Nelson & His World

For most of our period, I believe two requirements that had to be satisfied for promotion to Lieutenant were a minimum age of twenty, and a minimum of six years sea time. The first was easily circumvented with a false baptism certificate, which the porters at the Admiralty could supply for a small fee. The second was more difficult, and the Admiralty required evidence of the appropriate service. Cheating, to use Nelson's word for his own actions, seems to have been accepted as normal and prudent behaviour.

I am trying to get my head round the various methods of cheating, and their implications. One was for captains falsely to enter the names of their sons or other protégés in their ships muster at an early age, in anticipation that the service record might later prove useful. Although a common practice, this presumably constituted the serious offence of false muster. Were there many instances of captains court martialled for this? I believe Isaac Coffin was one. As an entry in a ship's muster would allow the Captain to draw the pay or allowance for the non-existent man, presumably this also amounted to fraud? Or did captains sometimes not draw the pay for these book entries?

Another method would be to 'appropriate' sea time from another man of the same name. I believe Nelson did this (or at least suggested it) for his protégé William Bolton. Presumably this was a less serious offence?

I think another method was to get a certificate of service drawn up and signed by various captains for previous fictitious service in their ships. Presumably these were not checked against the original muster books, or was collusion required inside the Admiralty? I believe Nelson provided a certificate for his stepson for fictitious service in the Boreas?

Yet another method would be for a captain to enter his young children in the muster book when they were actually on board, either in port or as passengers, and thus accumulate a little extra sea time that might later make all the difference. Presumably, if entered as a Captain's Servant, this was not actually cheating, no matter what their age?

Tony:

I came across a reference to book entries in an on-line thesis 'Playing at command: Midshipmen and Quarterdeck boys in the Royal Navy 1793-1815'


The author mentions that captains falsely entered names on the ships' musters either to advance family members or as an exercise in patronage. This was, as you say, technically the crime of 'false muster' but 'as long as the captain did not draw pay for the absentee 'able seaman' or 'master's mate' the Admiralty turned a blind eye.'

see www.etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0331 ... thesis.pdf