Great looking find. I think you are right about the time period & use as a British Naval Officer's cuff links. I'm not an expert but it seems they are pretty close to these ones pictured in the links.
I wonder who "P B" was? If it was "B B" it would have been Benjamin Bunker from Nantucket.
LINKS:
Colonial America American Revolutionary War British Naval Officer’s Matched Set of Silver “Tudor Rose” Design Cufflin... on May 21, 2016
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Item Details
Description
Colonial America
American Revolutionary War British Naval Officer’s Matched Set of Silver “Tudor Rose” Design Cufflinks
c. 1775 American Revolutionary War British Naval Officer’s Matched Set of Octagonal Silver “Tudor Rose” Cufflinks, Choice Very Fine.
16mm. This choice mated pair being a matched set of Revolutionary War British Naval Officer’s Silver Cufflinks. They have the classic “Tudor Rose” design and intact shanks on their reverse. Make of Silver, complete with hallmark on the link. Nice for display.
Thank you for the info! Out of boredom I looked up some British Naval Officers to see for a PB. Surprisingly one did come up! A Peregrine Bertie. I suppose odds are small, but there's always a chance.
This was taken from wikipedia:
Captain
Peregrine Francis Bertie (13 March 1741 – 20 August 1790) was a British naval officer and politician who sat in the
House of Commons from 1774 to 1790.
The third son of
Willoughby Bertie, 3rd Earl of Abingdon, he was educated at
Westminster School.
[1] Commissioned a lieutenant in the
Royal Navy on 17 December 1759, he was promoted commander on 1 January 1762 and given command of the
sloop HMS Despatch. He was made a
post-captain on 6 November 1762 and commanded the fifth-rate
Repulse until February 1763. He got another command, the frigate
HMS Shannon, that August, which he took to Africa and then the
Leeward Islands before giving up command in 1764.
[2] In 1766, he inherited the Norreys estates, including
Weston-on-the-Green,
Oxfordshire and
Yattendon,
[3] Hampstead Norreys, and
Bothampstead in
Berkshire,
[4] from his second cousin once removed,
Norreys Bertie.
[1]
Bertie entered Parliament as MP for
Oxford in 1774 on the interest of his brother, the
4th Earl of Abingdon. A Tory like the rest of the family, he was noted in 1780 as an opposition member who rarely attended Parliament. Lord Abingdon was a supporter of the
Shelburne Ministry, and made sure that Bertie was on hand to vote in support of the peace preliminaries to end the
American Revolutionary War in February 1783.
[5] Bertie also went to sea again for the first time in almost twenty years: he briefly commanded
HMS Fortitude in early 1783.
[2]
When he inherited them in 1766, the Norreys estates were encumbered with an annuity to his sister Elizabeth, wife of
John Gallini. In 1784, Gallini and Elizabeth bought the manors of Hampstead Norreys and
Bothampstead from Peregrine,
[6] followed in 1785 by the adjacent manor of
Yattendon.
[7]
Bertie went to sea for the last time, commanding
HMS Carnatic,
guard ship at
Plymouth, from April 1786 to 1788.
[2] His one recorded speech in Parliament was in opposition to the government, in favor of
John Pollexfen Bastard's motion in 1788 on naval promotions.
[5]
Despite voting against the
First Pitt the Younger ministry over the
Regency Bill in 1789, the Pittite Abingdon again returned Peregrine for Westbury in the
1790 election on 16 June 1790. He had just married (on 7 May) Elizabeth Hutchins, but they had no children, as he died on 20 August, before Parliament opened. He left his remaining estate at Weston-on-the-Green to his brother, Lord Abingdon, and made provision for one illegitimate daughter by his housekeeper.
[1]
