Cotgrove Family History

Part Four (Prints out on 43 pages)

The First Wave of Migrants.

Over the years it is obvious from the surviving records that the family made many journeys away from Leigh. Most would have been by River up to London or down stream and around the Kentish coast to Shoreham and even to the oyster beds in the Isle of Wight or the Channel Islands. Others by land were made to the nearby towns, often escorted by the Constable. As far as we can now tell all returned within a few months to Leigh. A few, and it is a few, may have died at sea and never returned.  In the early years it was almost exclusively the girls of the family who  moved out. Several married young men from round the coast on the River Crouch.

In 1840 however two men decided that life beyond Leigh was at least worth a trial. In 1841 Henry John as we have seen joined the Navy; he was not to return until 1862. James Daniel, his brother probably joined him but there is not a clue as to what happened to him until his burial in Leigh  in 1854. In the 1855 during the Crimean War many men, but not the Cotgroves, joined the Navy, thus depriving the Customs & Excise of good seamen to man their Revenue Cutters. In an attempt to get replacements they enrolled six men from Leigh. These included John Isaac Cotgrove, son of Henry and Sarah and his step brother-in-law William Thompson, son of Golden. They sailed in the Revenue Cruiser "Stag" for the Isle of Wight where they were to take over a post near Ryde. However neither of them enjoyed the experience and as soon as they arrived they requested their discharge, which was granted.  John Isaac got a job locally as a seaman and eventually married a local girl. William Thompson took a ship to the Black Sea and after several years jumped ship in Australia during the gold rush. He never returned to Leigh, having it is believed, died at sea.  He did manage to get news from home via several other Leigh lads who he met in Melbourne.   These included Richard Thorn, William Robinson and John Bundock who were all neighbours, as was the Mrs Emma Cotgrove, the wife of Henry and brother to John Bundock, to whom they sent a mug.  They all lived in two rows of Cottages on the hill to the south side of Leigh Hill overlooking Bundock’s’ boat yard.  William Robinson’s father Thomas (wife, Hester) worked for Bundock.   The lads had some success in finding gold as the Bundock family still have a couple of nuggets brought home by John.

John Isaac and his wife Elizabeth settled in the Isle of Wight but never had any children and poor Elizabeth became blind by the time she was 45. She continued to live on in Northwood after John had died when only 50.

Henry John appears to have enlisted in the "Perseus" when it was off the Tower of London 24th February 1840, having taken a trip up river with his fishing cousins.   From there the tender from the "Howe" brought him back down to Sheerness  and he entered Her Majesty's service on the "Cambridge"^[1]. He gave his name as simply Henry Cotgrove, his age as 21 although he was still only 16½.   He was thus paid as an Able Seaman instead of a Boy.  His five or six years on his cousins' fishing boats had stood him in good stead and he was able to put on a convincing act as a real sailor but no doubt his above average height of 5 foot 9½ inches helped considerably.  He started his Naval  life on pay of £1-16-0 per month.^[2]   As was the custom he was paid two months pay in advance, in his case £3-8-0, which was at once spent in buying his uniform or more correctly a collection of garments provided for the crew but of no uniform style.  He had  dark hair and even before he joined he had acquired a tattoo on his left arm;  "HC" surrounded by seven stars.

The Cambridge was an old ship, dating back to June 1815, but she had been in dock for a refit and now that the crew began to arrive much labour was involved in getting everything seaworthy again.   She was a 3rd Rated war ship with 80 guns.  The first men had arrived on 6th February 1840, some three weeks before Henry, but it was to be another three weeks until Captain Barnard thought it wise to read the Articles of War to the Ships Company assembled on deck.   Another two weeks were spent in painting ship, washing decks  and loading stores, which included nearly two tons of tobacco. 

At last at 1.30 p.m. on the 9th April 1840 she was towed out into the tideway by HMS Lighting which was the first steam propelled ship to have active service in the Royal Navy.   A small paddle steamer she had been built in the 1820's but she would have to wait another 14 years before she made her mark in history, again with a Cotgrove near at hand.   By 4.30 the "Cambridge" had anchored by the Nore Light and had been inspected by Admiral R.W. Otway.  That evening the powder barge came along side and a few days later she made her way round the coast, past Beachy Head, the Needles Light to Porthead Light.    On 15th they dropped  anchor in Plymouth Sound.^[3] For the young sailor, still not much more than a boy, it must have been an exciting voyage, as he became aware of the rigors of Naval discipline.        Two Marines were given 25 lashes between them as punishment.  Two months were spent at  Plymouth until on 3rd July after a 17 gun salute to the Admiral,  they sailed to Spithead.    The endless round of scrubbing decks and making rope mats continued.  A young boy was given 12 lashes for "making away with his clothes and filthiness" and one man was drowned by a fall from the mizzen mast.    Perhaps it was only to be expected that four men tried to desert on the 22nd July, only for two of them to be recaptured two days later.

Fig. 3.  Tree of Henry John COTGROVE    1823- 1867( IN PREPARATION)

On the 26th July His Excellency Sir R. Abercrombie, Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Turin with his wife, Lady Mary came aboard.   They were he to stay in the new accommodation cabins which had been built on the main deck. On 6.15 p.m. that same evening HMS Cambridge sailed .  By 5th August she was off Spain and on the 14th at Gibraltar, where they stopped for a few days.  Off  Barcelona they fired a 21 gun salute to the Queen of Spain and the crew manned the Yards.   By the time they had arrived a Genoa on the 2nd September a total of 16 men had been flogged,  mostly for drunkenness.^[4] During the next week the port was shaken by many gun salutes and by a violent storm on the 3rd which filled the ships boats with water.  First there was a salute for the Sardinian Flag,  then 15 guns for the Vice Admiral of the Port, which was returned; then the Rear Admiral who had come out from England received 13 Guns as he disembarked, followed by 15 Guns for Sir Abercrombie and his wife as they left.   Finally the ship had a visit from Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Helena of Russia accompanied by another 21 Gun Salute.

On the  9th September Cambridge weighed anchor and sailed down the Italian coast to Malta.    After a short stay they were once more under way toward the east and on the 12th October arrived in Beirut.   This stretch of the voyage was haunted by minor mishaps which must have brought misery to all concerned.    Another 6 men were flogged and there were two enquiries over two separate cases of small quantities of bread  being spoilt or stolen.    One of the Marines died of fever and was buried at sea,  his effects being sold off to the crew.  On one occasion the ship had to put about to pick up a boat hook that had been dropped overboard.    

The reason for the visit to Beirut was to offer support to the Turks against the Egyptians who were moving up the coast^[5].  Before the arrival of “Cambridge” the English fleet had bombarded the port fortress and there was also a force ashore. Three weeks were spent at Beirut with much drilling, gun practice and deck scrubbing but no actual action took place.  On 27th October she sailed again,  this time as part of a Squadron which included the “Rodney” and “Ganges” and 19th November dropped anchor off Alexandria.  The appearance of this large force of the port was enough to bring about the signing of a peace agreement.^[6] They had barely  left port again when a force 10 gale took away the main topsail.  This same storm damaged many other ships in the fleet. By 1st January 1841 the Cambridge had put in  to Marmorice on the coast of Tunisia.  Six weeks  were spent caulking all decks and painting ship.  The Captain's reign of terror against drunkenness continued  with another 21 men flogged,  by now more and more were getting 36 lashes instead of the 24 that had been the rule previously.    It was during this time that the mate was taken ill and was transferred to “HMS Bentown” for passage to Malta.

"Cambridge" followed a few weeks later and arrived in Valletta Harbour on 21st April 1841.   On the 24th May there was the Royal Salute for the Queens Birthday, followed a month later with one to commemorate her Accession.    She then made a short trip to Syracuse in Sicily before returning to Malta by the 2nd July.   No sooner had she anchored than four of the crew jumped ship, only to be brought back again the next day.    By the 12th she had sailed to Beirut where she was to spend three months before returning to Malta three weeks before the birth of the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII,  on the 9th November.   When the news reach the fleet in Valletta Harbour on the 27th, the 14 Royal Navy ships celebrated.  There was a 21 Gun salute followed on the 1st December by illuminations, when the “Cambridge” burned 20 blue lights in the rigging.  Just before Christmas she put to sea , en route for Gibraltar.    On the way the crew had an opportunity to see a large water spout coming towards them and a shot was fired to break it up before it struck the ship.

In Gibraltar they were able to pick up mail from England and have a chance to spend a few days ashore. As was usual this allowed another batch of men to get drunk, followed by the now routine batch of floggings.   It was during this stay that  AB Cummins had a fight with one of the Boys which resulted in the Boy dying of a cut throat.   By 19th March they were back in Malta in time to sea the "Belvedera" arrive.  This was to be the next ship for many of "Cambridge's" crew but not before one more trip to the far end of the Mediterranean.    On the 28th May, two days out from Malta a crewman fell from the rigging and was killed.    They then returned to Malta, where many of the crew were taken in the ship's cutters to watch the punishment of two men from another ship, by order of a Court Marshall - 48 lashings each.  The journey to Beirut was resumed on the 28th June via Athens,  the coast of Turkey where a short stop was made at Smyrna and Voula Bay before reaching their destination  on 20th August.   On 2nd September they began the return voyage via Corfu to be back in Malta by the 4th October;  on the way one man died of dysentery.     HMS "Cambridge" was now under orders to return to England with a load of marble antiquities from Panthus.   The number of sick was now over eighty and the sick bay must have been full.   A number of passengers, including four ladies were expected to make the trip back home and cabins were build on deck.    A call was made for volunteers to stay in Malta and transfer to the "Belvedera".   In all about 20 men answered the call and on 17th October 1842 Henry joined the others and arrived onboard another aged ship under Capt. Hon. George Grey.     They were able to observe their previous ship sail out off the Harbour on the 22nd October before they left on the following day.

So young Henry had survived  his first two and a half years at sea although  still under 19 he had seen 8 of his mates die of sickness or misfortune and over  116 men flogged with at least 12 lashes each.  He could consider himself lucky.  Captain Barnard had given him a "Good" on his ticket which he had carried to his next ship.

The "Belvedera" sailed past Stomboli and Capri before anchoring at Genoa for a few days, then on to Barcelona where a cabin was erected on deck for Bishop of Gibraltar on  a visit to his diocese.  The Bishop aboard they returned to Malta but were unfortunate to loose a man overboard.     On 23rd December 1842 they were under sail again.  This time it was Gibraltar  via Barcelona and Tunis.   Misfortune continued as on 18th April while still in Gibraltar Bay a seaman fell to his death from the Top Gallants and soon after setting sail for another cruise on the 23rd April, St George's Day, another fell overboard in the Bay of Cadiz; he was picked up.     Back in Gibraltar two men were sentenced to 48 lashings  and discharged the service.    The Belvidera then went north along the Spanish coast past the towns so well known to British holiday makers, Alicieria, Alicanti and Valencia.  It  was near Barcelona on the 22nd May that Henry  and  a ship mate fell foul of the Captain.    Henry received 24 lashings for "insubordinate Conduct and throwing his hammock overboard."   His mate had similar treatment for the same offence.   It must have been something quite serious as Captain  Grey was quite considerate in dealing out punishment, as is shown by the low numbers reported.  A hammock was Navy property and as such had to be accounted for; to deliberately throw it overboard was a grave offence. Poor Henry even had to pay 2 shillings and ten pence for a new one, which amount was deducted from his pay.   Not that he would have been able to sleep it one for many days until his back had healed.     Another man to fall foul of Naval discipline while in Malta’s Grand Harbour was a shipmate of Henry’s, a certain Edward Heath.

On 7th June they were in Malta but after a week  sailed for Greece.   It was while they were on shore leave near Athens that Henry again fell foul of the strict Naval discipline by bringing a bottle of the local spirit on board when he returned to his ship.   This earned him a further 36 lashings on his back which could hardly have healed after his previous punishment.   They sailed down the Turkish coast and then headed back to Malta, which they reached on 30th September 1843 and then on to Gibraltar.     Henry's ship remained in port until 24th February 1844 when once again they made the cruise of the Mediterranean  via Barcelona, Malta, Tunis,  Sardinia, Palermo, Nicosia, Voula Bay in Turkey, Athens, Malta and then back to Athens again.   Back in Malta  they spent Christmas Day 1844 in Valetta Harbour but on the second day of the New year they sailed for England.    On the 20th January the ship was hit by a fierce gale which tore off hatch covers and split the canvas cover around the rudder hole so that water poured over the bread store and into the magazine.  It was not until the 23rd that the wind dropped to force 7 and the carpenter could start work on repairs.  Two days later they lost a man overboard off Cartagena, Spain.    After 5 days in Gibraltar with its usual batch of drunken sailors to punished, they set sail on the last leg of the journey and arrived in Portland Harbour on 23rd February.    Next day they moved to Spithead and began to unrigging the masts.

Henry was discharged  5th March 1845 with “Good conduct” entered on his certificate of discharge.   He had completed  five years at sea with the Royal Navy and was still only just turned 21.   He appears to have been in no hurry to get back to Leigh for after only five days he joined his next ship, “HMS Hibernia”.    By now he was considered a well seasoned sailor. He was well aware of the rigours of Naval discipline, although he at times let his desire for strong liqueur get him in to trouble.  During his first tour of duty he had had two Captains who were strong disciplinarians and he had learnt the hard way that good conduct is expected at all times.  Property too  had to be accounted for to the Admiralty and he had more than once seen his ship be put about to pick up a small inexpensive object that had been dropped overboard.   Even a small scraper used to remove barnacles from the ships side had been listed in the log when an unfortunate sailor let it fall into the water.  Any trace of carelessness and the cost was deduced from his wages.

The Hibernia was yet another old ship, built in 1804 and carrying 110 guns.  She was a "first rate" ship and the largest that Henry had sailed on.   He came abroad on 5th March 1845 while she was still fitting out at Portsmouth.  As he still felt it necessary to falsify his age he was entered as being 28 years old.   The Captain did not join the ship until 5th May, during which time the crew, which included 20 of his old shipmates from the Belvidera, were engaged in rigging the ship under command of the Clerk of the Check^[7].  It was perhaps unfortunate that the Queen had just taken an interest in her country house at Osbourne on the Isle of Wight as every week end she journeyed by train to Portsmouth and then transferred to the Royal Yacht "Victoria & Albert" to make the crossing to the Island. This short voyage took her passed Henry's ship and each passage was marked by a 21 gun salute and the crew manning the rigging.  Henry would have taken an active roll in this procedure as his new Captain promoted him from 1st May to be Captain of the Main Top; this made him the NCO in charge of the team of men responsible for raising sail on the upper part of the main mast.  It was with some relief that they sailed on 23rd July with Admiral William Parker and his wife on board.  On 25th August they dropped anchor in Valetta Harbour, Malta,  where they were to stay until 28th March 1846.   During this long stay boredom the Officers tried hard to provide work for the crew of over 800 but there were still those who sought other divertissements.  Several men were lashed for theft, while others risked the sea to attempt to swim ashore.  Three men including a Bos'n Mate were charged with the lost of 22lbs of fresh beef.

On leaving Malta they made for the Bosferus, arriving at Galipoli on 19th April.   The Crimean War was still some 8 years away so it was a peaceful visit of some two weeks.  From the entrance to the  Black sea there was a quick passage back through the Mediterranean to Gibraltar and then to Cork on 13th July 1846, where Henry was to meet his future wife.  It was possible that they met on this occasion as the ship  spent 14 days there before returning south to the Portuguese coast at Lisbon.  They made a quick trip down to Tangiers only to return to Lisbon where they moored in the Tagus River for several months;  not leaving until 19th August 1847. During this time Henry became Bos'n's Mate.   When they arrived in Malta  there was a brief stay before making a  cruise up to Leghorn and back.  On 18th June 1848 Henry fell into the Captain's bad books again for he was demoted for three months.   Between then and the 12th April 1849 they made several trips up the Italian  coast  to Naples before finally leaving for England.  By 12th June 1849 they were anchored in Plymouth Sound and on 21st June the crew was paid off and taken ashore by the “Sphinix”.  Although Henry had regained his rank about a year ago his Captain had the last laugh, one day before being paid off he demoted him back to AB, thus depriving him of the higher rank on the certificate that he would take to his next ship. His conduct too was degraded to "Fair".

With what must have been a bit of good planing Henry arranged that his next ship should be “HMS Hogue” which was off Sheerness.  This let him get back to Leigh for the first time in nine years.  His leave gave him four weeks at home until on 19th July 1849  he reported back on board the “Hogue”.   The “Hogue” was another old ship having been built in 1811 but she had just been refitted with a steam driven screw.  In comparison with his other ships she was much smaller being only of the 4th rate. with 74 guns.   The Queen was about to make visit to Ireland so Hogue sailed on 26th July to be in Cork Harbour to salute Her Majesty on her arrival.  There was then a move up the coast to Kingstown in time to meet her as she left.    They then came back to Plymouth but within a month they were back in Cork Harbour, Queenstown. Before they sailed on 7th November they had lost one man overboard.   The voyage took them to Gibraltar and then back to Lisbon  where they had problems with the engines. This kept the ship in port for over a month.   At that time steam engines were only used to ease the passage into port or on those occasions when the wind was too slight to fill the sails.   As the propeller would impede the ships progress when not turning it had to be raised clear of the water most of the time.  The same applied to the funnel which was lowered to the deck when under sail.

For the next six months they sailed back and forth between Lisbon and Gibraltar.  Then 22nd June 1850 they sailed for Gibraltar once again but this time they continued on to Malta where they arrived on 11th July.  They stayed in the area  until 6th September.    Henry had been promoted to Captain of the Hold on 19th February  but on 30th August he was demoted for disobedience of orders.   It must have been a shock when the man holding the post of Captain of the Main Top, a post he had himself held for several years, fell  from the mainmast to his death on the 25th July.   A few days later news of the death of President Taylor of the USA who died on 9th July reached the ship and the US ensign was flown at half mast.    From Malta they sailed back to  Spithead  where there went into dry dock to scrap the ships bottom.   This improved the ships speed and a test was carried out on 18th December at Spithead when a speed of  8 miles and 3 furlongs per hour was achieved. Just before Christmas they sailed and arrived in Queenstown on Boxing Day 1850 where they stayed for four months.  On 5th February the wind increased to storm strength 9 ,  the jolly boat had been  ashore to collect supplies but they had been trapped by the storm  and the boat had sunk.  They lost 285 pounds of fresh beef and 400 pounds of vegetables.  Later on when the weather had improved they were able to salvage the Jolly boat but it took the carpenter several days to carry out repairs.  Although they made several short trips out of the harbour they did not finally sail until 10th May for Spithead.   During these  three to four months it is most likely that Henry met Margaret Burke who being born about 1827 was some four years younger than Henry.  She lived at Kinsale only 20 miles from Queenstown and easily reached by sea.

The visit to Spithead was short, just time to give the Queen her usual 21 gun salutes as she passed through the harbour and then it was back again to Cork.  Without pausing they were off again for Lisbon and on 29th June they anchored in the Tagus. were they stayed until 11th November 1851.   After a run down to Gibraltar and Tangiers they were back in the river by 12th December.  Christmas was spent at Lisbon and then on 4th February they sailed for Cork were Henry had another month to see his girl.   They sailed on 23rd March 1852 for Spithead.  Henry seems to have had leave for three weeks for he is missing from his ship between 17th April and 5th May but during this time it was in Spithead. On 1st June they made yet another round trip to Queenstown, Kingstown and back to Plymouth Sound where they where paid of  on 31st August.  Apart from the demotion on 30th August 1850 Henry appears to have kept out of trouble but his Captain was not very pleased with him; his conduct as shown on his discharge certificate was "Bad".

There follows two weeks leave which ended back at Plymouth on 13th September 1852.  He was unlikely to have got to Ireland but it is possible he went home to Leigh.  His new ship was “HMS Sans Pareil”, an 81 gun 2nd rate ship but newly built being less than a year old.   The first months of his stay on the “Sans Pareil” the ship were in Plymouth but on 12th November Henry was ordered to the Flag ship, HMS Impregnable for a Court of Enquiry; he did not return as he was to spend the next two months in Plymouth civil goal.    There seems to be no records of his offence but at this time there was a tendency to send sailors to gaol rather than flog them.

When he come out his old ship, the Sans Pariel, was away at sea on another trip to Lisbon and he was forced to spend another three months on HMS Impregnable in Plymouth Harbour.   On its return on 5th March 1853 he came aboard to hold such a reunion party that he was taken to Stonehouse Naval Hospital with Delirium Tremens.  His enforced stay ashore and the cold waters of the harbour had had its effect and he had lost his dark complexion.  When he was discharged he went on a few days leave which most of his shipmates had had while he was in hospital.  In the meantime the “Sans Pariel” had sailed up to Spithead where he rejoined her.  On 20th May 1853 they sailed for the Black Sea and the Crimean War although it took them over a year to get there with a long stop at Trafalgar.   They  joined over 600 ships both Naval and mercantile from France and Britain that were assembling in Varna Bay.  There was a very large number of cases of cholera among the armies on shore which spread on to the ships^[8].  The “Sans Pariel” seems to avoided this but at least one sailor died ashore when he went absent without leave.   On 24th August they began embarking French Troops.  It was not until 14th September that they arrived off the coast of the Crimea and began landing the troops at Kalamta Bay,  several having died on the way.  They also ran aground but appeared to get free within five hours.

The next few days were spent helping unloading troops and equipment but the work was made almost impossible by the heavy swell.  A boat was lost with its cargo of ammunition.  The ship was instructed to fly a large red battle ensign which the sail maker managed to construct one out of some old flags. As they sailed by the estuary of the Alma they caught sight of a party of Russians retreating across the river.  With our troops in action ashore the casualties began to mount up and parties of up to 90 men were sent on shore with stretchers to assist the wounded or to collect the dead.   

On 17th October the fleet stood off Sevastpol and poured shells in to the city.  She was only 1000 yards from Fort Constantine to the north of the city.    Nearly 1500 shells  were sent by the “Sans Pariel” alone but the enemy returned the fire and like the rest of the fleet the “Sans Pareil” suffered  many casualties.  All together 11 men were killed and 56 wounded, including three officers.  Fifteen of the wounded had to be taken to hospital.  To make matters worse they collided with the Cambia as they withdrew and had many gun ports and part of the stern works carried away.   During the next week or two great efforts were made to repair the ship as well as landing troops, filling cartridges for the army ashore and even sending 40 men to assist the Royal Artillery.   They sailed round to Balaklava and on the 7th November they were taking many of the wounded from off the beaches to the waiting transport ships.    The whole bay was filled with the many ships required to supply the troops with both food and ammunition when, on 13th November a force 11 storm blew up which wrecked many of these small ships.   Eight in the vicinity of the “Sans Pariel” were sunk and they assisted in repairing many others.^[9]

In spite of all this effort the Naval assault on Sebastopol was a failure as the stone built defences withstood the bombardment with hardly any damage. 

Back in Plymouth in the spring Henry left the “Sans Pariel” on 9th April 1855.   His next ship was to be the “Hastings” but he had three weeks leave before he was due to join her at Spithead on the 5th May 1855.  Henry had been courting Margaret Burke ever since he had met her in Cork some years before.    In 1852 he had spent his leave there.   When he returned to the “Hastings” he was married and gave his address as Portsmouth.   The Crimean War was still on and a  fleet was assembled to control the northern boundaries of Russia in the Baltic.   On 25th May this fleet with the Admiral on board the Duke of Wellington sailed out of Spithead.  On the 14th July the fleet passed through the strait to Kiel Bay.  After a short stop in Kiel the ships crossed over the Gulf of Finland towards Helsinki..  At that time Finland was part of Russia and the fleet constituted a threat to the Russians.  For six weeks they cruised up and down the gulf keeping to the northern shore. On 9th August the “Hastings” and two other ships opened fire on the forts on the Island of Sandham, which was at the south eastern entrance to Helsinki.  Over  250 shots were fired by the “Hastings” alone; the forts on shore returned fire as did some Russian gun boats but as most of the shots landed 50 yards short they suffered no casualties.  However one shot carried away the backstay of the top main mast.  Most of the other ships in the fleet  had other targets on Sveaboug, a fortified island south west of Helsinki; the “Hasting” was in fact part of a diversional attack.  A few hours later a large explosion was seen from Sveaboug but this was from munition dumps blowing up.   That evening the Hastings sent boats upto some of the smaller islands so that they could bombard the defences with 24 pounder rockets.  Unfortunately one rocket ignited within its launch tube and injured two of “Hastings” crew.^[10]

For another month the fleet cruised up and down the gulf until on 20th September as they were heading back towards Kiel the “Hasting” ran aground on Nyground, a shoal off Tallinn.   Due to the largely uncharted waters and the thousands of islands this was not an unheard of event.  The close approaches to the actual targets had only been  made possible by the surveys made under the eyes of the enemy by Captain Sulivan of the old paddle steam ship "Lightning" that had towed Henry out of Harbour at the start of his first voyage.   As they were still technically within enemy controlled waters great efforts were made to get her off.   When the combined power of the steam engines, sail and a tow failed to shift her, the guns were transferred to another ship, the boilers drained and the coal jettisoned in order to lighten ship.   In order to encourage the crew during all this hard work two rounds of rum was given to all hands.  After 36 hours she was once again afloat and made for Kiel.   A diver was sent down to examine the hull but apart from loosing all the copper cladding from the bottom of the keel no damage had been done.   The bilges remained dry. Her Master was Court Marshalled for hazarding his ship but was found blameless.   On 1st October 1855 she sailed from Kiel and on the 9th they were back in home water at Sheerness.

Henry had been promoted to Captain of the Mast on 21st June but some incident as they were on the way home from the Baltic led to him being striped of his rank.  Once back in Spithead he was sent to the flag ship for an enquiry followed by a second spell in prison; 28 days in Winchester between 20th October and 17th November 1855. When he came out he sailed for Cork once more where they stayed until 28th March 1856 when they returned to Spithead. By this time the war was over and on St. George's Day 1856 the fleet was reviewed by the Queen.  Naturally there were great preparations made to present a smart ship, which involved the blackening of all guns, the scraping of the masts, even if this meant having to take the top masts down to the deck level.   The mast replaced, gleaming bright, the lower decks were whitewashed.    At eleven thirty a 21 gun salute was fired and as the Royal Yacht rounded the Spit Buoy the masts were manned.  In the afternoon the ships, in two columns sailed or steamed past the Queen, rounded the pivot ship “Rodney”, and fired a second salute at 4.30 p.m.   As night fell the whole fleet was illuminated.

Henry's next ship was to be the “Exmouth” which he was to join in 20th July 1856 at Spithead but before going on leave he arranged to join the tender to the Cork flagship, the “Advice”,  in Cork Harbour.  This would allow him to go home to his wife in Kinsale.   He already had a son Henry, born in 1854 at Kinsale and now another was expected.  In fact James was born some time in  1856.

The “Exmouth” was steam assisted having been recently rebuilt.  It had also been in the Baltic Sea and had taken an active part in the attack on Cronstadt.   No doubt Henry and the other lower ranks would have heard with some amusement of the incident on the 21st June 1855 when Admiral Seymour and other officers were examining a primitive form of sea mine that the Russians had begun using.  These consisted of two 16 inch diameter iron spheres filled with explosive and joined by a rope.   One of these weapons had been dragged on board the “Exmouth” and was supposed to have been made safe.  The Admiral poked one of its spikes saying, “this must the way they are exploded”, whereupon it exploded in his face.  Fortunately only the detonator went off burning some of the by standers.  The admiral was blinded but recovered after a short while.^[11]

Upon joining, Henry was immediately promoted to his usual post as Captain of the Main Mast and the “Exmouth” went off to the river Tagus near Lisbon. The fleet was holding a series of trials for steam propelled vessels.  In spite of a lot of trouble with the engine, which was capable of over 8 knots with a consumption of about one and a quarter tons of coal per hour they were able to make several short cruises and on 13th April 1857 was back in Spithead.   After removing all the rigging from the ship the crew was paid off on 20th June.  Once more Henry arranged for his leave to end in Cork and 6th July  he joined his old ship the "Hoque" for his final discharge on 6th June 1857.

Henry had spent 17 years in the Navy and had seen action in the Black Sea and the Baltic.  His service in these two areas had earned  him two campaign medals; the Baltic Medal awarded to all those who fought with the Navy in the fleet activity of 1854 & 5 and the Crimean Medal with the bar "Sebastopol" which was given to those involved with the siege of that great fortress.   The present where abouts of those medals is not known.

Upon his discharge from the Navy he transferred to the Coast Guard. His first posting was to Mullaghome, Sligo^[12] on the west coast of Ireland some 15 miles south west of Donegal. It was a lonely posting but not as bad as his next. He was to spend three years there with his Irish wife Dinah Margaret and their two sons Henry and James, both born when they lived in Kinsale. Henry the eldest was born about 1854 so that gives some idea of the date of the marriage but this can not be found. On 26th October 1860 he was moved south, further down the Atlantic coast to the tiny island of Belmullet. The Coast Guard Station was right on the western tip, opposite the causeway joining the island to the main land. With the move he got promotion and became Commissioned Boatman. It was here that daughter Mary Ellen was born in 1861. After a further three years he was retired on pension to Leigh. He began doing a bit of fishing to help his pension but on  St George's Day 1867 he died of TB in the Essex South Weald Asylum.    It took his widow over a week to get his body back to Leigh but on 1st March his was laid to rest in St.Clement's Churchyard.

When he died his widow perpetuated the lie about his date of birth. She said that he was 49  i.e. born 1818.  The Vicar of Leigh knew a bit more about his early life and he got nearer.  Henry was buried aged 47 years; only three years out.  In every ship he had served in Henry maintained that he was born before 1820; except one. On the 1st August 1853 he had been called to the cabin of the Captain's clerk on board the “HMS Sans Pareil”, a ship he had been with since the beginning of the year. He was examined by the Ships Surgeon and asked questions so that his first Continuous Service form could be completed. The third question was "When were you born?". "3rd November 1823 Sir", came the answer. After many other answers he put his cross at the end. "Henry Cotgrove his Mark". Several years later a sharp eyed clerk in the Admiralty office, while going through the records, noticed that his date of birth on the Continuous Service form differed from that given on Henry's first ship, “HMS Cambridge”, in February 1840. He wrote to Henry's present Captain for an explanation. The reply states that on being questioned Henry confirms the 1823 date and moreover he stated that his age given in 1840 had been 17 years. 

Margaret's sister had joined her from Kinsale and both of them settled in Leigh.  Margaret was to live until she was 99,  dying at Lewisham, in London in 1924.   What happened to the children is a bit of a mystery.

The other  sailor was another Henry, Henry William the eldest son of Henry and Sarah Thompson.  He was born in October 1833 and baptised a month later at St Clements.   Young Henry lived with his parents and his younger brothers and sisters and like all his contemporaries went to sea with his elders and in 1845 he registered as a seaman.    In 1844 he was in the Endeavour with his father and later with the Industry, Lamplighter, Mary and Providence. 

On 22nd October 1850 at the age of 17 he reported to the “Cambridge” in Chatham Harbour.^[13]   He was to stay with her for just 3 month before on 6th January 1851 he joined the “Boscawen”. He stayed only four days when he moved to back to the “Cumberland”.  For a few weeks the crew were busy getting ready for sea and it was not before 24th February that she move out into the Nore. When they reached Spithead they were boarded by Admiral Seymore and on 31st March they sent out across the Atlantic, bound for the West Indies.   In mid ocean they held a gun practice, firing at a target. It was during this that two crew members were killed in an accident.

On 11th May 1851 they were towed into Ireland Sound, Bermuda.  While they were there they had to repair the rudder which entailed several days work.  The job finished the Captain authorised the issue of fishing lines and hooks to the ships company so that a little relaxation could be enjoyed as well as providing a change of diet. On 16th June they sailed for Halifax where the Admiral went ashore.  It took several days to unload his baggage but as he was to be in port for three months he made sure that he was comfortable. 

 Fig. 4.   Tree of Henry William COTGROVE 1832-1867  Sailor in the Royal Navy.(IN PREPARATION)

On 16th October they sailed once more on what was to be a cruise of many of the islands in the West Indies.   Bermuda, Barbados, St Lucia, Martinique, Guatemala, St Kitts, St Thomas, Jamaica, Havana, back to Bermuda and then returned to Halifax, St Johns, Newfoundland and back to Halifax.   In all  this had taken ten months during which time the admiral had been aboard.   At some ports a few days had been spent in harbour and working parties had been sent ashore to work in the docks. In others less than a day was spent in delivering mail and receiving a visit from the local Governor.  Several of the crew had died of illness and two were drowned.   They must have had an inkling that another voyage was afoot when the Admiral's luggage came back on board.  This operation again took over a week but on 5th November 1852 they sailed on another cruise , again calling at the same ports.  This whole procedure repeated itself several times until 14 th March 1854.  Several men had been punished for bringing liquor on board, including one Boy .   On 12th June 1852 Henry had signed on for ten years service and had been promoted to Ordinary Seaman. He was then eighteen.   Like his name sake before him Henry soon realised the care that the Navy took of its property.   On one occasion in Halifax harbour a cask of salt beef had been lost overboard while loading it; a diver was sent down to recover it.   They had several storms, the worst being while they were off Bermuda;  the ship had rolled 21° to starboard and several sails were torn.

After the return passage they arrived at Spithead on 5th April 1854 expecting to be paid off after  four years away.    When 1000 pairs of boots were put on board to be delivered to the Baltic fleet the crew became suspicious.   On 6th April the Admiralty sent  Rear Admiral Berkley to address the men.  He pointed out that we were at war with Russia and they had been brought home early so that they could serve their country.^[14] On Saturday the “Cumberland” sailed for The Downs but as the Times reported on Monday, with "....mutinous symptoms we are sorry to say, being manifested on board...".^[15] Perhaps the three months advance of pay may have helped to quieten the crew.   An extra 83 men were taken aboard and the “Cumberland” sailed for the Baltic.  The navy was short of trained men and the Admiral had hinted that the trip to the Baltic would lead to sure promotion for many.

The “Cumberland's” voyage was not a very active one; the Baltic sea was filled with many small islands which made the manoeuvring of a large sailing ship very difficult.  Must of the action against the Russian forts around the coast of what is now Finland was carried out by small steam ships, which were not constrained by the vagaries of the wind.   The “Cumberland” was used as a supply ship for the rest of the fleet. She was anchored off Finland in Buro Sound. The main event of the summer of 1854 was the attack on the heavily fortified port of Bumasund which was guarded by numerous islands between Sweden and Finland.  Success was achieved by towing a number of men of war through a narrow passage between these islands that was considered impassable.  The way was led by a small steam paddle boat , the “Lightning” again,  whose Captain had previously charted a passage. All this took place with the “Cumberland” keeping well to the rear but she did prepare a number of scaling ladders and took over many prisoners captured by other ships.    In the midst of all this activity the crew received the first uniform for ratings;  up to now only officers had had an official uniform but on 18th August the crew received the first Caps, shoes, jackets, trousers and the traditional handkerchiefs.

Thus clad in their new uniforms the crew prepared for the return to England.  On 27th October 1854 they were paid off, each man knowing that he would in time receive the newly struck Baltic Medal.

Henry's next ship was to be the “Nankin” already laying at Chatham.  She was a new ship but still pure sail.  First came a period of leave, which may have lasted until 5th January 1855 when he reported back to the “Nankin” although he had been on her books since 28th October.  There is no record of his being elsewhere although he may have served a few days on the “Waterloo”.  Since he had left home his parents had moved from the cottage they had at the bottom of Leigh Hill to Great Wakering.   Some years earlier they had lived in the old Cotgrove family home in the High Street, now rented from its new owner,  and it was here that young Henry was brought up.  His grandfather was Golden Thompson who had lived just round the corner from the family home, in a cottage facing the Strand and his grandmother had acted as nurse maid to his younger brothers and sisters.   The move to Wakering meant a new set of friend and neighbours and it was at Wakering  that he found his first wife Ann Livermore.   It was most likely that they first became acquainted during this long leave.

When he reported back to Chatham his new ship was still fitting out being lashed to the old wooded wall, “HMS Superb”.  Work carried on until well into February 1855 although Captain  Hon. Keith Stewart allowed Sundays to be kept as a day of rest.  On 7th February, being in all respects ready for sea Admiral Gordon came aboard to inspect the ship.   Young Cotgrove was promoted to Leading Seaman, a rank which had only recently been introduced.  They had over 190 Supernumeraries on board for passage to Portsmouth and should have sailed on the 8th but a storm delayed departure until  the 10th. 

After a quick passage to Spithead they discharged the extra men and took on a further 42 for passage and sailed on the 20th for the Cape having first called in at Plymouth.  From the number of men punished it would seem that the Captain was making sure that his new crew were well aware of the meaning of Naval Discipline.  He was however a fair man and when his men had been forced to spend 18 hours repairing damage to the ship during the three day storm which split the main yard, he ordered an extra half gill of rum per man at supper. 

By now the final destination was known to all on board and on 21st of March  they crossed the Equator without recorded ceremony and continued towards China.  With a fair wind they made 12 knots for days on end and the 19th April saw them moored in Simon's Bay Ceylon for water and provisions.   Apart from the storm damage the voyage had not been without its excitements; several men had been punished.  One officer had caused trouble in the Midshipmen's Mess and had been placed under arrest.  The hot tropical weather had brought about an ever increasing sick list and when they reach port it numbered 47. One man, the ship's tailor, had died.

Two weeks were spent in port and the sick list shortened to 33.  Much of the time had been spent loading provisions^[16] but on 6th May the sailed for Singapore which they reached on 23rd June.    After a sudden storm they became becalmed but took the opportunity to clean the hull from the jolly boat.   They were also able to send letters home via a ship out of Calcutta.  After a short stay at Singapore they were on the way to Hong Kong., arriving there on 7th July 1855. 

For the next two or three months they sailed around the islands and river estuaries and even made a short visit to Nagasaki in Japan.   Here they took on 107 Russian prisoners of war who were to be sent to Singapore.  First however they had a visit to Hong Kong and it was here that Henry went sick.  He was sent to the Naval Hospital at Hong Kong on the “Minden” and was admitted for almost a month from 11th October to 16th November.  He seems to have suffered from a bubo, which is a swelling of tubercular origin.  He was fit again in time to sail for Singapore with the prisoners.  From there came a trip to Madras to collect 80 boxes of treasure which had to be delivered back to Singapore.  The treasure unloaded, it was back to Hong Kong.  Again they encountered high seas and gale, while the sick list rose to 113.   

The next four months were spent in more journeys up an down the coast including visits to Shanghai and Nagasaki.  By 26th October1856 they were anchored in river off Canton.  On 8th November they sailed down river as far as the mouth of the Boca Tigars River and began the loading of guns on to two small steamers.

For many hundreds of years China had remained  closed to trading foreigners. From 1793 the British had begun to  trade, which involved the importing of opium into China and the exporting of silk.   The Chinese government had tried to prevent the trade in opium and this led to the Opium Wars of 1839-42.  The Chinese were soundly beaten and at the peace treaty they seeded the island of Hong Kong to the British as well as five "Treaty Ports" where foreign merchants were permitted to live and trade; Canton was one of these cities.   The increase of European influence began to upset the Chinese rulers and the great empire began to suffer from rebellions.  In order to prop up the falling empire the ruling group tried to prevent the foreigners from carrying out the trade that the treaty had given them.  They made attacks on the British and French ships in the ports and harassed the resident merchants.  To protect these ports the British took action.   Every gathering of war junks or the manning of a fort made it necessary to send a gun boat.   The narrow creeks around Canton made it impossible to send a great sailing ship like the Nankin into action, so a number of the ships boats, loaded with Marine and perhaps a small cannon would be towed up river by one of a number of steam paddle gun boats.

It was one of these small actions which took place on 11th November 1856 that had prompted the loading of guns.  Over the next few days  forts at North Wantoy and North Lycacktow were destroyed for the loss of one Boy 1st Class killed and 4 wounded.   In January there was a further attack on  a fleet of junks sailing down river which had been spotted by one of the gun boats.  On 14th February 1857 the Nankin sent a party ashore to destroy a fort on  Nantong Island.

There then followed a trip back to Hong Kong.  During the whole of this time men still felt the lash of Naval discipline and many were flogged but Henry seemed to escaped.   On 27th May they sailed up river towards a large fleet of junks in Fatsham Creek above Hyacinth Island.   These junks had been gathering since January but British forces were not strong enough to mount an effective attack.   With the arrival of the steam gunboat “Starling”, which had been towed all the way from England the situation had changed.  An attack on the 25th May had done much damage^[17] and a stronger force set out on 1st June to finish the job.  The plan was for all ships to make boats available loaded with armed men and  towed in into the attack by a number of Steam Gun boats.   Henry was aboard one of his ship's boat behind the gun boat “Starling”.   A convoy of five small boats containing 119 officers and men was under the command of Captain Stewart. In all there were 9 such groups each led  by a gunboat.  Henry's party was well to the rear and it was their job to round up the damaged junks after the initial attack by the first wave who were to land a force of Marines and capture an island.   The attack went much as planned and many Junks were destroyed as well as many taken as prizes.^[18] None of the British boats were lost although some were holed by the 32 pounded cannons mounted on the junks.   A total of 12 men were killed including  a Royal Marine from the Nankin.^[19] For this action Henry was to receive a clasp for his China Medal; "Fatsham Forts 1857", a rare medal as so few took part.

The end of the year saw an attack on the port of Canton itself which the Nankin took and active part.     On 14th Dec 1857  she was anchored in a creek south of Canton when the gun boat “Banterer” sent an open rowing boat up river towards Sai Lau with the aim of reporting the enemy's position.  Of the 15 men on board one was the Special Artist of the Illustrated London News.  They were attacked by a mob and but for the brave action of the Officer, Lieutenant-Commander Pim, all would have been lost.  However he managed to hold the crowd at bay while the remainder waded across paddy fields towards the “Nankin”, anchored in an adjacent creek.^[20] The look out spotted the red sash being waved by the Correspondent and launched a force of boats to rescue the party.  In all 10 men, including Lt Com.  Pim, reached the safety of the Nankin, although 6 were wounded.   The next day the Nankin landed a large force on the town of Sai Lau and after heavy fighting , captured it.^[21] As Henry was now a Leading Seaman he would have had an active part in all these actions.  

On 5th January 1858 Canton itself fell to a combined land and sea attack which had lasted 7 days, led by the Nankin.  Over 200 men from the Nankin including Henry  took part in the land action.

The ship now returned to Hong Kong and in due course set sail for England.   They crossed the equator on 3rd January 1859, throwing a bottle overboard for some future mariner to find.   On 6th February they were back in Chatham Dockyard and on 18th February the crew was paid off. 

Henry was posted to the Flag ship and immediately granted leave.   It was not until 2nd April that he got a proper posting to “HMS Hero” at Sheerness, where he was promoted to 2nd Captain of the Main Top.  The Hero was a brand new ship but still a wooden one, looking with one important exception like any of the Wooden Walls of Nelson's day.  This difference was the funnel between the masts.   The Hero had a 600 HP steam engine and carried 700 tons of coal. By 12th May she had been fitted out and had sailed down to Spithead but not without trouble.  Both the Main and Fore Top gallant masts broke and had to be replaced. Not only that the mast damaged other parts of the rigging in falling causing much delay.   There was also a problem with the propeller requiring its removal and the fitting of a spare.   For the next few months Hero made several short voyages to try out the ship and crew.   Several months were spent in Portland harbour then she was inspected by Rear Admiral George Elliot, Captain of the Fleet and shortly afterwards she sailed for Spithead on 7th December 1859.

At Spithead leave was granted and Henry, knowing something of the plans had arranged to get married to his sweet heart in Great Wakering.  With only three days careful planning had been necessary; the banns had been called on the three previous Sundays.   Now that the new railway had now reached  Leigh and Southend by 1856 and  there was also a connection to Poole Harbour at Gosport, Henry had a method of reaching Wakering in one day.    Cost must have also been a consideration as sailors were not well paid.  Henry got only £3.50 per month plus an extra 7/6 if he gave up his rum ration.  So on the Sunday morning he took a 3rd class single as being the cheapest fare and caught the 8.55am train to Waterloo.   Without a corridor and wooden seats it must have been a long journey but by 1.30pm he reached Waterloo.  He saved himself the shilling for a horse cab and walked to Fenchurch Street for the 6.00pm train to Southend at a fare of 4/3.  At Southend he still had a two hours walk to he home village.

The wedding took place on the Monday, but on Tuesday poor Henry had to leave his bride and head back to his ship.  In those days trains were not frequent and he had to be up early to catch the 6.00 am train. No doubt there was a party at the station to see him off before the bride’s return to the lodging she had with Elisha and Ann Stowe at Great Wakering. Again he had plenty of time to kill in London before the train to Gosport. At any rate he was back aboard before Wednesday. Leave did not come often in those days and I suspect that it was not until Henry was transferred to the Coast Guard at St.Osyth that he saw much of his wife and then she was to die only four years later at the age of 23^[22].

With Henry safely back on board the Captain felt he was able to set sail back to Portland;  the short trip to Spithead had saved Henry a considerable proportion of his meagre pay by being able to start he journey home from Gosport instead of Weymouth.   For the next few months the “Hero” sailed down to the River Tagus in Portugal.    During this period there were two incidences which took some time and effort to sort out. Before they left Portland the anchor had fallen into the sea without the usual cable attached.  This needed some 60 men to get it back on board again.  After the return for Lisbon the main propeller shaft needed to be removed and taken into the workshops ashore, again an operation that needed much effort.

The 9th July 1860 found her in Plymouth Sound with a ships company recently returned from leave and much labour having been spent in polishing ship.  Queen Victoria had been invited to open the new bridge over the St. Lawrence in Canada.  As the Queen did not feel able to travel so far she decided that the Prince of Wales, later King Edward should carry out the visit as his first official overseas duty.  At 8.00 p.m. on 9th July the Prince of Wales came aboard from the Royal Yacht “Victoria & Albert”, together with the Prince Consort.  For this occasion the yards were manned and the ship dressed overall.  Another Royal Yacht, the “Fairey” stayed in the vicinity with the Queen on board.  The Mayor of Plymouth also came on board to wish the Prince bon voyage.   The next morning at 4.00 the ship sailed and under steam she passed down between two columns of ships and escorted by the “Ariadre” parted company with the fleet by 4.00pm.   The voyage to  St. Johns, Newfoundland lasted 14 days was not with out its problems.   On the 12th a man had jumped overboard and in spite of heaving to and launching a cutter he was not found.  As Coxswain of the Cutter Henry was going to have an active voyage.  At each port of call there were plenty of important guests to be transported to and from the ship.  The ship was steam assisted which meant that she could still proceed when the wind was light.  Because of the presence aboard of the Royal guest it was thought prudent to use a special smokeless patent fuel so that the Prince could walk on deck with out being soiled with the soot that was normal with the engines of that period.   However this new fuel produced a vast quantity of clinker which necessitated the drawing of the fires every  few hours in order to clear the flues.    The poor Chief Engineer complained about this state of affairs every day and finally took to the bottle to soothe his nerves.   Upon arrival in St. Johns he was placed under arrest for drunkenness and was latter Court Marshalled.

After the stop off at St. Johns the ship continued on her voyage and steamed up the St Lawrence to Quebec.   While the Prince carried out the various state visits the “Hero” waited for his return  3 months later.  During this time she refuelled at Halifax and succeeded in running aground.   The Prince of Wales also had his moments;  he watched Blondin walk over the Niagara Falls on a tight rope but was not allowed to let Blondin take him back in a wheel barrow.   In New York the floor collapsed under the weight of the large crowd of dancers.  It was reputed that in the haste to repair the damage two men were boarded up under the floor.

 The return voyage started on 21st October  but as they neared England the ships were struck by a violent storm.   For several days the boilers were lit in order to power the pumps.  It was not until 22nd November, nearly two weeks overdue that the “Hero” was able to land her passengers at Plymouth.   For the next six months the ship remained at Plymouth or Spithead but on 12th June she sailed up the Channel and up the east coast and hence around Shetland to Queenstown, Cork.   The purpose of this voyage was to be in Ireland to greet the Queen on her Royal Visit to Queenstown and Dublin.   During the six months in harbour a number of new recruits had been taken on and the Captain felt it necessary to deal out a large number of punishments in order to instil discipline.  The visit to Ireland was punctuated by the sound of the lash and of 21 gun salutes. During the voyage a new gun, the Armstrong,  was tested.  This was a 100 pounder on the forecastle weighing over four tons but after 15 rounds  it was found to be cracked^[23]. By 15th October 1861 they were back in Portsmouth harbour and began to derigg the ship.  Whilst in harbour the hull was re-coppered

In early December they sailed again on what was to be his last voyage.   On the 1st January he was promoted to Captain of the Main Top.    For the next nine months the “Hero” was destined to sail between the islands of the West Indies, Bermuda and Halifax.   Between 11th January and  6th May she remained in Bermuda.   They reached Halifax on 8th July after several gun practices to try out the new Armstrong gun.  After a short cruise they were back in Halifax again, only to sail for the last time on the 21st October.  In spite of a force 9 gale they made good time and arrived at Spithead on 5th November.    They sailed round the coast to Chatham a began the striping out of the ship.  Guns, ballast and even main mast were all removed. On 22nd November 1862 the crew were paid off and Henry’s days at sea were over.

For the next two months he was on the Muster rolls of HMS Formidable while he went home on leave and then he joined the Coast Guard.     On 4th January 1863 he reported for duty at the Coast Guard Station at St Osyth Tower where he was to spend the last three years of Naval service.  He then retired to Leigh on 15th January 1867 with 15 years service after he became an Ordinary Seaman.

Less than a year after he had taken up his post at St Osyth his young wife died.   Within a few months Henry remarried Sarah Fryatt in June 1864 at Leigh Parish Church.   Unfortunately Henry himself was to die in 1868 leaving his wife with two young children, Walter and Caroline.  Widow Sarah eventually remarried an railway engine driver, Thomas Dolby.  Although both of Henry's children married the male line died out before 1900.

Henery's parents, Henry and Sarah Thompson had already moved to Great Wakering before his marriage and their other children married from that village.  Contact with the Thompson family of Leigh was maintained and in 1864 a married Thompson girl was a witness at daughter Elizabeth's wedding.   The same had happened in 1854 when Ann Thompson was a witness at Eliza's wedding.     Eliza had married a sailor in HMS Modeste, Charles Minter^[24] and both their sons went to Grenwich Naval Hospital School.  The eldest, Charles Minter junior, may have died but his young brother, Henry George^[25]  later joined the Royal Navy and served up to the end of the first World War.

The Emigrants. The Second Wave.

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By the mid 1860's the two Henrys were at end of their Naval careers, in fact one was already dead.  As far as is known only two or three Cotgroves were still away from Leigh. One was John Isaac who had gone to the Isle of Wight.   By now several members of the family were making  regular trips to Jersey or Shoreham to seek out the dwindling stocks of oysters.  All made the return to Leigh except Charles George and his wife Elizabeth Noakes.   This was the Charles who had been caught by the Customs for smuggling.   Now he was often in the "Perseverance" with his brother-in-law Thomas Noakes.^[26]  Charles was one of  Leigh men who started to fish out of  Harwich and although he did not desert Leigh all together three of his children were married near Harwich between 1866 and 1878 and his wife died there in 1895.     His boat "William & Emily" had had her registration transferred to Harwich in 1879 and the "Spray" with which he had been caught smuggling in 1849 was transferred there the following year but shortly afterwards was sold to John Harvey.

A nephew of Charles, John Reacher Cotgrove, married a girl, Isabella E. Rank,  seven years his junior, from Whippingham, near Cowes on the Isle of Wight but  he continued to travel back and forth to Grays in Essex.  John's wife, although born on the island had been with her father James Rank in Leigh,  in fact her sister Alice had been born there.   Alice married a  George Hodge  and at one time had her sister and her husband, John Cotgrove, with her at Northwood.     As John was often at sea she would have welcomed the company.     He acted as crew to a number of private yachts owned by rich gentlemen who liked a holiday afloat.  In 1881 he was aboard the 96 ton yacht "Dauntless" moored in Cowes harbour, having just returned from a cruise in the Mediterranean off Marseilles.   She carried a crew of 15 plus the Captain, Edward Matthews.  Her passengers were four gentlemen including her new owner, Edward Potter.^[27]  The "Dauntless"^[28] had been built at  Wivenhoe by Messes Harvey  in 1872 for Philip Aston of Folkestone.   She was a yawl rigged yacht of some 94 feet  length and a 20 foot beam.  When Mr Aston died in 1878 the boat was laid up Wyvenhoe until it was purchased by Edward S. Potter of Cheltenham.^[29]  The fact that she was laid up at Wyvenhoe may account for two of her crew came from Essex.

John and Isabella had six children born either on the Isle of Wight or at Grays, Essex.   William James married Hilda Bennett in 1914; there were two children.  William worked for a boat builder and remained on the island.  His daughter married into the Hobbs family and his great grand daughter eventually left to live in the USA in the 1990's.

John Reacher junior died in 1949 and the two daughters married on the island.  By 1991 there was only one Cotgrove left on the island although there were several Hobbs and Bennett grand children.

It had been a common practice for some years for Leigh couples to marry in London even if both partners were from Leigh or the near by villages.  Why this was so is not known but the Vicar commented on the fact in his New Year's "State of the Parish" sermon in 1871.^[30] The Cotgroves were no exception to this trend.   When Eliza Cotgrove became Golden Thompson's second wife in 1853^[31] they married in London even though their child was born back in Leigh only three weeks later^[32].  William, the son of Thomas William and Martha also married in the same church in 1886^[33] and he too moved back to Leigh after the wedding and their six children were born there.    There was however a reason in this case; a second cousin of William,  James Henry^[34], had married a sister of William's bride in 1879^[35].  This first wedding may give a clue as to how the daughters of James Burford, an east London printer, were to meet the Cotgrove boys.  James' wife was the caretaker at the Mission Rooms in Ada Street, Bethnal Green;  had the Cotgroves visited there during one of their trips to Billingsgate ?     In James case the family settled in London  to found a complete branch of the family in Bethnal Green.

James Henry was the son of Henry John, the sailor who married the Irish girl.   Together with his brothers and sisters he was born in Ireland  and when the family returned to  Leigh they had to get jobs away from fishing as they had no direct knowledge of the sea.  Both the eldest son, Henry, and James Henry started work at the Victoria Pottery on the parish boarder between Leigh and Prittlewell.  It was not long, however, before they moved up to London to gain what was most likely a more profitable occupation; the railways.   The two younger girls also left home; Mary Ellen to marry John P. Reis and her sister, Dinah M., to become a domestic servant.   She travelled from post to post, being in Frien Barnet in 1881 and dying in Lewisham in 1942 still unmarried.

Another of these early Cotgrove maigrants was Charles, son of Thomas and Hannah.  one of his brothers was the well known "Judgement".  Like most members of the family Charles was into fishing, often helped by his elder brother Thomas. Very little is recorded about his early days so much is conjecture, but  he probally became friendly with a fellow fisherman, Thomas Milway, from over the river in Kent^[36].  Thomas had married a widow from Jersey in the Channel Islands who had a daughter by her first husband.  Over the years the Cotgroves and the Milways  found themselves in port together and this was often in Jersey.  Jersey had been a important destination for Leigh crews for many years because of the oyster trade and no doubt was still used as a base for summer fishing when the Thames began to suffer from pollution.    By 1861 Charles had moved to Jersey and his boat the "Sea Seal"^[37] was registered there.   He had married Thomas Milway's step daughter,  Susan Rothwell, and was living with the Milways in what had been the Star Public House on the Pier at  Gorey^[38] on the easy coast of the island.   His brother Thomas Cotgrove was still based in Leigh.    During the next few years the couple had four children;  Charles James was born on 9th June 1861 followed by Eliza Susan on 14th July 1864.  Unfortunately Eliza died in March 1865 so there next child born 19th February 1866 was also named Eliza Susan.  On Boxing Day 1868 another daughter was born, Susan Hannah.     All were born in the parish of St Martin of which Gorey is a part.    Up to the end of 1870 there were no more Cotgrove children born on the island.

 What happens next is still a puzzle as the whole family disappears.   There is a National Index for the 1881 Census^[39] which covers the whole of the British Isles; only one of the above mentioned persons can be found in it !    On Census night, 2nd April 1881, Susan Cotgrove aged 13 can be found as a boarder at girls school in Grouville,^[40] just south of Gorey.  On the map^[41] at that point there is a Female Orphanage; is this the boarding school of the census ?      There is no trace of any of the others either on the island or the main land.    At that time Charles, junior would have been about 20 and the eldest daughter, Eliza,  about 15.   In both cases old enough to be living away from home .    There is no record of a death of any one on the main land but in 1891 Eliza Susan now aged 25 married a James Thomas Churcher from Sheerness, Kent in the City of London.   As expected her father is given as Charles Cotgrove, a sailor but noted as deceased.   Again there is the Kentish fishing connection in her husband's residence.

So it is here that the Channel Island connection dies.  There is no trace of Charles junior nor of any children from a possible marriage. 

The only other Cotgrove migrants in the 1861 census were the familys of Henry and Sarah who had moved a few miles to Great Wakering.

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Tragedies, Accidents and Mishaps.

With a family associated with fishing for so long, it is not unexpected that many were drowned at sea.  In the early days one can only speculate on the fate of those who died at a young age.  Was it just illness or had they come to an untimely end in a storm at sea ?

Why did Benjamin die so young in 1724 when he was only 33?  In those days there were many illnesses to bring an early death and the fact that Benjamin had just taken out a mortgage on his copyhold cottage may have indicated a severe illness.   There is a similar question mark over the problems with Thomas' boat in 1814 and his lame leg two years later.  How much did these events affect the family?.     There is no doubt about the extremely cold winter of 1826 when John Osborne's oysters died forcing the sale of his business.  Benjamin Cotgrove lost his job as Captain of the "Two Sisters" and no doubt his family suffered.

It is not until the apperance of the local newspapers from about 1870 onwards that details of these tragic events begin to be recorded.  The Essex Chronicle was in existance from about 100 years before then but it rarely reported what  was then  a mundain event like the death of one of the hundreds of fishermen aroud the Essex coastline.   In 1849 when Charles was convicted of smuggling the Essex Chronical reported the fact in about three lines.

Perhaps one of the unluckiest Cotgrove families was that of  John Cotgrove and his wife Jane Oliver.   John was the son of Benjamin and Mary Cracknel,  born 5th January 1827.   They had ten children seven of whom died from unnatural causes.  Their first born was Joseph Benjamin, baptised on 25th February 1849 was dead by 1865 having been drowned. ^[xlii][1] As this death does not appear to have been registered nor reported in the papers there is very little that can be added to the bare facts.  The second son, Jonathan was drowned at the age of 21 while fishing at Harwich. ^[xliii] Apparently Jonathan and his younger brother Jabez, then only 13, had been long lining when the wind got up and capsized the boat; Jabez survived and was one of the few who died in his bed at an old age. 

The next son, Stephen Jabez,  died aged four in 1858 having been burnt to death.   There seems to be no details of this terrible accident as it was not reported at the time. ^[xliv] In 1855 Jane was born, the first daughter who became known from then on as Minnie.  She was to survive to marry a Southend plumber and later Water works engineer, James Dawkins.   The last child of this marriage was Florence Dawkins born in 1904, a year before Florence died. The family was brought up with the help of the eldest daughter, Mary.  Florence married a young student from Peru and their second child became Michael Bentin, later Bentine, who was world renowned as an entertainer.^[xlv]

The next son was John Benjamin, born 1857.   Like his brothers and his father before him he was a fisherman but fate struck again on 11th November 1891.   The family now lived in Southend where the father, John had a fish shop in Alexandra Street.   It was only a few months after his wife Jane had died.    Now his son was to die whilst going to the aid of others caught in the storm that ragged during the first week of November.    On the day before, Tuesday 10th, John together with his crew, William Murrel of Southend, and a young Cotgrove cousin, Oliver of Leigh, who was the son of William Smith Cotgrove the caretaker of New Road Methodist Chapel, went out spatting in the smack "Fiona".    They had spotted a vessel which they thought might need assistance but although they stood by all night they were not required.    The next morning on the way back they saw a schooner trapped on the Maplin sands.   Their hopes of possible salvage money increased when they realised that she had a cargo of slates which could easily be thown overboard to lighten the ship and which could later be salvaged without too much trouble.   They sailed as close as possible and then John and William Murrel got into the dingy and rowed over towards the schooner.  Unfortuniately they were struck by a large wave which carried John overboard.    William managed to cling to the "Fiona" but John was not seen again.    The salvage prospects had brought a number of other bawleys to the scene including the "George & Emily", "Volunteer", "Oceana",  and the "Wonder".  "Roachey" Wright and Jim Absalom aboard the "Volunteer" saw Oliver's distress flag and were able to rescue William and provide him with dry clothing and refreshment.     Among the other crews was Jebez Cotgrove, a younger brother of John and it was he who after walking ashore on the low tide was able to get home to Southend and relate the sad news.

John left a widow, Roseanne, née Smith and five children with a sixth due the following year.  The fishing folk of Leigh and Southend rallied round to help provide for the family.    On the 7th December a memorial concert was held in the Pier Pavilion at Southend.  Over five hundred attended, as a result over £25 was handed to Roseanne.  The programme included items by the Band of the Royal Artillery School of Gunnery and an Army gymnastic team. Other items included the "Gendarmes Duet" and "Selections from HMS Pinafore".  A separate fund raised nearly £200.  This enabled the rent on the family home to be paid for as long as necessary as well as a quarterly grant of five pounds. Arrangements had also been made for the children to be cared for in various training ships and homes but this proved to be unnecessary.   Although these sums seem small by today's standards they would have ensured that the family were cared for.   Unfortunately the trouble did not end there as the three youngest children Walter, Rose and Katie were to die within the year from diphtheria.  Ellen Jane arrived the following August.^[xlvi] Nine years later Roseanna was to marry William Abraham Little, a sea captain.

The tragedies still continued.   The next youngest son was Jabez who survived to 1937 but his brother Stephen William, born 1861 died in a land based accident in 1903.    He had been employed by the Southend Gas Company  for eight years, recently as a painter.   On the morning of  Monday  7th September 1903 he was assisting Alfred Potten to paint the gas holder, a job they had been on for the past three months.  While adjusting the cradle before they actually started to paint Stephen appeared to overbalance.  He fell 90 feet to his death.  By coincidence the Board of Directors were having the half yearly Board Meeting as the accident occurred.   A vote of condolence with the widow was passed.^[xlvii]

His widow Ann, née Hunt was to live until 1940 and did not remarry.  They had seven children, two of whom had pre deceased their father.

The next son Henry, also known as Harry, was born 4th April 1863.  On 7th March 1870 when he was only seven he was killed on the railway line at Leigh.     The family had recently moved to a house near Billet Lane adjacent to the level crossing.  Henry had ear trouble which made him deaf at times as well as giving him ear ache.  On that Tuesday morning she had noticed that he had one of his deaf turns.   He was with her in the back yard of the house just south of the railway.   She gave him a penny and sent him indoors to see his brother, which he appeared to do, disappearing indoors through the back door.   He must however  have run out of the front door, over the railway and then, perhaps spending his penny, returned over the lines at the crossing.  His cousin Stephen, probably the son of Stephen Cotgrove and Sussannah, née Rand, had watched the whole event from only 30 to 40 yards away.     Harry went straight over the rails without looking and seemed not to hear the engine whistle which it did several times as it came up the line from Leigh Station, although as an express it did not stop at Leigh.   He died instantly.  An inquest held at the Bell Inn Leigh on the following Friday returned a verdict of Accidental Death.   They added a rider that the level crossing gates should be manned.^[xlviii]

The last son of John and Jane was Walter James born in 1865.  He was to die from suffication either as a "cot death" or from whooping cough. ^[xlix]     Thus this unfortunate family had only three offspring who survived.   Jane, Jabez and the last born, Ellen Louisa.  The two girls married and had children but although he had two wives Jabez had no children.

The incidents in the local papers are sometimes minor but none the less make interesting reading.  In the April 15th 1870 edition of the Chelmsford Chronicle it is reported that George Cotgrove,  one of several children playing with a dog, was unfortunate to trip and the stick that he was carrying, no doubt to throw for the dog, went into his mouth.    He cut the back of his thoat and was forched to stay in bed for a few days.   This was most likely nine year old George, son of George Cotgrove and Mary Ann née Cotgrove.    He was later to die in the lost of the "GMAC" in 1888.

Another small incident  was the accident on 14th October 1881 when Mrs Thompson crossed over the railway brige carrying a baby and a tray of cakes. She had intended to take the cakes to the bake house in the High Street but tripped and fell fracturing two ribs.  The baby escaped with bruises; it was not stated what happened to the cakes.  This Mrs Thompson had most likely been Eliza Cotgrove before she had married Golden Thompson. ^[l]

To be Continued.
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^[1].   Public Record Office, Kew  ADM38/373.  Ships Muster HMS Cambridge.

^[2].  For a detailed list of his naval Service see Appendix 6.

^[3].   Public Record Office, Kew   ADM51/3714   Ships Log.  HMS Cambridge.

^[4].   A discription of flogging is given in Clowes, page 217, reporting Sloane-Stanley's Reminisences of his service on the Albion 1852.  "[Flogging] was undoubtedly a severe [punishment] as the discoloured, raw beef hued apperance of the victim's back attested; but I never saw any streams of blood or any severe laceration of the flesh caused by any flogging I have witnessed; and I must have seen some hundreds in my day.

^[5].   The Royal Navy-a history.   Wm. Laird Clowes.  1901.  Vol VI, page 308 et seq.

^[6].   ibid.

^[7].  The ship was still in the Dock yard and thus was in the charge of the head of the yard.    The Clark of the Check was a senior official who was responsible for keeping the muster books while a ship was decomissioned in harbour.

^[8].   Clowes reports 1000 French sailors died on their ships and  the English fleet put to sea on the 12th Aug to avoid the disease.

^[9].   Reported in detail in Clowes pages 442 et seq.

^[10].  Repoted in Clowes page 495 et seq.

^[11].  As reported in the Illustrated London News 7th July 1855.

^[12].  Public Record Office, Kew ADM175/98.

^[13].  Full details of Henry William’s Naval career are listed in Appendix 5.

^[14].  The Times  7th April 1854. Also Offical letter fron Nankin 14th Dec1857 in PRO ADM1/5693 Letter 43.

^[15].  ibid.   10th April 1854.

^[16].  The following provisions were loaded. 36.400 lb Biscuits, 326 gals Rum, 4568 lb Sugar, 165lb Chocolate, 424lb Tea, 8000lb Salt Pork,  6688lb Salt Beef, 6720lb Flour, 504lb Suit, 1152 gals Lemon Juice, 620lb Mustard, 620lb Fresh Beef, 310lb Vegetables, 28lb Pepper, 36gals Vinegar, 336lb Cut Candle, 14 tons Coal, 2 fathoms wood.

^[17].  Report by Times Correspondant with etchings appears in Illustrated London News 15th Aug 1857.

^[18].  A map and several etching made by their own reporter are given in Illustrated London News Aug 8th 1857.

^[19].    Full details of this action are reported in a Extraordinary edition of the London Gazette Sat. Aug. 1st 1857.    A copy of this as well as the manuscript letters from the Admiral at Honk Kong are given in PRO ADM1/5683 Folio 116.

^[20].    See picture in ILN 6th March 1858.

^[21].    See Report and Picture ILN 6th March 1858.

^[22].  On her marriage Cert. Ann give her age as Full.  Four years later she was still only 23 !

^[23].  Public Record Office, Kew  Report in ADM1/5732.

^[24].  Navy Continuous Service No.   CS73,540 . Was a Coast Guard at Barnstable where his sons were born.

^[25]. In RN 1884 - 1918. CS 129072    Admitted to Greenwich Hostipal School 18th March 1880.

^[26].  See 1861 Census RG9/4482.   Return for ships at Shoreham Harbour.

^[27].  See 1881   Census RG11/1174 folio 84, boats in Cowes Harbour.

^[28].  Registered number 58,175 of Cochester, built Wivenhoe by Harvey March 1872.

^[29].  See Transaction  10755 of Oct. 1880 held in BT108/125 in Public Record Office, Kew.

^[30].  Chelmsford Chronicle. 6th Jan 1871.

^[31].  24th Oct. 1853 at Bethnal Green Parish Church.  Eliza had stayed at a local pub to establish a residence qualification and Golden Thompson with friends.

^[32].  11th Nov. 1853 at Leigh, no address given.

^[33].  19th Sept. 1886.

^[34].  There is some doubt as to who this James Henry was, but until proven otherwise he will be assumed to be the son of Henry John, the Sailor, and his Irish wife Margaret.   For more details of this identity problem see Appendix 11.

^[35].  6th July 1879 at St Michael & All Angels, South Hackney.

^[36].  Not proved but the 1881 Census Index shows that nearly all Milway's lived in Kent.

^[37].  Jersey Census Return 1861 for Gorey Harbour. RG 9/4540. folio 55

^[38]. Jersey Census Return 1861  RG 9/4403 folio 41/11

^[39]. The 1881 Census Index has been searched for all references to Cotgrove in as many different spellings.  No trace of the Channel Island branch can be found other than Susan.

^[40]. Jersey Census Return 1881 RG11/5618  folio 4/1 Parish of St Clement, Grouville.   School at Royal Terrace.

^[41]. Ordnace Survey map of Jersey.  2" to the Mile.  1933 edition, surveyed 1913.

^[xlii]  See Chelmsford Chronicle 3rd Nov 1871.   It reports a death of a son of John five years before.

^[xliii]. ibib.  Gives details of other family deaths.  Harwich & Dovercourt Half Penny Gazette does not report this accident

^[xliv]. ibib.

^[xlv]. Further details are in "The Reluctant Jester" by Michael Bentine.   Bantam Press 1992.

^[xlvi]. Extracts fron The Southend Standard and the Southend-on-Sea Observer & South East Essex Gazette for Nov 19th 1991, Dec 3rd, 10th Dec and 31st Dec.

^[xlvii]. Southend Standard   September 10th 1903.

^[xlviii].  The Chelmsford Chronicle March 18th 1870.

^[xlix]. The Southend-on-Sea Observer & South East Essex Gazette of 19th Nov 1891 referrs to Walter's death in retropect.

^[l].  Southend Standard 21st Oct 1881.[2]

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