Nelson & His World

I've had a query from a friend and neighbour who is researching his family tree with some success.

He has located an ancestor, Lt Robert Henderson, who was serving in HMS Hornet in 1786 ('Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 1660-1815' Syrett & Di Nardo 1994)

He has a little information on HMS Hornet but would welcome more.

He's also located a document on the NMM website ADM/LH/112 Navy Board, Lieutenants Log, 1 Jan 1778 - 31 December 1788 but can't inspect this to see if anything was written by Robert Henderson until the Caird Library re-opens.

He wonders if there are any other avenues he could be exploring to find out more about Robert Henderson and Hornet.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Anna

Where did the info. come from that links him to HMS Hornet in 1786.

There are no musters/logs at the National Archive for that year.

Can't be from Syrett & Di Nardo as that doesn't give details of ships.

All a bit confusing at present.

MB

P.S. Looking at Syrett & Di Nardo can't even see a Robert Henderson who would have been serving around the year 1786. Doubly confusing.

Or is it just me . . . . . .

Mark:

From the notes Alan has passed to me (he's on Dartmoor currently, - holiday, not doing time! - so I can't ask him anything further at the moment):

An extract from QUOTE: 'a comprehensive family tree, which I have inherited, and which I am using as the basis for my research. So far it has proved to be 99% reliable.' END QUOTE (Alan is a well-respected local historian who is used to archival research.)

It is on this family tree that QUOTE 'Robert, RN. Lieut. HMS Hornet 1786' is mentioned. He was the first of the family to enter naval service. A standard work on naval officers, 'The Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 1660-1815' by David Syrett & R L Di Nardo (1994) has three Robert Hendersons:

1
L 11 Dec. 1760
D 1778

(Deceased prior to 1786)

2

L 1799
D 14 January 1843

3

L 16 February 1815
D 1840 Possibly?

END QUOTE

Robert Henderson (2) above, also appears on the family tree. He was a Rear Admiral RN, born 1788, died 14 January 1843

I can't explain how the information re: Robert's service in Hornet was obtained or the discrepancy between your info and his re the contents of Syrett & Di Nardo.

Info. of the log ADM/LH/112 was obtained from the NMM website.

I'll pass on your comments and see if I can find out more when he returns. In the meantime, thanks for your comments.

In passing: my maternal grandfather was also called Robert Henderson!

Anna

How can RH(2) have been born in 1788 and a Lieutenant in 1799?

Not sure we have got a credible starting point.

I think I'll pass on this one.

MB

Sorry -typo - he was born in 1778!

Dare I refloat this thread which ran aground when I gave the wrong date of birth for Robert Henderson? I wonder if anyone saw the revised date and can offer any leads?

Anna

I don't really know what the starting point is for this query. If Syrett & Di Nardo don't recognise his existence and the NA don't have any records for the ship in that period it's tricky in the extreme.

I looked on the Times database and there is mention of a Sloop of War in 1788 named Hornet. There are a few other mentions of ships called Hornet which could have been merchant ships/East Indiamen or whatever.

For that reason I wondered if he was a merchant seaman but obviously the RN and the HMS suggest otherwise.

Unless anyone has a better idea I would suggest that the gentleman checks out whether this Robert Henderson's Lieutenant's passing certificate etc. are at the National Archive. Once we know he really existed - with the correct name - that might spark something off. If those papers are at the NA they will most likely include details of all the ships he had been on in the previous 6 years.

Then taking the last ship listed it "might" be possible to use the musters to take his career forward.

I am not aware that you can check the index of passing certificates online (although I believe the index is available in book form) - but someone else may know better.

So from my perspective it is back to the originator of the query to do that first step and then maybe we can try again.

MB

His Majesty's Sloop Hornet was paid off at Portsmouth in October 1783, and seems to have remained out of commission there until sold in 1791. All the musters, pay books and logs in the National Archives catalogue end in October 1783, and as Mark says there is nothing else in the catalogue other than mentions of the cook and the carpenter in 1785, which is consistent with the ship being 'in ordinary' (out of commission). I think another Hornet was commissioned in 1794.

You are correct, Mark, the paper index can only be consulted at the National Archives.

It looks to me as though the 1786 date has to be wrong, and my guess is that the man in question is the first Robert Henderson who died in 1778. Perhaps he died on board the Hornet? Except that one Cuthbert Collingwood was a Lieutenant in the Hornet from March 1776 to July 1778, and I suspect there would have been only one lieutenant in a vessel that size. A look at the muster at the National Archives would prove that one way or the other.

As Mark says, there's not much more that can be done without a trip to the National Archives.

Maybe he served on the US Hornet[i] a 20 gun corvette,she captured HMS [i]Peacock,18 gun brig in 1813.
Terence Grocott "Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Era.
Dave.[/i][/i]

Tony

Definitely - a wrong date (1786) could explain a lot of these anomolies.

Any chance of a photo or scan of the original entry on the family tree? it might help us to help you!
(Addressed to person raising the query)



Does seem a bit late. And not HMS as originally claimed. But I think we need to hold all our theories open until we can get better confirmation of the date he is supposed to be on HMS Hornet.

MB

BTW there is a biographical memoir of Captain Robert Henderson (born 1778, and who later became the Rear Admiral) in The Naval Chronicle vol 38, 1817. (He was then still a captain.) It contains an extensive service history, and no mention of Hornet.

Many thanks for pointers and hints. I'll pass them on!

Ditto - from John Marshall's Royal Naval Biography. Hope it's legible.

Some fascinating stuff there about a proposed duel - albeit I don't fully understand it!

Anna

Any chance he can join the forum so we can communicate first hand?

MB

Could the name be a mis-spell as well. I am still churning through the Amphions early muster logs and am blessing the fact there are two copies by two different people and an alphabetical listing at the end. The spelling, writing and mistakes are being coalesced through the use of all three. Even the Captains name is spelt differently....

On the Hornet there was also a UK Privateer that launched in Liverpool a year after the sloop. I note that one of the earlier commanders of the Navy Hornet was Edward Edwards of Bounty and Pandora fame.

Joss