Nelson & His World

Most forum members will know that James Eaton, midshipman signaller on HMS Temeraire at Trafalgar lived just up the road from me here. His house still survives. And he is buried in the churchyard of All Saints Church a bit further on.

I was advised a few days ago that five of his journals/personal log books, spanning the period 1802 to 1806 (and therefore including Trafalgar), will be auctioned at Sotheby's on July 14th.

This link should take you to the catalogue entry - Click here

Wow! - are they really worth £15-20,000? Or more - given our previous experience of auction estimates. Well we'll know in a fortnight!!

But what really does surprise me is the nature of the sale that they are included in. You can see the description - English Literature, History, Children's Books & Illustrations. I suppose they must know what they are doing. But I can't see this getting the adrenalin pumping as a full-blown nautical sale inevitably would.

Roll on the 14th!!

MB

Well, are we laying bets on the hammer price? I will place a handsome (virtual) sum on these journals meeting or exceeding the estimate.

Anything with a Trafalgar association commands special interest, and high prices even, or maybe, especially, in these uncertain and inflationary times.

I was recently given a Gosselin (French) print, 'Combat de Trafalgar', by my daughter's father-in-law who found it in his late father's attic. Gosselin prints of the period sell for about £300 but I am informed by a reputable dealer that the Trafalgar connection gives mine a sale value of double that. (But I'm not selling!).

A strange category to place them in, I agree. Another specialist book/manuscript auctioneer is Dominic Winter, who holds ocasional sales of maritime material, though none currently in the offing.

I would love to know where these books have been all this time. There are family members who own various artefacts but I have never heard these books mentioned before.

Likewise it would be great to know who buys them and see if a full transcript could ever be made available.

If it is anyone on here . . . . . . pretty please!!!!

MB

Mark,

It's certainly not me, although obviously they are of great interest, so I can't help you there! From your initial post, I actually thought it might be you!

As to the general public not hearing about them before, I would imagine this happens quite frequently, items only coming up for auction because the family need the money. Perhaps many owners of these historical artifacts believe that keeping a 'tight rein' on them, increases the impact when they do hit the outside world. It would seem to work!

Kester

I do have a couple of much lower value items - acquired a few years ago.

But as regards these books in a way I am glad that the estimate is so high - as it means that I cannot think for a single second of ever owning them.

With Eaton's associations with this town (at one time he was part owner of one of the very first coal mines in the area) you would think that the local authority might want to acquire them.

But can you imagine suggesting it to them in the current financial climate??!!

The Local History Society are fully aware of everything that is going on so I will leave any thoughts in that direction to them. Maybe between us we can see if we can contact the purchaser and see what he intends to do with them.

That's if they sell at all! Stranger things have happened!!

MB

Mark,

Yes I can, and I can also imagine their response. Something like, 'Very interesting and we'd love to have them, but unfortunately in the current financial climate, blah, blah, blah...'

I wouldn't be surprised if they sell to a genuine collector, even to someone outside your area, so your suggestion to approach the buyer, might be a good one. It would be interesting to know what happens at the sale, and I'm sure you will keep us informed!

I sometimes wish my mind didn't wander off on tangents but it always seems to.

If you look at the page from the "log" that is shown in the auction catalogue - in the last part Eaton writes that the British fleet was composed of 27 sail of the line, 4 frigates, a cutter and a schooner.

We now this to be exactly correct but I just wonder how Eaton could have known that information so precisely at the time. i.e. I thought that the British fleet was well spread out and the make up was quite fluid with ships both joining and leaving right up to the last days before the battle.

I am quite certain that the books are genuine. But is there a small suggestion that this description might have been written at a later date?

Or am I talking complete rubbish and it would would have been quite easy for Eaton to stand at his vantage point on the poop and count one, two, three etc. etc.

Or would he have been appraised of the exact make up of the fleet from some other source?

Thoughts anyone?

MB

Mark,

Your mind works like that too then?

As to your question, I would say that he may have actually known the number of ships present at the battle before it commenced. This is off the top of my head, but I would imagine that a day or so before the battle the number, and names, of the ships at Trafalgar would have been known by almost all the ships in the Fleet, certainly by the captain and officers, if not the ordinary seamen – and news travels fast.

Being part of the signal's staff, Eaton would surely have been aware of each ship 'making her number' to the flagship as she arrived and I would imagine that other ships were also keen to read the signals to know who was in the 'team'! I seem to remember Nelson also gave direction that the order of sailing was the order of battle, and seeing that Temeraire was next in line astern of the Victory, Eaton must have had a relatively easy task in reading all the signals made to the flagship.

I'm not saying, of course, that Eaton didn't use other sources for verification, and it is probably likely that a lot of his log entries were written subsequently, but I feel confidant that the number and names of the ships present would have been more or less immediately known.

I may be wrong of course, but that's my opinion!

Kester

Thanks for that - and managing to interpret the point I was making in my post.

When I read it back it seemed a bit garbled!

I definitely find myself trying to get into the minds/psyche of some of these guys who were present at these great moments in history.

What they would have known and what they would have been thinking and how their emotions would have been running.

Fascinating but sometimes very confusing!!

MB

My thoughts follow Kester's, and the Master's log of the Temeraire does indeed accurately record the number of ships in company each day, and records ships joining. Also I would think that midshipmen's logs were written up in the days following the battle with much comparing of notes, and with reference to the master's log. As you would expect, Eaton's log seems to contain many of the same sentences as the master's log.

Tony

Thanks for your reply. Very well spotted that there are similarities between the Master's log and Eaton's own log. That makes much more sense.

In the meantime I have just looked in on Sotheby's website to see if the item sold and if so what the value was.

Unfortunately it seems to be the only item in the catalogue that is showing as sold but without a value against it.

Either somebody set the wrong flag - or forgot to key in an amount.

Just our luck

I will look again later and hopefully it will have been sorted.

MB

How ironic. Two of the items from this auction - the Sheffield United football rule book and the Jane Austen unpublished manuscript - both made this evening's news bulletins.

And yet the only item we are interested in is showing incorrectly on Sotheby's website.

I may be tempted to call them tomorrow.

MB

Sold for £16,250 including premium, so the estimate was pretty close.

One thing that bugged me about the lot description was the statement that Eaton was the first man to receive Nelson's signal because the Temeraire was closest. How utterly absurd! Given the speed of light, it wasn't that long before it reached the other ships! Of all the things to say about Eaton, that must be the most pointless.

Mark/Tony,

Now that the log is sold, it would be interesting to find out who bought it and whether the purchaser intends it for his own private use. Even more importantly, will it be going abroad? It would be a shame on both counts if true.

As regards your point Tony, I totally agree. There would have been a repeating frigate, I think the Phoebe was designated for this job, out on the larboard beam of the fleet on the approach. Therefore I would imagine all the ships (at least in Nelson's division) would have seen the signal more or less immediately, and at the same time. The Temeraire's being next in line to the Victory, would probably have made little difference - in any case wouldn't her own sails have blanketted a view of Victory's mizzen mast, although I can't quite remember if she was still trying to overtake at that stage! Thus, young Eaton's telescope would probably have been directed on the Phoebe as well.

Sotheby's sales blurb for the log, albeit incorrect, was obviously designed to create additional interest.

Tony

Thanks for that info. My interpretation is that it would have been:
Hammer Price - £12500
Buyer's Premium at 25% - £3125
VAT on BP - £625
Total - £16250

I don't know where Sotheby's got that he was the first man to receive the EE signal. As you say I think that was just a bit of gloss for the catalogue.

But Eaton's exact role as regards the signal is still a bit of a mystery to me. In his submission for O'Byrne's Dictionary he wrote that he had the honour of repeating the England Expects signal from the Victory And that is included on his recarved gravestone. (see below)

However I have checked out the logs, inc. the signal logs and there is no record of Temeraire ever raising i.e. repeating that signal.

The nearest I can get in mind is that by repeating he meant communicating the signal to his captain - which I believe would have been part of his role as the signal midshipman. Or maybe they did raise the signal and it was never recorded in the log.

It's not something I lose any sleep over - but if anyone has any thoughts on this matter it would be much appreciated.

MB