Vice-Admiral Sir Francis Austen in Halifax, Nova Scotia: 1845-1848

INTRODUCTION

Jane Austen had two naval brothers: Francis and Charles. I have written extensively about Charles, drawing on research which revealed his close naval connections to my home town of Halifax, Nova Scotia, when he served on the North American Station for 6 ½years (1805-1811) during the Napoleonic Wars.[1] But Charles was not the only member of the Austen family who came to know Halifax well. His older brother, Francis,[2] was Commander-in-Chief of the North America and West Indies Station from 1845-48 and he made his summer base in Halifax during this commission.  This post continues the narrative of the Austen family’s intriguing connections to Halifax and Nova Scotia.     

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Fig. 1: Admiral Sir Francis Austen [3]

In 1845 Sir Francis Austen, Vice-Admiral of the White, was seventy-one years old and back in uniform again after 31 years on shore on half pay. During his absence from the sea service, naval practices had greatly changed. Steam ships now operated alongside sailing vessels and made up a quarter of the British navy. Sir Francis held a peace time appointment, which, while he was on the North American end of his Station, required him to ensure the protection of the fisheries against American interests, to make coastal surveys and maintain a British presence in waters adjacent to Great Britain’s colonial possessions in the area.[4]

Sir Francis’s flag ship, the third rate Vindictive (50 guns) with a crew of 500 men, first arrived with the squadron in Halifax on 19 June 1845. According to the Halifax Morning Chronicle, Sir Francis “disembarked under a salute from the Citadel and was received by a guard of honour on landing.” He immediately established his summer headquarters and set about his administrative tasks with speed and precision.

Sir Francis had a reputation for attention to detail, and a commitment to do a job well according to what he judged to be the appropriate standards.  By 1 July he issued his General Instructions and Port Orders for the Squadron Employed on the North America and West Indies Station. His  orders for Halifax left his officers and men in no doubt regarding what he expected in matters of navigation, safety, discipline, refitting, provisioning, and ordinance. He also paid attention to the flag signals employed by the military telegraph system, which provided continuing communication between the Citadel in Halifax to Fort George, the outer forts and the harbour entrance.

Fig. 2:  Signal Flags used in communication with the Vindictive.

Fig.3: Detail of Signal flags

Sir Francis was also concerned for the well-being of his men. While in port in 1846, he innovated a temporary hospital for “patients employed in the northern part of the station during summer months.” By using the services of the Vindictive’s surgeon, her medical supplies and part of the old naval hospital, he was able to provide health care in an environment conducive to recovery.[5] Another commitment to healthy practices was his directive forbidding the dumping of waste in the vicinity to the Naval Yard. He specified that “whenever any Ship may have occasion to go alongside the wharf at the Halifax Yard, care is to be taken to prevent any rubbish or dirt from being thrown overboard.” [6] 

Sir Francis’s orders also show concern for the safety of others in distress. He stipulated that “whenever the Signals for Vessels being in distress at the entrance of the Harbour shall be hoisted on Citadel Hill, assistance is to be immediately sent from each Ship. A Launch, with an Anchor and Hawser, is always to be kept in readiness for that purpose at one of the Wharfs of the Yard.”[7]  

 His squadron included four of the newer steam/sail combination sloops: HMS Vesuvius, HMS Columbia, HMS Hermes, and HMS Growler. Although all his previous experience had been in sailing vessels, he conscientiously addressed the challenges of the new steam technology, which required the management of different operational skills. His General Orders included cautions about getting steam up too quickly, directives about economizing on fuel and the necessity of employing competent stokers for maintaining the boilers.[8] He understood the versatility of steam/sail sloops. Their steam power made them much more maneuverable for navigating around shoals and in swift currents or when ships became becalmed. Sir Francis wisely chose the Vesuvius to take him on a tour of the Bay of Fundy, a Nova Scotia marine area with powerful, fifty-foot tides.

Contrary to usual practice, Sir Francis had four members of his family with him on the Vindictive: his 3rd son, George, 4th son, Herbert, and two unmarried daughters, Cassandra (Cassy, 31) and Frances (24). George, an ordained minister, served as the ship’s chaplain. Herbert joined the Vindictive as his father’s flag lieutenant. The women were ostensibly along to act as their father’s social hostesses. Sir Francis’s original intent was to commission his namesake and eldest son, Francis, as flag captain of the Vindictive. However, recently enacted Admiralty regulations prohibited such favouritism. 

In November 1846, Herbert was promoted to the rank of commander and commissioned into HMS Vesuvius. His promotion was benevolent, if not self-serving, behaviour on Francis’s part. It gave his son experience with steam power, which the navy would increasingly rely on. Additionally, the Vesuvius was suitable for carrying out cartographic assignments, which Herbert would soon undertake. Fortuitously for another family member, Herbert’s promotion created a vacancy which Sir Francis promptly filled in May 1846 with Charles John Austen, son of his brother, Charles.

Fig. 4: HMS Vindictive and HMS Vesuvius in Halifax harbour. Notice the large funnel on the  Vesuvius.[9]

Sir Francis attended to his official duties scrupulously but showed scant interest in lighter, less serious aspects of social life. He did what was proper in the realm of expected social courtesies. But he preferred to live quietly in the company of his own family and officers instead of hosting entertainments for members of the local military, administrative and business classes. When official social occasions were required, his elder daughter, Cassy, put herself forward as chief organizer and manager of the proceedings.

William King Hall, lieutenant on the Vindictive, was vehement in his criticism of Cassy’s behaviour. He viewed her as petulant and domineering; he declared her presence was “the destruction of all comfort.” She had, he observed, “every bad quality of heart and hand.”[10] Her influence even permeated the day to day routine of the Vindictive. King-Hall complained that “she is the Mistress of the Ship, influences the [Admiral] in every way, and in fact, I imagine will soon be Commander-in-Chief.”[11] He referred to her privately as “Miss Vindictive.”[12]

On shore in Halifax, Sir Francis and his retinue enjoyed the spacious and elegant residential quarters of Admiralty House. This fine, two-story, stone mansion, situated above the Naval Yard, was surrounded with landscaped gardens and offered a fine view of the harbour. While in port, the Vindictive’s officers were required to live at Admiralty House and were expected to dine with Sir Francis, as if they were aboard ship, at six thirty each evening. Although he was said to keep a good table, this obligation frustrated several of his artistic and socially minded officers. They found reasons to absent themselves from Admiralty House and pursue their personal interests elsewhere. Understandably, they had no desire to be spending their free time in the odious company of “Miss Vindictive.”

Fig. 5: Admiralty House, Halifax, completed 1819, where Sir Francis and his retinue lived while in Halifax.

Flag captain Michael Seymour made pencil sketches and watercolours of the harbour, Admiralty House, and the rugged countryside outside Halifax. He continued to sketch and paint whenever the Vindictive called into ports. Herbert Austen followed suit. While in Halifax, he captured what it looked like to enter the harbour (see Fig. 6), he documented how the Vindictive compared with his new command, the Vesuvius (see Fig. 4), and he recorded the beauties of the North West Arm of the harbour.[13] Seymour and Austen often sketched together and were considered talented amateurs. Both men had attended the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, where they were most likely taught drawing by Professor John Christian Schetky.

Fig. 6: “Halifax Harbour 1848”[14]

Young Charles John Austen had romantic rather than artistic interests. He met and fell in love with a pretty young Halifax girl, Sophia Emma Deblois. They married on 6 September 1848 at St Paul’s church in Halifax. He was not the only young officer in the squadron to fall in love. W.D. Jeans, secretary to Sir Francis, also met his future bride, Elizabeth “Bess” Hartshorne in Halifax. They were wed on 18 July 1848. Additionally, William King-Hall was introduced to Louisa Forman[15] in 1847 and by September they became engaged. He returned to Halifax from England after his current vessel, HMS Growler, was paid off in England in May 1848 so that he could marry Louisa in June of that year. Thus, three young officers from Sir Francis’s squadron married Halifax girls in 1848. Cassy Austen, who had flirted and unashamedly pursued several officers in the squadron,[16] did not figure in this inventory of happy couples.    

Sir Francis’s three-year term of service on the Station was completed by mid-1848. The Vindictive arrived at Spithead, the anchorage for Portsmouth, on 6 June. The next day Sir Francis lowered his flag as Vice-Admiral of the White for the last time.[17] He was subsequently promoted to Admiral of the Red. Although he was never to serve at sea again, he lived to enjoy further honours: in 1862 when he was made both Rear Admiral and Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom. On 27 April 1863 he achieved the navy’s highest rank, Admiral of the Fleet. Sir Francis died on 10 August 1865, after 79 years of service in the navy.  

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[1] See the bibliography in Kindred, Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister, MQUP, 2017, 2018, 273. 

[2] Francis Austen’s early career was marked with considerable professional and personal success. Beginning with his initial training at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, and subsequently service as a midshipman in 1789, Francis later undertook commissions in the English Channel, the North Sea, the Baltic, the Mediterranean and the Azores. At the age of twenty-six he achieved the rank of post captain. During this first phase of his naval career, Francis married Mary Gibson in July 1806 and together they had eight children. 

To his great and lasting regret, Francis missed the famous Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 for, although one of Admiral Nelson’s squadron, his ship, HMS Canopus, had been deployed on convoy and supply duty just before the commencement of the battle. However, he did fight at the St Domingo action in February 1806, leading the lee line of ships into combat. By May 1814 his current ship, HMS Elephant, was paid off and Francis came on shore.

[3] Oil portrait, private collection.

[4] Elsewhere on the Station, he arrested slave traders sailing under Portuguese and Brazilian flags and protected British commercial interests during the Mexican American war. According to Austen scholar Brian Southam, “gun boat diplomacy was called for along the coasts of Venezuela and Nicaragua, in Sir Francis’s own words ‘to protect property from apprehended outrage in consequence of revolutionary insurrection.”‘ See Southam, Jane Austen and the Navy, National Maritime Museum, 2005, 57. When tension in Venezuela required a show of British force, Sir Francis travelled overland to Caracas to parlay with the President in order to defuse the political unrest.

[5] See AUS/11, 22 June 1846.

[6] See Francis Austen, General Instructions and Port Orders for the Squadron Employed on the North America and West Indies Station (GO), Gossip and Coade, !84, 2,51. 

[7] GO, 3, 51.

[8] GO, 4, 49

[9] Watercolour by Herbert Grey Austen, private collection.

[10] Cassandra Austen’s domineering behavior became known to the Admiralty once the ship had been paid off in England. The ship’s former flag-captain, Michael Seymour, reported in a letter (29 June 1848) to W. D. Jeans, who had served as secretary to Sir Francis, that “the Admiralty were pleased with our old ship the Vindictive and have so expressed themselves to me. There is a feeling of displeasure at the Admiral having so systematically taken his daughter to sea with him. I, of course, said very little and merely listened to the remarks made - and I fancy that in future cases some restrictions will be put on family privileges. ... It is surprising how much [Sir Francis] and [Cassy] have been the subject of conversation.” Seymour’s remarks suggest he would be in some agreement with King-Hall’s criticism of Cassy. Things did not go well for her once on shore. According to Seymour, Sir Francis and Cassy “were in lodgings in London (June 1848) to consult medical men on her health.” She died eleven months later. See Michael George and Edwin Harris, W.D. Jeans: Admiral’s Secretary Bermuda, National Museum of Bermuda, 2010, 24. 

[11] See Sea Saga: Being the Naval Diaries of the King-Hall family, ed. L. King-Hall, Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1935, 145-148.

[12] King-Hall gave examples of Cassy’s meddling tactics: On 20 March 1845, she told Lt Bernard that “she thought it would be a good thing if the officers were changed (146).” While docked in St Thomas, Virgin Islands, Cassy “remarked to [Lt] Burton that ‘she was moving all she could to get the ship’s birth changed (148).”’She pointedly told to King-Hall it would be “a much better thing if [he] joined [HMS Vesuvius] (148).” King-Hall was delighted to be commissioned into HMS Growler on 29 December 1847, thus escaping from his “spinster enemy,” Cassy.

[13] He liked to sketch initially with pencil and then later applied watercolours or gouache.

[14] Watercolour by Herbert Grey Austen, private collection.

[15] According to the editor of Sea Saga, L. King-Hall, Louisa was lovely to look at. She had “auburn ringlets, a dazzlingly fair complexion, lovely hands, and a slim figure” (164).

[16] King-Hall mentions in his journal that he was “highly amused at … Cassandra’s flirtations (148).” He observed “A dead set has been made at Commander Pelly of the sloop Rose by her. Yesterday the Father [ Sir Francis] asked [Pelly] or hinted to him about taking her [for] a drive.” (147). 

[17] As his commission ended, Sir Francis appointed his nephew Charles John Austen, to the rank of commander..

Captain Frederick Hickey and the Loss of HMS Atalante

Introduction

My last blog (25 September) considered the importance of brotherly relations between Charles Austen and his naval colleagues on the North American Station. One of those fellow officers was Captain Frederick Hickey, who became a friend of Charles and Fanny Austen and their family. His naval experience on the Station mirrored Charles’s life in many respects except one. Each had his first solo command on the Station in an eighteen-gun sloop of war built in Bermuda to the same design - Charles in HMS Indian and Frederick in HMS Atalante. Both had cruised North American waters defending British naval and commercial interests and taking enemy vessels as prizes when they could. Each suffered the rigours and violence of North Atlantic storms on his small wooden sailing ship, but on one occasion Captain Hickey faced an emergency which would have tested Charles to the utmost, as it did Frederick, and filled Fanny with terror even though she understood the enormous hazards of a career at sea. The story of Hickey’s avoidance of imminent death for himself, his officers and his men provides a vivid insight into the risks that Charles and Fanny, fellow officers and their families had to accept, with courage, as part of their naval lives.

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Fig.1: Captain Frederick Hickey (1775-1839), painted by Gilbert Stuart, c.1810.

Frederick Hickey, commander of the sleek sloop of war, HMS Atalante, had been enjoying a successful career. He was fortunate in his pursuit of naval prize, capturing at least 7 enemy vessels since the hostilities with America began in June 1812.[1] But his luck changed dramatically in early November 1813.[2] The following account is a story of courage and quick thinking in the face of imminent disaster. It is a narrative enhanced by passages from Hickey’s own description of the catastrophe which befell him and his beloved Atalante.[3]

Fig 2: HMS Atalante Passing Sambro, Halifax, N.S.[4]

On the morning of 10 November, the Atalante stood in for Halifax harbour, even though it was shrouded in excessively thick fog. Ordinarily a captain would not risk his ship approaching the rocky and shoal strewn entrance to the harbour in such a fog but would wait offshore until it thinned. Yet Captain Hickey was committed to arrive in port as fast as possible because he was carrying urgent dispatches for Admiral Sir John Warren, commander-in-chief of the Station. The dispatches described the movements of the American fleet, which were reported to have “determined to put to sea at all risks.”  Hickey understood the potential hazards of his situation and acted accordingly. He stationed extra lookouts, ordered frequent depth soundings, and had the sails reduced to lower the Atalante’s speed. He also tried to take advantage of a navigational aid. It was a common practice for ships on the Station to sail into the harbour under foggy conditions guided by the gun on Sambro Island at the harbour’s outer approach. During thick weather, an incoming naval ship would intermittently fire a gun, which would be answered “gun for gun from the [Sambro] Lighthouse,”[5] thus giving the captain some idea of his ship’s location.

Fig. 3: In the distance, the Lighthouse on Sambro Island. The Sisters and Blind Sister shoal is located to the left of the lighthouse.

The Atalante repeatedly fired a signal gun from 8:15 until past 9:00 am. Ominously, what they assumed to be answering gun fire, actually came from HMS Barrosa, which was similarly trapped in the fog. Mistaking Barrosa’s gun fire for the signal gun from the lighthouse, the Atalante proceeded in what was thought to be the direction of Halifax. Then disaster struck. At about 10 am the ship ran up on the dreaded Sisters and Blind Sister,[6] a rock studded shoal, about 1½ miles east north east of the Sambro Island Lighthouse. According to Hickey, “in a few minutes the rudder, the stern post and part of the keel were knocked off [the Atalante]. Perceiving immediately that there was no hope of saving the ship, my whole attention was turned to saving the lives of my valuable crew.” Hickey’s subsequent leadership marks him out as a courageous and insightful officer. He would have barely 15 minutes to save all those on board before the vessel broke and sank.

Fig. 4: Hydrographic Map showing the Sisters and Blind Sister shoal, top right-hand corner of map

Picture Hickey exercising command on deck on a cold November morning, clothed only in “a pair of drawers, a shirt, and a hat.”[7] He first ordered the boats to be launched but, as he later  recounted, “the jolly boat was stove and filled with water immediately after being launched, and there remained but three boats (the pinnace, the cutter and the gig).” Hickey then ordered the guns to fire a distress signal prior to the men casting them overboard. Yet only those guns above water were capable of firing, and the ship filled before any guns could be jettisoned. She was now fast falling over on her beam ends. Directions were given to cut away the main and foremast. As the masts fell, “the ship parted in two places.

Fig. 5: Wreck of the Atalante as she broke right across between the fore and main masts [8]

Hickey’s words dramatically capture the desperation of the situation. [When the ship broke apart], “a few of the crew were on the larboard[9] side of the ship, the only part above water, and the remainder clinging about the masts and on the booms. About 60 men got into the pinnace,[10] which was still supported by the booms; but as there was no hope of saving the boats with that number in her, I persuaded about 20 to 30 to come out and endeavour by main strength to launch her clear of the wreck, which they succeeded in a most miraculous manner.[11]… Nothing being now left to trust our lives to except the boats and a raft, as many men as the former would apparently contain got into them, some by swimming from the wreck, whilst others were hauled off by means of oars and small spars.”[12]

Yet not all the men had found a place in the ship’s three boats. Once the pinnace had been launched, Hickey had ordered the booms to be joined to make a raft. It was here that he and 37 others were stranded for a considerable time, with no chance of getting the raft clear of the wreck, while it drifted into worse breakers. Hickey ordered the smaller boats to come near the raft and each take some more men. It was to his credit that the men complied immediately, even though overloading the small vessels might jeopardize their own chances of survival. As Hickey later reported: “I succeeded in getting every man and boy safe off the raft.” As the boats moved away, the men gave three cheers and the wreck was abandoned.[13] Except for the official dispatches in Hickey’s possession, and a chronometer carried off the ship by a clerk, everything aboard was lost.[14]

The officers and men were still in a perilous position. The fog continued as dense as ever and the boats were dangerously overloaded. The pinnace held 80 men,[15] the cutter, 42 and the gig, 18. The survivors initially had no way of knowing in what direction to steer. The hazardous rocky coast and the threat of other nearby shoals were very much in their minds.

Fig 6: The forbidding coast with Sambro Island and its hazardous rocks on the horizon

Fortuitously, the quarter master produced a small compass attached to his watch fob. This he turned over to Captain Hickey. Thus encouraged, the men rowed the three small, vulnerable vessels for about two hours, when, to their great good fortune, they encountered a local fisherman who led them to nearby Portuguese Cove. By about 2 pm they arrived safely in the Cove, one of the few possible landing points along the very treacherous coastline.

Fig.7: Entry to Portuguese Cove, Nova Scotia

The inhabitants lit great fires to warm and dry out the shivering survivors, many of whom were scantily clothed as they had been obliged to discard all but their trousers when they swam for their lives from the sinking Atalante. Hickey later praised the “poor inhabitants of the Cove, who behaved towards us with every possible mark of hospitality, kindness, and attention, that humanity could dictate.”

Fig. 8: At Portuguese Cove where the survivors were fed and cared for

Once on shore, Hickey acted with alacrity. The dispatches had to be taken to Halifax with no delay. This he did, by means of the pinnace, taking the other boats with him in company. They carried those who had suffered most from fatigue and cold during the ordeal. The remainder of the survivors had to march across country to Halifax, 20 miles away, no mean feat given their inadequate clothing and the rough terrain. That evening, Hickey delivered the dispatches safely to Admiral Warren. He was informed that a Court Martial would be held on the morning of 12 November in Halifax harbour, aboard HMS Victorious (74 guns) “to inquire into all the particulars attending the loss of HM sloop Atalante, and to try Captain Hickey, the officers and crew of that sloop for the same.”[16]

At the Court Martial, Captain Hickey spoke eloquently in his own defence. None of those present could fault his diligence in attempting to get crucial information to Admiral Warren in wartime. According to Hickey’s perception, such a commitment to complete his mission justified the risks he took in proceeding in thick fog through shoal filled waters. He also told the Court of his concerns for the well being of his men and the state of the Atalante. His ship was short of provisions at a time of year when inclement weather could keep a vessel from making port for days. Moreover, the very seaworthiness of the Atalante was at risk due to the condition of her cables, which a recent survey had condemned as unfit to trust. Hickey knew that both these requirements could be satisfied in Halifax. He also praised “the conduct of my officers and the ship’s company, under the most trying circumstances in which human beings could be placed. [Their conduct] was orderly, obedient, and respectful, to the last extremity.” To Hickey’s great relief, the Court acquitted him, his officers, and the company of HM late sloop Atalante of all blame.

Frederick Hickey had another reason to be thankful in addition to his acquittal. That evening a hurricane force wind blew up the harbour, which caused great confusion and considerable damage to those ships in its path. All the warships got to shore but some were dismasted, and the merchant men in port suffered dreadfully. Had this destructive storm occurred two days earlier, there would most likely have been no survivors from the Atalante.

Public sentiment was warm in praise of Hickey’s superior leadership and the singular co-operation of his men.[17] A passenger on the Atalante, Jeremiah O’Sullivan, who had recently escaped from New London, Connecticut, wrote a letter of appreciation. He dedicated some of his remarks “to the honour of Captain Hickey. He was the last who left the wreck; his calmness, his humanity, and his courage, during the entire of this awful scene, was superior to man: everything  lost but our lives.”[18] On 12 November, the Halifax newspaper, the Weekly Chronicle, acknowledged they were “extremely sorry to state the loss of H.M.S Atalante, Captain Hickey”, continuing that, “happily, by the great exertions of the Captain and Officers, the crew were saved in the boats.”[19]

Frederick Hickey’s career was not blighted by the loss of the Atalante. To his great delight he was promoted to post captain rank on 19 February 1814. He subsequently commanded the HMS Prince Regent (56 guns) on Lake Ontario. There followed an appointment as flag captain to Commodore James Yeo on HMS St Lawrence, a 112-gun first rate warship, launched on the lake on 10 September 1814. Hickey continued in the St Lawrence on Lake Ontario until the peace with America in 1815. Thereafter his career took him to the South American Station.

For Hickey, the loss of the Atalante was the source of bitter personal regret, but in the eyes of others, his behaviour revealed his excellence as an officer, who deserved  praise for his courage and commitment to those under his care. In later years, he had reason to reflect with some satisfaction on the events of 10 November 1813, knowing that, in extremis, he had done his duty well.   

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[1] In July 1812 Hickey took a ship of 359 tons, laden with wines, brandy, silks, and sundries.

In December he captured the American privateer, the Tulip. Five months later he towed five other prizes into Halifax carrying cargoes of cotton, indigo and other commodities.

[2] Photographs at Figs. 3, 6, and 8 by Hugh or Sheila Kindred.

[3] Hickey’s account of the disaster and his defence at his subsequent court martial are found in royal naval biography: or memoirs of the services of all the flag-officers; superannuated rear-admirals, retired captains, post-captains and commanders, hereafter RNB, by John Marshall, 1827, 232-34.

[4] The image of the Atalante is plate CCCCXV, in the Naval Chronicle, vol.31, 1814, engraving by W.E Bailey.

[5] For a description of this protocol see Admiral Hugh Pullen, The Sea Road to Halifax, 1980, 22.

[6] The origin of this name has to do with the local story of two jealous sisters who abandoned their blind sister on Blind Sister Rock to be swept away by the rising tide. See Pullen, 24.

[7] For a description for the narrative read at the Court Martial, see RNB, 232-34.

[8] See Captain Basil Hall, Fragments of Voyages and Travels Vol. 1, First series, (Fragments), 1831, 280.

[9] Port side.

[10] A pinnace was a small, light boat, usually rowed, but could be rigged with a sail. 

[11] According to Captain Hall’s account, the pinnace floated but was upset by a sea, … [but] the men by great exertions righted her.” See Capt. Basil Hall, The history of a ship from her cradle to the grave, 1848, 126 ff.

[12]Those seeking the safety of the boats included 12 American refugee slaves, who were among the first of the Black Refugees of the War of 1812 to reach Canada.

[13] The cheering may have been a way of raising spirits, of expressing relief that everyone had got off the Atlalante. Perhaps it was also a way of paying tribute to a fine ship, which had brought prize money to the officers and men and had been their home for over 5 years. 

[14] There was a fiddler among the crew who was determined to save his instrument. Finally, he realized he could no longer grasp it and reach one of the ship’s small boats. He put his life before his music. 

[15] There was apparently one woman in the pinnace. She has not been identified. Possibly she was a passenger.

[16] RNB, 232.

[17] In later years, the story of the Atalante was revisited by naval officer Capt. Basil Hall in his book, Fragments, 262-282. He focused on the drama of the wreck, the discipline of the men under extreme conditions and the superior leadership of Captain Hickey. In effect, the story of the Atalante became an exemplum in naval circles of the admirable discipline of a ship’s company and the courage and quick thinking of a commanding officer in a dire situation at sea.

[18] Quoted in RNB, 234. O’Sullivan’s letter also included a graphic description of the disaster. “In 12 minutes the Atalante was literally torn to pieces; the crew swam to the boats; and to see so many poor souls struggling for life, some naked, others on spars, casks, or anything tenable, was a scene painful beyond description. I was in the cabin when the ship struck; the shock told me our fate.”

[19] News of the Atalante’s sinking appeared in the next issue of the British publication, the Naval Chronicle, January to June, vol. 31, 1814. A short, in passim, reference reported the total loss of the Atalante, under the section “Shipwrecks”, and noted that the officers and crew were saved. Surprisingly, this volume also carried a smart engraving of the Atalante, which the caption identified as “His Majesty’s late sloop.” (See Fig: 2 above). This jaunty image, published in May 1814, shows the ship under full sail, passing the Sambro Island Light. It was intended to give an idea of the harbour approach to Halifax and the high land on shore. However, given the ship’s recent, tragic fate, it seems odd to celebrate her as she once was, after she has been completely wrecked. Instead of focusing on the loss of the ship, the caption continues with promotional material about Halifax. The town is “estimated to contain 20,000 people before the present war with the United States. From the accession of commerce, from a great number of prizes brought in by our fleet, and from it being the principal American naval station, it is no doubt at the present moment more rich and populous than ever.”

Brotherly Ties Among Naval Officers in Jane Austen’s Real and Fictional Worlds

The British Navy in Jane Austen’s time was a harsh world that officers sought to alleviate by fostering brotherly solidarity. Jane Austen understood this connectiveness, in part because her younger naval brother, Charles, experienced it. The support he received and extended as a young officer on the North American Station is mentioned in his letters and logbooks. This network of support reached beyond naval officers on a station to include their families, as Fanny Palmer Austen was to discover. Jane Austen recognized the importance of such supportive comradeship for she reflected its many aspects in her novel, Persuasion. 

Fig. 1: Charles and Fanny Austen by Robert Field

While serving on the North American Station (1805-1811),[1] Charles forged friendships with Captains Edward Hawker, Frederick Hickey and Samuel John Pechell, men like himself who were in the early stages of building their careers. Charles and Fanny Austen’s letters provide clues about the significance of these officers in their lives. Charles wrote to his sister, Cassandra, on Christmas day 1808, asking her to be a sponsor for their new-born daughter, Cassandra. He announced that “Captain Hawker of HMS Melampus [will be] your other partner in sponsorship,”[2] thus alerting the Austen family to his firm friendship with Edward Hawker.

In the summer of 1810, Fanny was alone in Halifax, Nova Scotia, while Charles transported troops to Portugal. It was comforting to encounter his colleagues Captain Hawker and Captain Pechell in port and exchange news about common acquaintances.[3] Captain Pechell, in particular, inquired “very kindly” about Fanny’s sister, Esther, in Bermuda. He sounds like a particularly valued friend for Fanny describes him as “my very great favourite Capt. Pechell.”[4] (The underlining, for emphasis, is hers.)

The third naval friend, Capt. Frederick Hickey, was first mentioned in letters in July 1808.  Hickey had seen Fanny in Bermuda where she was in good health and five months pregnant. According to Esther, writing to the absent Charles: “Captain Hickey told [Fanny] yesterday that she had grown quite plump in the face.”[5] This remark suggests he was sufficiently intimate with  Fanny and Charles to justify such personal language. Later, Hickey helped the sisters by carrying goods from to the other on his vessel, HMS Atalante (18 guns). On 4 August 1810 Fanny thanked Esther for “the straw plaits by Cpt. Hickey.”[6]

Other contextual details illuminate the nature of Charles’s relationships with Hawker, Hickey and Pechell. Charles first became friends with Edward Hawker in Bermuda in early 1805, when he was busy recruiting sailors and preparing his new sloop of war, the Indian, for her maiden voyage. Hawker, in contrast, was in port because his frigate, HMS Tartar (32 guns), had suffered extensive damage on a reef. In consequence, he was cast on shore while shipwright-caulkers sent from the Halifax Naval Yard laboured to make the Tartar seaworthy.

The Indian took an interest in the repairs to the Tartar, for when the bottom was finished and the Halifax shipwrights “gave three cheers,” their celebratory chorus were answered by “the officers of the Indian.”[7] Just before Charles and Edward sailed for Halifax in May, Hawker showed his appreciation to the “shipwrights from Halifax” by the unusual gesture of giving them “a supper and Ball.”[8] We do not know who else attended this entertainment but we can imagine Charles joining in with spirit and enthusiasm.  

Fig. 2: Edward Hawker

Charles and Edward also shared in the chase and capture of the American ship, Sally, in         July 1806. They followed with interest the progress of their claim before the Halifax Vice Admiralty Court and rejoiced when Judge Croke condemned the vessel and its cargo in their favour. Austen and Hawker anticipated the captors would receive a pay out of prize money amounting to about £992[9] but, instead, an appeal, by the owners of the vessel and its  cargo, to the High Court of Admiralty in London was successful. In consequence, Charles and Edward were stuck with the costs incurred by the prolonged court proceedings. At least there was company to share in the disappointment.

Charles and Frederick Hickey had been fellow members of the North American squadron since before 1807. They shared a unique professional connection as they were captains of ships built to the same design. Both were Bermuda class ship-sloops: Charles’s Indian was launched in 1805 and Frederick’s Atalante in 1808. The two men likely compared notes about their vessels, such as gun practice for their crews or sail settings for speed and weather. They had other connections as well. The Atalante, together with the Guerriere (32 guns, Capt. Pechell) and the Cleopatra, Charles’s next vessel, were co-captors of an American brig, the Stephen, in December1810. Prior to the cruise on which this prize was taken, the three captains agreed to a sharing arrangement. Whoever made the capture would grant the other vessels an equal claim on any resulting prize money, irrespective of whether those vessels were in sight at the time of the capture. This initiative showed their mutual concern for each other’s financial well being.

Although Samuel Pechell was part of the team which shared in the taking of the Stephen, yet, within six months, he and Charles were caught up in a difficult situation. With no warning, the Admiralty assigned Pechell to the Cleopatra and Charles was left without a ship, forcing him to go ashore in England on half pay. Although both men knew that Pechell had greater seniority than Charles and that the influence of his uncle, Admiral Sir John Warren, worked in Pechell’s favour, it must have been upsetting for one friend to replace the other without equal benefit for both.

Jane Austen was in frequent correspondence with Charles, keen for details about all aspects of his naval life, both professional and personal.  Moreover, by July 1811 Charles and Fanny reached England, where they could regale Jane and other members of the Austen family in person with narratives about their naval lives and friends made during the 6½ years Charles had served on the North American Station.  Their stories may have influenced Jane Austen’s creation of Persuasion when she came to the portrayal of the fellow officers, Wentworth, Harville and Benwick.

Fig 3: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Various resonances are detectable between what characterized Charles’s working relationship with colleagues and the attitudes of Austen’s fictional hero, Captain Frederick Wentworth. For example, the joint agreement about sharing prize money, which obligated Austen, Hawker, Pechell and Hickey, spoke to a common concern for each other’s interests.  Recall that in Persuasion, Frederick Wentworth regrets that his friend Captain Harville has not been with him as an officer on the Laconia and thus share in the richness of prize money amassed from captures in the West Indies.[10]

Fanny Austen was also the beneficiary of the naval support system. She appreciated Hawker and Pechell’s enquiries about her family, while she was alone in Halifax. Moreover, she was grateful to Captain Hickey, who thoughtfully brought her goods from her sister in Bermuda. These small acts of kindness exemplified the support that even naval wives enjoyed within the context of the naval world. Recall that in Persuasion, Wentworth speaks of his active concern for members of the naval family. He would “assist any brother officer’s wife that he could.” Such actions were “all merged in [his] friendship.”[11]

In later years when Charles most needed a friend, when he was devastated by Fanny’s sudden death in 1814, Edward Hawker was a loyal and sensitive supporter. Both men happened to be on land in England. Hawker was frequently in touch with the grieving Charles. On one occasion, his wife, Joanna, “took the children out in a carriage and gave them heaps of toys.”[12]

Similarly, there are instances of compassionate support in Persuasion. Wentworth and Harville are both sensitive to the tragedy of personal loss. Wentworth raced to be the first to tell Captain Benwick that his fiancée, Fanny Harville, has died during his absence at sea. Wentworth then stayed aboard for a week with his grieving friend.[13] Captain and Mrs Harville invited the distraught Benwick to live with them ashore in Lyme, even though their small living quarters were scarcely big enough for their own family.[14]

 The theme of naval solidarity was important for Jane Austen. She wanted to highlight the general character of the navy, “their friendliness, their brotherliness, their openness, their uprightness.”[15] What she may have known from Charles descriptions of naval life on the North American Station could indeed have proved catalytic to creating the interactions among her fictional characters Captains Wentworth, Harville and Benwick. Moreover, she began Persuasion in early August 1815, within a year of Fanny Austen’s tragic death. Perhaps her sketch of the initially grieving Captain Benwick memorialized the plight of her devastated brother Charles, whose lost love was also named “Fanny.”

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[1] Charles Austen’s career advanced considerably while on he North American Station. He captained his first vessel, the sloop of war the Indian (18 guns). He was flag captain on the Swiftsure (74 guns) for five months. He was posted into his own frigate, the Cleopatra (32 guns), in September 1810.

[2] Charles to Cassandra, 25 December 1808. See Kindred, Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister (JATS), MQUP, 2017, 2018, 21.

[3] Fanny to Esther, 12 August 1810. See JATS, 62.

[4] See JATS, 65.

[5] Esther to Charles, 26 July 1808. See JATS, 214,

[6] Fanny to Esther, 4 August 1810. See JATS, 61. Straw plaits were used to make bonnets.

[7] Journal of shipwright Winkworth Norwood, 3 July 1805, MG 13, vol.4, Nova Scotia Archives and Record Management.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Cutters Adonis, Bacchus, and Cassandra were in company at the time of the capture so would have some claim, had there been prize money.

[10] See Persuasion, ed. R.C. Chapman, 3rd ed., OUP, 1933, 67.

[11] Persuasion, 69.

[12] Charles Austen’s pocket diary, AUS/101, May 1817. See also AUS/101: 5, 13 January, 29, 30 April 1815 and AUS/109: 29 April, 6, 7, 13 May and 9 June 1817.

[13] See Persuasion, 108.

[14] See Persuasion, 97.

[15] See Persuasion, 99.

Fanny Palmer Austen’s Choice of Style and Dress

Fanny Palmer Austen’s appearance in her fine portrait by Robert Field reveals much about her style. She is wearing a fashionable gown for this occasion, but given her transitory naval life, she must have found it challenging to maintain a modish style of dress. A review of her letters and pocket diary, and of her family interactions suggest how she managed her wardrobe according to fashionable Regency values and opinions.

Fig. 1: Fanny Palmer Austen by British portrait painter, Robert Field, c. 1810

Fanny Palmer Austen was about twenty-one when she posed for Field at his studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is wearing a white muslin gown, decorated with what appears to be a muslin frill. Fanny is very much in the style of the day for woman of the gentry class favoured white clothing. Over her gown, she is wearing a pelisse, that is a long coat cut on the same lines as her gown. Fanny’s pelisse was constructed from wine-coloured silk and is lined in dark blue. Her headdress is made from “lustrous satin ribbon.”[1] Fanny’s overall sense of colour is good. Her white dress and the coordinated shade of her pelisse are choices which suit her fair complexion and light hair.[2]

According to Regency attitudes, “everything in a person’s ensemble revealed something about them to the Regency observer. Cut, fit and style were important for conveying the message.”[3]  In Fanny’s case, we can see that her figure is slim and her clothes fit well; they appear to be sewn from fashionable fabrics, such as muslin, satin, and silk. In addition, Fanny’s hair style, which featured a cluster of curls about the face, was also very much in vogue. A portrait of Lady Croke (1808), also painted by Field, shows a similar way of arranging her hair. The image Fanny presents is reminiscent of Fanny Burney’s sentiment on what dress ought to do for its wearer - it should suit the style of her beauty and “assimilate with the character of her … gender and class.”[4] 

The Field portrait provides unique access to Fanny’s clothing sense when she was in Halifax. When she sailed to England in 1811, her social spheres changed and, with them, the social influences on her. There were family visits to Jane, Cassandra, and Mrs Austen in the Hampshire village of Chawton, and to the wealthy and fashionable Knight family at Charles’s brother, Edward’s, country estate of Godmersham Park. Additionally, Fanny visited the London home of her parents at 22 Keppel Street. But during 1812 -1814 Fanny lived at sea where she made a home for her husband and young daughters aboard HMS Namur (74 guns).[5] Fanny needed to assemble and maintain clothing which suited her varied lifestyles. Her situation must have prompted a reassessment of her current wardrobe. Gowns that had been perfectly acceptable in colonial Bermuda and Halifax might not be so admired in more sophisticated British circles nor practical for living aboard ship.

Fig.2: Godmersham Park: Where Fanny visited with Charles in 1812 and 1813

For the Godmersham visits, which took place for two to one-week periods in July and October 1812 and 1813, Fanny would need clothes appropriate for the entertainments of the household. We can imagine her packing a variety of muslin gowns, including some suitable for formal dining and for visiting the Knights’ family friends in the neighbourhood. We know that Jane Austen carefully chose her clothes for one of her Godmersham visits. For example, a gown she “brought for special occasions, was insurance against any faux pas as to levels of dress, and would have [as current fashion dictated] been low necked.”[6]  

Jane Austen provides a clue as to the effect that Fanny Austen created at Godmersham when both women were guests there in October 1813. According to Jane’s approving appraisal, Fanny appeared “as neat and white this morning as possible.”[7] To complete her look, she would need to have the appropriate outer wear: a pelisse of suitable texture and colour and perhaps several spencers.[8] Such garments, which could be worn indoors or outside, would provide style, and warmth on occasions when Fanny was driving about in the Knight carriage to view nearby Eastwell Park or exploring the gardens and paths on the estate. Sturdy leather walking shoes or half boots, with a leather lower half and fabric upper, were a must for country walking. Several pairs of elegant, decorative silk shoes would be useful for indoor gatherings and dancing. Some of these items would also be appropriate for Fanny’s lifestyle when visiting her parents in London. They lived in a fashionable part of the city, just off Russell Square, and they had a social circle of cousins and friends, that Fanny would join for supper parties when she was in town.

Fanny’s clothing needs were quite different while aboard the Namur. There were occasions when she needed to dress defensively to combat the extremes of weather. She had to be prepared for bone chilling fogs, blustery winds with driving rain and stormy seas as well as very hot days of unremitting sunshine. For winter wear, she required woolen dresses, pelisses, shawls, and mantles, and during the coldest months, Fanny most likely dressed in layers. Dress historian Hilary Davidson has speculated that Fanny’s purchase of a “waistcoat,” for 12s. 6d., as recorded in her pocket diary for early 1814, refers to a type of warm flannel undergarment, consisting of a “wraparound bodice, buttoning down the front, with gores for hips and bust.”[9] Red hooded cloaks made from red worsted wool were very popular for British outdoor country life. Such an item would protect Fanny during wet weather at sea and could be useful when travelling to join the Austen families in Kent and Hampshire and the Palmers in London. 

Bermuda-born Fanny also knew the importance of being well protected on days of continuous sunshine. Not only did a straw hat provide respite from the heat but it offered a means for preserving an untanned, pale skin which was considered “the epitome of beauty.”[10] Fanny may have brought Bermuda-made straw hats with her to England, but if not, straw hats could be readily purchased in London. A directory for shops on Oxford Street, London (1817), listed ten straw bonnet manufactories.   

By no means was all of Fanny’s wardrobe purchased. Like most genteel women of her time she had learned to sew and so she could satisfy some of her clothing needs while sustaining a modish style of dress. Her letters and pocket diary show that she was committed to constructing clothing and that she had the skills to do so. While in Halifax she made a tucker,[11] which she sent to Bermuda for her sister, Esther. She also created some “very tidy little spencers,”[12] including one for her nephew, Hamilton, and other items for her two-year-old daughter, Cassy. They were most likely short frocks and pantaloons as Cassy was proving to be a vigorous child. She does not write about making her own gowns, but it is at least likely that she could and sometimes did, although the fit might not equal the effect achieved by a professional dress maker.    

While there were shops where drapers sold fabrics and milliners sold hats, ready made gowns were not always regularly for sale. Ladies who could not afford a bespoke gown from a dress maker or mantua maker, often proved to be ingenious in altering the basic shape of an existing gown to reflect more nearly the latest style. According to Hilary Davidson, “once their garments existed, Austen and her contemporaries sallied forth with confidence into amending, turning, and renewing them, refashioning clothes for as long as the fabric endured. …The point of alterations was not only to extend the life of a garment and prevent boredom with a limited wardrobe, but also to remain current, and to pass community scrutiny.”[13] Economies were never far from Fanny’s mind, given the uncertainties of Charles’s employ within the navy, so it is likely that the resourceful Fanny followed this lead and made the alterations which she thought would make her existing wardrobe fashionable once more.[14]

Another popular practice to enliven gowns was to add or replace decorative trims, such as ribbon, lace, flowers, fringing, and braid. As Davidson suggests, “haberdashery[15] applied in inventive, novel ways was a quick, cheap means of achieving freshness and fashion, a significant vehicle for a Regency women’s expression of individual taste when investment in a new garment was a large financial outlay.”[16] Fanny’s pocket diary for early 1814 records the purchase of ribbons, some of which she might have used for trimming a dress. Fanny had an example in Jane Austen who was a devotee of ribbon. She wrote Cassandra in March 1814 that she was “determined to trim [her] lilac sarsenet[17] with black satin ribbon just as my China Crepe is, 6d width at the bottom, 3d or 4d at the top.” In her opinion “ribbons are all the fashion at Bath.”[18]

Fanny also practiced another widespread habit, that of creating one’s own accessories. In the back of her pocket diary for 1814 she recorded that 24 yards of thread[19] were required to make a purse, most likely by means of “netting.” Netted purses were highly popular. They also served a practical purpose for as dress styles had changed to a more flowing, classical look with the introduction of muslin fabrics, it was a convenient way for a lady to carry her necessities, such as a few coins and a scented handkerchief.[20] Fanny conceivably used the pattern she recorded to make her own purse. She may have also sewed reticules, which were another, popular type of small cloth handbag that was often richly embroidered.

Fig. 3: A reticule in the style of the 1790s. Satin stitch is used for the decorative strawberry motif.[21]

Fig. 4: A reticule in a design of about 1800. Note the tassels and beaded decoration.[22]

The female members of her Austen family had occasion to influence Fanny’s deliberations about fashion. During her visits to Chawton and Godmersham, Fanny would spend hours in the company of Jane, Cassandra and their niece, Fanny Knight, engaged in some sort of sewing. Perhaps they advised each other about how to best alter a gown so as to give it a more contemporary look. Or they may have exchanged views about the latest fashions illustrated in current periodicals, such as Lady’s Magazine, Lady’s Monthly Museum, or Ackermann’s Repository of Arts. [23] Jane Austen valued neatness and  propriety in dress,[24] just the kind of opinions that informed Fanny’s perspective and were ultimately reflected in her own choices of clothes.

Fig. 5: Sewing was a significant and regular activity for genteel women.[25]

The Austen women likely also shared opinions about styles they individually observed on visits to London. Prior to the publication of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1812), and Mansfield Park (1814), Jane spent time in London at her brother Henry’s house checking the proofs of each novel. Being temporarily in her brother’s social circle, she was well placed to notice current styles of dress. Fanny also spent time in London visiting her parents on Keppel Street, giving her opportunities to see the latest style in hats, the newest designs for sleeves, and the appropriate lengths for hems.

Fanny was fortunate that her naval connections gave her access to imported dress making materials, even during the trade restrictions of war time. While in Halifax, she received some unexpected yardage of India crepe, sent by Charles’s naval brother Francis, who was bringing home gifts for the Austen family from Canton, China. With this largesse, she had a Halifax dress maker, Miss Johnson, use part of the fabric to make up a gown for her sister, Esther. Fanny also had opportunities for shopping by proxy. While living on the Namur, she learned that another naval officer, Captain Baldwin, would happily take orders for “Handsome Velvets” from Holland “at about 4 Guineas the dress & also Sarsenets.”[26] She was willing to order some for her mother and her sister, Harriet, but not for herself as she did not think her family’s economy could support such an extravagance at this time.[27]

It is providential that we have the delightful portrait of Fanny when she was in North America, but a pity there are no paintings which show us Fanny’s appearance after she had arrived in England. Were such images to exist, I expect they would reveal a young woman who maintained the same good colour sense and simplicity of style, as are displayed in her portrait by Field. We may assume Fanny successfully continued to embody the changing look of the Regency period in her own personal way.

Fig. 6: Cover of Hilary Davidson’s book, Dress in the Age of Jane Austen Regency Fashion

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[1] See Hilary Davidson, Dress in the Age of Jane Austen Regency Fashion (afterwards HD), Yale University Press, 2019, Fig. 7.2, 250. Thanks to dress and textile historian Hilary Davidson for the richness of information in this fine new book.

[2] In 1811 Fanny’s young niece, Caroline Austen described Fanny thus: “she was fair and pink, with very light hair, and I admired her greatly.” Reminiscences of Caroline Austen, ed. Deirdre Le Faye, 2011, 26.

[3] HD, 47.

[4] HD, 41.

[5] The Namur was a working naval vessel which rode at anchor at the Great Nore, the anchorage off Sheerness Kent.

[6] HD, 193.

[7] See Jane’s letter to Cassandra, 15 October 1813, in Jane Austen’s Letters, ed Deirdre Le Faye, 4th ed., 2011, 241.

[8] A spencer was a “short, close-fitting jacket, … [which] followed the form of the gown bodice over which it was worn” (HD, 286).

[9] HD, 70.

[10] See HD, 151. Nor was this only a feminine ideal:  In Persuasion, Sir Walter Elliott makes a scathing comment about the appearance of a retired Admiral: “his face [was]the colour of mahogany, all lines and wrinkles, rough and rugged to the last degree … an example of what a sea faring-life can do.” See Persuasion, ed. R.C. Chapman, 3rd. ed. 1933, 20.

[11] A tucker was “a separate edging of linen, lawn, muslin or some other fine material, worn around the top of a low-necked bodice and tucked into it” (HD, 297). For Fanny’s mention of a tucker, see Sheila Johnson Kindred, Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister (hereafter JATS), 2017, 66.

[12] Fanny Austen to Esther Esten, 14 August 1810. See JATS, 65.

[13] See HD, 121-22. There are many instances in Jane and Cassandra Austen’s correspondence which detail plans for altering and enhancing existing garments. As Davidson observes, “their correspondence demonstrates practical knowledge of dress construction: how many skirt breadths can be got from a length of muslin; where angled side gores need to be added” (HD,122).

[14] Fanny had another reason for altering her gowns, as she was pregnant twice between 1812 and 1814.  

[15] Small items used in sewing.

[16] HD, 122. 

[17] Sarsenet was a fine soft, silk material.

[18] Letters, Jane to Cassandra, 6 March 1814, 269.

[19] The thread would be either silk, cotton, linen or woollen.

[20] Small purses were a welcome change from the previous fashion of wearing “pockets,” bags with a slit opening tied around the waist under the skirt and used to carry one’s necessities. See HD, 83.

[21] Thanks to Joy McSwain of JASNA NS, the creator of this period reticule, for permission to photograph and reproduce the image.

[22] Thanks also to Darcy Johns of JASNA NS for permission to reproduce an image of the period reticule she has made.

[23] While at Godmersham in 1813 Fanny participated in another activity relating to fashion. She and her niece, Fanny Knight, took Fanny’s younger sisters, Louisa and Cass, to Canterbury to try on stays. Stays were a “close- fitting under garment, shaped and stiffened with whalebone, cording … and closed with lacing, which shaped the wearer’s torso” (HD, 296).

[24] See HD, 76.

[25] “Industrious Jenny Ever Useful Miss!! Employs Her Time In Making A Pelisse.” Yale Centre for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.

[26] Fanny Austen to her sister Harriet Palmer, 5 February 1814. See JATS, 148.

[27] Even though Charles’s salary on the Namur was about £500 per annum, this was a temporary assignment and there was no certainty that Charles would be posted into another vessel when his term as flag officer for Sir Thomas Williams expired in October 1814.

Fanny Palmer Austen’s Connection with Naval Prize

Fanny Palmer Austen was vitally interested in all aspects of her husband Charles Austen’s naval career, including his exploits in chasing and capturing prize vessels. The circumstances of her birth and early life in Bermuda gave her insights about naval prize that other genteel young women would not have. Until 1801 her father, John Grove Palmer, was Advocate General, that is the lawyer who represented the Crown and thus the captor’s interests when a prize case was brought before the Bermuda Vice Admiralty Court. When Fanny married Charles in 1807, she became the sister-in-law of the next office holder, James Christie Esten. Moreover, when on shore Fanny lived with the Estens, close to the harbour in St George’s, Bermuda so she was well located to watch for prize vessels being brought into port and to observe the condition of those riding at anchor awaiting adjudication. With her familial connections, Fanny was no stranger to the complexities of the adjudication of a prize case and the disposal of the vessel and/or cargo when the case was successful.[1]

Given her situation, Fanny was able to monitor Charles’s prize related business. Since his financial success would benefit them both, it was of great personal interest to her. She had plenty of time to keep track of his prize claims and, as Charles was often away at sea, she could readily write him accounts of their progress.

 Fanny also had a very immediate understanding of the risks involved in prize taking. Any British vessel in North American waters was potential prey for cruising enemy warships or privateers. In May 1806, the year Fanny and Charles became engaged, HMS Indian (18 guns) barely escaped capture by four heavily armed French men-of-war. She was chased for fifty hours and only escaped when all the vessels became becalmed and the smaller, lighter Indian was able to put a safe distance between herself and her pursuers by rowing out of their range.[2] Charles was incredibly fortunate to have escaped an encounter which would have proved catastrophic for the Indian and all aboard her. Fanny was bound to discover some of the details of this near disaster. There was coverage of naval news in the local press and, as she was frequently in company with Charles’s naval friends, conversations no doubt touched upon his recent exploits.

In addition, Charles was always at risk from violent storms at sea, like the tremendous hurricane he only just managed to survive in 1807. According to his description, “the wind became so furious as to perfectly overpower the Ship, which lay down on her beam ends, with such a weight of Water on Deck as made me fear she would never right again.”  Mercifully, after the main mast was cut away, “the ship, tho’ with evident difficulty, righted herself.”[3] Fanny was at home in St George’s when the tattered and dismasted Indian limped into port, telling evidence of the vessel’s vulnerability and the dangers Charles had recently faced. Although monitoring Charles’s prize business would take place safely on shore, there was, for Fanny, always the underlying disquiet, even anxiety that the very activity of taking prizes was extremely hazardous.

Fig. 1: St George’s Harbour where prize vessels would anchor prior to adjudication.[4]

In 1806 Charles seized Spanish schooners, the Lustorina (25 May) and the Neustra Senora del Carmen (25 July)[5] and sent them to St George’s where the Bermuda Vice Admiralty Court would adjudicate their capture and where Fanny could observe what happened next.[6] To her satisfaction, the subsequent legal and commercial business was straightforward. As the Spanish vessels were enemy property, both were quickly condemned in Charles’s favour and the vessels ordered to be sold with their cargoes at public auction.

Fanny may have speculated how well they might sell, especially the diverse goods making up their cargoes. The Lustorina carried some unusual items - “98 hides, 25 rolls of tobacco, 27 tons of fustic wood and 15 bags of coffee weighing 1600 pounds.”[7] Any assessment of the probable value of prize goods at auction had to take into account the market fluctuations for goods required for consumption. For example, if coffee and tobacco were locally in short supply, the prices paid would reflect the desirability of these items. The value of an unusual commodity such as 27 tons of fustic wood was harder to predict. In fact, Fanny may have been unfamiliar with this merchandise but would be interested to learn that fustic wood, which comes from a large tropical tree, was a good source for a light-yellow dye.[8] If the right merchant or his agent happened to be in Bermuda at the time of sale, this exotic item could have sold remarkably well.[9]

The Neustra Senora del Carmen was sold in August for £445. 8s.10d.[10] and in September the Bermuda Gazette printed a notice of distribution for the proceeds of the sale of her cargo. The practical Fanny was surely delighted by this increase in Charles’s finances. Moreover, these cases enhanced his naval reputation and were a gratifying addition to Charles’s record of successful prize captures in North American waters.[11]

Fig. 2: The State House, St George’s, built in 1624, where the Vice Admiralty Court ruled on prize cases.

The year 1807 did not bring Fanny and Charles the same good fortune. Charles detained the brig Joseph and James Esten, as Advocate General, argued in court that she was Spanish owned and should be condemned as a lawful prize. At stake were the vessel and its cargo of 244 hogsheads, 62 barrels and 47 saroons of sugar which the Charleston merchant, Lewis Groning, had apparently already purchased for $4500. Knowing the high value of the cargo no doubt increased Fanny’s hopes and trepidation as to the outcome of the case. Court documents show that the  Joseph was claimed by American owners who were prepared to defend their rights to the vessel and her cargo and also expected compensation for “freight, costs, charges and damages, demurrage and expenses.”[12] To Fanny’s chagrin, the court determined that the vessel and cargo were American owned.

The loss of this case became very public knowledge when the Bermuda Gazette (18 April 1807) reported that “the American brig Joseph … which was detained by HMS Indian is cleared and sailed yesterday for Charleston.” This notice appeared just weeks before Fanny and Charles’s wedding day. A different outcome would have added a pleasing celebratory touch to their union. Later that summer, Fanny received more unfortunate news when the Bermuda court ruled against most of Charles’s claims regarding the American ship, the Eliza, and decreed that “the vessel and the greatest part of her cargo was [to be] restored to their owners.”[13]  

Fig. 3: Pay out notice for the Jeune Estelle.

The cases of the Joseph and the Eliza showed Fanny the chanciness of prize adjudications and the gamble Charles sometimes took in capturing what seemed at sea to be a “good and lawful” prize. When the court did not condemn a captured vessel and cargo, Charles was the loser and became liable for multiple fees and costs. As his naval salary was not huge – only £246. 3s. 10d. per annum - covering unexpected expenses would have been a matter of immediate concern.

In contrast to the disappointing outcomes in 1807, Charles’s prize business in 1808 with the captured French privateer, the Jeune Estelle, went very well.[14] The adjudication was swift and uncomplicated, and the sale of  the vessel and cargo proceeded with like rapidity.

The day before the auction on 27 July, Fanny’s sister Esther, who was married to Advocate General, James Esten, wrote to Charles in Halifax about the Jeune Estelle, saying that “the Prize Vessel and Cargo are to be sold tomorrow and are likely to fetch a good price - I have been a little nervous for you this last week, lest an Arrival of Provision should lower the sale of yours.”[15] Here is confirmation that those interested in prize money cast a critical eye on the local market’s supplies and demands in case they should affect what sale prices the prize auction might bring. As it turned out, the cargo of the Jeune Estelle sold for the handsome sum of £2,539. 11s. 4d. After the deductions for costs and fees, Charles received a quarter share amounting to £539. 16s. 11¾d. in Bermuda currency. By the time he was paid, Fanny was six months pregnant with their first child, so it was very pleasing to have extra money at hand as their family was about to increase.

Charles was posted into a frigate, HMS Cleopatra (32 guns) in September 1810. In December, he co-captured the American brig, the Stephen, and her cargo of “turpentine, staves, cotton and English dry goods.”[16] The Bermuda Vice Admiralty Court awarded only the cargo to the captors, and the case was further appealed to the Court of High Admiralty in London. Fanny was not able to fully monitor this case as she and the children had sailed to England with Charles in the Cleopatra in May 1811. Charles’s share of the meagre prize money, after all the costs of the expensive court proceedings had been deducted, was £63. 13s. 7d, and he did not receive it until two and a half years later.

Fig. 4: The Cleopatra (32 guns) in which Charles co-captured the Stephen, his last prize in North American waters.

So long as she remained in Bermuda, Fanny was able to brief Charles about his prize business there, be it the course of an adjudication, the arrangements for the auction of prize goods, or the state of the Bermuda market for basic foodstuffs and trade goods. This was important information that benefited Charles, especially as he needed to juggle the gains and the losses which his prize business generated overall. He also needed to factor in the result of his prize adjudications before the Halifax Vice Admiralty Court. There his cases had had mixed results. Although as a co-captor he received prize money from the condemnation of the Swedish ship, the Dygden, the American ship, the Ocean, and the Spanish schooner, the Rosalie, the court’s favourable ruling regarding his co-capture of the Sally was taken on appeal, where the decision was reversed, making Charles liable for part of the fees and costs.[17] There was another benefit resulting from Fanny’s practical attention to Charles’s prize matters. Her keen and assiduous interest in the process must have further cemented their ever-strengthening partnership.

Fanny did not record her personal responses to Charles’s prize activities, but she must have had a strong emotional stake in them. She had to bear with the hazards which Charles might face in the taking of prizes. She may also have pondered the consequences for the other parties involved. When the prize was an enemy vessel, perhaps she felt some empathy for the crew who were now prisoners of war and she would register regret when there had been fatalities, such as the French sailor killed during the taking of the Jeune Estelle.

Fanny might be excited by the arrival in Bermuda of a new capture by Charles but she had to endure the suspense of the adjudication of the case and then, if the outcome was favourable, the vagaries of its market value. However, it was surely satisfying for Fanny and Charles when prize money was paid out, both as an indicator of his success and as a welcome increment to their family income.

The next phase of Fanny’s life took place in England. From 1811-1814 she got to know the Austen family and became absorbed with raising her young daughters. She faced the challenges of making a home for her increasing family aboard HMS Namur, which, although a working naval vessel, was anchored in British waters off Sheerness, Kent. Her days of monitoring Charles’s prize business had been an intriguing part of her experiences first, as a fiancée, and then, as a naval wife, but that kind of supportive activity on her part had come to an end.       

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[1] Presumably, she was even in the position to enquire about the court’s timetable as it related to Charles’s prize cases.

[2] See the description in Sheila Johnson Kindred, Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister (JATS), 27.

[3] Charles Austen to Admiral Sir George Berkley, 23 October 1807, ADM 1/ 497, The National Archives (TNA) London, England.

[4] “St George’s Harbour,” by Thomas Driver, 1821. Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

[5] One of these vessels was a Spanish letter of marque, that is a privateer. See a reference to this is the note on Charles’s career in O’Byrne, A Naval Bibliographic Dictionary, 1849.

[6] Another vessel, the American brig the Friends Adventure, was captured by Charles and also sent into Bermuda in 1806 but, given the lack of court documents, it is impossible to know what became of it.

[7] High Court of Admiralty 49/48, TNA.

[8] The fustic tree, Maclura tinctoria, grows in the West Indies and in rain forests in Central and South America.

[9] Unfortunately, available records do not record what sum all these goods realized at auction.

[10] In the currency used, “£” stands for pound, “s” for shillings and “d” for penny. There were 20 shillings in a pound and 12 pence in a shilling.

[11]For an inventory of Charles’s prizes see my essay, “Charles Austen: Prize Chaser and Prize Taker on the North American Station,” Persuasions, 80, 193, note 6. After Spain became allied with Britain on 1 July 1808, Spanish vessels could no longer be taken as prize. This development must have disappointed both Fanny and Charles as he had recently accrued prize money from the Lustorina and Neustra Senora del Carmen, and in October 1806, from a Spanish schooner, the Rosalie. See RG8/IV/146, Library Archives Canada.

[12] Bermuda Vice Admiralty Court fonds, case files 1807, box 11, “Joseph.”

[13] HCA 46/8, TNA. Charles recorded a third capture in 1807, the American vessel, the Baltic, but the records of the case in the Bermuda Archives are incomplete.

[14] See my blog, “The Story of the Jeune Estelle,” posted 26 June 2020.

[15] Esther Esten to Charles Austen, 26 July 1808, MA 4500, Morgan Library and Museum, NYC, reproduced in JATS, 214-15.

[16] HMS Cleopatra’s logbook, 19 December 1810, ADM 51/261, TNA. The Cleopatra was in company with HMS Guerriere (38 guns) and HMS Atalante (18 guns).

[17] For a discussion of the Sally, see JATS, 23.