Earlier this year I got my hands on a reproduction of a set of playing cards dating from 1797 illustrated by a gentleman called Edward Hawke Locker. Though primarily remembered as a watercolourist now, Locker was also an administrator in the Royal Navy and served as Edward Pellew's personal secretary while he was Commander in Chief of the East ( Read more... )

Last weekend nodbear and I visited Teignmouth, the Devon port town that was home to Sir Edward Pellew after he retired from active naval service, until his death in 1833. Following his retirement, Pellew lived at West Cliff House with his wife Susan and a veritable tribe of 22(!) grandchildren who came and went on a regular basis. West Cliff is now know ( Read more... )

A short scene on the Indy to celebrate the safe arrival of a new daughter for Ioan and Alice. As ioanite has posted ( Read more... )

Stop press : I have seen that Anteros has managed to post but having started this I decided to finish it -but as it has turned a little long I have put the picture for all to see but the rest of a somewhat rambling post under a cut. orginal post begins below:

Whilst waiting for my plane to return me from a great visit to anteros_lmc in sunny Glasgow the ( Read more... )

197 years ago today Admiral Lord Exmouth led an Anglo-Dutch fleet into Algiers harbour and commenced the Bombardment of Algiers. The engagement, which lasted for over nine hours, resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Algerine batteries and forced the Dey of Algiers to sign a treaty which freed around 3000 slaves.


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The lovely post by lady_latimer and all the responses to it prompted me to share one of the riches relatively recently discovered by anteros_lmc and self.This is a letter to Jacques Bergeret which the French captain preserved with numerous others in his papers and which is now deposited with the rest of his archive in Bayonne, his home town ( Read more... )

Huzzah and many Happy Returns for the Admiral!

Please feel free to leave Birthday wishes, salutes, cheers etc for Sir Edward in the comments bellow.


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Happy Birthday Sir Edward - 256 and as esmerelda_tsaid yesterday still doesn't look a day over 185 ( Read more... )

I have been collecting for some time pictures of the homes of Edward Pellew over the almost 80 years of his life becaue they illustrate the trajectory of his rising career very well and am now hoping to make two or three posts, mainly pictures with some description to tell this story ( Read more... )

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 ( Read more... )