Back
To Welcome Page Introductory
Page Services
History
Tour
Tower
& Bells Parish
Activities Parish
Magazine
JOSEPH TREWAVAS VC
1835 - 1905
On Wednesday morning the 26th of June 2002 many gathered in Paul Parish Church to remember Joseph Trewavas of Mousehole and to witness the unveiling of a plaque in his honour. Among the congregation were family members, civil dignitaries and members of the Royal British Legion and ex-service organisations. A tribute was given by Vice-Admiral Sir James Jungius KBE (Vice Lord Lieutenant and President Cornwall Royal British Legion) and a floral tribute on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was laid by Lady Mary Holborow (Lord Lieutenant and Patron Cornwall Royal British Legion).
An interview with Joe Trewavas was printed in the Western Daily Mercury about eight years before his death and tells in detail the circumstances surrounding the incident that resulted in him being awarded the Victoria Cross:-
"When scarcely eighteen years old, I joined the navy and served aboard the Agememnon during the Crimean war, being in her on October 17th at the bombardment of Sebastopol. A week after I landed on the Crimea with the naval brigade and did duty on shore until February 1st 1855. I was in the battery during the battle of Inkerman, and we were under arms prepared to defend our camp if the necessity arose, at the time of the charge of the Light Brigade. We experienced terrible weather, snow lay feet deep on the ground, and we wanted food and clothing. We were obliged to take boots from the Russian dead, our clothes were so patched that you could not tell what parts remained of the old garments, and raids had to be organised to secure food. On one occasion I went to assist at the removal of a number of wounded to Balaclava, and we had fifty funerals on the journey, burying the dead in the deep snow by the roadside.
Well we came aboard again on February 1st and remained there until May the 24th, when I was lent to the Beagle, gunboat under the command of Lieutenant Lyons of the Meranda, son of the Admiral (Sir H. Lyons), who had orders to burn, sink and destroy everything we could lay our hands on, with the object of weakening the enemy. In the first forty-eight hours we destroyed 247 sail, so there were plenty of bonfires I can tell you.
There was a military pontoon bridge across the Genitchi Strait, connecting Genitchi with the Arabat Spit, and across this the enemy marched troops and conveyed stores, as it shortened the distance by 21 miles, a great consideration at that time. Inside this (in the Sirvash or Putrid Sea) there were a lot of merchant ships that had gone out of our way, and, as the water was very shallow, they were perfectly secure. Lieutenant Hewett had orders to destroy that bridge at all costs, and this he tried to do without loss of life. He landed a force to reach it by night marches but the enemy prevented that. Next he endeavoured to send men in boats by night to take the enemy by surprise and cut the bridge adrift. But the Russians were too wide awake to our movements. We went in one night but they began to fire and we were forced to retire. Next day, however, the thing had to be done, no matter at what cost. To reach the bridge we had to round a stretch of low-lying ground, and thus get out of cover of our vessel. So we were provided with a paddle box boat, with one gun to cover us to the bridge. When we had the paddle box boat moored in a position we could see Russian soldiers marching about on shore, and our gunner fired to where they were. In the very first round the gun drew her bolts and thus was rendered useless. That left we six men with a four-oared boat, one rifle, ten rounds of ammunition and a cutlass apiece to face the two hundred or more soldiers who were on shore behind heaps of coal. The gunner, who was in charge, said "The gun is dismounted but my orders from the Captain are to destroy the bridge, let the consequences be what they will. Now lads we may as well go in there and be shot, as go back to the ship and have a four-brace block for an awning." So we went. As we paddled we got out of sight of the ship. On a little mound we could see a Russian motioning the soldiers on shore to keep down, and our man in the bow, with a loaded gun, wanted to have a go at him, but the gunner gave him orders not to do so. I was pulling the bow oar, and when we were near the floating bridge the gunner told me to get on the bridge, cut the hawser, jump back to the boat again, and shove off. I was not long in doing that as it takes to tell you. In less than ten seconds I had cut the hawsers and was in the boat again. During this time, the Russians, who were only eighty yards off, had not fired a shot. But when they saw the boat, two hundred rifles were pointed at us, and the men shook their fists as much as to say "If you don’t come back we will open fire". Our man in the bow couldn’t stand that, so he let drive, and to this day he will tell you that he shot his man. The Russians let fly. For some time we couldn’t get much away from them, as the water was shallow, and we had to keep on their side, as we went towards our ship. The shot came amongst us like hailstones. We gradually increased the distance between us, and at last when we came within cover of the ship, and those on board had no cause to fear killing us, they put shot amongst the Russians and silenced them. Three of those in the boat were wounded, and the boat was riddled and full of water when we reached our vessel.
On getting aboard the gunner told the Captain that we had destroyed the bridge and that I had cut the hawsers. That was reported to the Admiral and I never expected to hear more about it, but a short time later, I received this medal, "for conspicuous gallantry" and £5, when the Victoria Cross was instituted, I was recommended, and received that from Her Majesty, which carried with it, £10 a year.
I have always thought that the others in the boat ought to have received something, but they did not. The gunner was promoted. As we were allies of the French, I received the star of the Legion of Honour, which is thought as much of in France as the Victoria Cross is in England. I have also a Crimean medal with three clasps (Azoff, Sebastopol and Inkerman) and a Turkish Crimean medal. That finished the Crimean experience."
At his funeral there were about 2000 people who lined the road from Mousehole to Paul Church where the interment took place. The cortege left the house at 3 o’clock and slowly walked along the main road to the church. The procession was nearly a mile long, this testified to the esteem in which the deceased was held. The funeral was not a military one but Captain Runella with a detachment of Paul and Penzance Artillery Volunteers were present and walked in the procession. The service in the church, which was filled to it’s utmost capacity, was very impressive.
Although we know that Joseph was buried "in a quiet corner of the cemetary" there is no record of the exact spot nor any headstone so hence the plaque in the church which is affixed to the wall in the North aisle beside the Godolphin memorial.
THE
MYSTERY OF CAPTAIN ANDREW ELTON
On the north side of the Chancel in Paul Church, between the choir stalls and
the pulpit, there is a mural tablet which reads as follows:-
Interr’d
near this place lies ye body
of
Captain Andrew Elton
Commander
of the Godfrey Gally.
He
was killd in an engagement
with
a French Privateer
Off
the Lands End of England,
Sept
the 4th 1710 Aged 53.
he
needs no Further inscription.
Interested to know more about this gallant officer and his exploits I
consulted the current edition of the parish history only to find quoted -
“The sad truth is that in spite of the last two lines of this inscription,
nobody seems to have any knowledge of who he was or where he came from”.
I looked in the History of St Pol de Leon by the Rev Cadman and Mr
Cecil Aitken’s Account of Paul Church but again found the same quote.
Surely, I thought, there must be a record somewhere about Captain Elton
but where to find it?
I searched the church graveyard but the earliest
gravestone I could find was dated 1785 and I also searched inside the church
in case he had been buried within but to no avail.
I then tried Penzance Library but drew a blank so visited the Morrab
Library as I remembered that they held a large collection of old newspapers.
They were most helpful but their newspaper collection did not go back
that far. However, they suggested
that I try the Cornish Records Office in Truro and they were my next port of
call. At this early stage
of my research I must admit that I thought that I would discover everything
about Captain Elton in one location but that was not to be.
The Cornish Records Office provided me with my first
piece of new information and that was Parish Register Entry P/172/1/2 (Page
126) which stated that Captain Andrew Elton was buried at Paul on the 28th of
September 1710. I had
expected the entry to give some more details such as his home but sadly no.
The Cornish Records Office also referred me to Lake’s Parochial
History of the County of Cornwall - four volumes published between 1868 - 1872
but again he only mentions the details inscribed on the tablet.
Tracing family trees is new to me so I was at a loss
as where to look next when somebody suggested that being a gentleman he must
have made a will or letter of administration.
Back I went to the Cornish Records Office who confirmed that they hold
an index of wills etc. My
hopes were raised but soon dashed when they stated that there were no entries
for any Elton around that time. They
were also able to check the index for Devon but again no Elton.
However, I learnt from them that wills are usually proved in the county
where the person in question either comes from or has their family home so it
was possible then that Andrew Elton was neither Cornish nor Devonian.
So why was he buried here at Paul?
It could have been that he had Cornish connections but more likely it
would seem that having been killed off Lands End he was brought ashore at the
nearest port (Mousehole or Newlyn) and then buried in the nearest parish
churchyard i.e. St Pol de Leon (Paul Church).
But what was he doing on his ship off Lands End?
Was it a warship, a merchantman or possibly a privateer like the French
ship? Contact with the
National Maritime Museum at Greenwich did not answer any of these questions as
their standard reply informed me that they neither had the time nor staff to
conduct private research but that I was welcome to visit and carry out the
search myself; a little difficult being so far away but I registered it as a
possibility should my investigations here in Cornwall come to a halt.
However, through a friend I had access to the List of Commissioned Sea
Officers 1660 - 1815 and there was no mention of Andrew Elton so at least I
knew that he was not an officer of the Royal Navy.
A research guide, issued by the National Maritime
Museum, informed me that most Admiralty records were deposited with the Public
Record Office (PRO) at Kew and this would include letters of marque which are
the warrants, issued by the High Court of Admiralty in London, for
privateering exploits. The
PRO also held the Probate records for all the United Kingdom so if Andrew
Elton had made a will this would be the place to look for it.
In the PRO’s unpublished guide to wills 1701 - 1799 there was a
reference to an Andrew Elton whose will was proved on the 10th of February
1711 so as this was such a coincidence i.e. five months after the incident off
Lands End, I obtained a copy and found that I had struck gold.
His will (PRO Prob 11/519) was made out on the 2nd of
November 1708 and describes him as a mariner of the parish of St Mary,
Rotherhithe in the county of Surrey, London so no wonder we could not find his
will in either Cornwall or Devon. He
was married to Mary and they had four children, Andrew, Nicholas, John and
Mary. In addition to a
property in Rotherhithe he had several dwelling houses or tenements in Church
Street, Greenwich and a “copyhold” estate in Westerham, Kent which lies
about 15 miles to the south of Greenwich.
The will itself was difficult to read but in outline he left £150 to
his eldest son, Andrew with the remainder to
“ my dearly beloved wife for her natural life and then in parts to
our children”. Having
found the will the next logical step was to search the International
Genealogical Index (IGI) for Surrey and Kent but I could find no trace of him
or his parents. The
original Rotherhithe parish records are at the London Metropolitan Archives
but I understand that they are very patchy with large gaps in them because of
missing volumes.
A search through the Admiralty records for letters of
marque turned up not one but four different letters issued to Captain Elton in
1692, 1702, 1707 and 1710 but before elaborating on the details let me first
explain letters of marque. Originally,
they were a licence granted by a sovereign to a subject authorising him to
make reprisals on the subjects of a hostile state for injuries alleged to have
been made by the enemy’s army. In
later times this became practically a licence to fit out an armed vessel and
employ it in the capture of the merchant shipping belonging to the enemy’s
subjects, the holder of the letters of marque being called a privateer or
corsair, and entitled by international law to commit against the hostile
nation acts which would otherwise have been condemned as piracy.
In fact the privateers augmented a country’s regular navy by
providing a cheap and available means of support.
The first letter of marque is dated the 26th of June
1692 and was for the Russell Gally a ship of 111 tons carrying 26 guns.
The second was for the Great Russell, a ship of 204 tons carrying 24
guns and with a crew of 90. But
the third and fourth letters were the most interesting as they were both for
the Godfrey Gally and for a fair description of the vessel I
can do no better than quote directly from the bond document which was
issued with the letter of marque dated the 2nd of May 1710:-
“Appeared personally Capt Andrew Elton and produced
a Warrant from the Right Honourable the Commissioners for executing the Office
of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland etc and of all her Majesties
Plantations etc for the Granting of a Commission or Letters of Marque to him
the said Andrew Elton, and in pursuance of her Majesties Instructions to
Privateers made the following Declarations viz. that his ship is called the
Godfrey Gally and is of about three hundred tons, that he is the Captain of
her, that she carries thirty guns, eighty men, eighty small arms, thirty-four
cutlasses, twenty barrels of powder, forty rounds of great shot, and about
twenty hundredweight of small shot, that the ship is victualled for five
months has two suites of sails, five anchors, six cables and about twenty
hundredweight of spare cordage, that Humphrey Caseby goes Lieutenant, Thomas
Goodfellow Boatswain, Richard Peck Gunner, John Wirril Carpenter and John Read
Cook of the said ship and that Peter Godfrey, John Page, Joseph Tatem,
Lancelot Tatem, William Gosselin, Samuel Short, Richard ffenne Merchants and
he the Declarant are the owners and setters out of the said ship.”
The most interesting thing about the above
information is that Captain Elton had financial backing from the merchants
mentioned and that the ship was most likely named after the main backer -
Peter Godfrey, who is also mentioned in the 1707 bond and letter of marque.
Peter Godfrey was a director of the Bank of England, director of the
East India Company and later a Member of Parliament so no small fry.
Among those involved in fitting out the Great Russell in 1702 was one
Francis Minshall, a member of both the Shipwrights and Vintners Companies and
a London Common Councilman. In
addition to making the above bond declaration Captain Elton, as the commander
of the privateer, would have been required to provide a bail to guarantee the
good conduct of himself and his crew.
For a ship the size of the Godfrey Gally this sum would have been about
£1,500 which was a considerable sum in those days.
To date I have not found any financial figures concerning the Godfrey
Gally but about twenty years later the Mentor, a privateer slightly larger
than the Godfrey Gally, declared a sum of £37,532 for fitting out,
provisioning and associated costs.
If the Mentor had been unsuccessful on her venture it would have meant
a heavy loss to her backers and crew but prize money of £114,053 as awarded
by the Admiralty so the fitting out etc costs were recovered
with £54,118 going to the
ship’s owners/backers and the remainder being divided amongst the crew.
It
is of interest to note how the shares were divided amongst the crew:
Position
Shares
Amount
Captain
16
£1,744
Officers, Mate,
) 8
£872
Carpenter,
)
6
£654
Cook etc.
)
4
£436
) 2
£218
) 1.25
£136.5/=
25 Seaman @
1
£109
70 Ordinary Seamen @
.50
£54.10/=
In 1710, the year of Captain Elton’s death, there
were on average 18 privateers commissioned to carry out their trade but four
years earlier (Sep 1706) there were only 3 privateers recorded whilst in Feb
1703 there were 31 listed. During
my research I came across the George Gally (70 tons and a crew of 14) which
listed her home port as Penzance. As
a privateer in 1719 she operated with two other ships, the Friendship Sloop
(Bristol) and the Enterprize Gally (Channel Islands) and declared two prizes
that same year. I found
many ships that included Gally in their name; Cinque Ports Gally (London),
Eugene Gally (Bristol) and Dartmouth Gally (Dartmouth) but have yet to
discover the origin of the name. Throughout
this article I have used the spelling of Gally but I should point out that in
several sources there is reference to Galley but to date I must admit that I
am at a loss as to why and what is the difference, if any!
The smallest ships used for privateering were
normally between 20 - 70 tons burthen but could be less then 10 tons i.e.
cockleshells and row-boats or up to 140 tons with an ocean-going
capability. Larger vessels
were from 200 - 500 tons burthen and operated as far afield as the Caribbean
and the East Indies. Naturally
they were dearer to fit out but the prizes were greater.
The largest deep water privateer recorded was the Fame which carried 56
guns and 400 men. There
were several expeditionary forces of privateers and we only have to look to
the Elizabethan era (Drake and Hawkins) to find some prime examples.
At the time of Andrew Elton’s death England had,
with her main allies the Netherlands, Prussia and Portugal, been at war since
1701 with France who had support from several of the German States.
This was the War of the Spanish Succession and the conflict arose out
of the disputed succession to the throne of Spain with the main claimants
being England, the Netherlands and France.
Queen Anne was on the throne of England and her favourite John
Churchill (later Duke of Marlborough) played a leading role both in her
government and on the battlefield - Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706) and
Malplaquet (1709). Only
four years before the start of this war Europe had seen the War of the Grand
Alliance (1689 - 97) which had again pitted England, with the support of the
Netherlands and Austria, against France so for most of the twenty years before
Captain Elton’s death England was at war and there was plenty of scope for
privateers to successfully operate.
You will recall that in May 1710 Captain Elton
produced a Warrant when seeking
his letter of marque and I now reproduce this Warrant, with modern spelling
for ease of reading, as I found it a fascinating insight into the period.
“Thomas Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery etc, Lord High Admiral of Great
Britain and Ireland etc and of all Her Majesty’s Plantations -
Whereas, by Commission under the Great Seal of Great
Britain, bearing date of November 1708, I am required and authorised to grant
Commissions unto such persons as I deem fitly qualified in that behalf, for
the apprehending, seizing and taking the ships, vessels and goods belonging to
France, and other Her Majesty’s
enemies, their vessels and subjects, or other inhabiting within any of their
countries, territories or dominions, and such other ships, vessels and goods
as are and shall be liable to confiscation, with other powers in the said
commission. These are
therefore to will and require you forthwith to cause a commission, or letter
of marque, or reprisal, to be issued out
of the High Court of Admiralty unto Captain Andrew Elton, Commander of the
Godfrey Gally burthen about three hundred and fifty tons, carrying thirty guns
and seventy five men to set forth, in warlike manner, the said ship called the
Godfrey Gally whereof the said Andrew Elton is commander; and to apprehend,
seize and take the ships, vessels and goods belonging to France and other Her
Majesty’s enemies, their vessels and subjects or others inhabiting within
any of their countries, territories or dominions, and such other ships,
vessels and goods as are and shall be liable to confiscation according to the
said commission granted unto me for that purpose, and certain articles and
instructions under Her Majesty’s Signet and Sign Manual (a copy whereof
remains with you) and according to the
course of the Court of Admiralty, and Laws of Nations.
And you are therein to insert a clause, enjoining the said Andrew Elton
to keep an exact Journal of his Proceedings; and therein particularly to take
notice of all prizes which shall be taken by him, the nature of such prizes,
the time and place of their being taken and the value of them as near as he
can judge; as also of the station, motion and strength of the enemy, as well
as he can discover by the best intelligence he can get; of which he is from
time to time, as he shall have an opportunity, to transmit an account to me or
my secretary, and to keep a correspondence with me or him by all opportunities
that shall present. Provided
always, that before you issue such commission, security be given thereupon,
according as is directed in Her Majesty’s instructions aforementioned.
The said commission to continue in force till further order for which
this shall be your Warrant. Given
under my hand, and the seal of the office of Lord High Admiral this 19th day
of July 1709”.
As to details of prizes taken by Captain Elton
whilst commanding the Godfrey Gally I regret to say that I have drawn a blank
so far but, I have obtained a list of prizes taken by him between 1692
- 1698 when he was captain of both the Russell Gally and the Great
Russell. Details of seven prizes
are mentioned:-
Prize
Date
Cargo
Prize Landed
Privateer
North Star Feb
1692 Tobacco/Salt
Weymouth
Russell Gally
St Clement
Oct 1692 Salt/Fish
Weymouth
Russell Gally
St Joseph
Dec 1692 ? Weymouth
Russell Gally
Destiny
Dec
1697 ?
Newfoundland Great
Russell
St Francis
Jan 1698 ? Newfoundland Great
Russell
Little Moses
Mar 1698 ? Newfoundland Great
Russell
Les
Brumes Armee Jun 1698 Vinegar/Salt
Newfoundland Great
Russell
This information was given in PRO HCA 30/774 but gave
no details regarding the amount of monies raised by both the sale of the cargo
and the vessels concerned. However,
what is interesting is the fact that whilst the Russell Gally seemed to
operate in the English Channel the Great Russell found rich pickings across
the Atlantic Ocean.
I have consulted several publication from the period
including the London Gazette, Post Boy and the Observator but can find no
account of the incident in which Captain Andrew Elton lost his life off
Land’s End in 1710 nor, for that matter, details of any of his actions as a
privateer except for the seven prizes taken between 1692 - 1698.
As to his merits we know that he was a successful privateer for over 20
years and that he was a man of both influence and means.
The London Gazette in the early 18th Century was very much the
government mouthpiece whilst the other papers, usually no more than 4 - 5
sheets, were left to fend for themselves so their news usually came from
foreign sources, manuscript newsletters sent to London or coffee house gossip.
There were no reporters waiting throughout the countryside for stories
to break and then rushing them up to Fleet Street in time for the morning
papers. The PRO at
Kew holds a vast collection of documents, letters etc and it would take a
great deal of time and effort to search for further information on Andrew
Elton and it could be that there is nothing more to be found.
At this stage I feel that I have come to the end of a long and
fascinating road and maybe one day I will venture down it again!
The important thing is that we have found Captain Andrew Elton and in
future editions of the History of St
Pol de Leon we will not have to state ........... “The sad truth is that in
spite of the last two lines of the inscription,
nobody seems to have any knowledge of who he was or where he came from”.
Welcome back Captain Elton - we won’t lose you again!
Bob
Harrison
(suebob.harrison@tiscali.co.uk)
January
2001
Back
to History Page