IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0064 GOW
Held at: National Maritime Museum
Title: Gower, Admiral Sir Erasmus (1742-1814)
Date(s): [1792-1801]
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 1ft; 31cm
Name of creator(s): Gower | Sir | Erasmus | 1742-1814 | Knight | Admiral
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Gower entered the Navy in 1755. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1762 and took part in two voyages of circumnavigation early in his career. He was promoted to captain in 1780 and served on the East Indies and Newfoundland stations. In 1792 he was appointed to command the LION in which he took the embassy of Earl Macartney (1737-1806) to China In November 1794, he was appointed to command the TRIUMPH and was with Admiral Sir William Cornwallis (q.v.) during the 'Cornwallis retreat' in 1795. He was involved in the mutiny at the Nore when he commanded the NEPTUNE, one of the ships commissioned for the defence of the Thames, and continued to serve in her, in the Channel Fleet, until his promotion to rear-admiral in 1799. In 1804 Gower became a vice-admiral and in 1809 an admiral.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of Sir Erasmus Gower, consisting of a log, 1792 to 1794, with one watercolour sketch; two volumes of 'Nautical Observations on a Voyage to China', illustrated with views of coasts and harbours; a letterbook, 1794 to 1798, and a signal notebook, 1801.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Finding aids:
Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The papers were purchased at Sotheby's in 1955 from Mrs Pedler, daughter of Brigadier C J Hawker, together with some papers of Admiral Edward Hawker (q.v.) and Vice-Admiral Charles Boyles (q.v.).
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Edited by Sarah Drewery, Jun 2011.
Date(s) of descriptions: 2010-08-26