This is a quality late 18th Century marine antique instrument, made by Watkins & Hill of England, and was presented to (then) Rear Admiral John James Gambier from Francis Health. Gambier had an extensive naval career, and was appointed 1st Baron Gambier of Iver in 1807.
A fine leather wrapped single draw telescope with an early flag identification chart, the inscribed presentation to a man who would achieve the highest rank of Admiral of the Fleet in 1805. The optical quality is still top rate, and the protective cover of the flag codes is visibly aged. It is a fine individual nautical antique instrument for a man whose life was dedicated in service to his country.
Gambier was born Oct. 13, 1756 in New Providence, Bahamas, where his father was Lieutenant Governor who married a local woman. Gambier entered the British Navy in 1767 as a midshipman onboard H.M.S. YARMOUTH and began his career of rapid promotions, making captain at the age of 22, with the 32-gun Frigate H.M.S. RALEIGH. He would see action in the American Revolution, and be a principle participant in The Glorious First of June, Admiral Howe’s victory over the French in 1801. History would be less kind, recording his refusal to destroy the French in the Battle of Basque Roads in 1809, from which Lord Cochrane pushed for a court-martial, which Gambier’s political allies easily defeated. He retired after the Treaty of Ghent in 1813, and amongst other accomplishments, helped found Kenyon College in an Ohio town that today still carries his name.
