Historic Bottles of the British Military 

Used in the 18, 19 and 20^th Century

"Commonly referred to as Admiralty Bottles"

When this website was first launched in 2001 the only examples were 19th century.  Since then the information has expanded to include examples from the 18th and 20th centuries.  The site also includes a limited number of other artifacts including regimental canteen bottles, chinaware, silver and buttons all of which might be found in an archaeological context with the bottles. 

Why a web page on "Admiralty bottles" ?

In October of 2001 my wife Linda and I  visited the frigate HMS Trincomalee built for the British Navy prior to 1830 and now moored at the Historic Quay in Hartlepool, England. During the tour I spoke with some of the guides and found that they were not aware of the types of bottles that would have been on board and were interested in learning more.  Many of the bottles shown on this website would have been in use on the HMS Trincomalee when she was at Esquimalt on Vancouver Island in the 1850s.  Since that time with the help of numerous collectors, historians and archaeologists I have slowly been able to document a wide variety of bottles used by the British military from almost all parts of the world.  

My own interest started in the1960s when I lived within walking distance of the Esquimalt Naval Base which was home to much of Britain's Pacific fleet in the 19th century. I also briefly served in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve at Esquimalt as summer employment while attending university. My interest was peaked when I met divers who were finding "admiralty bottles" in the harbour in the 1970's. I acquired many of those examples which were donated to the Naden Museum in 1990. My interest has continued and I am pleased I can share the information. I am always happy to hear of examples not listed on the site and additional historical information would be most welcome.

If you have any questions, please feel free to Email us.

Examples from each category of artifacts:

Why is the name "Coffin Island" used for this domain?

•  The creator of this webpage, Tom Bown, worked with Camosun College Archaeology staff to create the book Victoria Underfoot, published in 2008. Tom contributed the original concept, and two chapters: "The Old Songees Village Site: A Case for Historic Archaeology" and "Between the Tides: Mudlarking in the Gorge".  This fascinating history of archaeology in Victoria has won four awards: the Monday Magazine M Award for Best Non-Fiction Book, the Victoria Hallmark Society's 35th Annual Heritage Communications Award, an Award of Honour from Heritage BC., and the Canadian Archaeological Association Communications award for 2009 and contributions towards Canadian Archaeology.

• A related web site on Archaeology in the Victoria area is Archaeological Society of British Columbia (Victoria Chapter).
• If you are interested in used or antiquarian books, view the current books for sale at Limebay Books.
• A great Northwest coast art site is: Painting the Light: The Art of Sandra Ritter
• Now under construction: Historic Bottles of Vancouver Island

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The images presented at this online gallery are copyright-protected © worldwide by Tom Bown. Any downloading, copying, distributing or other unauthorized use without prior written consent of the copyright holder is strictly forbidden.