Collingwood, Cuthbert (1750-1810)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0064 COL
Held at	: National Maritime Museum   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/ ›
Full title	: Collingwood, Cuthbert (1750-1810)
Date(s)	: [1793-1809]
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 2 1/2ft; 76cm
Name of creator(s)	: Collingwood | Cuthbert | 1750-1810 | Vice-Admiral | 1st Baron Collingwood

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Collingwood entered the Navy in 1760 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1775. After serving in the Mediterranean and in American waters, he spent most of the American War in the West Indies, becoming a captain in 1780. He did not return to England until 1786. It was during this period that he became a firm friend of Nelson. From 1793 to 1795 he commanded the PRINCE and took part in the battle of the First of June 1794. He was then in the EXCELLENT, 1795 to 1798, Mediterranean Fleet, distinguishing himself at the battle of St. Vincent in 1797. Between 1799, when he became rear-admiral, and 1802 he was in the Channel in the TTRIUMPH and the BARFLEUR, returning there on the renewal of the war in 1803. After Trafalgar, 1805, when he was second-in-command to Nelson (q.v.), he succeeded to the command of the Mediterranean Fleet, which appointment he held until his death. Among a number of biographes there are G.L. Newham Collingwood, A selection from the private correspondence of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood (London, 1828) and Oliver Warner, The life and letters of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood London, 1968). The papers have been used in Edward Hughes ed.,The private correspondence of Admiral Lord Collingwood (Navy Records Society, 1957).

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Cuthbert Collingwood, including two letterbooks containing private letters received between 1793 and 1809, the rest of the collection is composed of official letterbooks. There is one for the PRINCE and one for the EXCELLENT; ten others form part of the records for the Mediterranean command. Several, however, are clearly missing. There is an admiral's journal, 1801 to 1804, and another for the latter part of the Mediterranean command.

Access & 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 in the main by Sir James Caird from Sotheby's in 1935. The two letterbooks were presented in 1928 by Mr C.H.B. Caldwell.

Allied Materials

Related material:

A secret letterbook, kept between 1805 and 1808, has been very recently acquired from the Library, California State University, Hayward. There are no papers for Collingwood's early life.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Edited by Sarah Drewery, Jun 2011.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
2010-08-26