Two letters from Admiral Robert Howe Bromley. The first written on board HMS STATIRA 14 March 1808 states that the Cork Mail did not bring any letters from the British Minister at Washington. The second letter dated 13 May 1808 is to Rear Admiral Duckworth about the French fleet at Brest which escaped the Rochefort Squadron. Bromley gave chase but without success round the North Atlantic to Lisbon, Madeira, the West Indies and the Chesapeake.

Administrative / biographical background
Sir Robert Howe Bromley (1779-1857) entered the Navy in 1791 worked his way up through the ranks, becoming Vice-Admiral of the Red in 1848, of the Blue in 1851 and of the White in 1854.