The adventures of mariner Edward Rexworthy prove how little stands between life and death. He is the 3x great grandfather of David Joy, who has uncovered fascinating information about his ancestor’s remarkable Royal Navy career.
“Edward was born in Bristol in 1779,” David explains. “I was researching him a few years ago, and an online contact told me that an Edward Rexworthy served on HMS Shannon in 1813. He was also mentioned in an admiral’s memoirs. I was intrigued, and began looking through the muster books of Royal Navy ships at The National Archives.”
These were a gold mine of information. Edward was an able-bodied seaman and joined HMS Amelia, a 38-gun frigate, on 5 May 1803, only weeks before the Napoleonic Wars began.
If a young man was looking for action and adventure, he would find them on a frigate. These were powerhouses designed to outrun and outgun enemy warships. They were vital in battle, raids, convoys and reconnaissance work. Commanded by the Navy’s most brilliant officers, the frigates attracted dedicated career sailors.
Edward soon entered the theatre of war. “In December 1803, he was one of a group of men in a boat commanded by Lieutenant Charles Cole taken prisoners of war near the Dutch coast.
“The BBC One series Poldark had just shown Dwight Enys in appalling conditions in a French prisoner of war camp. Watching it made me wonder – was Edward’s incarceration like that? How would his treatment as a mere rating compare with that of an officer like Enys? Edward had married Sophia Stadden in Bristol in 1801. She must have been so worried about her husband.
“On the other hand, the HMS Amelia was stationed in the Caribbean, and her crew was suffering a torrid time. The ship surgeon’s journal for 1804–1805 stated that many of the crew died of yellow fever. So perhaps being a POW saved Edward.”
David is not sure when Edward was released, but he rejoined Amelia at Antigua in March 1806. He was clearly a promising young man and was promoted to the rank of quarter gunner, a petty officer responsible for four guns.
Edward returned to Britain in 1806 and joined the frigate HMS Shannon, promoted again to quartermaster. It was a senior role and his responsibilities would have comprised steering the ship, stowing ballast, keeping time and overseeing provisions.
Edward’s closest shave with death came during the War of 1812, a conflict between the USA and Britain that lasted for three years. In June 1813, HMS Shannon captured the American frigate USS Chesapeake off the coast of Boston, Massachusetts.
In his memoirs, the captain of the Shannon Provo Wallis (later an admiral) described what happened when some of his crew boarded the enemy ship: “Edward Rexworthy was standing before Lieutenant Watt when grape shot from the Shannon’s seventh gun passed over Rexworthy’s head and pierced Watt’s chest. Rexworthy was a very short man, whereas Lieutenant Watt was six feet or more.”
Whenever Shannon took an enemy vessel Lieutenant Watt would hoist a white flag over its rival’s colours. He boarded with this in hand, but unfortunately hoisted the flag under rather than over the Americans’ flag. It was this mistake that caused the crew of the Shannon to continue firing.
“If Edward had been a few inches taller, he might have been hit by the shot that killed Lieutenant Watt,” says David. “I would never have been born.”
Edward returned to Bristol, and started a family with Sophia. He was a lifelong mariner until his death in 1846. It is no wonder that David remembers him with pride: “Edward was a resourceful and patriotic man.”
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