IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0064 BLA
Held at: National Maritime Museum
Title: Blane Family
Date(s): [1799-1891]
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 4 files
Name of creator(s): Blane | Sir | Gilbert | 1749-1834 | 1st Baronet | Physician of the Fleet
Blane | Arthur Rodney | 1834-1891 | Captain RN
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Sir Gilbert Blane studied medicine in Edinburgh and, in 1779, sailed to the West Indies. It was during this and subsequent expeditions to the West Indies that he impressed upon the Admiralty the importance and the success of anti-scorbutic measures. He was appointed Physician Extraordinary to the Prince of Wales in 1785, the year in which he produced the first edition of his work on the diseases of seamen. From 1795 until 1803 he was one of the Commissioners for Sick and Wounded Seamen. See Christopher Lloyd ed., The Health of Seamen (Navy Records Society, 1965), pp. 132-211.
Arthur Rodney Blane, a grandson of Sir Gilbert Blane (q.v.), entered the Navy in 1848. In the Niger he served in the Second Chinese War, 1857 to 1859, and on receiving his commission as lieutenant in 1858, transferred to the Drake as her commander. He retired from active service in 1866 and was promoted to captain on the retired list in 1881.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of Sir Gilbert Blane including memorials, notes and letters from Tsar Paul of Russia (1754-1801), 1799, the Prince Regent, later King George IV (1762-1830), 1802, Prince William Henry (1765-1837), undated, Spencer Perceval (1762-1812), 1809, Lord Palmerston (1784-1865), 1810, Sir Edward Pellew (later Viscount Exmouth) (q.v.), 1799, Earl St Vincent (q.v.), 1800, Lord Keith (q.v.), 1808, and other public figures, kept largely for their autograph value.
Papers of Capt Arthur Rodney Blane from some commissions for his early service, they concern Blane's activities in China. There are charts of Canton, orders from the Admiralty and copies of contemporary newspapers.
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:
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Edited by Sarah Drewery, Jun 2011.
Date(s) of descriptions: 2010-08-26