Trafalgar - the 13 year-old Veteran

[joyful_molly]

Helicopter parents are advised to hit the back button now. If you're worried about leaving your 13 year old in the living room without supervision for ten minutes, the following tale might traumatise you.

"The One True Story of the Battle of Trafalgar" doesn't exist. There are as many stories as there were people, ships and nations involved. And,

Comments

[chloe_amethyst]

What an incredible story! I really enjoyed reading it. That photograph is marvelous. How wonderful that Smyth's descendant has both the photograph and Smyth's medal.

[joyful_molly]

It's wonderful if such precious items are passed on to the next generations, rather than being sold or lost. Medal and photograph are parts of two different eras - before and after photography. Paintings can be very impressive, but to me, seeing a photograph of a person who was actually present at the Battle of Trafalgar makes that event more "real".

And can I just add "icon love" for your icon here? Heeeh! Genius! :-D

[chloe_amethyst]

:-D erviniae made it for me.

[canadian_jay]

Interesting! Very interesting.

[joyful_molly]

I've lost count of all the interesting tidbits I've found on "Antiques Roadshow"; it's the kind of information you'd very likely never found anywhere else. I just have to think of Captain Saumarez' crocodile sword!

AR - my favourite guilty pleasure. ;)

[mrs_norrington]

The photos are great. It reminds me of an older National Geographic article that I have which has photos of some of the last Revolutionary War Vets taken late in the 19th century.

It's so nice to see that the descendants still had it today. My family if they ever had anything (not likely given that we were farmers), it certainly did not go down to me.

[joyful_molly]

When I first saw photographs (daguerreographies) of the civil war in the USA, it stopped being "something I read about in a book" and became "something that happened".

Gah - I know. I've wasted almost ten years on my family's history without much results, until my oldest great-aunt died and they found family documents and pictures in the drawer with her cooking recipes! That jump-started my research from "early 20th century" back to "mid-19th century", but the material might just as well been thrown out by the people clearing out the house. It was just luck.

[anteros_lmc]

Belated thanks for this lovely post. It's reading about the experiences of individuals like Spencer Smyth that really brings history to life for me and somehow makes it so much more personal. I also think it's wonderful that the stories of these men are brought to light and that their lives, experiences and sacrifices are remembered so many years later.

As part of a wider project nodbear and I are researching the 1797 crew of the Indefatigable from the frigate's muster book. Being able to identify all these anonymous boys and middies by name is both moving and inspiring.

[joyful_molly]

I find that personal accounts are the best way to bring history back to life, at least for me. I guess it has something to do with identification - not really with the actions of people, but by seeing their time with their eyes (if that makes any sense).

That's a fantastic project! But what a lot of work... will you share it once it's complete? :-D I'm still trying to hunt down information on the only Swiss serving in HMS Victory. An officer, no less! How on earth did the man get there?

[anteros_lmc]

Seeing another time through another person's eyes certainly makes sense to me. And sometimes you can see so much through the smallest apparently insignificant entries in something like a muster book. If you just stop to really look you can catch a glimpse of another world and another life.

But what a lot of work... will you share it once it's complete?
Course we will! But it's a huge job so don't hold your breath ;) Here's a little taste of the kind of thing we're doing.

I'm still trying to hunt down information on the only Swiss serving in HMS Victory.
What's his name? Let us know and we can look out for him.

[joyful_molly]

Oh, that's absolutely wonderful! Poor Octavius, though... :( and he wasn't the only one. It's always very depressing when I research something and find that somebody died at a very young age. Of course, life was different and tougher back then, but still, it's like they were betrayed of their full potential.

What's his name? Let us know and we can look out for him. I have to correct myself, there were two. One was Andrew Sach, Yeoman Of Sheets, petty officer, and he was probably born in 1770. The other was Hans Yaule, 22, Landsman

[aletheiafelinea]

*stares wide eyed* Do I understand well? Is it a photo, not a drawing / steel engraving / whatever made on the basis of photo? Old photos have such a uncanny yet soft atmosphere, I love it. And it's very curious thing, that new arts and techniques achieve heights so quickly (well, I know, relatively) after inventing.

The medal holded before the photo, next to (the same, I suppose?) medal on it... It's really a breath of History. :)

[joyful_molly]

That's what I understood, yes. The quality of the screencap isn't too good, unfortunately. I agree with you, technical progress is so fast, almost like an avalanche; faster and faster by the decade. A bit scary, to be honest.

It's Smyth's medal next to the picture of him wearing it - that was amazing. What would I ever do without the Antiques Roadshow?! :D