Ocean Village Group wins highest bid for historic warrant

The Ocean Village Group has confirmed it was the highest bidder in a London auction for a warrant penned in the lead-up to the Anglo-Spanish war in the late 1720s.

The warrant written by James Berkeley, the 3rd Earl of Berkeley and First Lord of the Admiralty, while Spain laid siege on Gibraltar.

The single-sheet manuscript is nearly 300 years old was sold by Forum Auctions.

The warrant was written to Vice Admiral Sir Charles Wager, who was in command of the English naval fleet operating off the coast of Spain.

The instructions in the historic document were to “...take, sink, burn or otherwise destroy..” any Spanish vessels sighted by the fleet as a response to the hostile actions of Spain over Gibraltar.

The Vice Admiral, Sir Charles Wager had sailed under Sir George Rooke with the fleet that captured Gibraltar in 1704, adding further historic Gibraltar-linked relevance in the piece.

Wager was also a Privy Counsellor and went on to serve as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1733 to 1742, before his death in May 1743, aged 77.

He is buried in the north transept of Westminster Abbey, in London.

“When we saw that this item was going to auction, we knew we must acquire it,” Ocean Village Group’s Chairman Gregory Butcher said.

“As the proud owners of two marinas in Gibraltar, we feel very close to our maritime history.”

“This manuscript helps to outline just how far our western society has come in nearly 300 years, as we now enjoy a close and strong working relationship with marinas in Spain, fostering trade and prosperity across this fantastic southern Mediterranean region.”

“We will be working in close collaboration with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust to display the manuscript safely for everyone to inspect in one of our buildings, in Ocean Village.”