Cocked Hat in Tin Box

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This was owned by Captain Charles Dugald Campbell of Her Majesty’s Indian Navy, circa the 1850s. The museum also has his uniform, a medal and three Buddha statues taken from the Great Dragon Pagoda in Rangoon, by Capt. Campbell in 1852.

Charles Dugald Campbell joined the British Indian Navy in 1828 when he was 15 years old. He first wore the hat in 1847 when it was crisp and new with its shiny gold bullion. Capt. Campbell would have worn the hat during the second Anglo-Burmese war in 1852 when he sailed from Madras in March 1852, commanding the steam frigate Sesostris, an 876 ton ship with 10 guns aboard.