A turned teak paperweight made from the timber of the ship that saved Natal. Applied with a silver plaque inscribed ‘MADE FROM TIMBER OF H.M.S. SOUTHHAMPTON 1842’
Dimensions: 12 cm high by 8.4 cm diameter.
HMS Southampton was built in 1820 and carried 60 cannons. In June 1842 it arrived off Port Natal and fired into the sand dunes on the Point and the base of the Bluff. This was to cover the landing of reinforcements from the 25th Regiment sent to relieve the siege of Captain Smith’s camp from the Voortrekkers, led by Andries Pretorius. In 1912 the ship was sold to Hughes, Bolckow & Co for scrap and souvenirs were made from the timber and sold, a lot to the South African market.
Please see : Natalia 44 (2014) Copyright © Natal Society Foundation 2014 for an article written by Graham Dominy titled: “SHE SAVED NATAL IN 1842”: FROM “MAN O’ WAR” TO HISTORIAN’S DESK. THE STRANGE FATE OF THE TIMBERS OF HMS SOUTHAMPTON.