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Tea and Coffee Service
Four piece sterling silver, ornately decorated with flowers and leaves all around. The teapot and coffee pot have hinged lid with acorn-shaped handle on top, the creamer and sugar are open top. All are made in London, coffeepot maker GRE made in 1867, the other three pieces maker FE made in 1873. Each piece is hand-engraved on two sides. One side: "Presented to Capt. Jas Gaudin at Victoria V.I. 9th March 1875 by the friends of Robert Burnaby" and on the other side: "For kindness and attention in bringing him home in a paralised state." As Captain of the "Lady Lampson" in 1873, James Gaudin and his crew returned Robert Burnaby to England. Burnaby (the city of Burnaby's namesake) was a businessman (in connection with ships' cargoes), a legislator in the 1860s and one of the men to start the Masons' Brotherhood in Victoria, Nanaimo and Vancouver areas. Having suffered a stroke, the bachelor Burnaby was paralyzed and required much care on the return voyage.