Marked "private" in the album and daybook. The Royal George sunk in 1782 off Spithead and in 1841 some timbers were raised from the site. The oak frames of several billiard tables were made of wood from the ship, including one now at Burghley House, Lincolnshire.
The making of a billiard table from the wreckage of a ship where 800 people died was, understandably, considered in bad taste by some at the time and an article, appealing to Queen Victoria not to have one made, appeared in Punch (re-printed in The Living Age, Volume 1, Issue 1,p64, May 1844 published by Littells). An addendum to this article claims the order was countermanded and the timbers used to decorate a new chapel at Windsor Castle instead, the photograph suggests otherwise. The photograph was taken for Thurston and Company, billiard table manufacturers.
This is part of the Series: HBL01/01 Series Of Photographic Negatives And Prints; within the Collection: HBL01 The Bedford Lemere Collection
Source: Historic England Archive
Photographer: Boucher, Adolphe Augustus: Bedford Lemere And Company
Billiard Room, Castle, Royalty