Sketchbook of Lieutenant Charles Platt, 50th Regiment, 1800-1801

Volume of watercolours by Charles Platt, mainly relating to his service as a lieutenant in the 50th Regiment, British army, during the campaign against French forces in the Mediterranean and Egypt, 1800-1801.

The drawings show locations including Gibraltar, Yvica (Ibizia), Minorca, Sardinia, Elba, Sicily and Marmorice (Marmaris), with mention in the captions of the troopship HMS BLONDE (1787), the hired armed ship GOOD DESIGN (1793) and the frigate HMS THETIS (1782). One drawing shows the order of British army units under the command of General Sir Ralph Abercromby at the Battle of Alexandria on 21 March 1801.

Administrative / biographical background
Captain Charles Platt (1770-1817) was an army officer and the brother of Commander John Platt, Royal Navy. He served in the 50th Regiment under General Sir Ralph Abercromby in Egypt in 1801 and under Lord Cathcart at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. Charles Platt and his wife Judith Ann Platt (died 1837) have a memorial inscription in Rotherham Minster.