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Deptford Dockyard had been founded by Henry VIII and soon became the most important yard on this part of the River Thames. It declined however at the beginning of the 19th century and was practically derelict by 1818 and completely closed in 18338. The Katherine was 135 tons burthen, which was a builders measurement based on the number of ‘tuns’, which were casks of wine that she could theoretically carry. She had a keel length of 56 feet and her beam was 21 feet 4 inches9. The Katherine had a crew of 30 and was armed with 8, 3-pounder guns (guns which fired balls weighing 3 pounds). She spent most of her time at Deptford10. Unlike most ships of the Royal Navy who were partially manned through the press gangs, she had a full complement all the time, but she was still subject to a common problem for the Navy of the day, for in the spring of 1764 two Able Seamen deserted. Despite her special status, the Katherine was a warship and the articles of war were read to the crew at regular intervals11. The Katherine only seems to have made short trips to sea and members of the crew were often lent to other Naval vessels. The day he signed on, William was lent to HMS Blenheim and did not return to the Katherine until November 1st 1761. In October 1763 with several other members of the ship’s company, he was lent to the Glory, in April 1764 to the Triumph, in July 1764 to the Ardent and in November and December 1764 to the Robust. 1764 seems to have been a lean time for the Katherine because a note in the muster book states “N.B. No slop cloaths, beds or tobacco issued in the month of April”. 13 In January 1765, 20 members of the crew of the Yacht ‘William and Mary’ came on board. On January 23rd, 10 members of the Board of Green Cloth and 19 members of Charles of Brunswick’s retinue were embarked. The Katherine then set sail for the continent and on February 3, 1765 the crew of the William and Mary were disembarked with the King’s baggage at Holvootsbuys. The ship was still there for the musters on the 7th and 14th of February, but by 23rd she was back at Deptford.14 Another trip started on September 4, 1766 when The Hon. Augustus Keppel, Rear Admiral of the Blue and his retinue were embarked. The passengers were: the Admiral, his secretary, 10 servants and 5 A.B.s. The Katherine was in Harwich by October 2nd and the passengers were disembarked15. On January 26, 1769, William married ANN KIFLIN in St Alphege’s, by licence.16 Ann was the fifth child of JOHN AND MARGARET KIFLIN and had herself been christened at St Alphege’s Church on December 28, 1742.17 She was the youngest sister of the John Kiflin who served with William aboard the Katherine. In December 1769 William and Ann’s first son, James18 was born and in January 1772 a second son, William 19 arrived. William Brownfield’s occupation at his son’s Christenings was given as a Waterman although he was serving in the Royal Navy. William Bromfield (sic) left the Katherine at the end of December 1777 having served 16 years as an Able Seaman20. On January 7, 1778, William Brownfield signed on the crew of H.M.S. Robust as Boatswain’s mate21. This was a rank equivalent to a Chief Petty Officer in today’s Navy. Several other members of the Katherine’s crew also transferred at the same time. The Robust was fitting out in Chatham, and was under the command of Captain William Campbell. William went onboard on 15th January. H.M.S. Robust was a 3rd rate ship of the line, which had been built by Barnard, at Harwich in 1764. She carried 74 guns, 28 of which were 32 pounders. Her main gun deck was 168 X 47 feet (H.M.S. Victory measured 186 X 52). 22 She fought at the battle of Ushant in 1778 and later at Chesapeake Bay, Toulon and Donegal.23 She entered harbour service in 1812 and was broken up in 1817.24 The Robust left Chatham Dockyard on March 27, 1778 for Blackstakes with 160 dockyard workers still on board. Her full complement was 600 men, but when she left Chatham, she only carried 133 sailors. She sailed for the Nore on April 15 and by 27th, the complement had risen to 35625. At no time during the commission did the crew number the full complement of 600 and there was considerable wastage from desertion by the pressed men. A ‘run list’ was recorded most months, the largest being on Christmas day 1778 when 19 men absconded while the Robust was in Portsmouth Dockyard26 being repaired after the battle of Ushant. The numbers were frequently topped up and with these changes, by the time he left, William was one of the longest serving members of the ship’s crew. On May 4, 1778 Alexander Hood, William’s old captain from the Katherine took command. On May 7, the Robust carried out “in sea victualling” and took on board 53 men from the Conquistador at the Nore. These men were mostly volunteers and ‘were to be conveyed to their respective ships to the westward’. On May 9, she sailed down ‘The Swin’ and by the 15th she had arrived at Spithead, where she stayed until the beginning of June, when she moved to St Helens Roads off the Isle of Wight. The muster for June 1st included 10 supernumeraries “borne for victuals only, being bricklayers employed in resetting the ships coppers”. On June 15th she was at sea and the muster book records “ Read the Articles of War and a late Act of Parliament to the Ships Company” For the months of May and June William was paid two months advance wages of £3–1 shilling. This is equivalent to about £200 at current values. He was one of the higher paid members of the lower deck; a midshipman was only paid £3–12s and an ordinary seaman £1–15s.27 On July 10, 1778 France declared war on England.28 On the 19th, 47 French Officers and crew from the French frigate Pallas were taken on board “borne at 2/3 allowance of all species, following the order of Hugh Palliser, Baronet, dated 20th June 1778”. The prisoners included the captain, the surgeon and the chaplain. They were transferred to the ‘Elizabeth’ on June 2029. ‘Cassell’s Illustrated History of England’, published in about 1905 gives a description of events:30 ”A schooner and a French frigate [? The Pallas] were soon afterwards taken; and, finding on board these vessels, papers stating that the French fleet in Brest harbour consisted of thirty two sail of the line and ten or twelve frigates, Keppel returned to Portsmouth for reinforcements. There is also an account of the events in the master’s log for Tuesday July 20th 1778.31 The wind was blowing from South of West and the ship was close hauled on the port tack steering North-West making between 2 and 3 knots until she changed course to the North-East. Under ‘Remarks’ are: “Modt and Cloudy. Drill in Action. Remarks on Wednesday July 29th 1778 Fresh breezes clowdy. Employed Fishing the Mainmast, Tongueing Mainyard, unbending the damaged sails and bending New ones According to the Muster Book, H.M.S. Robust lost 7 men in the Battle of Ushant; a captain’s servant, a quartermaster’s mate, 3 A.B.s and 2 marines. By August 2, she had reached Plymouth and several wounded men were sent ashore to the Naval Hospital. From 4th to 15th August there were 56 supernumeraries on board, “being artificers from Plymouth Dockyard to attend to repairing the damages to the ship”. 32 By September 7, 1778, the Robust was back at sea. Her crew now numbered 419 men. William received another two months advance of pay of £3–1–0. On September 19, she took on board a French prisoner ‘from the Proserpine’s prize’ and on 20th, 2 more ‘from the Vengeance’s prize’. Four more ‘from the Amethyst’s prize’ arrived on October 5th. These 7 prisoners were all maintained ‘on 2/3 allowance of all species’ and remained on board until November 4th when the Robust was at Spithead. On November 1st, ‘44 artificers employed from Portsmouth Dockyard’ came on board ‘to caulk and refit the ship’ but they did not stay long for on November 2nd they were ‘discharged to Victory’. At the beginning of December, the Robust moved into Portsmouth Dockyard, where she stayed until the New Year when she moved out to a mooring in the harbour. There were a large number of deserters recorded in the run list during this period but by March when the ship was back at Spithead there were 464 crew and nearly 100 marines on board. On April 7, Captain Alexander Hood left the ship and Captain Philip Cosby took command. The muster roll records that Alex Hood was ‘superseded’. 33 Captain Cosby seems to have been a strict disciplinarian. The run list and a record of the reading of the articles of war had been recorded in the muster roll at regular intervals, but under Captain Cosby, the entries were more formal: “These are to certify, the principal officers and commissioners of His Majesty’s Navy that the men above mentioned actually run from Her Majesty’s ship under my command at the time and place as against their names exprest and in my present opinion do not deserve any relief. Given under my hand on board His Majesty’s Ship Robust at Sandy Hook, October 25th 1779. Philip Cosby Captain: The Robust was now ready for sea and after a short stay in St. Helen’s roads set off to the west. She spent the 10th and 17th May 1779 in Torbay where she took on board 14 supernumeraries ‘carried by order of Vice Admiral Arbuthnot’. She crossed the Atlantic as part of the squadron commanded by Admiral John Byron (grandfather of the poet). Again, the log kept by the Master, James Corey34 is interesting. The fleet set sail from Torquay on Sunday 23rd, May and the day to day orders seem to have been issued by Admiral Arbuthnot. The convoy progressed at a leisurely 2-3 knots and on June 10, there were 167 ships in sight. There seems to have been considerable trouble with stragglers and almost daily signals from the flagship to keep closed up. During the voyage, the Robust took a number of smaller ships in tow, notably the brig ‘Betsy’. The death rate seems to have been quite high, with various entries recording 5 seamen, 5 marines, a joiner and a schoolmaster “departed this life today”. Punishment was administered 6 or 7 times during the voyage, with 12 or 24 lashes being administered for offences such as fighting, drunkenness and disobedience. As Bosun’s mate it would have been William’s job to carry out this flogging. On July 21, the Robust was ordered to part company with the convoy and after casting off the Betsy, sailed in a Nor-nor-westerly direction with 9 ships. On July 29, ventilators were rigged, so the weather must have become hot and there is a note “Made signal for the convoy to come under stern and fired 2 shell at one of the convoy to make him bear down”. By 3rd August the Robust was sailing near the coast and the log reported “found bottom at 75 fathoms in fog, small black stones. Fired a gun every hour”. The Brig ‘Waters’ having had trouble keeping up the Robust took her in tow at one point, but later the log reports, “Brig Waters has left convoy, 8 ships in sight”. On August 12th, the Robust anchored at Point Pleasant, Halifax. On 19th, she took on board 109 men who had ‘volunteered to go upon the expedition to Penobscot’. They were ‘borne for victuals only’. On 20th August 463 of the ships crew were mustered but there were 85 sick. Despite this, the Robust left for sea. On 31st, the supernumeraries were ‘discharged to their proper ships’. At the muster on 4th September 93 men reported sick – was this due to the scurvy after so long at sea? The number slowly fell over the succeeding weeks and by October 28th, there were only two men on the sick list. However, William Brownfield was not so fortunate. On Friday 27th August, the ship had been caught in a strong gale. The main topmast went over the side damaging the mizzen topmast as well. On Monday 6th September, three men and a boy were sent ashore to Hospital. Was William one of these, having injured his leg in the accident? The muster book for September 25, 1779 states he was ‘discharged sick at Halifax’, which meant that he was discharged from the ship for pay purposes, although he did not officially leave the service until August 1, 1780, this appears to have been the end of his naval career.35 William then spent ten years back in Greenwich and despite his injury, he worked as a waterman., for on April 7, 1785 his elder son James was apprenticed to him, although he did not gain his freedom until after William had been admitted to the hospital. On April 1, 1790 William applied to enter the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich as a pensioner36 and was admitted on May 28, 1790 aged 49 (sic) 37. In his application, it states that he was discharged from service with an injury to the left leg in August 1780. In the two documents, his service was variously given as 22 and 30 years, although it was in fact 19 years. This may have been exaggerated to obtain him a place at the Hospital. It was recorded that he had been wounded in service and that his last ship was the Robust. In his Will38 made on the 4th May 1799 it states “This is the last will and testament of William Brownfield of Greenwich in the County of Kent pensioner of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich…..” William signed the will as William Bromfield, although in the substance of the will his name and Ann, his wife’s name, is given as Brownfield. William was buried in St Alphege’s on May 25, 179939. He left his whole estate to “my dear wife Ann” and she was appointed the sole executrix. The will was proved on January 31, 1800 at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury40 His widow Ann worked as a housekeeper until she retired in 1810 aged 68. She was one of the first four inhabitants of the Jubilee Alms Houses, which had been built for “necessitous and aged widows over 60 years”.41 They were founded in 1809 to celebrate the 50th year of the reign of George III and the first four opened in 1811. They were situated on what is now the corner of Greenwich High Road and Egerton Drive42. Ann died at Greenwich Road on July 25th 1829,43 aged 88, and was buried at St Alphege’s Church on July 29th.44 Sources William and Ann 1. St Alphege’s Baptismal register, entry for William Brownfield, 3 Nov. 1742. Transcript in Greenwich Local History Library. |
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