Plate XXXVIII from Campi Phlegræi... In a night view of 11 May 1771, Hamilton is seen escorting their Sicilian Majesties to a part of Vesuvius where the lava fell down a perpendicular drop before flowing toward the town of Resina. The plate description states that: “the original drawing for this plate was taken that night on the spot” - in fact, Peter Fabris has included himself sketching in the bottom left hand corner. Reprinted with kind permission of the Glasgow University Library Department of Special Collections. The Hunterian copy of Campi Phlegraei (Hunterian Bm.1.1-2) was featured as the ‘Book of the Month’ on the website of the Special Collections Department of the Glasgow University Library in October 2007. The following article, written by Ellen Cole, provides background about the book and its production. The Hunterian Collection is the best known of Glasgow University’s rare book collections. Our appreciation to the Special Collections Department for allowing us to reprint the following article in full. Chairman’s Dispatch 2 From the Quarterdeck 3 Regional Group Reports 10 Forthcoming Events 12 Feature - Fields of Fire continued 16 Ditty Bag 19 Book Notes 24 Collectors’ Corner 28 Web Notes 30 Special points of interest: INSIDE THIS ISSUE: AGM/Members’ Day 3 Lapenotiere Rededication 4 GFJ at Langar 5 Anson Conference 6 The Bayntun Dinner 7 Where Nelson Died…? 8 ‘Turmoil & Tranquillity’ Exhibition at NMM 14 Admiral Fancourt’s Grave 16 The Wreck of the Ontario 19 Nelson Gold Box Goes to Oxfordshire Museum 21 Bullring Planners Reject Electronic Blight 21 £20m Donation to NMM 22 A New Visage of Nelson 23 US Naval Officers in 1812 30 NARA Naval Inventory 30 Two Historical Naval Resources Online 31 Campi Phlegræi Colour Plates 32 The Bust of Quilliam 15 The KEDGE ANCHOR is the newsletter of The 1805 Club. It is published three times a year (in March, July and November) and is distributed free to members. For information about the newsletter contact the North American editors: Randy and Dana Mafit at 1980 Sunrise Blvd., Eugene, Oregon 97405, USA, phone +1 541-343-1894, email: randym1805@aol.com, or the UK editors Paul and Penny Dalton at Woodlands, Hankham, Pevensey, East Sussex BN24 5BE, UK, phone +44 (0)1323 764212, email: pd@pdpictorial.freeserve.co.uk . UK Edition THE KEDGE ANCHOR NEWSLETTER OF THE 1805 CLUB Issue No. 22 July 2008 FIELDS OF FIRE SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON’S Campi Phlegræi Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies (Naples, 1776) the Age of Enlightenment. The area around Naples was known locally as the Campi Phlegræi, or ‘flaming fields’, owing to the frequent and violent eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. From his country house at the foot of the volcano, William Hamilton (1730-1803) was ideally placed to witness and investigate the eruptions of the 1770s. The study of volcanic activity in the area had begun in earnest some 150 years previously. Attention was focused particularly on Vesuvius by the discovery of the Roman towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii in 1738 and 1748 respectively. -continued on page 16- C ampi Phlegræi documents the late eighteenth century eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. Written by Sir William Hamilton, Britain's envoy to the Spanish court at Naples, this rare book contains fifty-four spectacular hand coloured plates by the artist Peter Fabris. It is a wonderful example of a beautifully illustrated scientific treatise from
2 THE CHAIRMAN’S DISPATCH From the Baltic to Burnham Thorpe For the first time I am writing my Dispatch while at sea! I am sailing in the Baltic to, among other cities, Tallinn and Copenhagen. We all know that Nelson was familiar with the Danish capital, but it is likely that fewer people are familiar with his visit to the beautiful Hanse city of Tallinn, which translated means ‘Danish town’. In Nelson’s day it was called Revel. In fact he was in these waters almost exactly 207 years ago to the day, before sailing for England aboard the brig Kite. Toompea Castle, or ‘Cathedral Hill’, which today has a Nelson Room in honour of his visit, is still the seat of government. Originally founded by the Teutonic Knights it now houses the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia. Nelson’s Baltic command - he was appointed Commander-in-Chief after the Battle of Copenhagen - had lasted for less than two months before he used ill health as a reason to return to England. He sailed for Great Yarmouth towards the end of July 1801. Nevertheless, in that time he had taken the main body of his victorious fleet to Revel to deter the Russians, who he always saw as the real enemy. Moreover, he demonstrated a confident understanding of the complicated political and diplomatic situation of this complex region. The Baltic was a critical source of naval supplies and the entrance to it had to be kept open to British merchantmen, hence the Battles of Copenhagen in 1801 and 1807, to break respectively the Armed Neutrality of the North and the Continental System. On 18 June he wrote, “Lord Nelson cannot allow himself to leave the Fleet, without expressing to the Admirals, Captains, Officers and Men, how sensibly he has felt, and does feel, all their kindness to him, and also how nobly and honourably they have supported him in the hour of battle, and the readiness which they have shown to maintain the honour of their King and Country on many occasions which have offered; and had more opportunities presented themselves, Lord Nelson is firmly persuaded, they would have added more glory to their country.” With the success of the Trafalgar Captains’ Memorial behind us the Club is now looking to do the same for these ‘Admirals, Captains, Officers and Men’ - the Copenhagen captains. We recognise that this will be a smaller number of officers than for Trafalgar and have therefore combined the project with the Nile captains. This will be more attractive to a publisher when we move to issue ‘The Nile and Copenhagen Captains: Their Lives and Memorials’, and potentially more attractive to those charitable trusts that are likely to fund the conservations. As with the Trafalgar Captains we are keen to involve members of the Club in the project and we are calling for volunteers to visit the graves to carry out preliminary surveys, including photographs. I am pleased that, thanks largely to the painstaking research by Club Secretary, John Curtis, we have been able to identify virtually all of them. We shall publish their whereabouts in the Members’ Area of the website and hope that we shall find another ‘fine sett of fellows’ to do this essential work. For the Trafalgar Captains, our then Chairman, Dr Colin White RNR, ‘bargained for twenty’ such volunteers. A similar number would be appropriate now. If you would like to help us please contact John, who will give you more details and the survey guidelines. This year’s busy events programme is well under way. The Members’ Day approach to the AGM and Cecil Isaacson Memorial Lecture was liked by everyone and we shall certainly use this format in future. The Langar Lunch and the unique and memorable Henry Bayntun Dinner have been praised. The tomb rededication ceremony for Admiral John Richards Lapenotiere at Menheniot attracted nearly 70 people and local media coverage, and the Anson Watershed Conference at the London Medical Society was an outstanding success. You can read reports about these events in this issue of The Kedge Anchor. The Anson conference papers will published shortly in the Members’ Area of the website. Our next conference The Collingwood Years: Naval Strategy against Napoléon 1806-1810 is being held on Saturday, 13 September and a notice and booking form is enclosed with this Kedge Anchor. We are extremely privileged to have use of the Maritime Warfare School at HMS Collingwood and the Commanding Officer, Commodore Steve Kirby, is also among those giving presentations. This is a considerable honour for the Club and reinforces our links with the Royal Navy. Dr Colin White RNR is the guest of honour at the dinner in the Wardroom afterwards. The preparations for NELSON 250 are also moving apace and the three-day event we have planned between 26-28 September has even more attractions for members, including a visit to Nelson’s school, Paston College, at North Walsham, and a special exhibition about Nelson at Kings Lynn. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope KCB OBE, Commander-in-Chief Fleet, is representing the Royal Navy and is guest of honour at the Civic Dinner in the wonderful historic Town Hall at Kings Lynn. Admiral Stanhope is the official representative of the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff and will also be at Burnham Thorpe for the Nelson Birthday Concert and the special Sunday Thanksgiving Service at All Saints’ taken by the Dean of Norwich Cathedral. This is one of those unique occasions with the ultimate ‘spirit of place’ and I shall look forward to regaining my land legs to join you at Burnham Thorpe. With all good wishes, Peter Warwick
3 The tenth Annual General Meeting of The 1805 Club held on Saturday 19 April took on a new look this year; it was decided to rename it “Members’ Day.” This change of name - which encompassed both the AGM and the Cecil Isaacson Memorial Lecture and included an opportunity for members to chat informally together and with Council members during a buffet lunch with wine - was designed to give the occasion a more informal and friendly feel. A total of 35 members attended the day held at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich during which Club Chairman Peter Warwick reflected on another very busy year of activity. He said that projects were very much the raison d’être of the Club and to that end, the Captains Memorial Project was now reaching a conclusion, the highlight of which would be the rededication of the tomb of Lapenotiere on Sunday May 25. Another major project had been the redevelopment of the website, which was having a positive effect on recruiting new members. Applications for membership were being received and as a result, the number of members was being sustained. Our publications, The Kedge Anchor and the Trafalgar Chronicle, were going from strength to strength. Another innovation, the establishment of regional groups in the north, south-west and south-east had really helped to develop a camaraderie within the Club, said Peter. The year had been marked by a series of very special events, including ‘A Homage to All Heroes Weekend’ in Great THE CECIL ISAACSON MEMORIAL LECTURE “SONS OF NELSON” The Cecil Isaacson Memorial Lecture at Members’ Day “Sons of Nelson” was delivered by Capt Peter Hore RN (right) who was responsible for the very successful Sons and Daughters of Trafalgar project in 2005. The lecture was a natural succession from the project in which Capt Hore highlighted how other descendants from the battle, from both sides of the Atlantic, continued the great Naval traditions of their forebears. One example was William Atkins, a 23-year-old landsman from Charlestown, North America, who ended up in a ship in the Thames in 1803. For three years, he was on board HMS Victory (including Trafalgar), then went on to HMS Ocean. At the end of his service, he was given a land grant to go to Nova Scotia but when he arrived, he was caught in some atrocious winter weather. So Atkins used his upturned boat as his home during the winter months then sailed up the coast where he and his family settled in a house on Atkins Island. Other famous names mentioned included descendants of Capt Charles Mansfield, who commanded HMS Minotaur at Trafalgar. A full transcript of Capt Hore’s lecture will appear in the Trafalgar Chronicle later this year. Alison Henderson, Hon Press Officer CECIL JAMES ISAACSON Cecil James Isaacson was born at Cottenham, Cambridgeshire in 1917. The family moved to Welches Dam, Cambridgeshire where Cecil attended the Primitive Methodist Sunday School and played the organ for regular services. At 14 years old he left Manea School when apprenticed to a carpenter in Thetford, Norfolk. When Cecil was 17 years old he contracted polio which left him with a painful back and wasted leg. Unable to complete his apprenticeship, he joined the Church Army in 1937 with which, considered to be unfit for active service during WWII, he served in France and the Middle East, remaining in Palestine until 1947. Cecil married Mary (Mollie) Whitfield from Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1945. He continued with welfare work leaving the Church Army in 1950 to train for the ministry at Salisbury Theological College, Wiltshire. An accomplished linguist, he learned to read and write Greek, Hebrew and Arabic. In 1953 he became a curate and three years later took up the position of vicar at Hellesdon, Norfolk. Ill health prompted a move to Burnham Thorpe with Burnham Overy in 1962 and the parishes of Burnham Norton, Burnham Sutton and Burnham Westgate were added in 1967. Cecil always had an interest in people and world affairs and the variety of parishioners past and present in the Burnhams led to years of great pleasure for him. His interest in Burnham Thorpe’s most famous son led to him being teased greatly by other clergy at meetings about being rector of St. Nelson’s church. He also started giving lectures about Nelson and an essay given in Los Angeles in 1982 has been incorporated in the booklet, Admiral Lord Nelson & His Homeland. He retired from the ministry in 1982 and in 1991 published another booklet containing two short essays entitled Nelson’s ‘Five Years on the Beach’ and The Other ‘Horatio’ Nelson of Burnham Thorpe. He was in the process of gathering information for a booklet about Horatia when he died suddenly in 1995. With many thanks to Christine Smith, Cecil Isaacson’s daughter for this short biography. Yarmouth commemorating the Battle of Copenhagen; the Glorious First of June Weekend; the 300th anniversary service for Sir Cloudesley Shovell; the Trafalgar Night Dinner, when hosts George and June Jeffreys were made Vice-Presidents; and a Pickle Night in North America. Peter singled out the New Trafalgar Dispatch reception at Windsor as being the highlight, adding it was quite remarkable to see what an impact a Club with a membership of 500 could have with such an occasion. The coming year would be devoted to continuing the research work for the Nile and Copenhagen Captains’ Project; staging a Fundraising Forum; furthering the Club’s “living history” dimension; staging new events including the Nelson 250 celebrations; developing Memlog (Register of Memorials) and reaching a decision on the new Club President. The Council was re-elected without opposition and Peter paid tribute to all their hard work over the past year. There was one amendment to the Constitution to remove the corporate patron category that was accepted by the Club. Among the issues raised by Club members during the meeting was the possibility of involving HRH Prince William in events; offering a special membership rate to students; how to make the work of the Club more attractive to young people and using the regional groups to raise awareness of the Club at a local level. Alison Henderson, Hon Press Officer THE 1805 CLUB ANNUAL MEETING TAKES ON NEW LOOK AS MEMBERS’ DAY
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