AUTOGRAPH LETTER ADMIRAL SIR RICHARD ONSLOW RE CAPTAIN PHILIP DURHAM HMS ANSON

Description: FROM AN INTERESTING COLLECTION OF RECENTLY ACQUIRED ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPH LETTERS : From a collection of recently acquired genuine autograph letters : On a single foolscap folio sheet, a 14 line manuscript letter to the Maters of H.M. Ships Colossus, Regulus & Medusa, saying that Captain Durham of HMS Anson has a quantity of clothes on board which have been destroyed by vermin, and he requires them to repair on board the ANson and take a survey of the said clothes. Probably in a secretarial hand, signed by Admiral Onslow. Minor edge-nicks, a tiny hole in the sheet, not affecting text, 3 vertical folds. Good condition. Captain Durham distinguished himself as Captain of HMS Defiance at Tragfalgar. Onslow, Sir Richard, first baronet (1741–1817), naval officer, was born on 23 June 1741, the younger son of Lieutenant-General Richard Onslow (c.1697–1760) and Pooley, daughter of Charles Walton of Little Burstead, Essex; his elder brother was George Onslow (1731–1792). Arthur Onslow, speaker of the House of Commons, was his uncle, and this 'interest' brought the young Richard rapid promotion. In the East Indies, Vice-Admiral George Pocock made him fourth lieutenant of the Sunderland on 17 December 1758; fifth of the Grafton on 3 March 1759 and, on 17 March 1760, fourth of the Yarmouth, Pocock's flagship, in which he returned to England. On 11 February 1761 he became commander of the Martin cruising the Skagerrak, until promoted on 14 April 1762 to captain of the Humber (40 guns), which he joined in June. The Humber was wrecked off Flamborough Head on her return from the Baltic in September, but Onslow was acquitted at a court martial (the pilot being blamed) and was appointed to the Phoenix on 29 November. As a founder member in 1765 of the Navy Society dining club Onslow indulged 'a nautical predilection for conviviality' (Franks, 328). From 18 January 1766 to 1769 he commanded the frigate Aquilon in the Mediterranean and, from 12 October 1770, the Diana in the West Indies. On 18 January 1773 George Rodney gave him the Achilles, in which he returned to England, where he acquired an estate. In the same year he married Anne Michell, daughter of Commodore Matthew Michell, with whom he had three sons and four daughters. After three years ashore Onslow was appointed to the St Albans (64 guns) on 31 October 1776, and in April 1777 took a convoy to New York, joining Howe's fleet in time to take part in the frustration of D'Estaing at Sandy Hook on 22 July. On 4 November 1778 he sailed for the West Indies with Commodore William Hotham, and was involved in both the capture of St Lucia and its subsequent defence against D'Estaing's attempt to retake the island in the Cul-de-Sac (15–29 December). In August 1779 Onslow arrived at Spithead with a convoy from St Kitts, and in February 1780 joined Admiral Francis Geary's Channel Fleet in the Bellona (74 guns), capturing the Dutch Prinses Carolina (54 guns) on 30 December. Onslow was next involved in the relief of Gibraltar by Admiral George Darby in April 1781, and again under Howe in October 1782, when he took part in the night action of the 21st. Later, the Bellona captured La Solitaire in the West Indies, before Onslow returned to England and peacetime half pay in June 1783. Early in 1789 he was appointed to the Magnificent (74 guns) at Portsmouth, and during that summer, while at Weymouth, the royal family apparently made some short cruises in her. Unemployed again from September 1791 to 1796 (but promoted rear-admiral of the white on 1 February 1793 and vice-admiral on 4 July 1794), he became port admiral at Portsmouth in 1796, and then in November, in the Nassau, second-in-command of the North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan. During the mutinies of 1797, when the fleet was at Yarmouth, Duncan reported on 1 May that 'a rising in the Nassau was suppressed by Admiral Onslow', and on the 14th that he 'had sent Onslow to quell the Adamant' (Franks, 332). On 26 May the Nassau refused to sail, so Onslow shifted his flag to the Adamant, and from 30 May to 17 June, when the mutiny ended, Duncan in the Venerable and Onslow in the Adamant were alone off the Texel, keeping up an elaborate ruse of signals to an imaginary fleet over the horizon. On 25 July Onslow moved to the Monarch (74 guns), in which he took a leading role in the battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797. Reputedly, his flag captain, Edward O'Bryen, observed that the enemy ships were too close together for him to get between. Onslow is supposed to have replied 'The Monarch will make a passage' (Vulliamy, 242), and certainly she was the first to cut through the Dutch line and luff up alongside the Jupiter (72 guns), flagship of Vice-Admiral Reyntjes, whose surrender Onslow took. In appreciation, Onslow was created a baronet, and the corporation of London presented him with the freedom of the City and a 100 guinea sword. Granted sick leave on 10 December 1798, Onslow retired from the sea. Admiral of the red on 9 November 1805, and a GCB in 1815, he died at Southampton on 27 December 1817, leaving directions that no more than £20 was to be spent on his funeral 'to prevent any unnecessary ostentation; the funeral of a brave and honest sailor costs a much less sum' (Franks, 337). (DNB)

Price: 150 GBP

Location: Blackburn

End Time: 2024-12-24T12:00:31.000Z

Shipping Cost: 14.81 GBP