3 of 6 April 2024 The 1805 Dispatches #24.02 ‘CAPE ST VINCENT’ LUNCH UPDATE ON THE NEVIS PROJECT On Saturday, 10 February 2024, US East Coast members of The 1805 Club gathered at the Hummingbird Restaurant in the Hotel Indigo in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia to remember Nelson's victory at the 1797 Battle of Cape St Vincent. After lunch and lively conversation, Chairman John Rodgaard gave an update on Club projects. Then all participated in a brief re-enactment of the battle, with miniature ships. Hip, Hip, Huzzah to US Secretary Pete Stark for organising this event! Top: Round the table: Left to right: John Rodgaard, Peter Pennington, Mary Frances Jetton, Pamela Prevar, John Prevar, Pete Stark, Chris Kutz, John Schneider, Nathan Bien, Judy Pearson, and Katherine Lincoln. Bottom: Left to right: Chris Kutz, Nathan Bien, Pete Stark, Peter Pennington, John Rodgaard, Katherine Lincoln, Judy Pearson, John Schneider, John Prevar, Pamela Prevar, and Mary Frances Jetton. Photos by Judy Pearson PS: FYI Pamela Prevar and Mary Frances Jetton are spouses. The Nelson Uniform Project is reaching another milestone! On 15 March, The 1805 Club Chairman John Rodgaard, US Secretary Pete Stark, and Judy Pearson made a field trip to EXPLUS, the company in Sterling, Virginia that is crafting the display cabinet for the replica of Horatio Nelson’s captain’s uniform that will be shipped to the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society for placement in the soon-to-beopened Nevis Maritime Museum. By way of background, The 1805 Club maintains a special interest in Nevis in the West Indies because that is where then Captain Horatio Nelson patrolled the waters in HMS Boreas to reinforce the Navigation Acts, and where he met and married Frances Nisbet in 1787. In the early 1990s, The Club arranged with master tailor, Keith Levett, of Henry Poole and Co., Savile Row, London, to fabricate a replica of Nelson’s captain’s uniform as a gift to the Nevis Nelson Museum. The old uniform became worn in the humid climate, the tailor found it contained some inaccuracies, and the museum closed just before the Covid pandemic. Last year John Rodgaard retrieved the old uniform and returned it to Henry Poole & Co. at their request. Some years ago, Keith Levett having found that the uniform was not accurate, began work on a new uniform and tricorn hat, based on Nelson’s measurements and using materials that would have been used for Nelson. The ensemble was unveiled at the 2023 AGM, much to the delight of everyone in attendance. Since that time, the uniform and hat have resided at the Pearson-Rodgaard home in Virginia, awaiting the manufacture of an environmentally-controlled display case that will hold the uniform when it is on display at the Nevis Maritime Museum. John, Judy, and Pete took the uniform to EXPLUS and put it on a mannequin to get a preview of how it will look on exhibit in the Nevis Maritime Museum. They met with Project Manager Matt McDermott and Preservation Specialist Tessa Lawson on the factory floor. They estimate that the display case will be ready for shipment in sixty days. Look for more information about this project in the Spring edition of The Kedge Anchor, out in April. For the photo from Judy Pearson, of four people, they are left to right, Tessa Lawson, EXPLUS Preservation Specialist, Matt McDermott, EXPLUS Project Manager, John Rodgaard, The 1805 Club Chairman, and Pete Stark, The 1805 Club US Secretary.
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