Tunstall

The main collection consists of signal books, both manuscript and printed, fighting instructions and essays concerning tactics. Among these are examples of some of the earliest signal books of about the time of the War of the Spanish Succession, but the bulk of the signal books and instructions date from the mid 18th to the early 19th century. Many have important additional notes and amendments made by various naval officers, including several by Admiral Richard Earl Howe (q.v.) and Admiral Sir John Jervis, the Earl of St Vincent (q.v.).

A secondary part of the collection consists of various naval pamphlets and printed books from the later 17th century to the 20th century. This includes a collection of pamphlets relating to the dispute between Admirals Thomas Mathews (1678-1751) and Richard Lestock which arose from a confusion over signalling and instructions. There is also a collection of military books, including some rare 16th century Italian examples collected by Sir Julian Corbett, and a number of small manuscript collections of correspondence, mainly that of naval officers.

Administrative / biographical background
William Cuthbert Brian Tunstall, known as Brian Tunstall (1900-1970) was a naval historian and educator. He was a lecturer in English at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and during the Second World War was employed as a naval correspondent for the BBC’s European services. He later lectured at the London School of Economics and at the Royal Military College of Canada. He was secretary of the Navy Records Society between 1932 and 1937. His writing and editing work included publications on the papers of the naval historian Sir Julian S. Corbett now held at Royal Museums Greenwich (see CBT) and papers of Admiral John Byng. The Tunstall collection was purchased with Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Society for Nautical Research (SNR) funding. Tunstall married Gillean Elizabeth Corbett, the daughter of Sir Julian S. Corbett, and it was through her that the collection of signal books passed to him. He then continued to add to it and later the collection of Sir Hilary Mead was also incorporated.