Unsigned copy of Letter from Sir John Barrow by BARROW, Sir John [1764-1848] (unsigned) - 1817

1817. No binding. Fair. 12-3/4 x 8 inches flat folded twice to 3-1/4 x 8 inches. Copy of Document signed, two pages folio, dated Admiralty Office 11th Nov[ember] 1817. Commissioning a report to establish regularity in return of Royal Marine ships. Edge tears, approximately 1 inch to each of the 4 folded panels on both sides, some soiling, fair condition. [John Barrow] English statesman. Following the Napoleonic Wars Sir John needed to find a peacetime purpose for the large number of ships and officers, which were left redundant. To this end he became one of the greatest promoters of British exploration. In his position as the Secretary to the Admiralty, Barrow was a great promoter of Arctic voyages of discovery, including those of John Ross, William Edward Parry, James Clark Ross, and John Franklin. The Barrow Strait in the Canadian Arctic as well as Point Barrow and the city of Barrow in Alaska are named after him. He is reputed to have been the initial proposer of St Helena as the new place of exile for Napoleon Bonaparte following the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Barrow retired from public life in 1845 and devoted himself to writing a history of the modern Arctic voyages of discovery (1846).