Lot Essay
The presentation inscription reads: 'Presented By The Merchantile Community Of Calcutta To Colonel Henry Keating In Testimony Of Their High Sense Of His Services In Conjunction With Those Of Commodore Sir Josiah Rowley In The Memorable Enterprise Against St. Pauls And In The Conquest of Bourbon Whereby The Domion Of The Surrounding Seas Was Asserted At A Critical Period And A Most Important Security Confirmed To British Commerce Eastward Of The Cape.'
Sold with The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Knight Commander's (K.C.B.) Star, Military Division, silver, gold and enamel, by Rundell, Bridge & Co., Ludgate Hill, London, in original velvet- and silk-lined leather case; two gilt-brass plume-holders each formed as Prince of Wales's feathers; and an associated long semi-domed brass-mounted glass display case lined in blued velvet, with slate base and wooden paw-feet (minor damage)
A volume of documents relating directly to the career of Henry Keating are also offered with this lot and comprise: 10 commissions on vellum signed by George III (3), George IV as Regent (2), William IV (2) and Queen Victoria (3), and one on paper signed by Lord Minto, 8 September 1796 - 5 June 1846, together with six other manuscript documents comprising: the surrender of St. Paul on the Isle Bonaparte, 23 September 1809, signed by Josiah Rowley, Henry Keating and the French military commander St. Michel; two capitulations of St. Denis and the whole Isle of Bonaparte, 8 July 1810, in French and English, both signed twice by Keating, R.J. Farquhar and Colonel St. Susanne, one signed by Rowley; a letter signed by Robert Banks Jenkinson as 2nd Earl of Liverpool to Lt. Col. Keating, Downing Street, 1 March 1811, enclosing a copy of a dispatch (here present) to Maj. Gen. Abercrombie forwarding Prince Regent's appreciation of 'the reduction of the Isle of France and... capture of the Isle of Bourbon'; a letter signed by the representatives of the merchantile community of Calcutta to Col. Henry Keating, Calcutta, 16 September 1815, sending appreciation of his military achievements and presenting the sword; and another presenting 500 guineas, 13 March 1811, together 31½ pages, folio, integral blanks, bound in contemporary red morocco gilt
Together with four copy books of Keating's official correspondence: 4 July, 1809 - 1 September, 1810, 365 pages; 15 May, 1811 - 31 December, 1815, 364 pages; 30 May, 1812 - 10 April, 1816, 55 pages, with 100 pages of accounts from 1839-1857; 2 January, 1815 - 18 February, 1816, 207 pages. All folio, bound in reversed calf (worn), giving a clear account of Keating's activities, transcribing his correspondence with officals in England, India and locally, including with the enemy; and a copy of Keating's published memorial to the Prince of Wales on the capture of Mauritius (?1817), and Account of the Conquest of Mauritius... by an Officer [Lieut. Evans] (1812)
Sir Henry Sheehy Keating was enrolled as ensign on 31 August, 1793. Serving as Subaltern he went to the French West Indies in the force of Sir Charles Grey. The force landed in Martinique early in 1794, where Keating was present at the affair of La Trinite and the attacks on Mont Rouge and Mont Calabash, and in the defence of Berville, where he was wounded on two occasions. During the English reverse Keating was taken prisoner at Guadeloupe and held on board a prison ship for 18 months, and subsequently a close prisoner at La Rochelle. Following his release he served in Ireland and was promoted Lieutenant Colonel of the 56th Foot on 1 August, 1804. In 1809 he was appointed to the command of the island of Rodrigues, where, together with Commodore, late Admiral, Josiah Rowley, he planned the landing on 7 and 8 March on the Isle of Bourbon [Bonaparte] and captured the town and shipping of St. Paul, of which its commander St. Michel surrendered to them on 23 September. The following year, Keating was entrusted with a force of 5000 men. The whole island was captured on 8 July, with the capitulation signed by the French commander, Colonel St. Susanne, to Keating and R.T. Townsend, later governor and commander in chief of the island, surrendering stores, ammunition and material, losing seven standards and the French forces taken as prisoners of war. Keating was then given command of the advance on the Isle of France, when he was wounded in the leg by a sword thrust. On 25 January, 1812 Keating was promoted to Lieutenant Commandant of the Bourbon Regiment, and to Colonel on 4 June, 1813. Following the wars against Napoleon Keating's career progressed being promoted Major General on 12 August, 1819, and awarded Companion of the Order of the Bath, Lieutenant General on 10 January, 1837, Colonel of the 90th Light Infantry in 1841, and Colonel of the 33rd Foot in 1845. He died in 1847
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Sold with The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Knight Commander's (K.C.B.) Star, Military Division, silver, gold and enamel, by Rundell, Bridge & Co., Ludgate Hill, London, in original velvet- and silk-lined leather case; two gilt-brass plume-holders each formed as Prince of Wales's feathers; and an associated long semi-domed brass-mounted glass display case lined in blued velvet, with slate base and wooden paw-feet (minor damage)
A volume of documents relating directly to the career of Henry Keating are also offered with this lot and comprise: 10 commissions on vellum signed by George III (3), George IV as Regent (2), William IV (2) and Queen Victoria (3), and one on paper signed by Lord Minto, 8 September 1796 - 5 June 1846, together with six other manuscript documents comprising: the surrender of St. Paul on the Isle Bonaparte, 23 September 1809, signed by Josiah Rowley, Henry Keating and the French military commander St. Michel; two capitulations of St. Denis and the whole Isle of Bonaparte, 8 July 1810, in French and English, both signed twice by Keating, R.J. Farquhar and Colonel St. Susanne, one signed by Rowley; a letter signed by Robert Banks Jenkinson as 2nd Earl of Liverpool to Lt. Col. Keating, Downing Street, 1 March 1811, enclosing a copy of a dispatch (here present) to Maj. Gen. Abercrombie forwarding Prince Regent's appreciation of 'the reduction of the Isle of France and... capture of the Isle of Bourbon'; a letter signed by the representatives of the merchantile community of Calcutta to Col. Henry Keating, Calcutta, 16 September 1815, sending appreciation of his military achievements and presenting the sword; and another presenting 500 guineas, 13 March 1811, together 31½ pages, folio, integral blanks, bound in contemporary red morocco gilt
Together with four copy books of Keating's official correspondence: 4 July, 1809 - 1 September, 1810, 365 pages; 15 May, 1811 - 31 December, 1815, 364 pages; 30 May, 1812 - 10 April, 1816, 55 pages, with 100 pages of accounts from 1839-1857; 2 January, 1815 - 18 February, 1816, 207 pages. All folio, bound in reversed calf (worn), giving a clear account of Keating's activities, transcribing his correspondence with officals in England, India and locally, including with the enemy; and a copy of Keating's published memorial to the Prince of Wales on the capture of Mauritius (?1817), and Account of the Conquest of Mauritius... by an Officer [Lieut. Evans] (1812)
Sir Henry Sheehy Keating was enrolled as ensign on 31 August, 1793. Serving as Subaltern he went to the French West Indies in the force of Sir Charles Grey. The force landed in Martinique early in 1794, where Keating was present at the affair of La Trinite and the attacks on Mont Rouge and Mont Calabash, and in the defence of Berville, where he was wounded on two occasions. During the English reverse Keating was taken prisoner at Guadeloupe and held on board a prison ship for 18 months, and subsequently a close prisoner at La Rochelle. Following his release he served in Ireland and was promoted Lieutenant Colonel of the 56th Foot on 1 August, 1804. In 1809 he was appointed to the command of the island of Rodrigues, where, together with Commodore, late Admiral, Josiah Rowley, he planned the landing on 7 and 8 March on the Isle of Bourbon [Bonaparte] and captured the town and shipping of St. Paul, of which its commander St. Michel surrendered to them on 23 September. The following year, Keating was entrusted with a force of 5000 men. The whole island was captured on 8 July, with the capitulation signed by the French commander, Colonel St. Susanne, to Keating and R.T. Townsend, later governor and commander in chief of the island, surrendering stores, ammunition and material, losing seven standards and the French forces taken as prisoners of war. Keating was then given command of the advance on the Isle of France, when he was wounded in the leg by a sword thrust. On 25 January, 1812 Keating was promoted to Lieutenant Commandant of the Bourbon Regiment, and to Colonel on 4 June, 1813. Following the wars against Napoleon Keating's career progressed being promoted Major General on 12 August, 1819, and awarded Companion of the Order of the Bath, Lieutenant General on 10 January, 1837, Colonel of the 90th Light Infantry in 1841, and Colonel of the 33rd Foot in 1845. He died in 1847
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