A PAIR OF CARVED ALLIGATORS FROM THE H.M.S ALLIGATOR, EAST INDIA COMPANY (1821)

Carved in teak, resting on a slotted base 99.0 x 24.0 x 19.0 cm (each)

Provenance:

SIR JAMES JOHN GORDON BREMER, KCB, KCH (1786 - 1850) British

Royal Navy Officer and former Captain of HMS Alligator, married Harriet Wheeler Thence by decent to: Daughter EMILY BREMER (1817 - 1869) married Alfred Howard in 1838 Son PERCY HOWARD, married Florence Ullathorne (1853 - 1934) Daughter EVELYN HOWARD (c1880 - 1955), married Cpt. Ernest Berly (1869 - 1948) (formerly Cpt. Ernest Schlesinger, name changed by deed poll due to him fighting for British forces against Germany in WW1 & WW2 and feeling uncomfortable about having a Germanic, Jewish name) Daughter JOAN BERLY (1919 - 2008), married Thomas Bush Bailey (1908-2001)Son CHRIS HOWARD BAILEY (1950 - 2000), married Marianne French (1954 - ) Son SAM HOWARD BAILEY (1988 - ) Private collection, Sydney.

Notes:

These Alligators are from the H.M.S Alligator, a 28 gun Atholl class sixth rate of the Royal Navy. Fourteen were ordered and built, as usual, by various yards, but three – Alligator, Termagant and Samarang were built of teak by the East India Company under contract to the Royal Navy. She was launched at Cochin, British India on 29 March, 1821. The Alligator, under the command of Captain Lambert, operated in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand during the 1830’s. On the 20th March 1834, the Alligator was on hand in Waitangi for the hoisting of the first New Zealand flag of the United Tribes, and fired the 21 gun salute.

The Alligator, in the Command of Captain James Gordon Bremer from 1837, was also taken to China where after Plenipotentiary Charles Elliot declared the cession of Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom on 20 January 1841, Bremer reported on 26 January that he "proceeded to Hong Kong, and took formal possession of the island in Her Majesty's name, and hoisted the colours on it, with the usual salutes and ceremonies." This area became known as Possession Point. On 1 February, he issued a joint proclamation with Elliot to the inhabitants, declaring the island British territory. On 24 August, he left China aboard the Atlanta with Elliot. For his services, Bremer received a vote of thanks from both houses of parliament, and was made a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath (KCB).

The Alligator eventually became a depot ship at Trincomalee in June 1841, and was then converted to a troop ship in July 1842. Alligator was finally hulked as a seamen’s hospital at Hong Kong in December 1846 and sold at Hong Kong on 30 October, 1865 for breaking. It is understood that these carved Alligators were removed from the Alligator by Captain James Gordon Bremer c1841 prior to the Alligator being converted to a depot ship.