Seeking ship name for Crimean letter home from Charles Lygon Cocks

[Paul McTaggart]

I am trying to locate a location and ship from a letter that was sent from Charles Lygon Cocks to his sister Henrietta Maria Cocks as shown.

The letter is rated 6d with a manuscript cancel. Forces land rate at the time until September 1856 was 3d for officers and 1d for enlisted men.

My research on Charles has the following quick history of his movement to and from and in the Crimea.
Of the two brothers Charles and Taff Cocks, Charles was the first to leave when, on 22 February 1854, he marched out from Chichester with the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards to embark on the steamship Orinoco at Southampton. He was then a Major.

While in the Crimea in July 1854 he received his company without purchase, being promoted to Lt. Col and returned to the UK to local duties much to his displeasure.

In May 1855 Charles arrives back in the Crimea with reinforcements of the 2nd Coldstream Guards.

He often entertained  Captain Wilson of the Orinoco with whom he dined or whom he entertained whenever his ship was in Balaclava. This is the ship that he first came to the crimea on in 1854.

The hostilities against Russia at last ended in March 1856 with the signing of an Armistice. Gradually troops were withdrawn. At the end of the month Charles Cocks managed a sightseeing trip to Kertch in HMS Medusa through knowing her Captain.

On the 4 June 1856 the Coldstream finally embarked on board HMS Agamemnon and in just over three weeks they were home in Aldershot.

My question is what is the time / location and ship name. Does the "SHIP LETTER" marking provide any assistance ?

Regards Paul

[Frank Schofield]

Paul
The ship letter is not much help, it is almost certainly been applied in London Robertson/Tabeart S36 in red used 1840-1857. No idea of the ship I am afraid
Frank Schofield

[Graham Mark]

Ship Letter markings are many and various.  Most have the port name incorporated in the marking, but those without a port name were used in London.  This marking is Robertson's S36, known used in red from 1840 to 1861, and is relatively common (in terms of Ship Letter markings).
References:  
Robertson AW [i]A History of the Ship Letters of the British Isles[/i] first published in sections between 1955-64, reprinted in 1993, ISBN 9963579604.
Tabeart C [i]Robertson Revisited[/i], published 1997, ISBN 9963579779
Graham Mark

[Paul McTaggart]

Many thanks Frank and Graham,

I can fully understand that given the marking was applied in London, therefore it will be of no use to identifying the ship due to lack of other markings. What is evident is that the marking was applied before June 1856 as this was the time that Charles left with the Coldstream Guards to return to the UK.

At this stage I will take it that it is a possibility that the letter has been transported back via the steamship Orinoco as this seems, from my research, to be the strongest link that I have so far.

One final question I have then is around the rate. If this had been sent via an HMS vessel would the rate for and officer albeit Army have been 3d not 6d as shown. Does the manuscript 6 indicate that it has been posted via a merchant or private vessel ?

If the answer is yes then was the Orinoco a private vessel under contract to the Navy ?

Regards Paul

[Colin Tabeart]

The letter rate to/from officers in the Crimea by French packet via Marseilles was 3d to a quarter, 6d to a half ounce. Initially it had to be prepaid, but from Nov 1854 unpaid letters were allowed at the same rates without surcharge. This letter therefore could have been sent by French packet via Marseilles, and the recipient charged 6d for an unpaid letter between a quarter and a half oz weight. However, the London SHIP-LETTER marking means it was carried by a private ship, 6d being the incoming ship letter rate up to half oz. Are there really no other postal markings? Without an arrival date there is no chance whatsoever of the ship being identified.
Best wishes
Colin

[Paul McTaggart]

Hi Colin,

Quick glance at the back show a receiving mark and I will make a scan of this over teh next couple of days and get into the thread.

Paul

[Paul McTaggart]

And the winner is July 17, 1857 ?

Interesting, now I don't know where to go from here.

Regards Paul

[Alan Baker]

While it is tempting to think that he may have been in India as part of the force quelling the Indian Mutiny in 1857, I have found nothing to suggest that the Coldstream Guards were sent there, in fact, quite the opposite.

However, I have found a reference to him being a well known amateur photographer and there is apparently a collection of his photos in Lanhydrock House in Cornwall taken between 1855 and 1880  "during his travels around this country and in Europe".

Was he retired by this time?