The recently-published book by Michael Cassar giving an account of the ship-of-the-line HMS Hibernia, launched in 1804, and its long and historical association with Malta, makes very interesting reading. The book’s review featured in The Times on September 11.

I like to think that I own a valuable part of that vessel.

When, in 1958, I was engaged to be married, my future wife and I set upon searching for good pieces of antique or old furniture which was affordable on our meagre savings. This we did by frequenting auction sales dispensing unwanted inheritances. These sales provided a choice of pieces which usually necessitated only minor repairs and polishing.

Among the lots of dining-room furniture we managed to acquire was a rather plain-looking sideboard: its solid and sturdy construction suited us, as did its roomy storage space. Eventually, we engaged the services of a furniture restorer to repair and polish the items we had collected for our future home.

I remember the restorer remarking that the construction of the sideboard in teak wood was very unusual, hinting at the possibility that the piece was constructed at the Admiralty workshops. The fact that the British-make brass locks to the drawers bore the ‘arrow-head’ Crown property mark strengthened his theory. The three locks also bore the dates 1902, 1903 and 1906.

In his book, Cassar states that Hibernia was decommissioned and sold by public auction in 1902. Moreover “the wood was sold for the manufacture of furniture and other uses”.

The quoted dates by Cassar tie in perfectly.

An added bonus relating to the sideboard is the information passed on to me much later by a member of the family which had auctioned it that the original owners were Lord Strickland’s family.