See the collection record STV.

Administrative / biographical background
Charles Steevens was the fifth son of John Steevens, an army captain, and was born at West Hanningfield, Essex, in 1705. He entered the Navy in about 1720, was promoted to lieutenant in 1729, to commander in 1744 and to captain in 1748. Little is known of his career between 1748 and 1755 when the Seven Years' War broke out. He was then appointed Commander-in-Chief, Barbados, in the LICHFIELD, but was soon transferred to the ORFORD and was employed under Byng in the Channel until the end of 1756. Early in 1757 Steevens was sent out to the East Indies as Commodore of a small squadron in the ELIZABETH; he was also promoted to rear-admiral in that year. In 1760 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the station, moved to the NORFOLK and undertook the blockade of Pondicherry, which surrendered in 1761. Steevens died at Bombay in the same year. See 'The Naval Career Of Rear-Admiral Charles Steevens from 1720 to 1761' by Lieutenant-Colonel Nathaniel Steevens, published privately in 1874.