in the Caribbean, 1781. British Navy forces took control of the island from Dutch occupied forces. The island was subsequently recaptured by the French and Irish Single folio with water damage and wear to edges. Visible watermarks and chain lines.

3) Two leaves of correspondence attached in upper left corner. First piece: Addressed to the Treasurer of the Royal Hospital, Greenwich from [illegible autograph] concerning the payment of prize to Lambert Ayfees [sic] of the HMS Royal Oak. The attached letter is in French concerning the payment, 1824. Has visible watermarks and chain lines.

4) Deed [Last will and testament]. Mrs. Jane Brown (W) and Mr. Samuel Mazzey; The Commissioners / Governors of Greenwich Hospital Bond of indemnity on payment of £192.13 waves and prize money out to George Brown deceased late Carpenter of the Hull [sic] Sloop Barracouta [HMS]. Injunction arguing against the executors of the estate of George Brown in favor of his mother and heir, Jane Brown. Handwritten single folio with moderate wear to edges, two wax seals present, legible, visible watermarks and chain lines.

5) Last wlll and testament. John Hemgesberger from Kribswald [sic] in the country of Sweden… constituting his personal holdings over to his friend Christian Dill, baker of Oxford. 1858. Hemgesberger was in service of HMS. Printed single folio with moderate wear to edges, wax seals and evidence of folding, with autographs and miscellaneous notes written in pencil in German and English on verso.

6) Last will and testament. William Emery, private Royal Marine 3rd class, 39 Company Plymouth Division on the HMS Malabar [1836]… constituting his personal holdings over to his wife, Susanna Emery residing in Devon.

7) Lachlan & Co. Brokers to the Marshal of the Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, Shipbrokers, Auctioneers and Valuers, Consulting Engineers and Naval Architects. Reprinted from “Fairplay” 1913. A brief documentation of the sale of German ships from the Crimean War and an account of the Lachlan & Co. firm. Single leaf broadside, fold lines.

8) Five original, disbound Acts of Parliament. Four rebound with string, one loose. All with moderate edge wear:
Caption title: Anno Decimo & Undecimo. Victoriae Reginae.
CAP. LXII. An Act for the Establishment of Naval Prisons, and for the Prevention of Desertion from Her Majesty’s Navy. 1847
CAP. XIX. An Act for facilitating the Payment of Her Majesty’s Navy, and the Payment and Distribution of Prize, Bounty, Salvage and other Monies… 1854.
CAP. XXIV. An Act of facilitate the Appointment of Vice Admirals and of Officers in Vice Admiralty Courts in Her Majesty’s Possessions abroad… 1863.
CAP. XXV. An Act for regulating Naval Prize of War...1864.

9) One folder containing mimeograph facsimiles of “Correspondence between the Admiralty and Chatham Yard 1663-1765." Correspondence consists of letters to and from Sir Edward Gregory, Commissioners of Chatham dock yard. Gregory was in charge of employment of men in the ship yard. The early letters are signed by Samuel Pepys, administrator of the Royal Navy and Vice Admiral Sir George Carteret, et al. The letters address theft and drunkenness at the Chatham Dock Yard. The letters dated 1765 concern the launching of HMS Victory, best known for her role as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. These letters are fastened by metal pins with moderate edge wear, legible in purple mimeo. The first leaf is a typed letter, presumably written by Pepys, but subsequently typed later. All are embossed with a stamp bearing the motto, “Honi soit qui mal y pense.”. Very Good. Small collection of both primary source materials and facsimiles of correspondence. Materials are various folio broadsheets, single sheet letters, printed contracts (last will and testaments), printed Acts, and facsimile mimeograph reproductions; multiple pages of legal material and handwritten documents on A4 paper. With visible edge wear and aging, yet legible with numerous annotations. Item #9683

Price: $1,500.00

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