Original British East India Company Naval Flintlock Musket by T&C Ashton Marked to East Indiaman DUKE OF SUSSEX with Matched Bayonet - circa 1820

Original Item: Only One Available. Here we have a fantastic offering from the British Colonial Period, and East India Company Naval "Brown Bess" Flintlock Musket, intended for sea service, complete with its original number matched bayonet. With a 36 1/2 inch .75 caliber barrel and overall length of 52 1/2, it conforms to the Sea Service Pattern in use 1778–1854 by the British Military, though it is about an inch shorter, probably due to the usual manufacturing variations of the time. When on use at sea, it was very common for the name of the ship to be added to the muskets in use, to prevent them from being "lost" or otherwise misplaced, and this one is marked DUKE - OF - SUSSEX on the top of the barrel. Research indicates that this vessel was an East Indiaman merchant vessel, built by Thames Shipbuilding Co and launched 14 Dec 1826. The principal owner was Stewart Marjoribanks, and she made four voyages to the East, stopping at China on the first, and then Bombay and China on the thre