Letters

OLD HULKS FOR WAYWARD BOYS

The ‘Focus On’ article in the August issue about 19th-century Navy records mentions that the old wooden sailing ships were converted to accommodation when they were superseded.

I discovered another use for an old ship when researching my Fisher ancestors, namely the National Nautical School ship HMS Formidable, anchored in Portishead Dock, Bristol.

The Formidable had been an 84-gun sailing ship of the Royal Navy, launched from Chatham Dockyard in 1825. In 1869 it was leased to the Bristol Training Ship Association to train and help destitute and wayward boys. The subjects taught included seamanship, tailoring, barbering, cooking and shoemaking, as well as normal schoolwork, all within a background of strict discipline.

My relative, Apsley John Fisher, was born in 1859, the son of John Samuel and Sarah Fisher. They seem to have been a dysfunctional family, with Sarah being ejected from the family home with her children on several occasions. The local