Naval Order Signed ‘Cha: Boyles’, to Captain Robert Mitford of H.M. Sloop Espoir, instructing him to proceed with Dispatches to the Commander in Chief, at Mahon or elsewhere, also to deliver a Memorandum to the Commander of H.M. Sloop Eclair or any other of the cruisers on the coast of Sardinia, “but this is not by any means to take you out of your way in pursuit of the first object, that of delivering the dispatches to the Commander in Chief with all possible speed” by BOYLES, Vice-Admiral Charles

Given on board the Canopus, Palermo Bay, 23 February 1811. 2 pp. 12 x 8 inches, in sound condition, but with one heavy stain clear of the signature. Boyles was the young midshipman who became a close friend and mentor to Horatio Nelson when he joined the Raisonable in 1771. “Boyles was his favourite and he probably assumed the role of protective older brother. Five years Horace’s senior he was a lively Norfolk lad whose father, the collector of customs at Wells, was known to the Nelson-Suckling families ... he was capable too: he became a post-captain in 1790, distinguished himself in Calder’s action with the French in 1805 and reached flag rank a year later.” [John Sugden Nelson: A Dream of Glory, p 50]. Vice-Admiral Charles Boyles (1756-1816) became a rear-admiral in 1809 and from 1810 to 1812 served in the Mediterranean. He became a vice-admiral in 1814.