Place and county where born

[anteros_lmc]

Last week's St David's Day appreciation of Welsh navyboys led esmerelda_t to wonder if there were actually any Welsh midshipmen on the historical Indefatigable. There may have been at some stage, but there are none listed on the January 1797 muster that nodbear and I have been looking at. Of the 19 young gentlemen aboard the frigate at that time 14 were English, 3 were Scots, 1 was Irish and 1 was Anglo-Portuguese. (Have I counted right nodbear?).




The Western Squadron, Indefatigable, Jason, Concorde and Duke of York (lugger) leaving Falmouth
by Derek Gardner
However there were certainly Welshmen among the crew. One of the first things we did when we got a hold of the muster was to make a tally of the crew based on the "Place and county where born" column. So here, on the off chance that anyone might be interested, is where the Indefatigable's crew hailed from. These figures don't include marines or supernumeraries whose place of origin is not recorded, or commissioned and warrant officers who are listed as "Per commission" and "Per warrant" in the muster. Of course "place where born" is not a 100% reliable record of where the man was from as it doesn't necessarily follow that a man who joined the ship in Leith actually came from the port. Still, these figures do give a fair indication of the make up of the crew and it's no surprise that a large number of them were Cornishmen like their captain. I wonder if any of the Indyboys came from your home town? :)


England
Cornwall64
London19
Devon15
North East11
Other English86
Total English195
Scotland
Leith5
Perth4
Glasgow2
Other Scottish22
Total Scottish33
Ireland
Cork6
Dublin5
Other Irish17
Total Irish28
Wales
Carmarthen3
Swansea4
Other Welsh8
Total Welsh15
America
Boston5
New York4
Philadelphia2
Other American3
Total American14
Sweden
Stockholm3
Other Swedish4
Total Swedish7
Other
East Indies3
Portugal3
France2
Netherlands2
Norway2
Denmark1
Barbados1
Malta1
Prussia1