3 A Homage to all Heroes: Copenhagen 1801 This memorial commemorates all those who fought at the first Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. It especially honours the magnanimity of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, who addressed his message of truce ‘To the Brothers of Englishmen, the Danes’, and the gallantry of the Danes, epitomized by the courage of 17-year-old Lieutenant Peter Willemoes. This plaque was unveiled on 31 March 2007 and was the first in the United Kingdom to commemorate and honour the participants in the Battle of Copenhagen of 1801. The British fleet sailed to the Baltic from Great Yarmouth and returned here after the battle. Coincidentally, this year marks the 200th anniversary of the second Battle of Copenhagen in August 1807, for which Nelson is invariably vilified by the Danes for bombarding their city, even though he had been dead for two years! Ironically, the man who was present, in command of a division supporting the expedition that forced the Danes to give up possession of their fleet before it fell into French hands, was General Sir Arthur Wellesley! Since its formation The 1805 Club has taken the lead erecting two new memorials, one to Lady Hamilton in Calais and now the Copenhagen 1801 Memorial at Great Yarmouth, with funds raised at the Copenhagen 200 Years Conference, jointly organised by the Club, The Royal Naval Museum, The Nelson Society and The Society for Nautical Research. Nevertheless, the Club’s core activity remains the conservation of graves, monuments and memorials. In order to highlight the professionalism and nature of the work involved this issue of The Kedge Anchor carries a special supplement: Conservation Matters. This explains how the Club goes about its central task, explains the difference between conservation and restoration, and looks at the Club’s past achievements and future projects. We hope you will find it informative. You are welcome to ask for further copies if you believe you can use them to help promote the Club’s work, or raise funds! The main projects in the pipeline are themed in the mould of The Trafalgar Captains’ Memorial. They include The Nile and Copenhagen Captains’ Memorial, and the ‘Mediterranean Fleet Memorial 1806-1815’. The latter reflects the fact that Napoléon Bonaparte rather than Wellington dominated the post Trafalgar era and how it was sea power - the Royal Navy and the merchant marine – which both contained his territorial ambitions and supported Wellington’s campaigns in the Peninsular. The intellectual contribution the Club is making directly to this crucial but largely ignored period of naval history is spearheaded by its own international naval historical conference at the Maritime Warfare School, HMS Collingwood on 13 September 2008 entitled The Collingwood Years: Naval strategy in the Mediterranean and Atlantic 1806-1810. Additionally the Club is involved in the organisation of an important three-day academic conference at the Palcio de Godoy in Madrid, 2-6 April 2008, entitled Napoleonic Empire and the New Political Culture, and in the arrangements for the first of the Nelson Legacy conferences, Following Nelson: Legacy in Warfare and Society, which is being held in Portsmouth on 29 September this year, the anniversary of Lord Nelson’s birthday. Following Nelson is jointly organised by The 1805 Club, The Royal Naval Museum, The Society for Nautical Research and The Nelson Society, and is followed by a dinner in HMS Victory. Further details of these events are forthcoming but you may like to make a note of the dates in your diary now! This year’s Annual General Meeting is on Saturday 21 April. Sally Birkbeck, after ten years dedicated and superb service as membership secretary, is stepping down from the Council, as is Lynda Sebbage. They have both been splendid officers and intend to continue to give their active support to the Club through the Council’s sub-groups. Lynda is only retiring until her health improves! Meanwhile, Linda Ebrey and Barry Coombs are standing for Council in their places and there is no doubt that, if elected, they will be keen and diligent executive members. At the AGM, as mooted last year, the Council will seek your support to increase the individual membership fee in 2008 from £25.00 to £35.00. The fee has not changed since the Club’s foundation in 1991 and in spite of all efforts to economise inflation since then, together with the growth in membership and the significant improvements to the Club’s regular publications, has eroded the surplus income from the membership fee. This means that very little, if any, of the fee is now available for conservation projects - the Club’s raison d’être! If the membership fee had increased in line with inflation it would in fact be £35.93 today. We want to continue to undertake our essential conservation work. We want you to feel that your membership is worthwhile and that you are receiving genuine benefits. We want the Club to flourish and grow in influence. I therefore hope we can count on your continued support at the new rate. After the AGM, Justin Reay will deliver this year’s Cecil Isaacson Memorial Lecture. Justin is based at the Bodleian Library in Oxford and his paper, “‘To render an effectual service’: Collingwood’s Star Captains in Catalunya” (Catalonia), promises to be riveting. The Council and I very much hope to see you there. With good wishes to you all, Peter Warwick
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