The Paul Bentley Collection

Pair: Boatswain William Elson, Royal Navy

China 1842 (William Elson, Petty Officr., H.M.S. Cornwallis.) original straight bar suspension; Baltic 1854-55 (William Elson, Bosun, H.M.S. Nile.) privately impressed naming, light edge bruising and contact marks, otherwise good very fine (2) £800-£1,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Paul Bentley Collection.

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William Elson was born in Plymouth, Devon, in 1810 or 1811. He is first recorded as an Ordinary Seaman aboard the Britannia in 1829. He served aboard the Cornwallis 72, flagship of Sir William Parker, from April 1841 to November 1842, including the operations at Woosung and the final operation of the First China War. The treaty of Nanking was signed in the main cabin of H.M.S. Cornwallis on 29 August 1842.

Elson served in the Baltic operations of 1854-55 as Boatswain aboard H.M.S. Nile. As the senior warrant officer on board he would have had charge of the sail, rigging and ship’s equipment, and responsibility for calling the men to duty. He retired in September 1868, after nearly 40 years’ service. Sold with copied record of service and other research.