Manuscript vellum document, one page, 11.5 x 12.5, July 15, 1747. A naval commission issued by the “Comm’rs for Executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland,” which appoints Thomas Graves to the “Rank of Rear Admiral in His Majesty's Fleet." Signed at the conclusion by John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, as “Bedford,” George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, as “Anson,” and William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington, as “Barrington.” The left border retains the original white and blue paper seals. In fine condition.
Thomas Graves (1677-1755) was the father of Admiral Sir Thomas Graves, Commander-in-Chief of the North American Squadron during the American Revolutionary War, whose loss to the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse during the Battle of the Chesapeake on September 5, 1781, led to the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown the following month.
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford (1710-71) also served as Lord Justice of England, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord High Constable at George III's coronation in 1760, and negotiated the Treaty of Peace with France that ended the French and Indian War. George Anson (1697-1762) sailed around the world (1744), was Admiral of the Fleet (1761), and 1st Lord of the Admiralty during the French and Indian War. William W. Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington (1717-97) was Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty (1746), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1761), Treasurer of the Navy (1762), and Secretary of War during the American Revolution (1765-78).
