We've discussed elsewhere the problem of ascertaining whether women were aboard a ship or not as they did not usually appear on the muster rolls.
An exception was the muster rolls of Goliath at the battle of the Nile in which Sarah Bates, Mary French, Elizabeth Moore and Ann Taylor were entered as 'the widows of men slain in the fight' and noting 'their assistance in dressing and attending on the wounded.' They were entered as 'D' (discharged) on 30 November 1798 'their further assistance not being required.'
Maybe they were on board throughout the commission and the ship's officers were moved to register their efforts by inclusion in the muster.
(From the Nelson Dispatch of October 1999, acknowledgments to Eric Tushingham)
_________________ Anna
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