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Lot 82

NELSON (HORATIO)
Order signed ("Nelson & Bronte"), the text in the hand of Nelson's secretary, John Scott, to Captain Lord Mark Kerr of the Fisgard, ordering him to gather intelligence: Victory at sea, 28 September 1804

24 June 2015, 11:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

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NELSON (HORATIO)

Order signed ("Nelson & Bronte"), the text in the hand of Nelson's secretary, John Scott, to Captain Lord Mark Kerr of the Fisgard, ordering him to gather intelligence: "Whereas it is of great importance that I should be acquainted with the political circumstances passing in France and Spain, Your Lordship is hereby required and directed to proceed immediately in His Majesty's Ship Fisgard under Your Command to the Bay of Rosas, and procure from Mr Edward Gayner such information as he may have obtained, together with any Letter or News Papers he may have to send me from Madrid, with wich [sic] You will join Me with all possible expedition on Rendezvous Number 97 under Cape St Sebastian, where You will find the Squadron or Order for Your further proceedings"; adding that "should Mr Ford the Agent Victualler to the Fleet, who is at Rosas on business, have settled it, Your Lordship will receive him onboard and give him a passage to join the Fleet" and that "It will not be necessary to Anchor the Fisgard at Rosas and only send a Boat on shore to Mr Gayner"; counter-signed "By Command of the Vice Admiral/ John Scott", headed by one of Scott's clerks: "By the Right Honourable Lord Viscount K.B. Duke of Bronte in Sicily, Knight of the Great Cross of St Ferdinand and of Merit, Knight of the Order of the Crescent and of the Illustrious Order of St Joachim, Vice Admiral of the White and Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels employed and to be employed on the Mediterranean Station"; recipient's docket, 2 pages, paper watermarked ʻGater/ 1801' and with the figure of Britannia, light dust-staining on outer panel where folded for filing, folio, Victory at sea, 28 September 1804

Footnotes

ʻOF GREAT IMPORTANCE I SHOULD BE ACQUAINTED WITH THE POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES PASSING FRANCE AND SPAIN': as well as supplying Nelson's fleet, Edward Gayner of Rosas proved himself a vital source of intelligence, becoming, from June 1803, ʻa conduit for information about Spain, France, and all that appertained to available resources and facilities... Gayner also entertained calling naval officers, helped apprehend deserters and used his private family correspondence to Bristol to hide some of the admiral's letters. Close to the French border, he became an important source of intelligence' (Sugden, op. cit., p.704).

Richard Ford, Agent-Victualler to the Fleet, like Gayner, played an important part in the difficult task of keeping Nelson's fleet healthy: ʻThis significant but little-told story of Nelson's command was peopled by a different, and almost forgotten, cast of characters, in which some, such as Richard Ford, John Snipe [Physician to the Fleet] and Edward Gayner deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Murray, Keats and Gore. It was a strength of Nelson that he recognised the worth of such men and what they contributed to his achievement' (p.688). Not in Nicolas.

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