British Union jack (post-1801 pattern). A hand-sewn, wool bunting flag with a linen hoist and a rope and toggle attached. The flag has been repaired and the design is inaccurately made up in a manner characteristic of early Union Flags. If used at sea, the flag would have been flown in harbour from a jackstaff on the ships bowsprit and is therefore a 'Union Jack'.

The flag is said to have belonged to Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell (1757-1806). During the French Revolutionary war Mitchell was involved in the naval side of the 1799 campaign in the Netherlands. The military side of operations was unsuccessful and the British were forced to withdraw. In 1801 he commanded a squadron to the coast of Ireland. In late 1801 he had to suppress a mutiny, presiding over the trial of the ringleaders at Spithead. In the following spring Mitchell was appointed commander-in-chief on the North American station, dying after a short illness at Bermuda on 26 February 1806.