Library Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
BR992.2.2 |
Object Name |
Book, Instruction |
Title |
Telegraph Signals |
Author |
Skynner, John |
Summary |
A leather covered,hand written naval signal book. Title on front cover reads, "Telegraph Signals H[?]" Sections are sewn together. Two half cm leather bands are visible on the edges of the spine near the top and the bottom and serve as hinges helping to support the cover boards. The end leaf is supported with a piece of another book stuck to it. The first page has instructions for use of signal flag; the next 25 pages have red tabs on the edges. Each tab has a letter of the alphabet and the numbers of the codes appearing on the page. Each page has two rows of numbers and the corresponding word for the code number. Letters on red tabs are from A to Z and the numbers are from 26 to 1998. The next 28 pages also have white tabs, each with a letter of the alphabet and numbers beginning at 2026 through to 2998. These numbers identify phrases rather than single words. The last page containing codes is written on a scrap of paper because the reverse side is lined and the word "sincere" is written ten times. Not all numbers have been used on each page. On the last page a note reads, "NB a mistake was made by inserting double ciphers in the seven following numbers 1030, 1040, 1050, 1060, 1070, 1080 and 1090 therefore ships not having two sets of flags must use a word nearest synonymous". |
History |
This telegraph signal book belonged to Commander John Skynner (1752-1846) of the Anchorage ( now part of Bradley Museum). His daughter wrote about the book, "One of them is the book containing the private signals of the British Channel. How it happened it was not returned to the admiralty when my father retired, I do not know. But I have the book safely locked up in my residence in Toronto. Number 258 Jarvis Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada". This book was donated by a descendant of the Jarvis family. The Skynner and Jarvis families were connected through two marriages: Henry Skynner and Mary Jarvis married in 1851, and Caroline Skynner and Frederick William Jarvis married in 1857. |
Subjects |
Commanders Military Royal Navy Telegraph |
People |
Skynner, John |