30 - A SILVER PAIR-CASED ONE-DAY POCKET CHRONOMETER BY BARRAUD, LONDON, USED BY THE EAST INDIA CO. CAPTAIN JAMES WALKER ABOARD THE H.C.S. MACQUEEN, 1821

A SILVER PAIR-CASED ONE-DAY POCKET CHRONOMETER BY BARRAUD, LONDON, USED BY THE EAST INDIA CO. CAPTAIN JAMES WALKER ABOARD THE H.C.S. MACQUEEN, 1821 the 2in. enamel dial signed and numbered Barrauds' / Cornhill London / 843, blued spade hands with gold subsidiary seconds, counter-signed gilt movement with engraved balance cock and diamond end stone, Earnshaw spring-detent escapement with dove-tailed adjusting foot, bi-metallic balance with large balance screws and blued steel helical spring, contained in silver pair case with fob suspension hallmarked for London, 1817, contained in a contemporary lockable sea-going wood architectural case with sprung securing plate, sliding pediment lid and brass column supports -- 5½in. (14cm.) high; together with an autograph repairer's note by the celebrated chronometer maker James Murray dated 1832 (2) Provenance: James Walker (b.1784) entered East India Co. service aboard the H.C.S. Asia in 1798 as a midshipman. In 1821 he was made captain of the H.C.S. Macqueen - a new ship built by Joseph & Thomas Brindley at their Frindsbury Yard near Rochester in Kent and probably when he purchased this highly accurate pocket chronometer from Barrauds - one of the most respected makers of the day. He performed four round trips to St Helena, Bengal and China, but in 1828 he had a violent and public altercation with Colonel Sir E.K. Williams of the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot. Although Williams was cleared at the subsequent Court-Martial, the incident seems to have precipitated Walker's early departure from Company service. Fine overall condition, running well and keeping good time; left and right trims underneath pediment missing.