Royal Naval Asylum and Royal Navy Hospital Greenwich, London...

Hammer

£600

Royal Naval Asylum and Royal Navy Hospital Greenwich, London. An interesting archive of 33 documents and correspondence, including letters and reports, principally covering the period 1809-1862, but one circa 18th century and another dated 1695. A varied collection including letters from and to many of the notable high-ranking Royal Navy officers turned hospital administrators of the period. Documents include: Charles Arbuthnot (1767 – 1850) Secretary to the Treasury. ALS on behalf of the Commissioners of the Treasury, agreeing to submit funds to defray the Royal Naval Asylum’s costs for the year 1815, 7th November 1841. (The Asylum was a small industrial school founded for orphans of military and naval personnel, founded in 1798)John Lonsdale (1788 – 1867) English clergyman, third Principal of King's College, London, later Bishop of Lichfield. ALS to Edward Hawke Locker, English watercolourist and administrator of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich, beseeching him to provide aid in order to support an orphaned boy, 21st November 1831.General Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave. (1755 - 1831). Foreign Secretary under William Pitt the Younger from 1805-1806, followed by other major offices, including First Lord of the Admiralty 1807-1810. ALS to Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, later King of Hanover, advising the Duke that future meetings of the Board of Commissioners of the Royal Asylum will be held at the Admiralty Drawing Room, 11th May, 1809.William Browell (1759–1831). Captain in the Royal Navy who was present at the Battle of Dogger Bank (1781) and the Siege of Toulon (1793). Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital from 1809 until his death. ALS to Rev. J. Maule expressing concerns over the temporary replacement Hospital Chapel preacher being ‘highly objectionable’ and that they will try and find another replacement until Maule’s return.Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet (1772 – 1853). ALS to Sir Richard Goodwin Keats, 4th August 1830, regarding the arrangements for King William IV’s visit to the hospital, including ‘the Mariners from Woolwich to be ordered to keep the ground and furnish a Guard of Honour’.An 18th-century vellum document relating to the Chatham Chest, a fund set up in 1588 to pay pensions to disabled Royal Navy servicemen (merged with Greenwich Hospital in 1803)Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (1724 – 1816) ALS to Admiral of the Red James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez, October 3rd 1806, admonishing the pensioners for going near chestnut trees. ‘The Governor strictly orders that the Pensioners do not walk in the part of the park among the chestnut trees until the nutts are gathered in for the use of the deer, if they do, the keepers have orders to bring them to the hospital & deliver them as prisoners to the officer upon guard, for disobedience.’Admiral Sir Richard Goodwin Keats (1757 – 1834) ALS to Rev’d Alexander MacCabe(?) concerning religious provisions for the hospital's pensioners, 19th May 1824.List of Directors of the Royal Naval Asylum with a specimen of several of their signatures, 23rd July 1819. Signatures comprise the Hospital’s Governor Admiral Sir John Colpoys; Vice Admiral Sir T.B. Thompson; Rt. Hon Lord Auckland; Sir James Cockburn; Samuel Thornton Esq; The Rt. Rev Lord Bishop of Oxford (Samuel Wilberforce) and Vice Admiral Sir Arthur Keye Legge, the other directors listed but remaining unsigned. (partly torn)A letter to Captain Sir Thomas Lavie KCB at the Royal Naval Asylum, offering 500 boys’ hammocks considered surplus requirements to Navy Office stores, 17th May 1819, signed thrice, signatories including J. Tucker and Percy Fraser.Captain Sir Andrew Snape Hamond, 1st Baronet (1738 - 1828) British Naval Officer, Lt-Governor of Nova Scotia. ALS to ‘Dear Sir Evan’ (Nepean), 13th June 1807 offering recommendation for Captain Hunter. (Hamond was previously Lt-Governor of Greenwich Hospital)Admiral Sir John Colpoys (1742 – 1841) Royal Navy Officer and Hospital Governor, notable for ordering marines to fire on mutinous sailors in 1797 during the Spithead Mutiny. ALS concerning hospital matters (laid down)Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent (1735 – 1823) ALS concerning a request to the President of the Naval Asylum, together with another inscribed ‘a true copy’, to an unknown recipient, January 1809, ‘Sir, although the intrigue and secret influence which has been carrying on for some time past, in your behalf did not escape my observation; yet, happening to have a list of your services, beginning with the Jevan(?) sloop, and ending with the Endymion before me when your letter, of yesterday, arrived, I could not help expressing astonishment at your hardness in competing with such men as Dr. Smith and Dr. Kein, who have served in ships of the first class; under officers of the highest rank and consideration; and have had the superintendence of the sick and wounded of large fleets: And, I shall considered it as a very bad omen for the weal of the Royal Naval asylum if you have one voice in your favour…” Other items include: A receipt for goods 1858, an Extract of a Letter from Doctor Baird (Inspector General of Naval Hospitals), letter to Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy seeking recommendation, a statement of Sir Evan Nepean’s remarks [n.d ‘Fulham, Friday Evening] concerning congratulations and instructions, letter from Joseph Hume M.P to Admiral Sir Richard Goodwin Keats, letter from Charlotte Mary (Nelson) Hood, a list of goods received and their prices, dated 1695– and others, including signature clippings (33)