Samuel Folker in the Royal Navy

Samuel FOLKER

in the Royal Navy

[Ref. M.15]

Samuel entered the navy upon being taken by the dreaded 'Press Gang' in Chatham, Kent on 14 August 1777 when he was aged 22. On 17 August he was taken by the tender boat Prosperous onto H.M.S.Cornwall which was anchored at Nore.

Samuel remained on board H.M.S.Cornwall only seven days before being transferred on 23 August 1777 to H.M.S.Aurora, a sixth rate ship, just before it put to sea. The voyage was via Stromys and Downes to Spithead where the ship arrived at the beginning of November. After one month at Spithead, the ship sailed for the West Indies, celebrating Christmas at sea, and arriving at English Harbour in Antigua in mid January 1778.

At the time Samuel was taken into the navy, he started at the rank of Able Seaman. He had been aboard ship barely three months before he was promoted to be Coxswain on 25 November, that was about a week before the ship sailed from Spithead. The name of William Daunt appears on the muster and this fellow seems to have transferred between successive ships at the same time as Samuel. He was an Irishman born in Cork and was three years younger than Samuel.

Aurora remained on station in the West Indies continuously until June 1779 and the table in the ships muster books shows the ship's movements during that voyage. The ship anchored variously at Antigua, Dominique, St.Vincents, Tobago, Grenada, St.Kitts, Barbados, St.Christophers, St.Lucia and Nevis.

The musters show Samuel as having purchased slop cloaths to the total value of Ł2:16s:4d during his first year on board. Such an amount would have been in excess of one month's pay. The clothes were provided by the navy and stocked on board by the Purser. The amount of the purchase was entered in the muster book then deducted from the sailors wages when he was paid off at the end of the voyage. Also at the beginning of 1778, he is shown as having bought Dead Men's Cloaths to the value of Ł2:4s:0d. This was a charitable action by the crew of a ship whereby the clothes of a deceased member of the crew were auctioned at values way above their true value. The proceeds went to the next of kin and the amount was deducted from the bidders wages when he was paid off.

The West Indies were a source of great wealth to the countries which had colonised them, and the respective navies were stationed there to protect the interests of their home countries in stopping invasion by others, notably France and Spain.

Samuel would have spent Christmas on board ship for two consecutive years. Although the ship's routine would have to be maintained, there were concessions at Christmas.

At the beginning of August 1779, Aurora set sail back to England, and after a voyage of three months arrived at Chatham early in November. The muster notes that 101 men had run from the ship during the period of service in the West Indies. Samuel along with William Daunt transferred to H.M.S.Assurance at Deptford on 13 May 1780, being brought aboard on the tender Friendship.

Assurance ship remained at Deptford until 15 July when it sailed down river to Woolwich arriving the same day. It then sailed again on 17 August on a voyage bound for Halifax. Samuel joined the ship in the higher rank of Midshipman and William Daunt became Captains Coxswain under the captaincy of Jas Cumming whom had also moved from Aurora.

Samuel had served in the navy for about two years before becoming a Midshipman which was about the expected period. As a Midshipman, he would have had a uniform as shown in the illustration taken from the book Nelson's Navy written by Philip Haythornethwaite and William Younghusband and published by Osprey. Samuel would have received instruction in navigation and been taught how to take a dead reckoning with a quadrant at noon. He would be expected never to be seen lounging about or have his hands in his pockets.

The pay for a Midshipman would have been between Ł70 and Ł100 per annum and would be paid to an agent in advance. As part of his duties, he would still be expected to go aloft with the men to learn and to check on the sails and keep the men lively and in order when furling them. He would take his turn at night watch and during the day would supervise the hoisting of stores. He would also attend to the slinging and stowing of hammocks. Samuel would have to turn out of his hammock at 7.30 then wash before breakfast at 8.00.

The Midshipman's mess was below water level on the orlop deck and was fairly confined with a headroom of 5' 6". The light would have been from lanterns and also through a cuttle overhead. The smell of the bilges would rise up from below. His berth would not exceed 12 feet in area. The Midshipmen's mess was their domain and was always busy with pranks, bullying, quibbling, merriment and discussion. The Midshipman would keep all his belongings in a wooden chest and that which belonged to Samuel remains in the possession of the family.

On 13 May 1781 whilst Assurance was off New York Samuel and William Daunt were amongst those transferred to H.M.S.Confederate upon the orders of Admiral Arbuthnot. These two men had again followed captain Jas Cumming who had taken command of this ship. Josh Wood was the Master and Chas Lowry the Purser. Assurance thereafter continued her voyage and assisted in the recapture of the British ship Atlanta. When Samuel joined Confederate it had a full compliment of men plus 47 rebel prisoners. More prisoners were taken on board during the period the ship was stationed off New York.

On joining the ship Samuel was further promoted to the rank of Masters Mate but William Daunt remained in his rank as Captains Coxswain. Four weeks later, the ship set sail for Woolwich where it arrived after a voyage of three months. The ship was paid off at Woolwich in mid September 1781.

The illustration showing the uniform of a Master's Mate as it was in 1810 is taken from the book Nelson's Navy written by Philip Haythornethwaite and William Younghusband and published by Osprey. Samuel's duties as a Master's Mate were to assist the Master. These included writing up the log and keeping the rates of the chronometers. He would keep records of the messes and attend in the hold when casks were being shifted and attend on the mixing of wines and spirits. By day he would be responsible for keeping the fore yards trim and the topsail running. He keep watch on the main deck to keep it clear and checked the ship to see that gear was in good order and in the right place. He would keep an eye on the lower decks to prevent disorderly behaviour or misconduct. Importantly, Samuel as a master's Mate, was in command of the port lids and had to ensure they were set correctly. By night he would be responsible for the watches

Samuel next transferred briefly to H.M.S.Greenwich along with William Daunt who moved to the position of Midshipman. The muster shows their date of entry as 22 September 1782 but their actual date of appearance on the ship was 22 February 1782. This seems to have been due to them being left onboard Confederate to guard it. The ship was moored at Longreach under the captain Will Daniel.

Both Samuel and William were discharged from H.M.S.Greenwich on 29 March 1782 then joined H.M.S.Arethusa at Spithead on 30 March 1782 as the ship was about to set off on a voyage to Newfoundland. Samuel is recorded as having the rank of Master's Mate. The ship took three months to reach St Johns thereafter spending three and a half months on station in that area in its participation of the American Wars. The ship took on prisoners during the voyage. The return voyage took two months including a short stopover at Lisbon arriving at Portsmouth early in January 1783 so Samuel had spent another Christmas at sea.

Samuel was discharged from this ship on 16 February 1783 by order of Admiral Pye. The muster book shows him as owing nine shillings for trusses which indicates that the reason he left was because he had suffered a rupture, something not uncommon amongst sailors at that time. The ships surgeon carried a stock of trusses for such eventualities but the sufferer had to pay. A sailor discharged for reasons of sickness was likely to rejoin later when he had recovered but such information is not known about Samuel.

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