Ø AN UNRECORDED £50 LLOYDS PATRIOTIC FUND SWORD PRESENTED TO Lt JAMES KEARNEY WHITE OF H.M.S. BEAVER FOR CAPTURING THE DUTCH BRIG ATALANTE, 31st MARCH, 1804the 30in. curved blade with remnant blued and gilt finish, silvered cartouche with dedication in an early font type, brass hilt with ivory grip, contained in brass mounted scabbard of issue with single suspension loop (corrosion and wear throughout) -- 35½in. (90cm.) overallJames Kearney White (1782-1828) and thence by descent.Blade heavily corroded obscuring the dedication, which is a very early example of dedication being not blue and gilt and with a font not found on other Lloyd’s swords; The hilt has suffered heavy polishing and has lost all gilt; The scabbard has suffered from heavy polishing and lost all gilt. The middle locket suspension ring is missing.A FASCINATING AND IMPORTANT TRIO OF SWORDS PRESENTED TO CAPTAIN JAMES KEARNEY WHITE, R.N.James Kearney White was born in 1782 and although there is scant information about his family, his early life or his entry into the Royal Navy, the latter part of his career more than made up for this deficiency. He first came to notice in 1804, during operations off the coast of the Netherlands, when the 18-gun brig-sloop Scorpion was detached from Admiral Thornborough’s squadron to reconnoitre the Vlie passage into the Texel where she discovered two Dutch brig-corvettes at anchor in the Texel Roads on 28th March. One of them, the Atalante, was armed with sixteen valuable ‘long’ 12-pounders and Captain Hardinge, commanding Scorpion, resolved to take her. Not wanting to risk Scorpion herself because of the danger of shoals, he decided to mount a ‘boat action’ when conditions allowed. In the event, it was three days before the conditions were right and, at 9.30pm. on the evening of 31st March, in full dark, three boats from Scorpion and two from H.M.S. Beaver (which had joined the fray earlier that day) set out on the flood-tide. Nevertheless, it still took two hours to reach the Atalante which, by now, was on full alert and more than ready to repel any boarders. Leading the attack, Captain Hardinge himself was first aboard and, in a short but furious action, the Atalante was taken. In his subsequent despatch to Admiral Thornborough, Hardinge described Atalante as “one of the largest brigs in the Dutch navy… and admirably calculated for His Majesty’s service” and then went on to commend “the zeal and gallantry” of several individuals including “…Lieut. White” who was rewarded with a £50 sword from Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund (see lot 204).He next attracts attention during the Anglo-American ‘War of 1812’ during which he achieved at least a small measure of fame as well as wealth and, finally, a well-deserved promotion to post-rank. Having been made Commander on 10th June 1811, he was given the gun-brig Thistle, still on the stocks at Rochester but launched on 13th July 1812. From there, White took his new command to Chatham to oversee her fitting out after which she sailed for North American waters. White only stayed in Thistle just over a year until appointed to the command of the larger brig-sloop Peruvian in October 1814. The Peruvian had already enjoyed two very successful tours, first in the Caribbean in 1812 and then, in 1813-14, on the American Station during which she had captured two U.S. privateers and taken part in a daring expedition up the Penobscot River in Maine. When White took over the command in October 1814, crew morale was riding high and, under his captaincy, two more prizes were added in quick succession to Peruvian’s impressive tally – the Spanish ship Dolores and the U.S. merchantman Rufus – before Peruvian was ordered home in April 1815. By mid-June, she lay becalmed at Ostend and when Major the Hon. Henry Percy, the only one of Wellington’s aides to have survived the carnage at Waterloo unscathed, arrived with the news of the great victory, White took drastic action. With no wind in the offing, he immediately ordered Peruvian’s gig lowered and, after selecting four of his strongest crew, the six men, including both White and Percy who did their share at the oars, rowed it across the Channel to Broadstairs where the two officers hired a fast post-chaise-and-four and raced to London bearing the momentous news of Napoleon’s defeat.Once Napoleon had been brought to England and the decision taken to banish him to the distant island of St. Helena, Peruvian and her sister Zenobia were assigned to Admiral Cockburn’s squadron which was to escort the Emperor into exile. Extraordinarily, and before the long journey south began, Peruvian was despatched to Guernsey to pick up a supply of wine for Napoleon’s consumption in exile, a very personal service rewarded by the presentation of another sword (see lot 206). Later, when Cockburn became concerned that the French might use the then uninhabited island of Ascension as a base from which to mount a rescue attempt to free Napoleon, he sent Peruvian and Zenobia to claim it and, at 5.30pm on 22nd October 1815, White and Zenobia’s commander Captain Dobree went ashore, raised the Union flag and took possession of the island in the name of King George III. Leaving some marines as a garrison, the two sloops then resumed their voyage to St. Helena although, in the meantime, Peruvian’s crew had presented White with a splendid silver-mounted sabre (see lot 205), presumably purchased in Portsmouth before Cockburn’s squadron sailed. Months later, Peruvian returned to England carrying despatches from the island’s governor, and then laid up In Ordinary at Plymouth where she remained until broken up in 1830. After some shore leave, White returned to sea and was promoted Captain (December 1818) although he was already in command of the sixth-rate Spey (1818-August 1819). Before taking up his next command, another sixth rate, the Tyne, in February 1821, with orders to sail for the West Indies, White took the opportunity to marry Elizabeth Neeld in London with whom he had one daughter. His appointment to Tyne was short-lived however – barely one year – and he was not re-employed at sea, perhaps due to sickness. Given that he died in Bermuda on 2nd March 1828 at the age of only 46, it is possible that he had contracted one of the many fevers which afflicted Europeans there and died as a result, although this remains unconfirmed.
