Description
An original naval Memorandum, signed by Gordon Bremer as Commodore, addressed to Captain Hall (”Nemesis Hall”) of H.M. Steam Vessel Dragon, approving action concerning two named crew members. 1 page 12 x 8 inches, in good condition, traces of former mounting along left edge. William & Mary, Woolwich, 17 July 1847. Rear-Admiral Sir James John Gordon Bremer (1786-1850) established the colony on Melville Island, Australia (1824), and later at Port Essington. He had the naval command of the expedition to China during a great part of the years 1840-41. He was distinguished in the Burmese and Chinese wars. Bremer landed at the Possession Point on Hong Kong Island on 26 January 1841 during the First Opium War, prior to the cession of the island according to the Treaty of Nanking, and claimed Hong Kong for Queen Victoria. His memorandum is addressed to Captain (later Admiral) William Hutcheon Hall (1797–1878) who served in the First Anglo-Chinese War and Crimean War. In 1816–17, he served as a midshipman under Captain Basil Hall, with whom he attended William Amherst’s embassy to China. In November 1839, Hall obtained command of Nemesis of the British East India Company in China, where he served in the First Anglo-Chinese War (1839–43). The ship’s first engagement was against Chinese forts and a fleet of junks in the Second Battle of Chuenpee on 7 January 1841.He was Mentioned in Despatches for his part in the battle. He was also present at the Battle of First Bar on 27 February. In commemoration of his service, he was commonly known in the navy as “Nemesis Hall”. William Dallas Bernard, an Oxford graduate who studied life and customs in China, used Hall’s notes to write an account of the war in the Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis from 1840 to 1843 (1844).