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Lot Essay
During the reign of George I, Thomas Bowles published an important set of prints - Twenty-two Prints of several of the Capital Ships of His Majesties Royal Navy with a variety of other Sea Pieces - after the drawings of Thomas Baston.
When William III and his wife Mary assumed the English throne in 1688, they inherited fourteen royal yachts in varying degrees of seaworthiness. Although these proved adequate in the short term, it was decided to order a new principal yacht in February 1693 which, although named in honour of the joint sovereigns, was not ready for sea until after the death of Queen Mary on 28th December 1694. Designed by Surveyor Lee and costing £2,060, the William & Mary was built at Chatham and launched in September 1694. Ketch-rigged and measured at 152 tons, she was 77 feet long with a 22 foot beam and mounted 8-3pdr. guns. William III, who made frequent visits to Holland, the country of his birth, made much use of the new yacht after his wife's death yet the vessel survived, thanks to major repairs in 1737 and 1746 followed by a virtual rebuild in 1765, for over a century and was only finally scrapped in September 1801.
When William III and his wife Mary assumed the English throne in 1688, they inherited fourteen royal yachts in varying degrees of seaworthiness. Although these proved adequate in the short term, it was decided to order a new principal yacht in February 1693 which, although named in honour of the joint sovereigns, was not ready for sea until after the death of Queen Mary on 28