NDFHS

The seamen mentioned in this index have been extracted from the report of the Royal Commission on the Internal Economy and Management of Greenwich Hospital, which was presented to both Houses of Parliament in 1860. The Commissioners sat for 18 days between 17 November 1859 and 7 February 1860, taking evidence from a number of witnesses. Among the witnesses examined many were directly or indirectly employed by Greenwich Hospital, such as John Grey, Receiver of the Northern Estates. Others enjoyed varying shades of distinction, such as the Rev. Wm Rogers, M.A., Chaplain to the Queen. None, however, could offer to the Royal Commissioners the length and breadth of experience enjoyed by Admiral Sir Charles Napier.

Born at Merchison Hall near Falkirk in 1786, Napier went to sea at the age of 13, became a midshipman in 1800, was promoted lieutenant in 1805, and commander in 1807. As commander of the Thames in 1811 he inflicted incredible damage upon the enemy in the Mediteranean. Napier's subsequent career was no less distinguished, but punctuated by spells of retirement on half-pay. He was promoted Rear-Admiral in 1846, and commanded the Channel Fleet from 1846 to 1848. His final command was during the Crimean war when he lead the Baltic Fleet, but his refusal to attack Constadt during this campaign signalled the end of his career.

Between 1842 and 1846 Napier was Member of Parliament for Marylebone, and from 1855 until 1860 he served the constituency of Southwark. Long an advocate of reform of the naval administration, he had repeatedly brought the question of what he conceived were the shortcomings of Greenwich Hospital before the House of Commons. In his evidence before the Commissioners on 7 February 1860 he lost no time in citing some of his concerns. He "thought it all wrong to give the officers pensions for their wounds and not the men". Adding that he received a "great many letters" from former seamen complaining of their want of odd comforts, he said he did not pay much attention to them, "for sailors are always grumbling". But he continued:

An instance occured the other day of a poor man in Dundee. I think he had written to the Admiralty to give him a small out-pension, and the answer he received was that he was not eligible for a pension, but that if he thought proper to come up to London, and to apply at Somerset House, he would then be examined, but that they must tell him that unless he was completely worn out, and unfit for further service, he was not eligible for the hospital. I wrote to the Admiralty to say that I thought that that was an odd sort of way in which to give a man an answer, and I wanted to know how the poor man, who was to come up to London from Dundee on the chance of getting into the hospital, was to find the money; and secondly, how he was to get back again. Then they modified their letter a little, and said of the man came to Greenwich, he would be received at Rockingham House until he was examined and found incapable. I wrote to him to tell him this, and he said that he must accept it, and get up in the best way he could, but that he had a wife to whom he was very much attached, and that it was hard at his time of life to break the bonds which tied him to her, but that there was nothing else left for him to do to prevent him from starving.

The lamentable coda to this sorry tale was Napier's supposition that the man did come up to London, but that he had heard nothing more of him. What is certain, however, is that his name does not occur in this index, which covers England and Wales only.

Napier died at his country seat, Merchison Hall in Hampshire, almost nine months to the day after giving his evidence to the Commssioners. His biographers have served him well, but the people whose cause he championed remain largely unknown today except to the most assiduous of family historians. Though small, it is hoped that this index will assist today's family historians by opening up the proceedings of the Commissioners, and suggest other sources for further investigation.

Of the 1,148 men named in the index, 750 were aged 70 and above. Some, we discover, were pressed into service during the Napoleonic Wars. A few of them served under Nelson at Trafalgar - one of them on board the Victory. Others were just old enough to have seen active service during the Crimean War. At 68 years of age William Ward of Medway was the longest serving seaman noted in the report, having served for a total of 55 years. Six of the 17 years that William Lean of Totnes served were spent in a French prison. Others again served for only a month or two before being discharged. The disabilities noted among the seamen were not numerous, but they range from amputated legs to varicose veins. Common to them all was their destitution.

The index shows, first of all, the name of the Parish or Union in which the recipient of the relief lived. The surname and firstname are followed by reference to whether the relief was indoor (In) or outdoor (Out); condition as to marriage (mar[ried], sin[gle], or wid[ower]); the number of children chargeable; the age of the seaman; and the number of years and months service. The final three columns in the report concern the amount of pension received; whether or no for wounds received during active service; and the sum received by the Guardians of the Parish or Union Workhouses under Act 19 [and 20] Vict. c.15 ("An Act for further regulating the Payment of the Out-Pensioners of Greenwich and Chelsea Hospitals", which entered the statutes on 11 April 1856). These columns are largely blank in the report, but completed entries have been merged into a separate notes column in the index together with any footnotes to entries.

One interesting point about the entries is the use of aliases by some men. They are few in number and it is appropriate to cross reference them here.

for Joseph Atkinson see Joseph Anderson
for John Bell see John Gilberthorpe
for Sparrow Bug see Jno. Framing
for Thos. Bourke see Thos. Birch
for John Dawson see James Frost
for Thomas Howard see Thomas Norcock
for Thomas Jones see Peter Owen
for Chas. Macdonnell see James Martin
for William Robinson see William Terry
for Charles Rowlands see Charles Skinner
for Thomas Tetley see Thomas Barker
for Thos. Thompson see Hen. Rogers

This is not the place to discuss the contents of the report, or the Commissioners' recommendations. It remains to say that various other people are mentioned in the appendices to the report. These are listed separately following this introduction.