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拍品专文
Admiral Sir Charles John Napier, KCB RN (1786-1860) served 60 years in the Royal Navy and saw service in the Napoleonic Wars, the war in Syria and the Crimean War. From 1829 to 1836 he served with the Portuguese Navy and was appointed Admiral of that navy in July 1833 after the battle of Cape St. Vincent.
In 1842 Napier applied to the Foreign Office to change his name to include the Portuguese title of Viscount de Cabo de San Vincente, but this was refused in 1847 as the Foreign Office deemed it 'not desirable that distinguished officers of the British Navy should bear foreign titles.'
He was also actively concerned with the development of iron ships and an advocate of humane reform in the Royal Navy as well as serving as Liberal MP for Marylebone. In November 1841 he was appointed Naval ADC to Queen Victoria. With political enemies, Napier was unfairly made a scapegoat for the perceived failure of the naval campaign in the Baltic during the Crimean War and his naval command was terminated in December 1854. He then became MP for Southwark in February 1855 and carried his dispute with the Admiralty to the floor of the House of Commons. On his death in 1860, the ships of the Portuguese Navy held eight days of mourning for their former commander.
In 1842 Napier applied to the Foreign Office to change his name to include the Portuguese title of Viscount de Cabo de San Vincente, but this was refused in 1847 as the Foreign Office deemed it 'not desirable that distinguished officers of the British Navy should bear foreign titles.'
He was also actively concerned with the development of iron ships and an advocate of humane reform in the Royal Navy as well as serving as Liberal MP for Marylebone. In November 1841 he was appointed Naval ADC to Queen Victoria. With political enemies, Napier was unfairly made a scapegoat for the perceived failure of the naval campaign in the Baltic during the Crimean War and his naval command was terminated in December 1854. He then became MP for Southwark in February 1855 and carried his dispute with the Admiralty to the floor of the House of Commons. On his death in 1860, the ships of the Portuguese Navy held eight days of mourning for their former commander.