The Trafalgar Chronicle: Dedicated to Naval History in the Nelson Era

By Sean Heuvel and Judith Pearson

The Trafalgar Chronicle is the publication of choice for new research about the Georgian Navy, sometimes called ‘Nelson’s Navy’, though its scope includes all the sailing navies of the period from 1714 to 1837. The theme of the 2021 issue is ‘Georgian Navy encounters with indigenous and enslaved populations’. The theme is particularly relevant to current-day discussions and social activism occurring across the globe, that have brought new insights and perspectives to Western history of colonization, exploration, and slavery. The lead article, by 1805 Club member Tom D. Fremantle, tells the story of his ancestor, Philip Gidley King, who sailed to Botany Bay with the First Fleet in 1787. becoming the first Lieutenant Governor of Norfolk Island and the third Governor of New South Wales. His encounters with the Maoris are unforgettably touching. Another contribution reveals how the British lured slaves away from their American masters’ plantations with the promise of freedom during the War of 1812. In the tradition of recent editions, the 2021 Trafalgar Chronicle contains biographical sketches of Nelson’s contemporaries including Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, naval hero of Quebec; Sir Harry Neale, Baronet GCB, a royal favorite; and Admiral Sir Philip Durham, a Trafalgar Captain turned politician. Meanwhile, Captain Christer Hägg, RSwN Rtd regales readers with the tale of Captain Johan Puke leading the Swedish fleet in a daring breakout from the Russian blockade at Viborg in 1790. Scholars and students, experts and enthusiasts fascinated by the era of the sailing navy will be absorbed by the latest edition of this handsomely illustrated journal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jan 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781526759672

Book preview

THE TRAFALGAR CHRONICLE

Dedicated to Naval History in the Nelson Era

New Series 6

Journal

of

THE 1805 CLUB

Edited by

JUDITH E PEARSON, SEAN HEUVEL & JOHN RODGAARD

In association with The 1805 Club

Text copyright © individual authors 2021

First published in Great Britain in 2021 by

Seaforth Publishing,

A division of Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

47 Church Street,

Barnsley S70 2AS

www.seaforthpublishing.com

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 5267 5966 5 (PAPERBACK)

ISBN 978 1 5267 5967 2 (EPUB)

ISBN 978 1 5267 5968 9 (KINDLE)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing of both the copyright owner and the above publisher.

The right of the individual contributors to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Pen & Sword Books Limited incorporates the imprints of Atlas, Archaeology, Aviation, Discovery, Family History, Fiction, History, Maritime, Military, Military Classics, Politics, Select, Transport, True Crime, Air World, Frontline Publishing, Leo Cooper, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing, The Praetorian Press, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe Transport, Wharncliffe True Crime and White Owl.

Designed and typeset in Times New Roman by Mousemat Design

Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

CONTENTS

President’s Foreword – Admiral Sir Jonathon Band

Editors’ Foreword – Judith E Pearson, Sean Heuvel, and John Rodgaard

Articles on the 2021 Theme: Royal Navy Encounters with Indigenous Populations and Enslaved People

Governor King of New South Wales and his Maori Guests 1793–1805 – Tom D Fremantle

Reluctant Partisans: The Slaves of Princess Anne County in the War of 1812 – Christopher Pieczynski

The Tailor Prince – Lily Style

Captain Nathaniel Portlock – Gerald Holland

Biographical Portraits

The Watery Maze: With Wolfe and Saunders at Quebec 1759 – Barry Gough

Political Admiral and Royal Favourite: The Career of Sir Harry Neale, Baronet GCB – Barry Jolly

Durham’s Dramas: A Trafalgar Captain at the Polls – Hilary L Rubinstein

Commander Walter Strickland: A Royal Navy Officer in an Age of Transition – Barry Jolly

Commodore John Barry: Father of the US Navy – Liam Gaul

Captain Johan Puke and the Breakout of the Swedish Fleet at Viborg 1790 – Christer Hägg

Articles of General Interest

Pride and Prejudice: Reforms, Rivalries, and the Rise in Status of British Naval Surgeons During the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1805) – Gerald Stulc

Nelson: Leader, Manager, Mentor, Friend – Harold E ‘Pete’ Stark

The Officers Who Missed the Battle of Trafalgar – Andrew Venn

The Bomb Vessel: Shore Bombardment in the Georgian Navy – Anthony Bruce

Contributors’ Biographies

Notes

The 1805 Club

Colour Plate Section between pages 128 and 129

President’s Foreword

The 2021 issue of the Trafalgar Chronicle is truly a unique one. Unlike previous editions, the distinction of this issue lies with the individual authors overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Namely, they submitted their well-researched products despite lacking access to archives, libraries and museums; all closed to the public as a precaution to avoid spreading the deadly virus. I wish to extend a well-deserved ‘Bravo Zulu’ – well done to them for their purposefulness and creativity in overcoming a truly once in a lifetime set of restrictions.

The central theme for the 2021 issue is Georgian Navy encounters with indigenous populations and enslaved people. The editors chose this theme during a planning session in 2019, and little did they know that the following year’s news headlines would be affixed to the global political and social unrest due to racial conflict that started across the US in 2020. These events have produced a re-examination of Western history as it pertains to colonisation, exploration and slavery. The editors’ selected theme has become pertinent to contemporary events in a way they did not foresee.

Another aspect of this issue is that it contains contributions by authors from six countries, and in doing so, this particular issue of the Trafalgar Chronicle reinforces its international reputation.

This issue also reflects the mission The 1805 Club is now undertaking to become the ‘go to’ association for scholars and enthusiasts of the Georgian maritime era. The Trafalgar Chronicle mirrors the Club’s aim to inspire greater understanding of the achievements of the maritime world of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Also, as with The 1805 Club, the Trafalgar Chronicle takes its name from the iconic Battle of Trafalgar that gave Nelson his acclaimed place in history and confirmed the role of the Royal Navy in asserting its sea power. Through this journal, the reader will see that The 1805 Club is building a global community open to enthusiasts of naval history from all backgrounds, recognising the role of the world’s sailing navies of the Georgian period and promoting their legacy to the modern seafaring age.

I wish to convey my hearty congratulations to the editors and to the writers who have contributed to this year’s volume – well done!

ADMIRAL SIR JONATHON BAND GCB DL

Former First Sea Lord

President of The 1805 Club

Editors’ Foreword

The 2021 issue of the Trafalgar Chronicle is unique in two respects. First, this issue contains fourteen contributions by authors from six countries, reflecting the journal’s international appeal. Second, our dedicated authors conducted and submitted their work during a year in which research facilities such as libraries, archives and museums were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, somehow, each contributor managed to send us a well-developed, scholarly product, giving our readers new perspectives, insights and findings concerning the maritime world of the Georgian Era. These authors are to be commended for their persistence and ingenuity.

The theme of the 2021 issue is Georgian Navy encounters with indigenous and enslaved populations. We chose this topic during a planning session in 2019. Little did we know that the next year’s headlines would describe political upheaval and social unrest due to racial conflicts that began in the streets of US cities in 2020. These events have generated commentary and social activism across the globe, leading to revised interpretations and opinions regarding the Western history of colonisation, exploration and slavery. Our theme turned out to be relevant to current day events in a way we had not anticipated.

We received four excellent articles on our theme. The lead article, by Tom D. Fremantle, tells the story of his ancestor, Philip Gidley King, who sailed to Botany Bay with the First Fleet in 1787, becoming the first Lieutenant Governor of Norfolk Island and the third Governor of New South Wales. King presided over an English penal colony, describing, in his journal, his encounters with Maoris, some of those encounters unforgettably touching. The article is a welcomed follow-on to one about King that Mr Fremantle published in the Trafalgar Chronicle in 2017. He is a member of The 1805 Club and a frequent contributor to this journal.

We have three additional articles on the theme: Retired US Navy commander and history professor, Christopher Pieczynski recounts how the British lured slaves away from their American masters’ plantations with the promise of freedom during the War of 1812. Runaway slaves faced a risky choice: any slave who could reach a Royal Navy ship would be granted freedom and passage away from American shores. A slave caught before reaching a Royal Navy ship would face harsh, physical punishment.

Founder and Chair of the Emma Hamilton Society, Lily Style, dug into her family history to give us an account of her ancestor, Captain Edward Blanckley RN, who returned from the Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26) with an infant rescued from the rubble. The child was a Burmese prince who would never claim his throne.

US Coast Guard operations specialist and historian Gerald Holland tells readers about Captain Nathaniel Portlock, who sailed with Cook and Bligh. Portlock participated in trading expeditions, interacting with Polynesians and the people of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

This issue also contains a variety of biographical sketches of Nelson’s contemporaries. Leading off this section, Professor Emeritus Barry Gough of Canada’s Wilfrid Laurier University writes about Vice Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, naval hero of Quebec. Barry Jolly, a historian and former lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy, has contributed two biographies: one on Sir Harry Neale, Baronet GCB, a royal favourite, and one on Commander Walter Strickland, who served in the Royal Navy during a time of sweeping maritime technological advancements. Dr Hilary L Rubinstein, of Melbourne, Australia, is the world’s leading biographer of Admiral Sir Philip Durham. Her piece details the years in which this former Trafalgar captain became a controversial politician; a Member of Parliament representing the Wiltshire market town of Devizes. Durham, by the way, was a contemporary of Sir Harry Neale, who was also a Member of Parliament, representing Lymington.

Mr Liam Gaul, a local historian of Wexford, Ireland, provides a biography of Commodore John Barry, who was born in Wexford and left Ireland at a young age, becoming the Father of the US Navy under President George Washington. Lastly, Captain Christer Hägg, a retired officer of Sweden’s navy, regales readers with the tale of Captain Johan Puke leading the Swedish fleet in a daring breakout from the Russian blockade at Viborg, Sweden (now Viborg, Finland) in 1790. Captain Hägg, a member of The 1805 Club and a maritime artist of note, includes two of his own paintings as illustrations – a treat!

Dr Gerald Stulc, a retired US Navy physician, writes about the history of military medicine. His article about artistic portrayals of Nelson’s illnesses and combat wounds was the featured piece of the 2020 Trafalgar Chronicle. In this issue, we have his physician’s analysis of the status of British naval surgeons during the French Wars 1793–1815. Mr Harold E ‘Pete’ Stark, of Annapolis, Maryland, discusses Nelson’s style as a leader, manager, mentor and friend, based on a letter he wrote to one of his captains, with whom he was not pleased.

Do you know how many of Nelson’s ‘band of brothers’ missed the battle of Trafalgar? Naval history expert Andrew Venn, of Portsmouth, England, documents the reasons why nine Royal Navy officers and one French naval officer never arrived at Trafalgar. Our final article is by Anthony Bruce, a well-published UK military historian. His article investigates the development of the bomb vessel in naval warfare. This article stands as a companion piece to his discussion on the carronade in the 2019 Trafalgar Chronicle.

We thank these authors for their acumen as historians, and their expertise in making history exciting and engaging. We admire the depth of their research, their facility with detail, their selection of illustrations, and the quality of their writing. It is a pleasure to work with each one of them. They were all marvellously obliging and co-operative with our questions and suggestions for revisions or clarification. They made our work as editors easy and enjoyable.

To our readers: we welcome your comments, questions, ideas, and suggestions about this and future issues. If you like to write and conduct historic research about all manner of things pertaining to the Royal Navy and other navies of the Georgian era, send us a proposal and/or get on our mailing list of potential contributors. The theme for the 2022 issue will be Scientific and technological advances in the navies of the Georgian Era. Contact us at [e-mail].

Please tell your friends and colleagues about the Trafalgar Chronicle. Our publisher, Seaforth Publishing, is happy to issue subscriptions to individuals as well as organisations, universities, institutes and libraries. If you aren’t a member of The 1805 Club, please join by completing an application at our website: www.1805Club.org.

Judith E Pearson, PhD

Burke, Virginia

John Rodgaard, Captain USN, Ret

Melbourne, Florida

Sean Heuvel, PhD

Williamsburg, Virginia

May 2021

Governor King of New South Wales and his Maori Guests 1793–1805

Tom D Fremantle

In 1994 a delegation of Maori from the Bay of Islands (New Zealand) arrived on Norfolk Island 750 miles to the north. They brought with them gifts, which are now on display in the island’s little museum to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the enforced visit of two of their ancestors to Norfolk Island where, for six months, they were guests of the Lieutenant Governor, Philip Gidley King. King’s personal contribution to the Maori was recognised at the time and clearly it was valued highly enough to remain in the collective memory for an impressively long time.

In 1787 Lieutenant Philip Gidley King had been appointed second lieutenant onboard the sixth-rate HMS Sirius (22), the frigate...,1 the frigate adapted as flagship for Captain Arthur Phillip, who had been commissioned as Captain General and Governor to lead an expedition of eleven ships to create a convict settlement at Botany Bay in New South Wales.2

King was among the first officers to land at Botany Bay in January 1788 and reported in his journal the first contact that he and Governor Phillip had with the natives:

… soon after discovered a number of ye natives who halloo’d & made signs for us to return to our boats, having only three Marines with me & Lieut Dawes I advanced before them unarmed presenting some beads & Ribbands, two of the Natives advanced armed, but would not come close to me, I then dropt ye beads & baize which I held.3

Captain Philip Gidley King, Lieutenant Governor Norfolk Island, 1788–1796, Governor New South Wales 1800–1806. Artist Unknown. (Mitchell Library Sydney, New South Wales)

The First Fleet entering Botany Bay January 1788, by Lieutenant William Bradley RN. From the Journal of Lt William Bradley of HMS Sirius 1786–92. (Caird Library © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

This first exchange was initially quite peaceful but after a short while one of the natives threw a lance, not directly at the landing party, but to one side and with such force that King ‘required an exertion to pull it out’. This and subsequent meetings between foreigners and natives continued with a mixture of threats and gifts. At one point King noted in his journal that after the native threw a lance, King ordered a marine to fire with powder only. King was avoiding injury to any of the natives while demonstrating that his men had the ability to defend themselves if necessary. In his journal he expressed his opinion that ‘I must do them the justice to say that I believe them to be concientiously [sic] honest.’4

When they found we were not disposed to part with any more things, they entered into conversation with us, which was very fully interpreted by very plain Signs they wanted to know of what sex we were, which they explained by pointing where it was distinguishable, As they took us for women, not having our beards grown, I ordered one of the people to undeceive them in this particular when they made a great shout of Admiration, & pointing to the shore, which was but ten yards from us we saw a great number of Women & Girls with infant children on their shoulders, make their appearance on the beach, All in puris naturalibus pas meme la feuille de figeur – those natives who were round the boats made signs for us to go to them, & made us understand their persons were at our service; however, I declined this mark of their hospitality but shewed a handkerchief which I offered to one of the women, pointing her out, she immediately put her child down & came alongside ye boat & suffered me to Apply the handkerchief where Eve did ye Fig leaf, the Natives then set up another very great shout & my female visitor returned on shore.5

Clearly the first contact with the natives had caused some discomfort to the Europeans as they tried hard to avoid being seen as aggressors or a threat. Stockdale’s ‘Voyage’ states that in response to any perceived aggravation by the natives ‘Conciliation is the only plan intended to be pursued’.6 Governor Phillip and his officers would have been well-acquainted with the experiences of Captain Cook and conscious no doubt of how an argument with indigenous people could lead to misunderstanding, violence, and as in the case of Cook, untimely death. The governor remained anxious to pursue a sensitive, non-aggression policy as the main settlement became established in Port Jackson, a few miles north of Botany Bay.

The view of Port Jackson. Artist unknown. A copper plate from The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay, London, John Stockdale Publisher, 1789 (‘views drawn on the spot’).

In September 1790 Phillip himself was targeted by a native and received a spear in his right shoulder that might easily have killed him. His reaction, however, was to ensure that there was no retaliation, which might quickly have escalated into a massacre.7 Phillip recovered and while he remained governor, his policy of doing nothing to threaten the natives continued, sometimes to the considerable distress of some settlers. As years passed, relationships frequently became strained and successive governors experienced increasing difficulty in restraining the settlers who felt they had been wronged by natives and wished to wreak some revenge.

Meanwhile, only two weeks after declaring the settlement in Port Jackson, Phillip despatched Lieutenant King to take Norfolk Island and establish there a settlement to harvest the wonderful ‘pine’ trees for ships’ masts and the wild flax for the manufacture of sailcloth. This new outpost was also expected to become quickly self-sufficient for food and to send excess food to Port Jackson to help sustain the main part of the colony. King’s initial party was twenty-two souls, fifteen of whom were convicts, nine men and six women. There were two marines and one seaman, a master’s mate, a surgeon’s mate and an adventurer who had been a master weaver. The little vessel, the Supply, in which they travelled, arrived off Norfolk Island on 1 March 1788, but it was only on 6 March that King finally identified a spot where they could land safely. The pioneering party went ashore with six months’ supplies and waved farewell to the Supply without knowing when they might be visited again.

Within a few days it had been established that the Norfolk pines, though massive in girth and height, and perfectly straight, were wholly unsuitable for masts because the lower branches grew with the tree. The timber could be sawn into planks that were useful for building and the inner core might be used for a small spar, but there was no chance of taking a length of straight and clean trunk for a mast. The flax presented a rather different problem.

Captain Cook had suggested that flax was growing wild and in profusion on Norfolk Island. King and his team found some flax plants but no massive expanse of them as Cook had inferred. The weaver who accompanied the first landing party was able to do very little to help convert the flax plants into fibres, which could then be spun and woven, for his expertise was only at the final stage of weaving. No one had been sent out who could help and for the first few years it was impossible to make much progress and, in any case, food production was the first priority.

In 1790, as the new colony faced starvation, Governor Phillip sent King back to London because he was the only officer on whom Phillip could rely to give the government a clear and accurate picture of life in the young colony and beg appropriately for more support. During a stay of less than three months, King duly reported to Secretary of State Henry Dundas, found himself a bride and married her. Their passage back to New South Wales was aboard the converted frigate Gorgon (Captain Parker), which called at the Cape for supplies. Whilst there, Captain George Vancouver also arrived on his way to the Pacific, where he had orders to explore the north-west coast of North America. A supply vessel, the Daedalus, was in company and it appears that in meeting with Vancouver, King asked that, if the opportunity were to arise at some point in their voyaging, it would be very helpful to have a couple of Maori to visit Norfolk Island to instruct the people there how to convert wild flax into good cloth. Vancouver eventually detached Daedalus to sail south to New Zealand. Whilst there, the master took the opportunity of kidnapping two young Maori men who were bold and interested enough to go on board. The first reference King made to these two young men, Woodoo and Tookee,8 was when the Shah Hormazear arrived at Norfolk Island on 30 April 1793:

I was also informed that the Daedalus store ship had arrived at Port Jackson, and that the agent according to instructions which he had received from Captain Vancouver, had brought to Port Jackson two men natives of New Zealand who are sent hither for the purpose of giving such information as they may possess respecting the manufacture of the flax plant.9

King wrote about the two visitors in his despatch to Secretary of State Dundas:

I also communicated the New Zealanders’ method of dressing the flax, which has a present appearance of being very tedious. Perhaps when they have been longer with us we shall mutually improve. A flax dresser with three women attend them as often as we can prevail on them to instruct. As yet it requires entreaty to persuade them to give us the least information.10

After his journal entries had dealt with many other matters, King returned to the two Maori:

Soon after the New Zealanders landed here (but not without a very serious promise of sending them home) I found every information that could be got from them respecting their mode of manufacturing the flax plant was obtained in one day which I think we shall improve upon. I have appointed two men, one of whom is a flax dresser, to superintend twelve women, who with the New Zealanders’ instructions I hope will make successful progress.11

King clearly went to considerable trouble to explain to the visitors the situation they were in, which cannot have been easy, given that neither had any understanding of the other’s language:

To prepare our visitors for the ship’s departure I made them understand by the help of a coloured general chart the situation of this island from the place they were taken from on New Zealand [side note by PGK; Knuckle Point] their being taken off that island by the Dadalus [sic] and carried to Port Jackson, being brought from thence here and that the ships were going to England. At the same time giving them to understand that five or six months hence (after having learnt the women to prepare the flax) they should be sent back to New Zealand. After having made them fully acquainted with this intention and the distance from hence to that place, I left it to their choice either to go to England in the Hormazear, or remain with me. They did not hesitate in choosing the latter but when the captain and his wife took their leaves they were sensibly affected and cryed [sic] bitterly however kind treatment soon made cheerful. It is needless to say that they both live with me and lye [sic] in my house where every possible great attention is showed them.12

The two visitors were Woodoo, who was 5ft 8in tall and athletic in build, and Tookee, who was shorter and stouter. Woodoo appeared to be the more emotional of the two and liable to appear unfriendly when worried, whereas Tookee ‘has the happy art of ingratiating himself into every person’s esteem’. Both were in their mid-twenties; Woodoo closely related to a chief and Tookee the son of a priest; both were married with children.13

During the whole of their stay, King was concerned for their welfare; Woodoo became depressed and threatened to commit suicide, which was evidently not unusual in their culture. King and the two Maori must have spent considerable time talking and gradually getting to understand each other’s culture and language to the extent that King produced a dictionary.14 Among other things, King encouraged Tookee to draw a map of his homeland to help their mutual understanding:15

An Aboriginal Family; watercolour by Philip Gidley King. (Mitchell Library Sydney, New South Wales)

Since their arrival they have lived with me, and eat at my table, and every pains [sic] has been successfully used to attach them to us. This, with the kind and attentive behaviour of the officers, and every other description of people cannot fail of impressing them and their countrymen with the liveliest gratitude, and which I am certain neither of our two friends will forget.16

On 2 November 1793, the journal records the arrival of the Britannia, which had been chartered by the acting governor at Port Jackson, Major Francis Grose, and some fellow officers to go to Calcutta to buy general goods