NEWSLETTER OF THE 1805 CLUB the kedge anchor The KEDGE ANCHOR is the newsletter of The 1805 Club. It is published twice a year (in March and September) and is distributed free to members. For information about the newsletter contact the Editor: Ken Flemming, 132 Slater Lane, Leyland, Preston, Lancs PR26 7SE, UK phone +44 (0)1772 302593, email: kenflemming@sky.com or Consulting Editor: Randy Mafit, 1980 Sunrise Blvd., Eugene, Oregon 97405, USA, phone +1 541-343-1894, email: randym1805@aol.com Issue 45 March 2016 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Chairman’s Dispatch 2 From the Editor 3 Nelson’s Last Secretary 9 Book Reviews 20 George Hope 28 From the Auction Rooms 33 Book Notes 43 SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: Matfen Hall’s Relic of War (NZ032717) 11 Obituary – Michael James Hudson 14 Call for Submissions 15 Death at Sea: Mourning Jewellery and Nationalism 16 Articles from the Council 22 Model of HMS Victory For Sale 23 Emma Lady Hamilton Memorial Unveiling 24 Representation of Emma, Lady Hamilton 25 Proposed Menorca visit 29 A Medallic History of Gibraltar 30 Continued on page 4 A PORTRAIT OF A NAVAL HERO Christer Hägg Captain RSwN (Ret) and Lord Eric de Saumarez 7th Baron de Saumarez Admiral James de Saumarez (1757–1836) is a well known British naval hero, one of Nelson’s ‘Band of Brothers’, victor of numerous naval battles and, perhaps a little surprisingly, “The Great Friend of Sweden”. He became a fighting admiral as well as a naval diplomat, the latter during his command of the Baltic Fleet 1808–12. Perhaps becoming better known and admired in Sweden than in his own country. An English traveller in Sweden wrote in 1832, “Many, many inquiries were made after the health and happiness of the gallant and admirable Lord de Saumarez, whose name is beloved and respected throughout the Kingdom . . .. I travelled by land within 50 miles of Stockholm, and even the peasantry are familiar with my patrons excellent name and character, the great friend of Sweden”.
2 THE KEDGE ANCHOR Issue 45 – March 2016 THE CHAIRMAN’S DISPATCH Nelson, health and leadership Charisma has always been impossible to define. You either have it or you don’t. Many leadership qualities can be learnt – confidence, conviction, communication, resilience, strength, integrity – but not charisma. My Colin White Memorial lecture in 2011 focused on the nature of leadership and concluded that the range of different ‘theories’ of leadership fuels the debate on what constitutes leadership. Their emergence requires us to ask why leadership has been defined in different ways at different times and why different theories gain popularity at different times? This may say more about us and our changing social values. Leadership cannot be understood in isolation from the wider social and organisational circumstances. It is one part of a big organisational picture. Inevitably, the search for the Holy Grail of leadership will continue! Meanwhile, the elusive charisma, like a secret and magical ingredient, remains the most common description given by people to describe leadership. The Holy Grail? Undoubtedly Horatio Nelson had charisma. His allure was such that it furnished his style and quality of leadership with an immortal characteristic that continues to inspire subsequent generations far removed from the age of sail which shaped it. Throughout his career his leadership qualities overcame life’s many personal and professional obstacles, not least his state of health. As he penned in June 1785 while on the West Indies Station, “. . . my constitution is but weak . . . my health is a loss, I must be content to suffer, my only consideration is, that I have lost it in the service of my country.” Nelson was habitually concerned about his health, a good example being his reference to it on 4 April 1801, two days after the Battle of Copenhagen: “My constitution is gone and it is only the Spirit of Duty to my Sovereign & Country that enables me to stand up all against all I have to encounter”. Writing three years later in July 1804 he laments that, “A half man as I am, cannot expect to be a Hercules.” And in November of the same year, “With my losses and infirmities, good health cannot be expected.” That good health cannot be expected has been brought home to me since writing my last Dispatch and allowed me to focus on how Nelson’s perseverance against sickness, in spite of his many black dog moments allowed him to overcame the obstacles poor health presented. His physical resilience was quite amazing. As he remarked, “dame Nature never has failed curing me.” Good health is an important factor in any profession and it was vital during the age of sail as has been highlighted by Duffy and Mackay in their excellent Hawke, Nelson and British Naval Leadership, 1747–1805. Therefore, it is surprising that Nelson, seldom experiencing good health, achieved so much. Typically his health collapsed when he was in adverse climates and when he was suffering from disappointment or stress. He was susceptible to disease, especially the cocktail of tropical diseases, including malaria, waterborne typhus, tropical sprue and machineel poisoning, all of which could have ‘done for’ him. At the end of 1776, aged eighteen, he fell dangerously ill with malaria and had to be invalided from India back to England. He had lost the use of his limbs, was emaciated and hovered between life and death and he was discharged from the service. Four years later at the height of a campaign against Spain in Central America he was stricken again. The ravages of life on the West Indies station were taking their toll and he was experiencing his ‘old complaint in my breast’, which was almost certainly continuing attacks of malaria. Worse was to come. During the siege of Fort San Juan he languished in his tent for days until an order from Admiral Sir Peter Parker to take command of another ship arrived and almost certainly saved his life. Nevertheless, on reaching Port Royal, the emaciated Nelson was in no fit state to take command of anything and had to be invalided back to England. His recovery in Bath was frustratingly slow and as had happened earlier he found that from time to time he lost the use of his left arm and left leg. On 15th February 1781, he wrote to William Locker, “My health, thank God, is very near perfectly restored, and I have the complete use of all my limbs, except my left arm. I can hardly tell what is the matter with it, from the shoulder to my fingers’ ends, it feels as if half dead; but the surgeon and doctors give me hopes it will all go off . . . I must now wish you a good night, and drink your health in a draught of my physician’s cordial, and a bolus.” The most likely modern diagnosis for this ailment is polyneuritis. Although different this has similarities with peripheral neuritis – inflammation of a peripheral nerve or nerves, usually causing pain and loss of function. This has been one of my recent experiences and it has opened a window onto Nelson’s symptoms and travails, allowing me to not only empathise with his situation, but also to gain inspiration from it. Conveniently, it also allows me talk briefly about the wellbeing of The 1805 Club, which your Council is currently examining in some depth to ensure that it can meet the future challenges posed by its charitable objectives. The review of the Club’s key operational activities, ranging from its conservation policy to its financial structures, is well in hand and we can see that every part of our activity is linked and that adjustments will be inevitable. The issues we are addressing include the increasing costs of our excellent publications, which if left alone will gobble up the Club’s main source of income – membership fees; the burden of maintenance associated with past, current and
3 Issue 45 – March 2016 THE KEDGE ANCHOR AMA DataSet Limited are pleased to be associated with both The Kedge Anchor and The 1805 Club. AMA DataSet Limited, 5 School Lane, Bamber Bridge, Preston PR5 6QD Telephone 01772 627534 www.ama.uk.com FROM THE EDITOR Efficient business planning plays a significant part in any organisation that is to continue to be successful. For the Club to remain financially robust it is important to retain continuity. Council have formed a sub-group of council members with the expertise to achieve its long term stability. One measure has been a careful review of its publications and in part, how we deliver The Kedge Anchor. The magazine will maintain much the same layout but move to two issues per year, to be published in March and September. Each edition will increase from forty pages to forty eight. This will achieve considerable savings in publication and postage costs while retaining its greater value as a recognised newsletter and journal. Other plans are being made to update the Club website, funding the education programme and a rethink on its conservation policy for the long term benefit without the need for ‘returning’ conservation. The future conservation projects; improvements to the website; the importance of our North American membership; the future for The Trafalgar Way; the development of the educational programmes, and the question of cash flow not least because the current cycle of the worthwhile Topman Scheme is drawing to a close. It is my wish that the Topman scheme will be invigorated and that those who can renew their pledge will do so and be joined by new Topmen. We look forward to reporting on all of these issues in full at the AGM during the Members’ Day on Saturday 14 May. This year we are in Portsmouth at HMS NELSON Wardroom and may I remind members that they are very welcome, nay encouraged, to bring guests in order to introduce them to the Club. The Cecil Isaacson Memorial Lecture is being given by James Davey, Curator of Naval History at the National Maritime Museum. The United Wards’ Club of the City of London, is holding its annual President’s weekend at Portsmouth and working in close association with them we are delighted, thanks to our membership secretary Barry Scrutton (United Wards’ President in 2016!) to offer members many optional additional attractions that give you the opportunity to maximise your visit to Portsmouth, including the Historic Dockyard, HMS NELSON Wardroom and Fort Nelson. With all good wishes, Yours aye, Peter Warwick, Chairman Please note the next edition is due in September. The deadline for copy will therefore be 21 August 2016. We will be pleased to receive your ideas and contributions at an early date. North American secretary Captain John Rodgaard USN Ret continues with his first-rate electronic newsletter that keeps the North American Station updated. Particulars of which can be found in Articles from Council. This, the first forty eight page issue, contains regular columns and the not so familiar items. It was disappointing once published to find the picture quality of the last issue (KA44) poor with many illustrations appearing dark. The editorial team work hard to produce picture clarity, not an easy task when most are subject to copyright and consequently difficult to obtain in the original. Christine Beatty at AMA DataSet has carried out fine work with all illustrations for the issue, their placing, size and colour. Randy Mafit the consulting editor has also achieved excellent picture reproduction. These methods and talks with the publisher will solve the problem. Some members will have spoken with Lord Eric de Saumarez and Captain Christer Hägg RSwN Ret at the Club’s past Trafalgar night dinners and will welcome their lead article. Also revealing is Club Vice President, Joseph F. Callo’s adroit letter in which he says: “Enter British author and retired Royal Navy Captain Peter Hore, who has created Nelson’s Band of Brothers” – “Hore adds a particularly thoughtprovoking point, an idea that quickly extends our perspective on Nelson. While hundreds of books have been written about him, there is comparatively little about most of his contemporaries, and yet it would be a mistake to isolate him from the system, which was the Royal Navy, the most sophisticated administrative enterprise and largest industrial complex in the world.” Author Peter Hore has included an errata to the book which is published alongside the letter. It is important to encompass change and move forward, particularly with publications which are seen as the face of the Club. I believe this new stage will be successful and will give the Club an opportunity to also present occasional publications and papers. Kenneth Flemming
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