The 1805 Dispatches #21.02 April 2021 1 of 4 EDITORIAL In October 2020, 30 years after The 1805 Club’s foundation, Covid-19 forced us to postpone the celebration of the unique achievements of its �irst generation. The virus continues to prevent many other planned live events. However, Council have been taking important steps to modernise the Club in a fairly substantial manner, shaping it for its second generation, in order to match developments in charity law and take advantage of the opportunities presented by digital technology. The Club’s charitable aims and objectives remain unchanged. After years of exemplary service, our chairman Bill White and secretary John Curtis are standing down from Council, but both will continue to provide the Club with their expertise. It is a matter of sadness that we will not be able to thank them in person, given that our AGM will be on Zoom. We look forward to a return to more normal days, and the resumption of the Club’s warmhearted events. ka.editor@1805club.org 1 of 4 One of the hopes attached to this newsletter is that it will also attract the attention of people who are not already members of The 1805 Club. Membership of The 1805 Club is open to everyone, everywhere, who supports the purposes of the Club and shares its interests. Its historical and social events are marked by their genuinely friendly atmosphere. Consequently, it is further hoped that this newsletter will appear in various new online venues, so we encourage its dissemination and only ask that you clear it with the editor before doing so. ka.editor@1805club.org Having met many Club members both here in my home territory of Menorca, and at other Club events, I was delighted to be invited to write again about the Isla del Rey, site of the firstever purpose-built Royal Naval Hospital. We hope to organise another enjoyable and educational visit some time in 2021, once the COVID crisis has settled and freedom of travel is again facilitated. The photo here shows the whole hospital structure as seen today. Built in 1711 by the Royal Navy to service their substantial Mediterranean fleet, it latterly reverted to operating as a Spanish military hospital after the British left finally in 1802, and it remained in service until 1964, when it was abandoned and fell into ruin. A group of dedicated volunteers, mainly Spanish and British, started to restore the building and reclaim its contents and surrounds in 2004, and have done a remarkable job with very limited funds but huge commitment under the leadership of General Luis Alejandre OBE. The 1805 Club decision to share a significant part of its Libor grant with us was hugely appreciated, and enabled the creation of a magnificent “Church Hall or Vestry” adjacent to the Anglican chapel (restored 2011, our 300th anniversary). These buildings are directly under the main tower in the photo. Club members have yet to see this new development, and there is much more! The first floor of the main building is being turned into a Centre of Interpretation for the history of Menorca, and we already have English and French rooms in place, plus another showing the development of the Port of Mahon, from its return to Christianity in 1287 to present day. More rooms are under construction. Another really exciting innovation opening in 2021 will be in the long, low Admiral Langara Building sited in front of the main hospital. The worldrenowned modern art promoters, Hauser & Wirth, are opening their FIRSTgallery in the Mediterranean to showcase a rolling collection of leading international artists and sculptors in a fabulous location (items not for sale so no pressure!). They will afford us a warm VIP welcome. This will greatly uplift the profile of Menorca, much as the Guggenheim has proved in Bilbao. (More details about the Club visit will appear in future issues once the travel situation clarifies.) Sadly, we hear that Derek Hayes, the well-respected Life President of the Nelson Society, died of old age on 28 March 2020, 116 days after Mary, his wife of 65 years. Derek enjoyed working with members of The 1805 Club researching aspects of Nelson’s life. Isla del Rey (King’s Island), Menorca Image provided by Lorraine Ure, courtesy of Isla del Rey Foundation THE 1805 DISPATCHES Issue21.02 April2021 THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE By Our Chairman, G W (Bill) White I will be relinquishing the Club’s Chairmanship at the AGM later this year. However, I shall remain a member, and will be available to consult if required on any matter on which I might have knowledge about events since the Club was founded in 1990. I think Stephen Howarth is the only one of us with a longer Club background. I have much enjoyed the involvement I have had with The 1805 Club since 1993, when I picked up a lea�let about the Club at the NMM at Greenwich. You may not know that I joined the Royal Navy as a 16-yearold Cadet at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in 1951. I had come from my Grammar School and was suddenly exposed to the full force of the Naval Discipline Act, which pronounced that: "Anyone contravening these regulations shall suffer death or such lesser punishment as shall be determined by their Lords Commissioners for executing the Of�ice of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom". First-term Cadets joining the College were told by their seniors that the worst performing of them would be hanged at the yardarm in front of the College at the end of each month, in order to encourage the others. That none suffered this fate was commonly believed to have been only because the Admiralty accountants failed to provide the College with a budget for the cost of the consequent funerals. Nevertheless, death is always a hazard in a �ighting service, and having avoided the noose, I became crushed into submission by the sheer scale of the history of the organisation I had joined and its achievements. Britain has a maritime history going back over 1000 years, with the Royal Navy, as the navy of the British state, having evolved over 500 years from the time of King Henry VIII to the present day. To have been enveloped in the culture of such an organisation was something with which no other potential employer could possibly compete. The Service is undoubtedly the most internationally signi�icant maritime institution ever to have existed. It has been involved over centuries not only in naval warfare with extraordinary success, but also in improving navigational accuracy for seafarers, exploration, surveying, and the protection of maritime trade on which the world economy depended and still depends. It has been my privilege and pleasure to have both served in the Royal Navy and progressed to a leadership position in The 1805 Club. I wish you all fair winds and prosperous voyages. Detail from: FOUR SCENES OF TRAFALGAR. 7.00 PM Auguste Ballin (1842- ?) With thanks to Rick Cosby at Maritime Prints www.maritimeprints.com THE NEWSLETTER OF THE 1805 CLUB www.1805club.org
The 1805 Dispatches #21.02 April 2021 2 of 4 Never forget that there is a whole treasure trove of interesting stuff frequently updated on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/The1805Club/ From The Royal Gazette of Bermuda Feb 22 2021: “The last casualty of a 19th century war between the United Kingdom and the United States was remembered today. A ceremony to commemorate Midshipman Richard Dale of the US Navy was held at St Peter’s Church, St George, where the young of�icer, aged 20 when he died in the Olde Towne, is buried. Richard Spurling, chairman of the Friends of St Peter’s Church, which organises the annual event, said Mr Dale arrived in Bermuda on the captured USS President on January 29, 1815 and died on February 22. Mr Spurling added: “He had his leg amputated and quite possibly ultimately died of gangrene. Here, he was lovingly taken care of by the residents of St George’s for which his father, Commodore Richard Dale of the US Navy, remained eternally grateful and arranged for the tombstone in St Peter’s Churchyard that reads: ’This stone records the tribute of his parents’ gratitude to those inhabitants of St George’s whose generous and tender sympathy prompted the kindest attentions to their son while living and also honouring him, when dead.’” Dale is thought to be the last casualty of the War of 1812. The battle took place after a peace treaty was signed in Europe in December 1814, but the news had not reached North America. The War of 1812 was the last armed con�lict between the UK and US and the two countries later became �irm allies. It was the 13th annual commemorative service organised by the Friends of St Peter’s Church. The ceremony was held in St Peter’s because of bad weather, rather than at the Bank of Butter�ield on King’s Square, a former hotel where Dale died. David Frith, the St George Town Crier and a Pipe Major, led a march to the graveside at St Peter’s for a wreath-laying ceremony. Alan Purcell, the acting US Consul General, Rena Lalgie, the Governor, and George Dowling III, the Mayor of St George, laid wreaths. Sea Cadets fromTSAdmiral Somers were also on parade for the ceremony. Tom Slawson, the priest in charge at St Peter’s, said: “We commemorate the young Midshipman as one of the last known American casualties of the battles of the sea of the war between the UK and US, begun in 1812. We give thanks to God that the enmity of those times have been supplanted by long-lasting and mutual relations.”” LEARN ABOUT THE GEORGIAN ERA WITH THE HISTORIC MARKER DATA BASE While the COVID pandemic restricts some travel, we can still visit far-away places virtually. One way is through the online Historic Marker Data Base at www.hmdb.org. The HMDB is a unique resource for travelers and students of history, offering a photo-�illed collection of approximately 145,000 historic markers from all over the world. Graves, monuments, and statues are not allowed – only of�icial, permanent markers. Every entry in the data base is placed by website users, making the data base a crowd-sourced product. This is an exciting resource, which members of The 1805 Club can learn more about in the spring edition of TheKedge Anchor magazine, currently under preparation. Anyone who is not a member – just do it! 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 , 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 The Last Casualty of a War Between the United Kingdom and the United States Arches overlooking Valetta Harbour, with the plaque inset. Here the mayor of St George is seen with the wreath from The 1805 Club.
The 1805 Dispatches #21.02 April 2021 3 of 4 Always remember to keep an eye on The Trafalgar Way at www.thetrafalgarway.org It contains a fascinating series of articles by Bill White, about how TTW came into existence. Go to https://mailchi.mp/ thetrafalgarway/how-thetrafalgar-way-came-about The copy deadline for the autumn Kedge Anchor is 21 September 2021 Please never hesitate to offer articles for publication in KA, whoever you are. The Long And Short Of It As was heard on "Have I Got News for You", BBC2 on 16 March, some tourists have been complaining about the lack of headroom on visiting HMS Victory. Yet they've been to Trafalgar Square and are amazed how tall Nelson is. The Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797) The third episode in the Mariner’s Mirror Podcast special series on the Battle of Cape St Vincent, broadcast on 14 February 2021, offers a Spanish perspective on this most extraordinary battle provided by Dr. Agustín Guimerá and Dr. Pablo Ortega-del-Cerro, both from the Spanish National Research Centre in Madrid. Dr Guimerá, a member and Vice President of The 1805 Club, offers an analysis of the battle from the Spanish perspective. Dr Ortega-del-Cerro reads out an extract from the logbook of the Principe de Asturias, the �lagship of Vice-Admiral Moreno, and certainly the best Spanish accounts of the battle. Both contributions are presented in English and then repeated in Spanish. If you want to enjoy it, go to: MM Podcast 14Feb Changing the Club In the spring edition of The Kedge Anchor wewill be announcing the proposal, to be put before the AGM in May, to change the legal status of The 1805 Club. Do You Have Naval Ancestors? We are interesting in hearing from anyone, member or not, worldwide, if they have ancestors in one of the world’s navies in the Georgian era (1714-1837). We would like information on who they were, their rank, where they served, which theatre of war if applicable, any actions in which they took part, what happened to them, etc. Any information provided will be added, with your permission, to our vast resource of naval history that is gradually being collated into a form that will eventually be accessible to researchers online. Do not let your ancestors be forgotten! Nelson Was In Favour Of Inoculation On 25 Feb 2021 RMG posted on their website: ‘A letter from Admiral Lord Nelson to his lover Emma Hamilton written soon after the birth of their daughter sheds light on early attitudes to vaccination. Admiral Lord Nelson’s tacit support for vaccination has been revealed in a letter found at Royal Museums Greenwich. In the letter, Nelson encourages his lover Emma Hamilton to consider ‘inoculating’ their six-month-old daughter Horatia against smallpox. “Yesterday, the subject turned on the cow-pox,” Nelson says in the letter kept in the collections of the National Maritime Museum. “A gentleman declared, that his child was inoculated with the cow-pox; and afterwards remained in a house where a child has the small-pox the natural way, anddidnot catch it,” he writes. The letter, dated 31 July 1801, was written just three years after Edward Jenner had published the �irst edition of his workAn Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae. For more information, go to: RMG Nelson and Inoculation ORNC Nelson Room The Nelson Room at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, is to be refurbished and consideration is being given as to whether The 1805 Club can be involved in this work in some way. Nelson’s Wedding Anniversary 11 March 2021, marked the 234th anniversary of the marriage at Montpelier House, in the parish of St John Figtree on the island of Nevis, of Captain Horatio Nelson Royal Navy, Captain of His Majesty's ShipBOREAS, to Mrs Frances Nisbet, widow of an island physician. The union was conducted by the bride's uncle, the island President John Richardson Herbert, and was witnessed by HRH Prince William Royal Navy, Captain of His Majesty's ShipPEGASUS. The good news associated with this is that the work on the conservation of the Church Register of St John Figtree, Nevis, that records this historic event has been able to recommence. Please visit the website of The 1805 Club, where you will �ind all you want to know about us and where there are links to over sixty organisations, museums and societies, together with links to academic opportunities for study courses. And don’t miss the ‘On This Day’ feature that follows the callendar but is also available, through a link, for the whole year – handy for when you are planning celebrations! https://www.1805club.org
The 1805 Dispatches #21.02 April 2021 4 of 4 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. Contact details: 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 Dispatches 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! NAVAL TERMS THAT HAVE ‘COME ASHORE’ Brass monkeys – Brass storage tracks for cannon balls were called monkeys and when the weather was cold it was not unusual for the iron balls to contract and fall through the holes, from which the expression to freeze the balls of a brass monkey has a much milder source than is usually believed. LONGITUDE, deil, deli, dentil, diel, diluent, dilute, dingle, diol, dole, doline, dolt, dongle, duel, eluding, eluting, elution, geld, gelid, gelt, gild, gilet, gilt, glen, glide, glint, glinted, glue, glued, gluon, glut, glute, glutei, gluten, gold, golde, guild, guile, guilt, guilted, gulden, gulet, idle, idol, indole, indulge, indult, ingle, inlet, intel, legion, legit, leno, lent, lentigo, lento, lentoid, lide, lied, lien, lieu, line, lined, ling, lingo, lino, lint, lion, lite, lode, loden, lodge, loge, login, loin, lone, long, longed, loti, loud, louden, lounge, lounged, lout, ludo, luge, luged, lune, lung, lunge, lunged, lungi, lute, luted, lutein, luting, lutino, nodule, toil, ogle, ogled, oiled, olde, olden, oldie, outline, outlined, telos, tilde, tile, tiled, tingle, tingled, toil, toile, toiled, told, tolu, tuile, tule, ulto, unlet, unlit, unoiled, until, untold, utile. 60=Good, 85 = Excellent, 100 = Amazing SHIP’S WORD WHEEL ANSWERS ANYONE FANCY A BEER? Mementos of the 2010 events commemorating the bicentenary of Collingwood's death. Initiated by The 1805 Club and magnificently expanded by Newcastle City Council and others, the celebrations ran for 9 months. "Admiral's Ale" (5% ABV) was made around this time in Nelson's honour by the St Austell Brewery in Cornwall, with a label that captures something of his exuberance. "Collingwood 2010 Festival Ale" (4.1% ABV) was made for the occasion by Wylam Brewery, a few miles outside Newcastle. The Collingwood label shows his Tyneside statue in silhouette against fireworks, and could indicate his more modest character, living his outstanding career in Nelson's shadow. (Photos courtesy of Stephen Howarth – How on earth can anyone keep bottles of beer unopened for more than ten years!? Ed.) If you are a student or budding author seeking an opportunity to get your research published, The 1805 Club are always looking for interesting original and relevant articles for inclusion in The Kedge Anchor, our twice-yearly magazine, whether or not you are a member. Contact the Editor.
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