1908 MARITIME ARCHIVE - 5 Boxes - AUSTRALIA LETTERS - Nautical Drawings - EGYPT

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1.888.656.2006 or 1.604.922.2444...rare books at fair prices...!Search by TopicAfricaAmerica - NorthAmerica -SouthArabia - Middle EastArctic - AntarcticAsia - CentralAsia - China & JapanAsia - SoutheastAustralia & PacificBibliographiesEuropeGlobesPhotographsLiteratureMaps & PrintsMountaineeringNatural HistoryRussiaSciencesSigned & InscribedSir Richard F. BurtonExtensive Archive in Leather Clamshell BoxesFeatures Letters from AustraliaNautical Drawings and Photographsand First World War Documentsof a Notable London Port Executive1908-1960Australia, Egypt, France, England, 1908-1960. Voluminous archive of military papers, manuscript letters, a manuscript weaponry journal, nautical drawings, naval records and photographs, newspaper clippings, as well personal documents of Royal Fusiliers Captain Reginald Roose Francis who served in the First World War, was Director of London's Maritime Lighterage Company, and was the eldest son of James Roose Francis, Esq., lighterman, purser, shipowner, founder of the aforementioned nautical freight company, and Mayor of Ealing, London. Contained in five uniform and custom made navy blue leather clamshell boxes, labelled in gilt to spine, each measuring approximately 23 x 36,5 cm. Very good condition, a complete archive beautifully presented exactly as preserved by the Captain himself.Spanning some fifty years and two generations, the archive comprises five large clamshell boxes, labelled as follows: At Sea 1908-1911 The War 1914-1918 Vol. I Family Records Vol. I Items of Interest: R.R. Francis. Vol. II Items of Interest: R.R. Francis. Vol. IIIThe National Archives holds a folio of documents from 1917 pertaining to legal proceedings involving the Maritime Lighterage Company (J R Francis and Company Ltd) and an Irish cargo ship named Islandmore which was wrecked in that year.Captain Reginald Roose Francis (born 1887) was a Royal Fusiliers Officer, attached to the South Lancashire Regiment, and fought in the Gallipoli Campaign of the Great War . He rose to the rank of Lieutenant whilst in service and was granted the title of Captain upon retirement. Reginald followed his father's footsteps, first being a purser and making voyages to Australia, then ultimately managing his father's lighterage company. From the young age of sixteen Reginald began gaining experience in the nautical shipping industry, his first employment being with Anderson & Anderson from 1903 to 1907, after which he joined the Orient Steam Navigation Company [Orient Line] and worked at sea as an assistant purser, making several voyages to Australia from 1908 to 1910 . Sufficiently knowledgeable with sea transport, victualling purchases and the like, in 1910, at only twenty-three years of age, he was made Director of his father's firm in London - the Maritime Lighterage Company (Limited) . In 1914 he was called for temporary war service by the ministry for the duration of the war.Reginald's father, James Roose Francis, Esq. (1851-1919) , was a ship's purser, politician, lighterman, shipowner, freemason, and Mayor of Ealing for the 1910-1911 term. Born in Manchester, he began his fourteen year career at sea as assistant purser for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company at nineteen years of age. He was quickly promoted to purser, and worked on the steamship Truxillo for one year on the Callao-Panama route. He was then assigned to the 'Valparaiso', trading between Liverpool, Brazil, and the West Coast of South America. Francis became purser of the 'Cuzco' for the Orient Steamship Company when they began service to Australia. In 1883 he founded the Maritime Lighterage Company (Limited) , being chairman and managing director. The firm, sometimes also referred to as J.R. Francis & Co., was a notable British shipping company which held a fleet of nearly 100 barges and tugs, and which remained in business until at least 1940. He was also president of the 'Association of Master Lightermen and Barge Owners of the Port of London' . As Mayor of Ealing, J. Roose Francis presented the original trophy for the 1911 Coronation Challenge Bowl competition. Together with the Royal party, Princess Patricia, Prince Arthur and Princess Margaret - Duke and Duchess of Connaught, he participated in the opening of the Brentham Institute in May the same year.The box labelled "At Sea 1908-1911" when young Reginald Roose Francis was an assistant purser, deals largely with his service aboard RMS Otway, making several voyages to Australia and British Ceylon . In a bundle of manuscript letters he describes his observations and events experienced as a mariner, including being quarantined in Sydney, a natural disaster calamity, a fascinating Antarctic lecture by David Edgeworth of Shackleton's expedition, and his voyages to and from Australia with famous actors. Three of these letters are written from the Quarantine Station at Sydney. The box further contains naval photographs, newspaper clippings reporting on a small pox epidemic in Australia, the purser's "Continuous Certificate of Discharge" which details his career with the Orient Line, and ephemera and papers relating to the vessel. Fancying himself rather superior, according to his letters, Reginald seems to have developed a dislike to the "working class" and after a few years at sea and in war service, was most eager to return to the upper class business world.Excerpts from the letters:RMS Ophir, at sea 9 October 1908. "... when we arrive at Port Said. I am rather looking forward to calling there as I understand the coaling is a most interesting sight. It is supposed to be the quickest coaling in the world... the natives run along very narrow planks with baskets of coal on their heads... We had 40 fresh passengers at Marseilles yesterday including the Archbishop of Brisbane & the Lord Bishop of Perth returning..." [Envelope is captioned "1st Australian Voyage"]RMS Ophir, Naples 1 January 1909. "...I think it is the first time the Ophir has sailed from Australia with so few first & second class passengers. Of course we had a few coastal passengers as far as Fremantle, but ... from there with only four first class & about eight second class... ten days run from Fremantle to Colombo without seeing land at all... I was also able to get ashore at Adelaide & Melbourne...I must tell you... We are just outside the Straits of Messina & have been signalled to stop... the whole of Messina had been destroyed by an earthquake & 40,000 people killed ...PS 2/1/1909. It is impossible for me to describe on paper the heartrending scenes I witnessed last night. We are now bound for Naples with 450 of these poor fugitives on board - 150 of which are very badly wounded... layed out on the floor & tables of the second saloon which has been turned into a hospital... helping to feed them for the food supplies are all cut off in the town & most of the people are starving... 85,000 people killed in Messina & Regio, not 40,000 as I first stated"Sydney Quarantine Station, 18 April 1910. "... this terrible small pox business came about us ... it has quite spoilt our stay in Sydney... We have all been vaccinated about 40 times."Sydney Quarantine Station, 25 April 1910. "... Our date of release is now fixed for next Wednesday or Thursday as you will see from the enclosed paper cutting (Sydney Daily Telegraph)..."Sydney, RMS Otway, 15 August 1910. "... there is money in this country & from all the information I have gleaned I am as certain & sure that it is the one place in the world to make it. I only wish I had a handsome sum to invest... into land out here. Wendle intends putting £700 into it..."RMS Otway, 22 September 1910. "Our passenger list is really excellent for this time of the year... the bulk of them are theatrical folk. We are bringing home [Australian actor and writer] Oscar Asche, [English actress and singer] Lily Brayton, & Co. [of Chu Chin Chow musical comedy]. They are really quite nice people... have had a most successful season in Australia "RMS Otway, 4 January 1911. "Bound for Suez... the other night Prof. David [Antarctic explorer and geologist Sir T. W. Edgeworth David] gave us a most interesting lecture on the South Pole. He was one of the Shackleton expedition... He showed us some most interesting slides too. "End Excerpts.The second volume, labelled "The War 1914-1918," features a few items of interest from his active service in Egypt , his rank at this time being Lieutenant. These include a letter in Arabic manuscript, an army issued cheque book for use in Egypt only, a manuscript letter and two telegrams sent from Alexandria in March and December 1916, and signed manuscript notices written in the field and addressed to other lieutenants and a quartermaster, and retained copies of financial claims written at Moustapha Camp, Alexandria, addressed to the Base Pay Office.A Royal Army booklet titled "Officer's Record of Services" records his service and promotions from August 1914 to January 1919. Further war service papers and documents include "bombing orders," "battalion orders," temporary identification papers, a "Protection Certificate," a court martial procedures guide, medical correspondence regarding an injury which placed him on the casualty list and sent him to the hospital ship, and so forth. Also interesting is his pocket size manuscript journal of course notes titled "Bombing and Rifle Grenade Work" being 68 pages with 4 diagrams . This box also contains manuscript letters written by Reginald whilst in Alexandria in 1916 and France the following year. Again indicative of his family's wealth, whilst most soldiers might receive modest care packages from home, in one parcel alone, Reginald receives 40 packets of Harrod's cigarettes. He explains to his family that he must carry all of his belongings on his person.Excerpts from the letters:Alexandria, Egypt, 13 March 1916. "... I am rejoining the Battalion tomorrow... somewhere out here in the desert... having another little farewell dinner here tonight with Scott, before returning to bully beef & biscuits well covered in flies & sand... got two of the parcels... one had about 40 packets of cigarettes from Harrods... biscuits, cafe au lait, etc..."France, 5 June 1917. "... I am aware that things are very down & difficult at home & they are not at all comfortable here either... until the war is finished... I am particularly busy at present having sole charge of a company... I rose this morning to find the majority of my things & most of the company papers literally floating about the tent. The roads were simply a raging torrent. "France, 21 July 1917. "... We had the king through here the other day though none of us knew anything about it... He certainly gets about a lot & takes a tremendous interest in all that is going on. "End Excerpts.A substantial lot of letters and documents reserved collectively as "Family Papers" is especially interesting for its glimpse into the life of Reginald's father, James Roose Francis, Mayor of the London Borough of Ealing 1910-1911, and successful entrepreneur in seaport cargo and transit. A number of Masonic papers from the Albion lodge are found herein, Mr. Francis (Sr.) evidently being a fairly active member of the chapter. Advertisements and newspaper clippings relate to elections when he ran for Mayor. This box contains further letters, these being addressed to Reginald during his World War One service, with further letters and airgraphs dating to the Second World War and bearing censorship stamps. As the heading suggests, this box contains documents and announcements in memory of births, marriages, deaths, and so forth.The remaining two boxes are of nautical and ephemeral interest, yielding among other things, some excellent pencil drawings and watercolour sketches by William Fisher, a gifted artist from Barnes who signed his works in the original. [Further research may find the artist, who has a definite interest in ships, to be Admiral Sir William Fisher (1888-1959), son of Knight and Admiral Sir William Wordsworth Fisher (1875-1937) who was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, and Fourth Sea Lord]. Two press photographs show sailboats on the Thames while newspaper articles. Ephemeral postcards, pamphlets, and his invitation to the sexcentenary service to commemorate the Court of Admiralty in April 1960, reveal other local interests of Captain Francis (Jr.).Ealing is a major suburban district of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. In 1901 the Ealing Urban District (coined 'Queen of the Suburbs') was incorporated as a municipal borough, Walpole Park was opened and the first electric trams ran along the Uxbridge Road. read more

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