WCP4306

Transcription (WCP4306.4434)

[1]1

(Copy.)

Dear Sir2

Commander Nolloth3 having informed me today that he had received orders to cruise in the English Channel & that his Australian sailing orders had been recalled, I have left the "Frolic"4 this afternoon after being fourteen days on board, and beg leave through you respectfully to enquire whether the passage to Australia which the Lords of the Admiralty5 kindly granted me will be now given in any other ship.

I beg leave at the same time to mention that the Commander & Officers of H. M. S. Frolic have done everything to render my stay with them agreeable and I should prefer as shoul would Com[mander]. Nolloth, if a choice remains, to accompany them as at first arranged.

As my present situation is one of much inconvenience & suspense, I trust [2] their Lordships will favour me with a reply at their earliest convenience

I have the honour to remain | &c &c. | Alfred. R. Wallace. [signature]

Capt[ain]: W. A. B. Hamilton R. N.

1
This is presumably the copy of a letter mentioned as included in ARW's letter to Henry Norton Shaw, Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, dated 8th February 1854 (WCP3558.3455).
2
Baillie Hamilton, William Alexander (1803-1881). British naval commander; Second Secretary of the Admiralty, 1845-1855.
3
Nolloth, Matthew Stainton (1810-1882). British Royal Navy officer and hydrographer; commander of HMS Frolic, 1853-1856.
4
HMS Frolic, British Royal Navy Sloop, 16 guns, launched 1842 and sold 1864 (Winfield, R. 2014. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1817-1863: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. [p. 263]).
5
The Lords of the Admiralty were commissioned to carry out the powers and functions of the Lord High Admiral, in charge of the Admiralty, the British government body controlling Royal Navy organisation and operation. In February 1854, the Lords of the Admiralty were: Sir James Robert George Graham (First Lord); Hyde Parker; Hon. Maurice Frederick Fitzhardinge. Berkeley; Hon. Richard Saunders Dundas; Alexander Milne and Hon. William Francis Cowper (Sainty, J. C. (Ed.). 1975. Lord High Admiral and Commissioners of the Admiralty 1660-1870. 18-31. In: Sainty, J. C. (Ed.). Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4, Admiralty Officials 1660-1870. London, UK: University of London).

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Transcription (WCP4306.4434)]

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Revision history

Transcribed by Catchpole, Caroline [2012-10-11] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Watt, Helen [2018-07-30]

Please cite as “WCP4306,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4306