Manuscript Copy by Prenderville of letter by Ross to William James Hall of Kingston, Jamaica, giving account of his conveyance of Napoleon to St Helena on HMS Northumberland, with covering Autograph Letter Signed by Woollett ('J. Sidney Woollett').

Both items (previously pinned together) in good condition, with text clear and entire, on aged paper. Woollett's letter (one page, 12mo, 'Reading, Bay') places at Prenderville's disposal the letter 'which you have seen in the Library here from Captn. Ross of the Northumberland when conveying Napoleon to St. Helena [...] I have no objection to your sending the copy to any periodical for publication'. Prenderville has copied the letter onto five pages (each c. 32 x 20.5 cms) of around thirty lines each, spread over the rectos of three bifoliums. At the end Prenderville has written 'Taken by me at Reading Library in the Parish of St James, Jamaica, by permission of the Very Revd. Jh Woollett Pro-Vicar Apostolic this 17th June 1877 - [signed] J. H. Prenderville Major | General of Police'. Ross dates his letter 'Northumberland 26th. July 1816'. He has received Hall's request for information about 'Our Mighty Passenger', and 'as I probably may meet a Vessel in the Channel bound to Jamaica I shall write a few lines in readiness'. Begins by saying that he 'can hardly refer you to any Newspaper as few of those "Extracts of letters from the Northumberland["] ever come from her'. The Northumberland was appointed to the task 'in a great hurry': 'from anxiety shewn by Ministers to get him sent away you would have supposed their Lives had depended on it'. Describes initial journey from Portsmouth to Torbay. On Bonaparte's reception on board, Sir George Cockburn 'was instructed among other things to examine his effects', which Ross describes. Bonaparte did not object to this 'unpleasant' procedure, 'but most violently protested against being sent to St. Helena'. Most of Bonaparte's money was sent to the Treasury. Napoleon 'immediately requested to be introduced to the Captain, he asked a few commonplace questions such as where I was born and how long I had been at Sea, but didn't appear to me to care much whether he got an answer or not'. Ross 'very disappointed' at Bonaparte's appearance: 'I have never seen a picture of him that conveys his likeness [...] he is fat rather what we call pot bellied and altho' his leg is well shaped it is rather clumsy and his walk appears rather affected something between a waddle and a swagger, but probably not being used to the motion of a Ship might have given him that appearance, he is very sallow and quite light grey eyes, rather thin greasy looking brown hair and altogether a very nasty priest like looking fellow, he was dressed in a dark green coat with gold epaulettes, white waistcoat & breeches silk stockings & shoes & buckles'. Describes 'our mode of passing a day'. '[H]e seldom made his appearance untill [sic] about three OClock in the Afternoon when he would enter into Conversation with any body upon deck, generally liking to have all the talk to himself [...] his own people [...] always style him Sire or Your Majesty, but John Bull was not quite so Civil, as he never got more from us than any other General Officer wood, [sic] indeed he was received on board with the same Salute that of a Captains Guard and three as a General should be'. Gives diagram of seating arrangements at table, with Ross at head, and of after-dinner entertainments ('sometimes Boney play'd Chess or Whist but he generally preferred the round game'). '[H]e never gave the smallest trouble to any One, and every day was the same, he was very communicative and seemed fond of being asked questions, his manners are by no means good and his voice very harsh and unpleasing'. Describes events after Bonaparte's arrival in St Helena ('he went a Shore and upon leaving the Ship he returned me his thanks for my attention to him with rather a better grace than I should have given him credit for'). The last page gives details of Bonaparte's situation in St Helena, and of the arrangements regarding his confinement. Reproduced from another transcription (published in "Merry England" (Sept. 1885) in Clement King Shorter's 'Napoleon and his fellow travellers; being a reprint of certain narratives of the voyages of the dethroned emperor on the Bellerophon and the Northumberland to exile in St. Helena' (London, 1908).