|
|
Valentine
Joyce - Naval Mutineer of 1797 |
|
The lower-deck mutinies of 1797 have
been much commented on, both at the time and subsequently. Copies of one modern
account, The Great Mutiny by James Dugan, can easily be found in
second-hand bookshops. As told by this author, this is a stirring tale of mass
insurrections by the men of the home fleets, wound up not only by poor pay,
food, conditions and cruelty of (some) officers, but also through incitement by
at least some with darker aims. Politically these were apparently dangerous
days - with Irish traitors in nefarious league with Continental enemies of
Great Britain. Referring to the bibliography, as well as noting all the
standard works previously published, there is, at first sight anyway, an
impressive list of original naval documents at the Public Records Office, Kew
(now part of The National Archives).
As unequivocally stated by Mr. Dugan,
the ‘leading spirit was a quartermaster’s mate of Royal George,
Valentine Joyce, who had served a sentence for sedition, lost his tobacco shop
in Belfast as a result, and had recently come aboard in the quota’. (1) Even on first reading, I was doubtful of this.
For a landsman to have made quartermaster’s mate in such a short period of time
(the various Quota Acts having been passed in 1795 and 1796) would have meant
spectacular promotion. Even if most past published works had also maintained a
similar line on this individual’s background, one stood out in contradiction.
Written in the 1930s, within The Floating Republic was analysis of the
leading characters as experienced seamen and Valentine Joyce was specifically
mentioned in this way. In fact, this work goes further. Not only does it pour
cold water on rampant political objectives by the mutineers, Joyce himself is
stated as having been born in Jersey and apparently having family in
Portsmouth. (2) A relatively recent doctoral
thesis, Mutiny in the Public Eye by David London, clearly shows these
mutinies to have been industrial relations disputes, primarily in relation to
naval pay that had not been improved in over 140 years. (3) Joyce’s background and naval career are outlined,
from information supplied by Ann Coates and this is identical to that in a
published modern entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (4) Unfortunately, the information given in these two
accounts is not particularly accurate either.
The following is not intended to be a
complete biography of this most interesting character. It is merely an
introduction. With all the surviving official records now open to public scrutiny,
further research may yield links between the (known) individual
delegates that may lead to a better understanding of how the mutiny
formed and other issues.
Valentine Joyce was born in Elizabeth
Castle, Jersey and baptised there on 13th August 1769. His father,
also named Valentine Joyce, was then a corporal in Captain Thomas Northey’s company of the 41st Regiment of Foot
(Invalids) and stationed there. His mother was named as Elizabeth Lamb. (I
understand that it was then customary to show mothers’ maiden names on such
records in this era.) Interestingly, William Lamb was noted as one of three
godparents. There was a sergeant of this same name in Captain Henry Lee’s
company of this same regiment, also stationed in Jersey. (5)
With re-organisation, these two
companies mustered in Portsmouth in August 1770, joining the other eight.
Valentine Joyce senior was reduced to private in May 1774 and transferred
company the following year to remain in Portsmouth. In March 1776 he shifted
once again, being taken on initially as a ‘casual’ in Captain Joshua Crump’s
company. By this time William Lamb was one of the sergeants in this company
(until his death in June 1782). With the complex formal peace treaties at
Versailles being concluded (ending the American War of Independence), it would
appear that Valentine Joyce senior became a victim of what would now be called ‘the
peace dividend’. Along with two thirds of the privates of his company, he was
discharged in June 1783. (6)
Between April 1772 and September 1795
another eleven children were baptised to Valentine and Elizabeth Joyce. The
family would appear to have been non-conformists of some kind. Eight of these
ceremonies were carried out at Portsmouth’s High Street Presbyterian or
Unitarian Church, with the other three at the St. Thomas a Becket’s,
Portsmouth, which was Baptist. (7)
The High Street church’s baptismal
records not only show witnesses including other members of the Lamb family,
possibly indicating that they came from Portsmouth, but also other pertinent
information. The entries for May 1787 and February 1789 state that Valentine
Joyce senior was by that time ‘an out pensioner of Chelsea Hospital and pauper’.
(8) It may be that he was later returned to
service during the Revolutionary Wars. There is an intelligence report during
the Spithead Mutiny, made by the high level government ‘spy’ Aaron Graham,
stating that the mutineer’s father was thought ‘to belong to the Invalid Corps
in the garrison’ of Portsmouth. (9) Having said
that, I have found absolutely no evidence of the mutineer’s father in any of
the independent companies of invalids at Portsmouth between 1793 and 1800:
although I did find the surname Lamb cropping up again. (The 41st
had been reconstituted as a regular line regiment in 1787). (10) So, this snippet of intelligence may have been
erroneous.
Another report, this time made by the
naval delegate Valentine Joyce to a Portsmouth newspaper on 15th May
1797 (but not published until well after the mutiny, apparently ‘miflaid’), gives information not seen elsewhere. Clearly
incensed at the rumours circulating as to his background, he maintained not
only that he was a professional mariner, but also that he had served in His
Majesty’s Navy for ‘seventeen years’. (11) It
would then seem that he had first gone to sea in a man-o-war at the age of
eleven, or twelve.
His first proven presence in the Royal
Navy was on 1st December 1788 when he joined the fifth-rate, 36-gun
frigate Perseverance, at Portsmouth and was rated able seaman. From her
pay and muster books it would seem that he had gone through a receiving ship
shortly before. (No records for this port’s receiving ships for this year
survive and he does not show up in the muster books of the then seven guardships. (12) It then being
peacetime there are two main possibilities. It may have been that he had
recently been paid off from another man-o-war and had spent some time at home
before ‘rejoining’. Or, the 1797 statement to the press may have
included some exaggeration in relation to his time in the king’s service and he
had been on merchantmen: possibly from 1783 onwards. His age on going on the
books of Perseverance was stated as 23, but this was not correct. (13)
Anyway, under the command of Commander
Isaac Smith, in February 1789 and in company with four sloops, Crown,
Phoenix, Atlanta and Ariel, she sailed for the East Indies. There
she remained through an interesting political period in competition with the
French in India, until early 1793. Contrary to the order of battle abroad at
the beginning of the Revolutionary Wars, as stated in William Clowes’ standard multi-volume history of the Royal Navy, Perseverance
had already begun her transit home from Bombay on 19th January 1793.
(14) Having called at Saint Helena, in mid April
she convoyed a number of East Indiamen back to the United Kingdom. These were
the Rockingham, Thetis, Walpole, Middlesex, Dublin, Airly
Castle, Lord Macartney, Duke
of Montrose, Sir Edward Hughes and Nottingham. While the Indiamen
continued on up the English channel, Perseverance anchored
on Sunday 9th June at Spithead. On 25th July all petty
officers and seamen were turned over to another vessel though, as part of her
complement. This was on the order of Admiral Sir Peter Parker,
Commander-in-Chief Portsmouth. (15)
The second-rate, 98-gun, ship-of-the-line
Boyne had also arrived back at Portsmouth in early June. With Captain
William Albany Otway in command, she had previously sailed from Hamoaze (Plymouth) in February as part of the escort for
eighteen merchantmen (nine being East Indiamen) to the Spanish Canaries (Spain
not then being a British enemy). On her way back she had encountered the French
20-gun privateer Guidelon and prevailed,
bringing her back as a prize. (16) But, Valentine
Joyce and the others late of Perseverance were not to get their chance
of death, glory or prize money onboard Boyne. By the time they joined
her she was in the dockyard, lashed alongside a hulk. They were a mere work
party and in all likelihood little interest was taken in them, as in Joyce’s
case no age on entry was recorded. Still, he was not to remain in this
thankless duty for long. (17)
Per a ‘Lords’ order’ a draft of fifty
men was required for the first-rate, 100-gun, ship-of-the-line Royal George,
under the command of Captain Edward Pakenham. Mostly able seamen, Val was one of these. Appearing on 14th
October 1793 he was then rated quartermaster’s mate - an ‘inferior’ petty
officer. His age of entry on pay and muster books is shown as
25. (18) If correct, then this may reflect
his date of birth, rather than date of baptism (and does not quite tally with
his age as claimed in his letter to the press).
The Royal George was part of
the Channel Fleet that in war was committed to maintaining ‘command of the sea’
not only in the English Channel, but also the south-western approaches.
Depending on wind and weather, this required significant periods off the French
Atlantic coast and further out to sea. When not possible though, long periods
were also spent back in the English Channel, in Tor Bay or even as far away as
Spithead, sheltering. (19)
The Royal George was involved
in Admiral Lord ‘Black Dick’ Howe’s Glorious First of June 1794, with Captain Pakenham in command; and in Lord Bridport’s
fleet action off the Isle of Groix on 23rd
June 1795, under Captain William Domett. In the
latter engagement the Royal George was the Admiral’s flagship. (Lord Bridport had been Howe’s relief as Commander-in-Chief
Channel Fleet.) The ship’s musters show that Val was onboard for both these
battles and he was also lent on a few occasions. Deeper study of operational
records may shed light on these short periods elsewhere. (20)
Much has been written of Valentine
Joyce’s diplomatic and skilful leadership during the Spithead Mutiny of spring
1797, so I need not devote any space here, although Dr. London’s account has
proved that this had little ‘revolutionary’ fervour and was in reality, a
labour dispute. Per their word, the higher authorities of the Royal Navy
apparently sought no revenge and Val continued in his rate and ship for another
year. He is recorded as having been discharged to the naval hospital at Haslar (on marshy ground across the river from Portsmouth)
on 9th May 1798. The Royal George was then at sea ‘off Ushant’
and there is no mention of him leaving in either the captain’s or master’s
logs. (21) But then, that is hardly surprising
considering the details noted in sea officers’ logs on ships of this size.
At this point he disappeared in naval
records. He is not recorded in Haslar’s muster books
of patients (or even in the establishment’s pay list
of staff as suggested by a knowledgeable friend). (22)
As Val’s family was known to have been resident in Portsmouth since at least
the early 1770s and since Haslar had such a bad name
among ‘Jack’, it may be that he went home instead. That then would have
presented a problem. Unless he was careful, at best he would have been regarded
as a ‘rambler’ and at worst as having ‘run’ (deserted). If he did not go to Haslar, then somehow he managed to extricate himself.
His date of appearance (that is the
day that he was on this ship’s books for both pay and victuals) on the
diminutive, Infernal class, bomb vessel Vesuvius was 23rd
June 1798. But, both the entries in this vessel’s pay books and muster lists
are a complete mess and cannot be relied on. Most of the entries show that he
was rated as a quartermaster on coming on board, but the first muster states
that he was rated able seaman previous to 23rd June. (23) The captain’s log for 22nd June
contains an intriguing entry, ‘... Received 2 men from the Hospital’ and Haslar’s muster has an entry that almost confirms this. On
the 21st two landsmen that had been suffering from scurvy were
discharged to the very same bomb vessel. (24)
However, neither appears on the bomb ship’s musters, or pay books. So, it would
seem that they were rejected. But, this was a period of change onboard. The
individual with the ship’s book number immediately prior to Val was Commander
Robert Lewis Fitzgerald, the new captain that had only come onboard on June 20th.
Holding the ship’s book number following Val was Lieutenant Alexander Lighteness, who appeared on July 1st. As for
Valentine Joyce himself, he is shown as ‘late Royal William late Royal George’.
Perhaps he presented himself onboard the guardship Royal
William (flying the flag of the C-in-C Portsmouth, Admiral Sir Peter
Parker), even if he is not shown on her musters or pay books and he was
directed to join Vesuvius immediately. (25)
No matter the means for getting
onboard, once there he improved his status rapidly and substantially. There was
a second interesting entry in the captain’s log for 22nd June that
required Vesuvius to transfer a petty officer to the guardship.
This, therefore, may explain Val’s rating of quartermaster on the 23rd.
But, he was only in this rate for a week (she was then at anchor at Spithead),
before being re-rated as a midshipman. (26) This
was also a petty officer rate, but one that was regarded as far superior
and required to be held by candidates seeking to be commissioned.
Vesuvius had previously been
patrolling in the English Channel off Cape Havre and she returned there on
sailing on 10th August. After September anchored at Spithead and St.
Helens, she was re-deployed and October was spent in transit to Gibraltar.
Until July 1799, when she returned to Spithead, Vesuvius operated in the
Western Mediterranean, the Straits of Gibraltar and out on the Atlantic coast
at least as far as Lisbon. On 27th January 1799 Val was made the
bomb vessel’s master’s mate, which was another superior petty officer rate.
But, this was only temporarily, being re-rated midshipman on 14th
February. This can be explained as follows. While in Lisbon
harbour on 5th December 1798 Commander Fitzgerald was instructed to
take command of a French prize Tonnant (a
third rate man-o-war taken at the Nile). Receiving men variously, within
a few days five others from Vesuvius had been turned over to Tonnant, including her master’s mate, Thomas Duncan.
Lieutenant George Miller was transferred to Vesuvius commanding in an
acting capacity. Subsequently, Commander William Moore joined her at sea, by
cutter on 24th January 1799: with his commission as captain being
read onboard three days later. A man rated master’s mate then joined the bomb
vessel on 14th February, ‘Per Order Earl St. Vincent’ (Admiral John
Jervis, C-in-C Mediterranean). (27)
On her return to the U.K., she
remained at anchor at Spithead until early November. Entries do not quite
match, but on the 4th or 5th, during ‘stormy gales’ Vesuvius
was paid off and the ship’s company was discharged into the Royal William,
on the orders of the port admiral. (28)
Unfortunately for Midshipman Joyce, on
5th November he became one of a draft of four immediately turned
over to the eighteen-gun sloop Brazen. She had been the French privateer
L’Invincible General Buonaparte
until taken as a British prize in April 1799 by the fifth-rate Boadicea.
(29) Under Commander James Hanson, while on patrol
in the Eastern English Channel ‘for the protection of the Trade and annoyance
of the Enemy’, she was lost in the early hours of 26th January 1800,
on Ave Rocks, near Newhaven, Sussex. During a gale, she was smashed to pieces
below cliffs. Most sources maintain all but one of her company were lost in this terrible accident. At least one
contemporaneous press account (reported variously) states that others escaped
though. The day before Brazen had taken a prize and seven men had been
put onboard to take her into Portsmouth. Valentine Joyce was not among these
eight men surviving. (30)
Val is shown in the relevant pay book
on joining Vesuvius in 1798 as already having an annual allotment. This
would seem to indicate that he made this out in 1795 while on the Royal
George, but due to missing ledgers the details are now lost. Although
allotments were primarily aimed at supporting wives, and/or mariners’ children,
mothers could also receive these. So, this in itself proves nothing and in the
one obituary found, no dependants were mentioned. Similarly, no will was
unearthed. (31)
In the surviving 1798 allotment books
there was an ordinary seaman on the Royal George by the of name Thomas
Joyce though. His entry states that he had been born in Portsmouth and his
mother’s name was also Elizabeth. The battleship’s muster books would seem to
indicate that he originally joined her on 1st November 1797, as a
volunteer 3rd class. (The pay books being sloppily kept do not
positively confirm this.) All this is consistent with the baptism entry for a
son to Valentine (senior) and Elizabeth Joyce, named Thomas. So, it certainly
looks as if the young volunteer joined his older brother on the Royal George.
(32) This too is interesting inasmuch as it is
known that youngsters on merchantmen often served on vessels that older family
members were on (certainly by the mid 19th century). But, this is
the only occasion that I have seen a good indication of this sometimes
happening on men-o-war as well.
There are also other areas where
hypothesis can be brought into play. One of these relates to education. In order for Val to operate in the manner
that he did during the mutiny it is obvious that he was not only confident in
his negotiations with senior naval officers, but that he must have been
literate to at least a comparatively good level. This argument can be further
advanced when one takes into consideration his later ratings as master’s mate
and especially midshipman where an understanding of mathematics would have been
required. Knowing something of his lowly background, it may be that he
received schooling through one of the non-conformist churches. (The modern John
Pounds Unitarian Church is on the site of the High Street Presbyterian or
Unitarian Church, Portsmouth. Interestingly, John Pounds had been personally
highly active in educating the poor, although too late to have taught the young
Valentine. (33))
Again, one could speculate as to how
far Valentine Joyce could have progressed within the Royal Navy had he not been
killed prematurely in 1800. Entry and promotion in this service was complex, far
more so than is often stated. Individual cases can be very interesting,
such as of one man pressed in 1808 as an able seaman that had taken over as
acting master of a gun-brig in 1815, (34) but
these cannot be regarded as reliable models. Case studies of larger numbers, as
in one of volunteer landsmen on three frigates between 1795 and 1811, (35) again give interesting insights, but cannot be
regarded as uniform. This, again, is similar in the promotion of commissioned
officers. As has recently been well put in a published academic paper by
Charles Consolvo, there has been a tendency towards
concentrating on particularly successful officers, thereby giving a
skewed perception of the general prospects of those commissioned during these
wars. This excellent study of those receiving their lieutenancies in 1790 shows
a very mixed picture. (36)
Taking all this into consideration two
projections for Val’s career might be made. As a man, he was obviously more
than capable, as his sophisticated performance during the mutiny has shown.
But, on as large a man-o-war as the Royal George it would appear that he
was not in a position to better his lot. Indeed, post mutiny he remained in the
rate of quartermaster’s mate until he was discharged to sick quarters a year
later. Once on the little bomb vessel Vesuvius he rapidly made
midshipman though. This might merely have been because there was a need for a
senior petty officer’s billet to be filled and he was the only suitable
candidate. Or, alternatively, he could have gained his midshipman’s rate by
impressing the newly joined commander within a short time. Nevertheless, he
retained the rate on being transferred to the sloop Brazen. It may have
been that he was content to remain as a petty officer, it simply cannot be
determined from the evidence. But, assuming that by the late 1790s he was
working towards a lieutenancy, even having passed professionally, a commission
would not necessarily have followed. All the same, it would not have
been unlikely to gain an active commission in the years of the much-expanded
navy in the early 1800s. Without interest (as patronage was
then known); a recognised success in battle; or luck for that matter, it could
have been difficult for him to get promotion to commander though (other than on
the retired list post 1815). Yet higher rank could again have been
technically possible, but in light of the European nations not resorting to
further armed conflict for almost a century after the Napoleonic Wars, this
cannot be regarded as particularly likely in this case.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to express gratitude to the
following individuals that were kind enough to discuss points and suggest further
avenues of research. Alphabetically, they are:-
Mary Billot, Elizabeth Hore, Prof.
Richard Harding, Prof. Andrew Lambert, Brian Lavery,
Dr. Peter Le Fevre; Bruno Pappardo,
Prof. N.A.M. Rodger and William Spencer.
One individual
stands out however. He is John Hailey. Apart from encouraging me to take this
further through his continued interest, John very kindly checked the St. Helier parish records for me when on holiday on Jersey. For
this I warmly thank him.
© LEN BARNETT 2005