Straight bladed dirk said to have belonged to a Midshipman of the Honourable East India Company. The hilt of the dirk consists of a straight gilt crosspiece, of diamond section thickened at the centre with, above it at the junction with the blade, an additional crosspiece of a narrow oval shape 28mm from tip to tip as opposed to the main crosspiece which is 89mm from tip to tip. The gilt, flat-topped pommel is four-sided with bevelled edges. The grip is polished white ivory, four-sided with bevelled edges. The grip tapers to a small gilt ferrule at the crosspiece. The dirk is fitted with a small gilt tang button. The steel blade is straight, evenly tapered for most of its length, and of a flattened oval section with a narrow fuller each side running from the shoulder to within 18mm of the point. The black leather scabbard has two gilt lockets fitted with rings and having scalloped edges. The top locket is decorated with lines. The reverse of the top locket is engraved with the words 'Banks Plymouth Dock.'

This is one of the earliest patterns of unofficial dirks and while there is nothing to connect it with the Honourable East India Company. It is likely that the weapons of the Royal Navy and of the Honourable East India Company's fleet were much the same before the advent of the Regulation sword. A similar dirk, which belonged to Admiral John Markham (1761-1827) when he was a Midshipman, is in Morland House in Westmorland. Horace W. Lonsdale bequeathed this dirk to the Royal United Services Institute.