SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: The Duty of a Royal Navy Of�icer – Not! 6 Update on Nevis 11 Nelson and the Order of St Joachim 12 Missing From The Museum – A Pompey Whodunnit 15 Real Reason Keats and Superb missed Trafalgar 16 Lord Nelson — East Indiaman 24 US Navy Brush With An American Privateer 26 Patronage and “Interest” in the Georgian Navy 27 Maritime Menagerie 28 East Coast UK Pilotage 32 Origins of Trafalgar Night and Pickle Night 34 A Memorial Tablet in St John’s Church, Nevis 36 A Near Miss 37 INSIDE THIS ISSUE THE KEDGE ANCHOR THE MAGAZINE OF THE 1805 CLUB Issue 61 SPRING 2024 Chairman’s Address 2 Secretary’s Report 3 Crossword 5 Job Announcements 10 Fund Raising 10 Book Reviews 18 New Members 20 Events Diary 31 AB&OS 31 Everybody Knows… 38 Cover Picture: See Page 5
THE KEDGE ANCHOR Issue 61 2 Dear fellow 1805 Club members, from my view outside of our kitchen windows here in Northern Virginia, I can see our daffodils are in full bloom and the surrounding trees are bursting with pink and red blossoms. Next to our house is a small evergreen tree that is now the home of a nesting pair of house �inches; spring has arrived in this part of North America. Looking out our kitchen windows has been pretty much what I have been doing since suffering this leg injury. I don’t have to crutch too far for a cup of tea or a snack. However, whilst looking out those windows watching winter turning to spring, it has given me time to think and re�lect on many different things that have gone on in my life. One has been our Club, and how it has evolved through the years to what it has become today. I realized that what has brought our Club the success that enjoys today is due to its members. I then thought of the day when Judy and I met with the Club’s chairman, the much loved, late Colin White. At that time, Colin was director of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, and he was so gracious in allowing his of�ice to be our headquarters, while we were conducting research at the museum’s library for one of my books. Judy and I were relatively new members of The 1805 Club. Because we were new members to the Club, Colin re�lected that the Club’s membership was becoming more international, and that many of those members brought with their membership more than just their enthusiasm for the Royal Navy of the Georgian era and Nelson. They brought skills to the Club, such as administration, �inance, and fund-raising. You will note in this issue of the Kedge Anchor, that the Club is looking to recruit from you, our members, for positions with the Club’s Trustees. It is certainly an opportunity for you to become more engaged in your Club. You will note that the Clerk to the Trustees is a position that provides a £500.00 annual honorarium. I am sure you will �ind this edition of the Kedge Anchor worth your while. The variety of articles found within are certainly far ranging, and of considerable interest. I think you will thoroughly enjoy fellow member, Paul Martinovich’s satirical piece on what a Royal Navy Of�icer’s duty should NOT be. It had me wondering if a twenty-�irst century version could be just as entertaining. Seeing Nelson’s Trafalgar uniform in Nelson and the Order of St Joachim brought back a memory; a memory of when I �irst saw the uniform on display. I was all of eleven-years-old [1960] standing before it, when a squeaky voice coming from behind me said, ‘Look Mummy, Napoleon!’ I quickly turned around and saw this chap wearing his knee high socks, shorts, school blazer with the school tie, and his school’s cricket cap. Confronting him I exclaimed, ‘No that’s not Napoleon! It’s Lord Nelson!’ Mummy, seeing her son confronted by an American boy speaking as though he was a young Humphrey Bogart, quickly pulled her son away. I want to personally thank fellow members, the Honorable Jarion Richardson, MP and Captain Alan Brooks, RN Rtd, for representing the Club at the annual Midshipman Dale Commemoration Ceremony at St Peter’s Church, St Georges, Bermuda. Mr. Richardson presented the Club’s wreath. Thank you Jarion and Alan. This is a signature event for the Club, as it marks the �irst of our annual commemorative events this year. Speaking of events, do look at the Club’s event diary. One event that really stands out is the Club’s Battle of the Glorious First of June luncheon. The luncheon will mark the 230th anniversary of the battle. It is being organized by the Club’s honorary Secretary, Stephen Howarth and it will be held at Langar Hall, Nottinghamshire, family home of Admiral Lord Howe. The Club’s good friend the current Earl Howe will be among the guests, and the Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire will represent HM the King. Please note the update on page 11 about the status on the conservation of the St. John’s Figtree Church register and on the work by EXPLUS, the company the Club has contracted to construct the Nelson uniform display case. As for the register, Ms Alison Fairburn, the Archive Conservator at the Borthwick Institute is moving smartly on repairs. EXPLUS anticipates completing the display case by 1 April. However, we are approximately £3200/$4,000 short. We really need your help in getting us over this de�icit. Every little bit helps. Speaking of shortfalls, I am pleased that we have received a �lurry of new members (see our membership page) as well as members renewing their membership for 2024. However, many have either joined or renewed at the old rate of £40.00; the rate is now £45.00. Your Club would greatly appreciate it, if those who subscribed at the old rate would go to page 10 of this edition, you will see on the lower left a Quick Response Code – QRC. Use your camera on your phone, and SHOOT! You can donate your �iver, or equivalent in US dollars. While you are at it, why not another �iver? Then again, you can go to the links on the same page. Finally, I want to thank many of you for your well wishes regarding my recent leg injury, especially the suggestion that I should have a parrot. The surgery for repairing the ruptured right patella tendon was a success. I am hoping that I will be out of this massive leg brace by the time I attend our AGM on 25 May. I hope many of you will be able to join me then at The Army and Navy Club (The Rag). Yours aye, aka Peg Leg Johnny THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE Captain John Rodgaard, USN (Ret) Chairman, The 1805 Club
THE KEDGE ANCHOR SPRING 2024 3 SECRETARY’S REPORT Stephen Howarth MA (with Distinction), FRHistS, FRGS, Cert. Ed. (Oxon) Hon. Secretary, The 1805 Club A NEW STATUS WITH THE SAME PURPOSES Thanks to the support and approval of its members, The 1805 Club continues to evolve. At our AGM on 17 June 2023, in the Princess Royal Gallery of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, and by the unanimous vote of members present and voting, together with proxies, the Club changed from being an unincorporated registered charity – the status adopted on 26 September 1998 – to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered in England and Wales, number 1201272. The business and assets of the unincorporated Club were transferred to the CIO at that meeting. However, we cannot yet fully wind up the unincorporated Club and close its bank account because more than 100 members have paid into that account. Members can help the winding-up process by making sure that subscription payments are made to the new account, as promulgated already. Please also ensure that you have paid or will pay the correct amount for the year. Before the winding-up is complete, we are obliged to run formal aspects of the unincorporated Club in parallel with the activities of the CIO. Our meeting on 25 May 2024 will therefore include an AGM of the unincorporated Club, followed by the �irst of the CIO. COUNCIL We have for the time being retained the name ‘Council’ for the group overseeing the unincorporated Club, as distinct from the Trustees of the CIO. TRUSTEES In the unincorporated past, all members of the Club’s Council had to accept personal liability for the debts or obligations of the charity. One of the major bene�its of the new incorporated status is that Trustees – the new name for the people who oversee the Club and its activities – do not have personal liability. We must have at least 4 Trustees and may have as many as 12. The �irst four Trustees, appointed on 17 June 2023 and named in the founding Constitution, are John Rodgaard, Geraint Day, Stephen Howarth, and Nicholas Ridge. The basic CIO Constitution does not dictate titles or roles, but the �irst four Trustees retain their previous roles. At the forthcoming �irst AGM of the CIO, all four of the �irst appointed Trustees must stand down and may present themselves for election. As it happens, and to the regret of all his friends and colleagues, Geraint Day has decided not to present himself for election. Having been a member since January 2005, Geraint has been a great friend of the Club and latterly has provided expert guidance on Governance, especially in the transformation to CIO status. His new love of travel in the Arctic and Antarctic mean that he is ‘going outside and may be some time’ – but he remains a loyal Club member. We are deeply grateful for his past service. At subsequent AGMs of the CIO, only one-third of the Trustees (or number nearest to one-third) must retire at the subsequent AGM. They may still be re-elected, or replaced either by election of the members or, if necessary, by appointment by the other Trustees. We will publish a rotational calendar of Trustees who must stand down, in the hope (we remain hopeful!) that with a period of notice longer than a year, members will think ahead beyond their current obligations outside the Club, and stand for election. Your Club really does encourage this. An important new ability introduced by CIO status is that we may have non-Trustees on committees. This offers potential bene�its for all, because members who would like to make their expert advice available to the Trustees may now do so, and indeed may chair a Committee, without having to become a Trustee. All members are earnestly encouraged to consider how best they might contribute to this. Please inform the Secretary. The bimonthly meetings of the Trustees, whether online, hybrid, or face to face, provide the forum. In this connection, please note too that we urgently seek to appoint a Clerk to the Trustees, as advertised on page 10. CONSERVATION The new CIO arrangements retain the original Constitutional purposes of The 1805 Club: �irst and foremost, our USP, the conservation of monuments and memorials of the 18C Royal Navy. No other organisation has this as a prime purpose. We have expanded it since 2016 to include the detailed recording of such artefacts in our MemLog, the provision of permanent transcriptions of inscriptions, and the creation of new memorials. The past year has been highly notable for the creation of the Cornwallis Memorial: the culmination of our decade-long project in partnership with the Milford-on-Sea Historical Record Society. Moreover, despite a serious but happily temporary setback, we are also proud to see the progress with the Nevis Register project, possibly our most important historical conservation project ever, in partnership with the Borthwick Institute of the University of York. The coming year holds promise of the successful conclusion of the long-running George Forbes memorial project in Aberdeenshire, and a possible new memorial in Cornwall to Private Richard Masters, Royal Marines, killed at Trafalgar. EVENTS Club events create great opportunities for members to get together and share their interest in the Georgianera Royal Navy. Some enterprising London-based members organised their own successful social gettogether this year, and within the constraints of Data Protection we will gladly help others do likewise. If you would like to investigate this, please ask. Main events of the year included the splendid unveiling of the Cornwallis memorial; a semi-formal dinner in the Royal Maritime Club, Portsmouth; the momentous AGM (chaired by Richard Cornwallis); a US Continued on page 4
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