BIB_ID
105953
Accession number
MA 38.27
Creator
Burney, James, 1750-1821.
Display Date
undated.
Credit line
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1905.
Description
1 item (3 p.), bound ; 32.6 cm.
Notes
Part of a collection of correspondence and papers of Rear Admiral James Burney. Items in this collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection level record for more information.
The memorial and petition is undated, however, Burney was forced into retirement for insubordination in 1782 and repeatedly petitioned for reinstatement of his rank until 1821 when he was promoted, with assistance from William IV, then Admiral of the Fleet, to Rear-Admiral on the retired list; referring in this petition to the recent promotions of April 1804 from which he was excluded and also to the completion of the first two volumes of his "A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Seas or Pacific Ocean;" Burney's five-volume histories were written between 1803 and 1817.
The memorial and petition is undated, however, Burney was forced into retirement for insubordination in 1782 and repeatedly petitioned for reinstatement of his rank until 1821 when he was promoted, with assistance from William IV, then Admiral of the Fleet, to Rear-Admiral on the retired list; referring in this petition to the recent promotions of April 1804 from which he was excluded and also to the completion of the first two volumes of his "A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Seas or Pacific Ocean;" Burney's five-volume histories were written between 1803 and 1817.
Provenance
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan from the London dealer Quaritch in July 1905.
Summary
Petitioning for the restoration "to the honour of his profession in being admitted to his Rank as a Flag Officer;" recounting his contributions to the Royal Navy from his sailing expeditions and from his multi-volume writings on the history of the early voyages of discovery; putting forth his case for his contributions to maritime science and geography.
Catalog link
Department