Nelson & His World

Hi,I have an ancester John George Hewitt who from census information was born in 1799 ,Egypt the Nile ? As this is the time of the battle of the Nile I am curious to know if you could have ben born on one of Nelsons ships.
John George Hewitt married Elizabeth Lake in 1820 and there son John Hewitt served as a gunner driver with the artillery ,later as a colour sergeant and retired as a Captain in the Militia.
from this information I gather that John George would have been born to either Navy,or Army parentage?
Is it possible that wifes would have been on board a fighting ship or even on auxilery craft?
Thanks Rob.

Welcome to the forum, Rob.

It was certainly not unknown for babies to be born aboard warships. There's a link below to a thread that discusses a baby born at the battle of the Nile.

As regards your ancestor: I'm not a genealogist, so can't help but I'm sure someone on the forum will put you on the right track if they can.


viewtopic.php?f=1&t=266&p=1403&hilit=nellie+giles#p1403

As well as the thread Anna mentioned, there are lots more examples in these threads:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=689
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=901
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=627

The battle of the Nile was in 1798, so a British birth in 'Egypt the Nile' in 1799 is likely to be connected with Sir Sidney Smith's naval squadron which was blockading the French army in Egypt and assisting the Turks in Egypt, including at the siege of Acre.

Hi Bob,

I'll offer my welcome to!

It is quite possible that your ancestor was born on board a warship, since women were more often than not present, as a wife to of one of the crew for example, or for some other reason. They were not normally recorded as being on board officially.

I am sure someone will offer you some help in trying to trace your ancestor and, although I have not done such search, there are many well-defined ways of doing this.