HOME PAGE
SAMUEL'S STORY - AN
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
COMMENT, QUOTES & REVIEWS
BOOK'S TITLE -
CHURCHILL'S QUOTE - DID HE SAY IT?
SODOMY - A HANGING
and "THE GOLDEN RIVET."
Other pages are:-
HOME PAGE
SAMUEL'S STORY - AN
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
COMMENT, QUOTES & REVIEWS
BOOK'S TITLE -
CHURCHILL'S QUOTE - DID HE SAY IT?
SODOMY - A HANGING
and "THE GOLDEN RIVET."
Another Nelson letter to Captain Cockburn has been reproduced in Dr Colin White's scholarly new book NELSON - THE NEW LETTERS which I failed to spot amongst the Cockburn papers in the Library of Congress microfilms. It is is dated Porti Ferrajo, 27 January 1797 and is of interest, as it refers to women on board la Minerve, and was written whilst they were both on board:
"You are hereby required and directed to Victual all Women belonging to the Troops serving as Marines on board His Majesty's ship under your command at two thirds allowance of all Species of Provisions & children at one half allowance."
Yet more evidence that it was regarded as entirely normal that a ship should have women and children on board.
I mention in the book that, more than half a century ago, I had summer holidays with a French family at Giens, near Hyeres, to the East of Toulon, where Samuel spent a lot of time blockading Toulon. I have now been sent a reprint of a 1923 book by Conrad, "The Rover", which describes to perfection the area round Giens, the off-shore islands and the days after the English had been expelled from Toulon.
I say in the book, p 144;
“A complicating factor is that Samuel christened his first child, a son, at Dover in 1812, which suggests that he was back in this country again and married his wife in 1811 or earlier. If he was held prisoner, how did he return before the war ended, or at least before 1813 when the allies pushed Napoleon back into France after his disaster at Moscow? Again, a faint but somewhat unlikely clue. A book on prisoners ['Napoleon and his British Captives' by Michael Lewis] contains a list of those few men whose records have been found and a note as to what became of them - 'died', 'escaped', 'exchanged', and so on. Once again, chance plays a hand for there, large as life, is Samuel Blackmore's name, listed as a midshipman.
Was this the same man? Probably not; Blackmore was not a particularly rare name in the South West, and Samuel was a popular Christian name. Besides, to have been promoted midshipman would hardly have been likely for a man who, although he attained petty officer rating as a coxswain, had never become a warrant officer - bosun, or gunner, for example. But the chances of an exchange were greater for officers than common seaman. So did he somehow manage to impersonate a midshipman in order to enhance his chances of being sent home, and succeed? Unlikely - but how else did he get back to Dover, marry and produce a son before the allies came in 1813 or 1814 to free him?”
However, Roger Morris says in his ‘Cockburn and the British Navy in Transition’ (p37) that when Cockburn transferred to la Minerve in August 1796, two able seamen who transferred out of Maleager with him were promoted, one to second master’s mate and the other to midshipman.
'The Command of the Ocean, A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815,' a truly magnificent and detailed book by N A M Rodger and a 'must' for any serious student of the history of this period who can afford the £30 cover price, adds this, quoting Sir George Elliott's 'Memoirs':-
"If I was not as efficient as was desirable, I suspect I was equal to at least two of the lieutenants, who had just been made from common seamen, and were neither used nor very fit to command. Four out of our five lieutenants were made in that way, the distress for officers was so great..."
So it really does seem that it was by no means uncommon for men to be promoted from the lower deck, after all. Perhaps Samuel, too, could have made it at a later date – possibly when, without any explanation in the log or muster book, he ceased to be coxswain - but being promoted Midshipman rather than Lieutenant. As coxswain of la Minerve he was perhaps, of all the men on the lower deck, the one man most likely to have been well known to Cockburn. If his captain took a liking to him, maybe he also was later ‘made up’ to midshipman, notwithstanding his lack of education or status, thereby making it a possibility that he was later released on an exchange of prisoners. So is the Samuel Blackmore, a midshipman, ‘ours’, and was he exchanged for a Frenchman of equal rank before the allies came to release him?
Since the above was written, I heard from a private researcher who had found out all about Samuel's missing years before he came upon my book in the British Library.
Samuel was, indeed, as I suspected, an officer,
a midshipman, but in the Impress Service, not the Royal Navy. He was again captured by the French
at the very beginning of the second half of the conflict between Britain and France, which resumed in 1803.
How or where he was taken prisoner is not known, but as an officer he was allowed out on parole.
He met and married Margaret, the daughter of a "detenue", a London banker who had gone to Paris
to escape his creditors. Contrary to the laws, usages and customs of war until then, he and many other civilians
were imprisoned by Napoleon.
He and Margaret were married at Givet. They had children born and baptised both at Givet and in Verdun, former fortresses in North East France, where there were well-known prisoner of war camps. Samuel raised five children by her; it is, as I thought, all documented and there to see in French libraries.
Prisoners were often exchanged. He helped the Mayor put out a fire, putting this forward
as grounds for allowing him home, but without success. There is however one problem; as he was a prisoner until 1814 or possibly 1815, how was he able to christen a son in England in 1812?
Two more quotes from Sir George Elliott, culled from N A M Rodger's 'The Command of the Ocean, A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815:-'
Admiral Hotham.
"Admiral Hotham is a gentlemanlike man and would, I am persuaded, do his duty in a day of battle. But he is past the time of life for action; his soul has got down into his belly and never mounts higher now, and in all business he is a piece of perfectly inert formality."
The Royal Navy - v - the army
"The character of the profession is infinitely more manly. They are full of life and action, while on shore it is all high lounge and still life".
Leaving Basque Roads in HMS Bellerephon on 16 July 1815, on his way to captivity on the remote island of
St Helena, Napoleon watched with keen interest as the ship got under way. He noted that things were done
differently on French ships, remarking to Captain Maitland;
“What I admire most about your ship is the extreme silence and orderly conduct of your men; on board a French ship everyone calls and gives orders, and they gabble like so many geese.”
Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland, ‘The Surrender of Napoleon’, London, 1826, quoted in David Cordingly’s delightful book ‘Billy Ruffian’.
There is an interesting article in the June '04 "All at Sea" on races between Captains' gigs. These are
replicas of the captain's gig of the French Redoubtable which was driven ashore in Bantry Bay in 1796,
when the French attempted to invade England, and is now to be seen in the Irish National Museum.
This gig is 38ft long, but has a beam of only 6ft 4 inches and a draught of no more than 14 inches. She had
a crew of 12 plus cox and when under sail the crew had to sit her out like in a modern racing dinghy. There is, it seems, no direct evidence of her sail plan but, based on known details of other contemporary craft,
the replicas are equipped with dipping lug sails on their fore and main masts and either a standing lug or
a spritsail on the mizzen. The halyards (uncleated) go over each time she tacks, and serve as stays for her
three unstayed masts. She has to be helped round when tacking, either by backing the foresail or by means of a 'tacking oar.' Off the wind she can achieve as much as 10 - 12 knots but, to windward, she has to be
oar-assisted and can only manage six knots.
There are now 60 replicas world-wide but, sadly, only one, the Integrite in Britain. Details are to be found at www.atlanticchallenge.org or on 01989 730312.
At St Mawes, near Falmouth, Cornwall, they still have regular gig races - both mens' and womens' boats take part. These boats are copies of the old Falmouth pilots' gigs, about 33ft long, I believe, and pulled by six oars with a cox. Some of them are also equipped for sailing.
Was an English frigate captain's gig similar, in Samuel's day, to this French boat? Was a frigate's gig was built to the same design, but perhaps a bit smaller? Perhaps a frigate captain's gig had a crew of only ten, and (being smaller) gave even more excitement in a blow. If so, Samuel (as la Minerve's coxswain, and therefore in command of her captain's gig) must have been in charge of quite a handful!
It is, I regret, unlikely that even a French-built frigate would have had room for an out-and-out 'fun boat' on her booms for her captain's personal use. The standard 'captain's barge' on a British frigate of this period was probably only 28' long and a more useful general purpose boat, although it was smaller, lighter and quite a bit narrower than the ship's launch, which would have been armed with a carronade. Both were fitted with sails, as well as being propelled by oars when there was insufficient wind. Later, captains were permitted a certain amount of latitude and the wealthy ones paid for their own gigs, even on frigates.
The book was launched at The Nelson Society's annual jamboree at Norwich in October '02. At the book signing session, Tom Pocock (the celebrated naval historian) sold 19 copies of his splendid book The Terror before Trafalgar. My book, too, sold 19 copies. But I sold three more at the subsequent dinner to people who, in the crush at the book signing session, couldn't find it. So I came away with my tail fairly high !
There was, however, one slightly discordant note. I had already been warned that my book's title had not found favour in high places, and at the meeting I was directly chalenged about this; please refer to BOOK'S TITLE - CHURCHILL QUOTATION for details.
I was particularly busy that Christmas, and the first print-run of 350 copies soon went. A reprint of another 100 copies also went, so a third print-run of 100 copies came in time for Christmas '03. Another batch arrived in time for the Christmas 2004 market. Five years later and I still have to have more reprints - but now (2009) even though the cost per copy is higher, I only order 50 or 75 at a time. The book now includes, as an Appendix, the contents of my SODOMY - A HANGING page.
When it came to the second impression, I wanted to gain experience of selling into the book trade
and sold some to a few specialist book shops. I had to allow discounts but, here again, I met much
generosity; wholesalers and shops who would normally demand a discount of 50% or even more have, on
hearing I am giving the entire proceeds to charity, agreed to accept far less. And, to my great
surprise, one bookshop gave me a repeat order, and within only a few days of their first order!.
Several reprints later, and I still occasionally receive anonymous orders from the book trade, but I do not encourage them because of the discount I have to allow. Orders still come from this web site, and I sell copies at coffee mornings and similar functions. Apart from a few sales in aid of our church, the great majority of sales are in aid of bowel cancer charities. In all, I have now (2009) raised well over £7,000.
In 2002 I was supporting my fellow bowel cancer victim Lynn Faulds-Wood (the former BBC 'Watchdog' presenter) and the charity she founded, BEATING BOWEL CANCER. Subsequently, however, Lynn Faulds-Wood moved on and had set up a new charity - LYNN'S BOWEL CANCER CAMPAIGN (charity number 1099455) - so I decided to support her new venture with the second and all subsequent impressions.
A second edition would correct my mistake in the first edition over sailing 'on' rather than 'in' a ship, and a few other small mistakes - it would be no big deal. It would also incorporate (as the Christmas 2004 and subsequent reprints now do) the bit about 'A Hanging' as an appendix.
I should also like to do more research into how it came about that Samuel Blackmore was restored to la Minerve after being in HMS Seahorse on her return north from Naples, after what has been described as 'Nelson's Disgraceful Episode'.
I have, however, now given up all hope of arranging for a second edition. The book was first published in 2002, and nearly all the research work some years before that. The problem is that I have now (2009) 'moved on' and have other interests - particularly my family and my latest love - choral singing. The best I can do, as more information samuel comes to light, is to cover it in further Appendices each time I order another re-print.
WETHERBY CHORAL SOCIETY. I took 30 copies of RUM, SODOMY & THE LASH to our rehearsal of Handel's Messiah before Christmas, and only came back with one - and a request to bring more copies the following week, for those who hadn't any money with them! I sold 33 in all. Very many thanks indeed to all my colleagues who, I'm sure, enjoyed singing in the Messiah concert (which was a sell-out) as much as I did.
HMS Trincomalee Trust, to whom I gave 50 copies for sale in the Trincomalee shop, ordered a further 20 copies in the summer of 2004 and at Christmas '04 ordered another 30. I have been able to supply their needs in each succeeding year. The Nelson Society have also sold all the copies of the first print-run that i gave them.
John C Dann, Director of the William L.Clements Lbrary at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, the editor of The Nagle Journal, very kindly allowed me to quote extensively from his book. In return, I sent him a copy of RUM, SODOMY & THE LASH as a 'thank you'. The Clements Library has now asked for another copy. So it looks as though I must be getting something right! Don Wilcox, the Curator of Books, writes:-
"Your book will provide our readers with further insights into life at sea for sailors in the British Navy at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century. It fits in so very well with the other materials at the library on naval history and is greatly appreciated."
A very, VERY BIG 'THANK YOU' to everyone who has bought the book, and especially to those of you who have also passed the www.press-gang.net web address on by e-mail to their friends, thereby expanding the pool of potential purchasers.
I must say, people have been VERY generous in the amount by which they have kindly 'rounded up' the £9.99 cover price, and not a single person has ever complained about the huge markup I make on the cost of packing and postage - except to say that, as a one-time lawyer, I obviously know how to add it on!
Your generous support has been quite beyond my wildest expectations.
And do please send me your comments, both on the book and on this web site. You can contact me in one of three ways:-
Finally, I have put some notes on Samuel 's - and my - early family history, the story of the Devon Blackmores from Exmouth and Littleham, onto the web. You can find them at BLACKMORE FAMILY HISTORY.
My sincere thanks again to everyone who has helped me.
ANTHONY BLACKMORE
Trafalgar Day, 2004
HMS UNICORN HMS Trincomalee's sister ship, another Leda class frigate, now "in ordinary" at Dundee,