The 1805 Dispatches #20.03 October 2020 1 of 5 EDITORIAL We continue to suffer under the restrictions of the Covid-19 recommendations, although it is true to say that they are easing slightly in most areas. Consequently, outdoor activities relevant to the club are still somewhat limited, which in turn means there is little to report in this newsletter. But, not nothing, as you will see if you venture further in, which I hope you will do, of course. Whether or not you are a member of The 1805 Club, if you find this newsletter interesting and/or entertaining, please tell your friends about it. We hope to be able to increase our membership, in order that when we are permitted to recommence our restoration works we can afford to do so. Much of our funding for such works is from membership subscriptions. ka.editor@1805club.org THE NEWSLETTER OF THE 1805 CLUB www.1805club.org THE 1805 DISPATCHES Issue 20.03 October 2020 THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE Observations From The Chairman, Bill White Lindy Mackie has served us loyally and effectively as Treasurer for many years now. However, the Charity Commission has, in the last year or so, been directed by the Government to tighten up its procedures because certain organisations had registered themselves as charities for money laundering and other illegal activities. This inevitably led the Commission to become more bureaucratic and require Registered Charities to comply with more formalised requirements, which Lindy found difficult to deal with alone. So with her agreement, we have appointed as Treasurer, Nicholas (Nick) Ridge, a member of the Club who is also a Chartered Accountant familiar with the Charity Commission requirements. Lindy will continue with her bookkeeping and accountancy activity for the Club, with the support and guidance of Nick, who will also now prepare the annual accounts. Nick is also serving on and advising the Corporate Governance Committee set up by Council to ensure that the Club is taking full advantage of changes in charity law. Their proposals will in due course be put to the membership, probably at the AGM, for discussion and approval. HMS VICTORY Firing the Coronation Salute, 24th June 1911 by Charles Dixon RI Available from http://www.maritimeprints.com/portfolio/ Coming Up In The Kedge Anchor In the Autumn edition of KA, John Wills has an article about the sinking of MV Christena at Nevis.
The 1805 Dispatches #20.03 October 2020 2 of 5 SHIP’S WORD WHEEL Take a ten-minute break and find as many words as possible, using the letters in the wheel. Each must use the hub letter and at least 3 others, used only once. No plurals (if only made with by adding an ‘s’ or ‘es’), no foreign words not in common usage in English, nor proper nouns. There is at least one nine-letter word to be found. Answers on page 4 2020 Coming Up In The Kedge Anchor In the Spring edition of The Kedge Anchor we featured an article about the discovery of the wreck of HMS Beagle, in which we mentioned the connection of this ship with Charles Darwin, but did not mention her captain, George FitzRoy, who became very influential in future weather forecasting (a term that he himself created). By way of reparation, the next edition of The KAwill have a special feature on FitzRoy’s life, with very little mention of Darwin (although Abie and Os seem to be quite taken with him, as you’ll see). On Brechin Edge in Derbyshire there are three Trafalgar Stones adjacent to the Nelson Monument restored by the Club in 1992. Each bears the name of a Trafalgar ship. Would any member be able to verify the significance of the inclusion of HMS Defiance alongside those of Victory (Nelson) and the Royal Sovereign (Collingwood)? The Captain of the Defiance was Philip Charles Durham (see page 133 of Peter Hore's book: "Nelson's Band of Brothers"). He came from Largo in Fife, so was not local to Derbyshire. Gillian Knight has consulted "Ayshford" and identified two boys from Derbyshire: Josh Ashby (Carpenter’s crew) & George Ball (Boy 2nd Class). If anyone has any further knowledge, John Wills would be pleased to hear from them at: willsjohn53@gmail.com IMAGES: JOHN WILLS SAVE THE DATE NEW YORK CITY PICKLE NIGHT VIRTUAL EVENT Thursday, November 5, 2020 Advance registration is required as this will be a Zoom event. This year marks the 215th anniversary of the history-making Battle of Trafalgar and the 15th New York City Pickle Night Event. Those interested in the historical significance of the Battle and the astonishing life of Admiral Lord Nelson are invited to attend this special occasion. The event is named for His Majesty’s Schooner Pickle, the smallest British vessel at the Battle, and which brought the important news to London of the Battle victory and Nelson’s death. Join us for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the iconic HMS VICTORY, the oldest navy ship in commission in the world, and view efforts being taken for her preservation. The event will be arranged to suit different time zones and will take you to Portsmouth, England and the National Museum of the Royal Navy, and will be filled with surprises. Fully detailed invitations, with a facility to pay donations online, will be issued electronically in early October. Contact: SallyAFNMRN@gmail.com Tel. (212)840-1166 (Illustration: “I have urgent dispatches” by Gordon Frickers.) Never forget that there is a whole treasure trove of interesting stuff regularly updated on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/The1805Club/
The 1805 Dispatches #20.03 October 2020 3 of 5 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL Any members who have forgotten to renew their membership this year are requested to renew immediately, and to check with Barry Scrutton (membership.secretary@1805club.org) that their subscription is at the current rate. Three years of groundbreaking work by engineers, scientists and historians means visitors can see HMS Victory from below for the first time, after replacing the original cradles she has rested on for nearly 100 years. In their place, 134 stainless steel props support the warship securely, and provide experts with constant data on the state of the ship – and allow tourists to inspect the 69 metre (226 feet) long Trafalgar veteran from bow to rudder from below — a privilege not even Admiral Nelson himself is thought to have enjoyed. Victory has been preserved in No.2 dry dock (itself 218 years old) since the 1920s; engineers used a series of steel cradles to support the 3,500 tonne vessel. A century later and as part of an unprecedented 20-year £40m overhaul of the ship, the steel cradles (and tonnes of supporting concrete) have been gradually replaced by the hi-tech props, which can be adjusted to mimic the pressure of the ocean around Victory’s hull just as when she once roamed the seas. (Edited text taken from Royal Navy News: https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news ) SEEING UNDERNEATH HMS VICTORY Providence was the fifth ship commissioned into the Continental Navy and a replica was built for the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. Readers may like to look up an interesting series produced by the Tall Ship Providence Foundation, at: https://tallshipprovidence.org SAVE THE DATE (2) Sean M Heuvel’s and John Rodgaard’s book, From Across the Sea: North Americans in Nelson’s Navy is now available (ISBN : 9781913118921). On 11 November 2020 the University of Toronto will hold a virtual book talk to which you are invited. Details are available at: https://harthouse.ca/events/virtual-dinner-seriesrodgaard-heuvel
The 1805 Dispatches #20.03 October 2020 4 of 5 THE 1805 CLUB The 1805 Club was founded in 1990 and broadly: • Promotes and engages in the preservation of monuments and memorials relating to the Royal Navy and seafaring people of the later sailing-navy era; and • Promotes research into and education about the Royal Navy, merchant maritime service and other state navies of the same era; and • Organises relevant cultural, historical and social events. The Club is charity No. 1071871, registered in England and Wales. Individuals desiring further information may contact: John Curtis, Hon. Club Secretary, The 1805 Club 9 Brittains Lane, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 2JN,UK Email: secretary@1805club.org Telephone: 01732 453176. For a membership application details please contact: Barry Scrutton, Hon. Membership Secretary, The 1805 Club 1 Cambus Road, London, E16 4AY, UK Email: membership.secretary@1805club.org Telephone: 020 7476 1215. Or: Capt. John A. Rodgaard (USN Ret.), Hon. North American Secretary, The 1805 Club 6089 Guildhall Court, Burke, Virginia 22015 USA Email: john_Rodgaard@yahoo.com; Telephone: 1-321-591-6123. Or: Mark Billings, Hon Canadian Secretary, The 1805 Club 4000 Marlowe Avenue, Montreal, Quebec H4A 3M2 Canada Email: mark@marengomgt.com Telephone: 1-514-296-1641 Visit our website: www.1805club.org Or see us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Or to join go to: Join The 1805 Club The Newsletter for Anyone Interested in The 1805 Club PURPOSE. The purpose of this newsletter is to support and advance the Club’s objectives. The newsletter provides anyone who is interested with brief items of news about the Club and its activities, in the hope that the it can help the club attract wider interest in naval history and new members. Much of the content will be a précis of articles that will appear in The Kedge Anchor, the six-monthly Club magazine. EDITORIAL POLICY. The editor has full editorial responsibility for the newsletter. Views expressed in the newsletter are those of individual authors, unless claimed by the editor. Articles which appear do not express the official position of The 1805 Club on any subject unless specifically noted as such. Content of contributions to the newsletter may be edited for grammar, space allocation, or to better serve the purpose of the newsletter. Contributors wishing to be alerted to editorial decisions should notify the editor at the time that their contribution is submitted. Otherwise the submission will be published within the scope of the editorial policy. ISSUE AND COPY DATES The proposed issue dates for The 1805 Despatches are: February, April, June, August, October and December. Anyone wishing to contribute an article or news item to the editor for inclusion in the newsletter should do so by the beginning of the month preceding the issue in which it is to be inserted. Any articles that are not time-specific can be submitted at any time, with a note advising him of that fact. All copy is welcome, but not all copy may be used! BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT The annual Trafalgar Chronicle will be published this fall/ autumn. The central theme of the 2020 issue is ‘portrayals of the Georgian Navy though art, literature, and film’. The feature article, by Gerald Stulc, MD, analyses film depictions and portraits of Horatio Nelson, throughout his service and after his death, comparing these images to the clinical realities of Nelson’s battle injuries. Additional theme-related contributions include the story behind the most famous paintings of Nelson’s death, how Tobias Smollet revealed the unhygienic and inhumane medical care aboard Royal Navy ships of the day, the rise of the fouled anchor motif, modern-day navy historical fiction portrayals of women in the era of Nelson, and whimsical drawings (by our own Peter Turner) of Nelson in caricature and cartoon. In the tradition of recent issues, this issue contains biographical sketches of Sir Andrew Pellet Green, Commander James Pearl, Captain John Houghton Marshall, Captain Ralph Willett Miller, and Sir Home Popham, all Royal Navy contemporaries of Nelson. As to articles of general interest, readers will enjoy articles about the role of Spain in the American Revolution, new revelations about the children that Cornwallis fathered while stationed in the Caribbean, and how the American War for Independence influenced Royal Navy operations in the War of 1812. All members of The 1805 Club will receive a copy of the 2020 issue. Additional copies can be purchased at Seaforth Publishers in the UK and at Casemate in North America. NAVAL TERMS THAT HAVE ‘COME ASHORE’ Show a leg – If ‘wives’ had been allowed on board sailing ships in dock, when seamen were denied shore leave, the call to rouse the early watch would include this phrase, on the basis that a smooth and/or shapely leg dangled from a hammock would mean the occupant was not a seaman and so could be allowed to stay. COMMANDER, aced, acned, admen, adore, adorn, amend, anode, arced, armed, cadre, candor (US), caned, canoed, card, caromed, cedar, cedar, coda, code, coder, coed, command, commend, comrade, coned, cord, cored, corned, crammed, craned, cred, credo, dace, daemon, dame, damn, dance, dancer, dane, dare, darn, deacon, dean, dear, dean, deco, decor, demo, demon, Denar, term, derma, doer, dome, done, dore, dorm, dracone, dram, dream, drome, drone, ecad, edam, made, madmen, made, mead, mend, mercado, moaned, mode, modem, modern, monad, named, nard, nerd, node, nomad, oared, idea, oread, orenda, raced, radome, radon, rammed, rand, random, read, redan, redo, remand, rend, road, roadmen, roamed, rode, romanced, ronde. 50=Good, 75 = Excellent, 90 = Amazing SHIP’S WORD WHEEL ANSWERS
The 1805 Dispatches #20.03 October 2020 5 of 5 LATE NEWS EXTRA It is intended that the The 1805 Dispatches will usually have a four-page format, but one of the joys of digital-only publications is that there is a flexibility that is unavailable to printed matter. Finally, the product you have been waiting for. A T-shirt printed in the likeness of the dress uniform of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Here's the link. https://populca.com/collections/historical-costume SALLY BIRKBECK’S NELSON MEMORABILIA Lucy Birkbeck, Sally’s daughter, has contacted us to let us know in advance that Sally’s collection of Nelson Memorabilia is going to be sold. Lucy has not had a formal valuation done yet and is seeking advice before parting with everything. However, if what she considers to be reasonable offers are made for any of these lots, she will consider letting them go. The �irst three lots, as described by Lucy, are: 1. Nelson Bust –this is a plaster cast. He's a little weathered as you would expect and has a scar from the casting under his chin but otherwise very striking. Measures 44cm (17in.) high. Approximate value £50.00. 2. Antique Print: 'Nelson’s First Farewell’ – in unusual antique frame with mount. Approx 70x90cm (28x35in.). Approximate value £50.00. 3. Collection of china –as shown. Approximate value £50.00. Lucy is seeking advice about the other lots shown below, that will become available when she has sorted them out. The �irst item is a Doulton statuette that may be of particular interest. Lucy has asked us all to ‘take a look’ and get in touch with her to discuss the rest of the collection, which will need to be collected from South London/Surrey. Contact Lucy at: lucybirkbeck@hotmail.com
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