Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
BR992.2.3 |
Object Name |
Book, Account |
Scope & Content |
A leather-covered account book or journal with steel closure. The brown leather cover is decorated with an embossed twisted chain design around the three open edges on both sides. It has two remnants of a thick black material (perhaps a leather lace for tying) stuck to the back cover. The steel closure is incised with zig-zag decoration. The journal's end pieces are pasted on the inside of the covers. Entries are mostly in ink, faded to brown. Page one is marked: Lieut. Skynner's Account Book. Contents of the book include notations of supplies and payroll, ship log entries and memorandums. Entries date from 1811 to 1815 and include notes to places such as Cape Palas, Gibraltar, Cape St. Vincent, Cape Finisterre, Lisbon, St. Agnes Lighthouse and Burlings. Some pages of the journal have been cut out or have been left blank. The inside of the back cover has a note in ink that reads: Mary Ann ? W. James Stephens 30 St. James Street, Piccadilly London. The spine of the journal is printed with the word: Memorandum in black ink. |
History |
Account book belonged to John Skynner (1762-1846), owner and resident of The Anchorage, located at Merigold's Point. Skynner, Mississauga's own "Master & Commander" was born in England in 1762 to a family steeped in the traditions of the Royal Navy. He joined the navy as an "Able Bodied Seaman" in 1795 and quickly rose through the ranks. He became a full Lieutenant in 1802 and one of his first duties was to escort the Duke of Kent, future father of Queen Victoria, from Gibraltar to England. During the Napoleonic Wars, Skynner helped to protect convoys of ships between Gibraltar and Malta keeping the ships and their cargos safe. He was given a silver cup in 1808 by the merchants of Malta for his meritorious conduct and unremitted attention to the numerous convoys under his charge while in the Mediterranean. John Skynner moved with his family to Merigold's Point in Mississauga in 1838 at the age of 76. Little is known of his personal life but we know he was married to a woman named, Joanna, 22 years his junior, and together they had six children. Skynner passed away in 1846, at the age of 84 but his legacy lives on in the presence of The Anchorage - his retirement home on the shores of Lake Ontario. |
Physical characteristics |
leather, paper, glue, cotton, steel, ink Height: 2cm Length: 16cm Width: 11cm |
Title |
Commander John Skynner's Account Book |
People |
Skynner, John |