Call Number:

C0707

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.25 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Richard Hanmer Bunbury letters to his father; Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1827-1839 (inclusive)

Creator:

Bunbury, Richard Hanmer, 1813-1857

Form:

Letters

Abstract:

Richard Hanmer Bunbury was a captain in the British Royal Navy and spent sixteen years in Australia. His father was Lt. General Sir Henry Bunbury. The collection contains 45 letters Richard Hanmer Bunbury wrote to Sir Henry Bunbury from 1827 to 1839. The letters contain accounts of naval life and duties, as well as some battles. The collection also includes a letter to one of Richard's brothers, five of his friends, a letter of commendation, his marriage certificate, and a certificate awarded for the rescue of a man who fell overboard.

Richard Hanmer Bunbury, captain in the British Royal Navy, was born in 1813 as the youngest son of Lt. General Sir Henry Bunbury. In 1838 he married Sarah Susanna Sconce and emigrated with her to Port Phillip, Australia in 1841. During his stay in Australia he held several different positions before returning to England in 1857. He died later that year.

The collection contains 45 letters (1827-1839) by Bunbury, an officer in the British Navy, to his father, Sir Henry Edward Bunbury (1778-1860), while on naval duties in the Mediterranean near Greece, Malta, Corfu, Corinth, the Gulf of Kalamata, and Zante. The letters describe the Battle of Navarino (October 20, 1827) during which Bunbury lost his right hand, and other naval actions against the Turkish and Egyptian fleets. The ships Bunbury served on include the HMS Thunderer, Princess Charlotte, Dido, and Asia. Also present are one letter to his brother, Edward Herbert Bunbury, five letters to friends, his marriage certificate (1838), a letter of commendation by Captain W. F. Wise, and a certificate (1836) from the Royal Humane Society for an act of "distinguished courage and humanity" in rescuing a seaman fallen overboard.

Arranged chronologically.