Andy Gill

I had the same last week...thought I was double-S ("fs") but it was a p!

Timbers from 17th Century shipwreck appear on Dorset beach Experts believe timbers found at Studland Beach form a missing piece of the Swash Channel wreck from 1631.

The recent storms have dug the timbers of a 17th Century Dutch merchant ship out of the seabed at Studland, Dorset. As it's fairly local, I'm trying to find a gap in my schedule to visit her.

#navalhistory
#maritimehistory

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

FitzRoy's passion came to the fore when he was appointment meteorologist aboard the hydrographic survey vessel HMS Beagle in 1826...Two years in and his captain, Pringle Stokes, had had enough. Gripped by depression, he shot himself - and FitzRoy, now a Lieutenant, was entrusted with command, aged just 23.

It bewilders me that respected maritime institutions can post such inaccuracies. Robert FitzRoy never set foot aboard HMS Beagle until appointed to command her in 1828, several months after Stokes died. He did not serve two years under Stokes as meteorologist! E-mail sent 😉

#navalhistory
#Darwin

I find that with FitzRoy, his handwriting changes depending on his mood. Without reading a word, you just need to glance at the page to know whether he's rested and content or stressed and annoyed.

I think it's: "I wish Mr Stuart saw the poor Portuguese recruits [??] who are actually destitute of covering of any kind & are dropping off by hundreds - upwards of 2000 out of four thousand are in the hospitals and the deaths amount to six or seven hundred in the last two months." FitzRoy is easy!

Yes, FitzRoy's handwriting is wonderfully legible. I was unfamiliar with the word ycleped, so looked it up. I imagine Stanbury was similarly unfamiliar with the word (it was used poetically to put on airs and graces, which is very typical of FitzRoy), but he could have reached for the dictionary.

One of FitzRoy's letters is transcribed by Stanbury as "troubled spirit and conscience." Reading it myself, he actually wrote "troubled spirit, ycleped conscience."

It turns out ycleped is a Middle English word meaning "named". Illustrates the importance of reading original sources.

#navalhistory

Visited the UK Hydrographic Office yesterday to read FitzRoy's letters to Beaufort. Definitely worth a visit if you're into surveying expeditions. The staff made me very welcome and dug out lots of extras, FitzRoy's original hand drawn chart of Galapagos being a highlight.

#navalhistory

Thanks. I once wrote a short story about the Battle of Attu. She said it was good, but that the US & Japan didn't fight in WWII because that was against Germany! To be fair, she was an English teacher so history's not her strong suit, but to be unaware of Pearl Harbor & Hiroshima is mind-blowing!

It's a book by a Christian author about irreducible complexity and intelligent design. She sent me one a few years ago that "proved" humans co-existed with dinosaurs.

Whereas my other aunt, yes, she sends me links to Substack...she is adamant the Covid vaccine is a WMD as it apparently kills cats 🤦

ME: My dissertation is about why Darwin was aboard the Beagle.

AUNT: So you're not questioning the theory of evolution then, which many scientists dispute?

ME: No, I'm doing Naval History...wait, what scientists?

AUNT: Let me send you the book I've been reading...

#navalhistory

Took me a while, but I finally got it! 😅

According to my dad, he actually said "kismet" 🤦

That's brilliant! I'm stealing that 😉

Loving the beard! 😅

ME: Nelson didn't wear an eye patch.

DAD: How do you know? Were you there?

ME: It doesn't appear in portraits, caricatures or statuary, nor is one mentioned in letters, diaries, newspapers, memoirs, ballads...

DAD: Were. You. There?

ME: No.

MY DAD: So you don't know.

ME: *Sigh*

#navalhistory

OTD in 1831, the weather was perfect for HMS Beagle to depart England and sail into history on her legendary second voyage. Unfortunately, much to Captain FitzRoy's chagrin, the crew were still drunk from the day before, so the opportunity was missed. The result? 134 lashes.

#navalhistory

Lethal Weapon too 😉

The FitzRoy letters are at Cambridge (Add.8853/1-52) & those from the Cambridge set/Darwin at the Darwin Correspondence Project online. Peacock asks Henslow to recommend a naturalist who "will be treated with every consideration" by FitzRoy; Henslow adds the word "companion" in his offer to Darwin.

To be fair, they're mostly historians of science rather than naval/maritime experts. Their focus is on how and when Darwin discovered evolution, so they rely on secondary sources and the same handful of letters to provide context for the Beagle expedition...the wrong context, as it happens!

In 1968, FitzRoy's biographer suggested he might have sought a scientist who could ALSP provide companionship. By 1975 this had snowballed into the idea Darwin was specifically invited to be FitzRoy's friend, with his scientific endeavours a means of keeping him occupied while FitzRoy was busy.

I also think they love the story. "Due to what happened to Stokes, FitzRoy brought an amateur scientist along as a friend, and by chance that led to the greatest discovery in the history of biology!" is better than "FitzRoy wanted a scientist aboard for what was, after all, a scientific expedition."

It began with a FitzRoy biography in 1968 suggesting he sought a scientist who might also be a friend. This became a friend who might also do science & by 1975 was just "friend". With a couple of exceptions, historians haven't questioned it. The more they quoted each other, the more it became fact.

In summary, this theory does discredit to both men. It claims FitzRoy was so unstable that he needed an emotional-support Darwin, and that Darwin was invited aboard as a helpmeet rather than due to his scientific ability. This is entirely inaccurate and based on suppositon instead of evidence. END

Upon returning home, FitzRoy immediately got married. The fact he hadn't mentioned his engagement to Darwin in five years suggests they weren't so intimate as supposed. He also told his sister how he'd missed the society of friends "I have suffered too much...it is not good for man to be alone." 11/

And Darwin's behaviour on the voyage was hardly that of a companion. He explored ashore for months at a time. FitzRoy spent much time with his "gentlemanly" clerk, whom he "liked very much". And it was his First Lieutenant Wickham, not Darwin, who got him through his "breakdown" in 1834. 10/

The theory maintains FitzRoy met Darwin to assess his suitability for the role of companion. However, in his earlier letters FitzRoy revealed he struggled to get on with people and disliked many. Of course he would want to ensure he wasn't stuck with someone who'd annoy him! 9/

But why offer to share his mess with this man if he wasn't seeking a friend? Because he could hardly invite a man of stature, a gentleman, and have that person mess with the crew. The offer of sharing meals was for their sake, not FitzRoy's. 8/

Nor does it make sense that FitzRoy would ask his superior officer, Captain Beaufort, to find him a friend. All the evidence from the Narratives and letters suggests he wanted a scientific gentleman, hence why Henslow and Jenyns initially thought of going before passing to Darwin. 7/

The theory claims FitzRoy really wanted a friend to eat with. While it's true that he wrote in 1823 that he missed having someone to talk, this was as a Midshipman eight years before Darwin's invitation. Furthermore, it is clear from Darwin's letters that FitzRoy barely spoke at dinner 6/