Free Front Signed by M F F Berkeley 1788-1867 and Capt S J B Pechell Lord of the Admiralty. Free Front dated 24 ...

Free Front Signed by M F F Berkeley 1788-1867 and Capt S J B Pechell Lord of the Admiralty. Free Front dated 24 March 1834 Personally Signed by Maurice Frederick Fitzhardinge Berkeley 1788 - 1867 as a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he commanded gunboats on the Tagus, reinforcing the Lines of Torres Vedras, in Autumn 1810 during the Peninsular War and, as a captain, he served on the coast of Syria taking part in the capture of Acre in November 1840 during the Oriental Crisis. He also served as Whig Member of Parliament for Gloucester and became First Naval Lord in the Aberdeen Ministry in June 1854 and in that role focussed on manning the fleet and in carrying out reforms and improvements in the food, clothing, and pay of seamen. Also Signed by Capt S John Brooke Pechell also Lord of the Admiralty. Letter Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel John Brooke Pechell, 3rd Baronet CB, KCH, FRS (1 September 1785 - 3 November 1849) was a prominent British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century. Although he served in several celebrated naval actions of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars his most important achievements were made while serving as a Lord of the Admiralty, pioneering the science and instruction of rapid and accurate gunnery in the Royal Navy through training facilities and manuals. In addition to his work at the Admiralty, Pechell served in the House of Commons for two constituencies and was on good terms with King William IV, who supported his efforts to improve standards of gunnery and returned him to the Admiralty in 1839 after a five-year absence caused by his support for the Whig government. In 1826 he inherited the Pechell Baronetcy from his father, but died childless and the title passed to his brother George. Pechell was born in Ireland in 1785, the son of Sir Thomas Brooke Pechell and his wife Charlotte. Pechell was well connected in military circles: his father was a senior army officer, as were both his grandfathers, Sir Paul Pechell and Sir John Clavering. His uncle was John Borlase Warren, later to become a senior Royal Navy officer. His younger brother, George Pechell would also become a prominent naval officer. Aged 11, Pechell joined the Royal Navy under the guidance of his uncle, joining HMS Pomone in 1796 during the French Revolutionary Wars. The following year he moved to HMS Phoebe, commanded by Captain Robert Barlow and there remained for the next four years. Under Barlow, Pechell was involved in two significant frigate actions, when Phoebe captured the French frigate Néréide at the action of 21 December 1797 and then the Africaine at the action of 19 February 1801. For his actions in these engagements, Pechell was highly praised and promoted, following Barlow into HMS Triumph in the aftermath of the Africaine action and then moving to HMS Active during the Peace of Amiens in 1803 as a lieutenant. In January 1806, Pechell joined his uncle's flagship HMS Foudroyant and was present at the defeat of the French squadron under Admiral Charles Linois at the action of 13 March 1806. In April 1807, Pechell was given his first independent command, in charge of the brig HMS Ferret operating from Jamaica. In June 1808, he was promoted to post captain and took command of the frigate HMS Cleopatra, in which he joined the squadron being assembled at Barbados for operations against the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. It was while blockading the latter that he served in his most celebrated battle, the action of 22 January 1809. The French frigate Topaze had been forced to take shelter under a gun battery off Pointe-Noire, Guadeloupe, but had been spotted by Pechell's blockade force. Despite fire from the shore, Pechell attacked immediately and brought Cleopatra close inshore to engage Topaze from close range. Pechell's dispositions were so good that Topaze was soon unable to respond, and the arrival of two other Royal Navy ships allowed him to bring his prize out of the bay successfully. The following month, Cleopatra performed a supporting role in the successful invasion of Martinique and later in the year the ship returned to European waters, Pechell briefly moving to HMS Guerriere before returning to Cleopatra in 1811, operating in the North Sea and off Gibraltar. In 1812, Pechell became captain of Warren's flagship HMS San Domingo, the flagship of the North America Station during the War of 1812. Pechell did not see any action and returned to Britain in 1814. The following year the war ended and Pechell entered semi-retirement, being made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1815 for his services during the Napoleonic Wars. Good condition. All autographs come with a Certificate of Authenticity. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide. UK postage from £5.99, EU from £7.99, Rest of World from £9.99