File:Samuel Crowley, Purser, d. 1836 or 1837 RMG BHC2639.tiff

A half-length seated portrait with head to left, body to right, in purser's undress uniform, 1807-25, with his fob seal visible on the left. Pursers were the naval warrant officers responsible for provisions and clothing. The sitter is at a table with paper and ink-pots containing quill pens and is holding an unfolded letter inscribed as addressed to him, 'Samuel Crowley, Esq HM Ship Windsor Castle, Palermo, P. Packet'. Crowley became a purser in 1779. Between 1805 and 1814 he was in the third-rate, 'Windsor Castle', 74 guns. In 1807, under the command of Sir John Duckworth, she was at Palermo, Sicily, during an expedition to the Dardanelles, and Crowley's portrait was probably painted then by an artist based there. The general appearance suggests that the hand may have been Italian, but the very specific markings on the letter in particular, perhaps argue for a British artist working in Sicily, though none have been identified. Two other sitters in the collection are thought to have been painted by the same hand (see BHC3124 and 2647).

The portrait is of particular interest because the letter he holds has been carefully detailed. The Plymouth Dock hand-struck stamp indicates where it was originally posted and the letter bears the manuscript endorsement 'P[er].Packet'. Post Office Packets began a monthly service from Falmouth to Malta in 1806 and the letter thus reached the addressee at Palermo via Malta. The front of this prepaid packet letter bears the Post Office annotation 'P/28' in red ink comprising the concurrent packet rate from Falmouth to Malta of 2/1 (2 shillings/ 1 penny) plus United Kingdom inland rate of 7d (7 pence) reflecting the distance from Plymouth Dock to Falmouth.