Nelson & His World

I glanced at yesterday's Telegraph while I was hospital visiting today and read a letter on the subject of linguistic proficiency in the Royal Navy. (I tried to find a link but couldn't.)The correspondent, a naval officer, said that the Navy today encouraged foreign language acquisition and had always done so. He noted that Nelson himself had attempted to learn French, albeit unsuccessfully, and said that he was encouraged to do so by Prince William, later Duke of Clarence, a brother officer, who said his chances of promotion would be enhanced by competence in French. I don't recall reading anywhere that Nelson's desire to learn French was inspired by the Duke. Is this the case? And is it true that a competence in French enhanced promotion prospects?

Anna,

I am sure the officer was right, about naval officers being encouraged to learn foriegn languages. I am sure it has been found useful in Nato exercises for example and in foriegn visits. (Perhaps he also said that with a view to the recent news of 'carrier sharing'! )

In the past, I can imagine that speaking French (or Spanish, or even Russian) might have come in handy when dealing with foriegn navies, for example when an enemy ship were taken and there were prisoners, which in the case of the officers at least was usually a very gentlemanly affair. I'm not sure it would have had any effect on promotion, but a knowledge of French would certainly have proved useful especially as I believe it was considered the language to learn, other then your own, in most of Europe.

A case in point here is that of Sir James Saumarez. Being a native of Guernsey, he could speak fluent French, which attribute stood him in good stead throughout his career and especially during his time in the Baltic. He couldn't speak Swedish himself, nor could many Swedes speak English, but the one language they had in common was French, which came to be the one through which they communicated. Some of Saumarez' officers, such as John Ross, went on to learn Swedish which became an undoubted asset.

I believe ships in Nelson's day also carried multi-lingual phrase books to help with basic communication.

I've not got the reference to hand, but there is a letter in the Fremantle correspondence from an officer stressing how useful languages were to officers and commenting on how Betsey Fremantle's son, Charles Howe Fremantle, would benefit from staying at home long enough to improve his French under her tutelage before he went to sea as a young midshipman.

The language skills of Betsey and her sister Eugenia also came in handy while they were at sea in 1796-7. Sir John Jervis had them brought over to his ship to act as interpreters at one point while he is attempting to secure the services of some German deserters and, later (June or July 1797, I believe), Betsey put her knowledge of French to Fremantle's benefit by translating a prize's documents and proving that it was not the innocent ship/cargo that it purported to be.

I really must read Betsey's published diary in its entirety. It is often quoted in biographies, and I recall reading about Betsey's fluency in French (unsurprising since the family were resident on the continent) but I've never got round to acquiring a copy.

I've just remembered where I read about the phrase book - it's mentioned in David Morrice's book 'A Young Midshipman's Instructor' (see my report on the Book Reports thread) where he gives a list of useful books, including a dictionary and 'a dictionary of sea terms and phrases in four languages; viz, Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch, lately published by Neuman.'

Betsey's mother was French and it seems likely that French was her first language. It is certainly the language she was most comfortable with as a child; her earliest diary entries were in French, and her English, when used, was phonetic and showed all the signs of being translated from the French. She learned English quickly, though, and very effectively. She also spoke Italian and German.

You might want to try here for A Dictionary of Sea Terms and Phrases, English and French, Compiled from the Best Authors (1810): http://books.google.com/books?id=VucsAA ... es&f=false

Betsey found it ‘a great bore to examine these papers, translate jews letters, The ship comes from Bona, is named La Vittoria was formerly an English transport, we cannot make out who she belongs to now, it is a great confusion and potheration’. (5 Feb 1797)

In 1783 Nelson made use of a French speaker in the Albemarle (which still looked like a French frigate, and was flying French colours) in a subterfuge to hail and question a Spanish launch off the Venezuela coast, gaining information on the strength of enemy forces. This was after he had first met Prince William Henry, and before escorting him at Havanna at the end of the war. On his return to England, Nelson visited Prince William Henry who was departing to the continent, and then went to France himself ostensibly to learn French. But I have not seen any suggestion the prince suggested Nelson should do so. At that time, it was probably Nelson that was advising the prince that on the skills needed by an officer in the Navy.

Thanks, Tony! That was example in my mind.

Clearly in a navy with a global reach, proficiency in languages (especially French and Spanish) would have been of advantage to its officers. French was also the obvious second language taught by governesses and private tutors to the gentry and aristocracy and no doubt carried a certain cache as a result. It was also the language of international diplomacy: any senior officer who had to deal with foreign courts and handle tricky international situations would have found it a great advantage to be proficient in French and (as in the cases of Saumarez, Smith and Warren) would have gained career opportunities as a result. And in dealing with foreign courts I mean negotiations, not dancing and socializing. However, it is clear that the career of officers without this facility was not harmed: there was plenty of high level strictly naval challenges about!

Brian

Nelson struck lucky during the last 2 years of his life as he had the accomplished linguist Alexander Scott as his chaplain on the Victory.

I have seen a few bits and pieces that were taken away from Victory by Alexander Scott after Trafalgar and I am sure amongst them there were a couple of letters that had been passed to him for translation.

Also amongst those papers was a map (I think smaller than A3) of Spain said to have come from Nelson's cabin after Trafalgar. There is nothing to actually place it on the Victory - though the provenance is pretty good through Scott's descendants. I happen to know that it is uncatalogued.

I have often wondered if Nelson scholars/collectors would get excited about such an item or if the association with Nelson/Trafalgar is too loose.

MB

Scott was, as Mark notes, a remarkable linguist. I have read that he had a working knowledge of 40 languages, though I don't know how trustworthy that is. He did, however, master enough Danish in the run-up to the battle of Copenhagen to be a useful intermediary between the opposing sides. Dudley Pope observes in 'The Great Gamble' that Sir Hyde Parker asked Scott to be chaplain of the 'London' and 'interpreter and translator of languages' to the Baltic expedition. A footnote states that 'unfortunately for Scott, the Admiralty subsequently considered the appointment a private arrangement so that Scott received no pay for his role as interpreter and translator.' So much for the Navy's 'encouragement' of linguistic skills! I assume all his work for Nelson in this field was similarly unrewarded.