Nelson & His World

I've had a most interesting off-site correspondence with Richard Venn, whose narrative on Edward Thornbrough Parker is mentioned on another thread.

Richard and fellow enthusiasts have been researching a number of naval graves in Kent and he has kindly sent me pictures of several graves, including that of Thomas Edgar, mentioned in various threads on this forum. I'll post details of other graves on the 'Jack Mount: forgotten hero' thread in due course. For ease of reference, I'll amend the title to 'Jack Mount and other forgotten heroes.'

Here's a quote from Richard's email to me. I know there are other enthusiasts here (Mark, Tony, Stephen among others) who have the skills to follow ancestral threads, even when they are distinctly frayed, and who will, I am sure, be interested in Richard's project.


One year ago myself and a few friends started a group we named 'TARS'. Our aim was to discover as many graves and memorials to individuals who served in the Royal Navy between the years 1793 - 1815. We then research the individuals, which in turn leads to the production of a leaflet for the respective church. Our hope is that by raising awareness of these monuments they may be protected - in much the same way as Thomas Edgars' stone at Lydd. We have limited our efforts to the county of Kent, the database we have compiled contains in excess of 200 sites. From our field trips thus far we have recorded 37 graves and 25 memorials, these have thrown up some fascinating stories. We include all sailors within our timeframe, irrespective of rank (if they served in the navy we include them!) One of our group has just moved to Monmouthshire and is keen to compile a similar database for that county. Perhaps you could mention our group on your forum, if any of your members knew of any graves or memorials that could be included on our database, for either Kent or Monmouthshire we would be very interested. 'TARS' have an E-mail address: tars1758@yahoo.co.uk , any correspondence to Richard or Susan.

Hi Anna,
Decided I had been regular viewer of the forum for far too long and finally signed up. Look forward to participating in some of the fascinating threads found on the forum.
Really pleased you enjoyed the information on the graves found in the Churchyard at Lydd. Many thanks for mentioning ‘TARS’ project, any feedback from forum members would be very welcome!
Richard.

Richard,

A welcome from me to N&HW; your name is familiar from the pages of the Kedge Anchor and Trafalgar Chronicle! It's good that you have 'come out of the woodwork', so to speak, and let's hope it inspires others do so, as I am sure there are others out there.

Tars sounds a very worthwhile project and I wish you luck with it. It's good that the ordinary seamen are now getting their due recognition these days, with publication of their memoirs etc., but recording their graves is also important.

Many thanks for the welcome Kester, I'm looking forward to participating in some of the fascinating threads the site features.

TARS project is proceeding better than I ever anticipated. The number of surviving graves has amazed me, especially those of ordinary and less well known seamen. Our group have a special interest in the often unheard story these characters yield. The research is often more difficult, but ultimately the results more rewarding. Some fascinating stories have come to light, in the near future we look forward to sharing some of these with fellow forum members.

Richard.

TARS recently produced a leaflet for St Margaret's Church, Rochester. This is our third and, largest production to date. It is well known that St Margaret's has a fine memorial to Trafalgar Captain Charles John Moore Mansfield. TARS leaflet covers the stories of seven additional sailors whose memorials can be seen at St Margaret's. If anyone would like to receive a pdf version of our Rochester leaflet please just contact our e-mail site: tars1758@yahoo.co.uk

We would also be happy to supply copies of our previous two leaflets concerning St Botolph's, Northfleet, and St Peter & St Paul's, Swanscombe.

Richard.