Silver salver presented to Captain, later Vice Admiral Thomas Boulden Thompson (1766-1828) of the 'Leander', for gallantry following the Battle of the Nile, 1798.

Oval silver salver with a reeded border sitting in a contemporary oval frame of Sheffield plate, resting on four lions' paw feet. The centre is engraved with an oval of oak and laurel sprays surmounted by the Thompson arms, inside which is inscribed: 'To Thomas Thompson Esq., Captain in the British Navy, who so bravely defended the Leander to the very last extremity on the 18th August 1798, this Memorial is presented by the surviving Brother and Sisters of Peter Downes, late Midshipman under his command who, led by his Example and encouraged by his Friendship to aspire after Glory, fell gallantly fighting in the hard Contest of that fatal Day in the Sixth year of his Service and the twentieth year of his Age.'.

Thomas Boulden Thompson commanded the 'Leander', 50 guns, in Nelson's Mediterranean fleet. He was present at Teneriffe and wounded at Santa Cruz in 1797. While returning home from the Battle of the Nile 1798 with Captain Edward Berry and Nelson's Nile dispatches, the 'Leander' ran into the French frigate 'Genereux', 80 guns, and after a heroic defence, the Leander was captured. At the court martial on the loss of the ship Captain Thompson, who had been wounded in the action, was honourably acquitted and afterwards knighted. Thompson lost a leg at the Battle of Copenhagen, 1801 and died in 1828. There is a monument to his memory in the grounds of the old Devonport Nurses Home at Greenwich.