Sir John Barrow Autograph Letter Signed on Royal Navy Dockyard Administration, 1835
BARROW, SIR JOHN (1764–1848). Autograph letter signed “John Barrow,” to an unidentified correspondent. Admiralty, London, 8 June 1835. Three pages of writing on one folded sheet, with the fourth page blank. Measures approximately 9.25 x 7 inches open.
An internal Admiralty letter concerning Royal Navy dockyard administration and financial reporting. Barrow encloses a reply from “Sir J. Gordon”—probably Captain Sir James Alexander Gordon, superintendent of Chatham Dockyard—and discusses difficulties carrying out a recently issued order. He suggests cancelling the order at all the Royal Dockyards for the sake of uniformity and asks that the opinion of Sir Henry Parnell, the newly appointed Treasurer of the Navy, be obtained.
Barrow also discusses the authority of the Treasurer’s clerks, their access to financial information, and responsibility for reporting the Navy’s monetary requirements. Written during a period of substantial administrative reform following the abolition of the Navy Board.
Sir John Barrow was Second Secretary to the Admiralty from 1804 to 1845 and an influential promoter of British Arctic exploration. A founding member of the Royal Geographical Society, he gave his name to Barrow Strait, Point Barrow, and other geographical features. He was created a baronet shortly before writing this letter.
Condition: Original folds with light toning, minor creasing and handling wear, and a few small spots. Faint ink show-through. Complete and generally legible.
