A FINE SILVER-MOUNTED OTTOMAN GREEK SHAMSHIR PRESENTED BY THE PACHA OF CANDIA TO CAPTAIN F.T.MICH

A FINE SILVER-MOUNTED OTTOMAN GREEK SHAMSHIR PRESENTED BY THE PACHA OF CANDIA TO CAPTAIN F.T.MICHELL R.N., DATED 1829. with curved blade double-edged towards the point and cut with two slender fullers of differing length along the back-edge, silver hilt comprising a pair of quillons with bud-shaped finials, engraved with scrolls and a bouquet of fruit, moulded back-strap engraved with the presentation inscription and date, and a pair of horn grip-scales fitted with a tear-shaped washer on each side of the pommel, in its original leather-covered wooden scabbard with large silver mounts cast and chased in relief, comprising locket, middle-band and chape each decorated with sprays of flowers, foliage, trophies and bouquets all within an elaborate series of scrollwork frames, and retaining a ring for suspension (one suspension ring missing). 75.5cm; 29 3/4in blade. Admiral Sir Frederick Thomas Michell KCB (1788-1873) was the son of Lieutenant Sampson Michell RN, a Cornishman who died an admiral in the Portuguese Navy in 1809. He was born in Exeter, entered the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth in 1800 and joined HMS EURYDICE (24) as a Midshipman in 1803, serving in a number of ships and locations before being commissioned lieutenant on 29th May 1807. Serving in several more ships in locations from the Adriatic to Brazil, he became 1st lieutenant of HMS BOYNE (98) in March 1815. When Admiral Lord Exmouth was appointed to command a punitive expedition to Algiers in 1816, he took BOYNE`s officers with him into his flagship, HMS QUEEN CHARLOTTE (100). Before the bombardment of Algiers, late in August 1816, Exmouth appointed Michell to command the battering flotilla of 55 small vessels - principally gun, mortar, rocket and bomb ships - in the acting rank of commander and Michell was confirmed in that rank on 16th September 1816. After a decade on half-pay, Michell was appointed to command HMS RIFLEMAN (18) on 27th December 1826 and took her to the Mediterranean.. During the 1820s Greece fought her war of independence from Turkey: Britain, France and Russia were involved to maintain the balance of power and their own interests in the eastern Mediterranean. At the time, Crete was known by its Venetian name Candia and the Sultan ruled the island though a governor, or Pasha; the island`s capital, now Heraklion, was also known as Candia. It was British policy to recognise Crete as Turkish and British ships were welcomed in its harbours by the island`s governor.. The Ship`s Logs of HMS RIFLEMAN for 1829 (The National Archives; ADM 51/3377 and ADM 53/1140) show that she left Malta, bound for Crete, on 2nd March 1829, taking as passengers two Turks, Mustapha Hassan and Mustapha Ali. On 7th March, she anchored in Port Greco, a harbour on the island of Stondia - now Dia Nisida - off the north coast of Crete opposite the city of Candia. On 8th March, she sailed across the strait to Candia, put the captain, Michell, and the surgeon ashore in a yawl, `stood off and on` until the yawl returned and then, having fired a salute of 19 guns - which was returned by the harbour`s Turkish fort - sailed back to Port Greco, leaving Michell - and, presumably, the surgeon and the ship`s two Turkish passengers - in Candia. On 9th March, she returned and sent the yawl for Captain Michell, who returned at 11.30am, whereupon she left Candia harbour, returning a salute of 21 guns from the fort, and made sail for Malta, arriving there on 16th March 1829. For the remainder of 1829, HMS RIFLEMAN cruised in the Mediterranean but did not return to Crete.. It seems most likely that Michell received the sword offered here in March 1829 as a gesture of thanks from the island`s governor, perhaps for conveying the two Turks from Malta. The Turkish governor of Candia 1832-51 was the Albanian Giritli Mustafa Naili Pasha (b. 1798) who, in 1829, would have been known as plain Mustafa Naili and so may have been the `Mustapha Ali` taken aboard Michell`s ship on the orders of C.-in-C. Mediterranean for passage to Crete; he had been active in suppressing Greek insurrections on Crete in the 1820s and passage on a British sloop-of-war was probably the most sure way of returning him safely to the island.. Michell was promoted post captain on 22nd February 1830, commanded the 5th Rate HMS MAGICIENNE (24) at the siege and bombardment of Acre in 1840 and then the 5th Rate HMS INCONSTANT until 1843. In 1852 he was given command of HMS QUEEN (110) and commanded her during the Crimean War, particularly distinguishing himself at the bombardment of Sebastopol 1854-55, after which he was promoted rear admiral and created CB. Michell returned home to live in Totnes, Devon, where he was elected mayor in 1855 and 1858 and where he died. He became a vice-admiral in 1862 and an admiral in 1866, being created KCB in 1867. In addition to the sword given him by the Pasha of Candia/Crete, he received another from the Sultan, as well as a cloak with diamond clasps and several Turkish orders and decorations; as well as the insignia of a KCB, he received that of an Officer of the Legion of Honour, the Naval General Service Medal 1793-1814, with clasps Algiers and Syria and the British and Turkish medals for the Crimean War.