|
The marriage
certificate of James Donaldson and Jane Vickers. The text is;
These are to certify that James Donaldson, Mariner of Glasgow, Scotland
and Jane Vickers, Sempstress of Dublin, Ireland, were married on board Her
Britannic Majesty's Ship Constance lying at anchor in the Port of
Valparaiso Chile - this twenty sixth day of August in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and forty nine by me Henry W Steel MA, Chaplain
of HMS Constance.
Jane Vickers made her mark,
Mary Ann Boyd made her mark, witnesses Ord Douglas and Irene |
|
The 'Constance'
description book, ADM 38 7837, provides information in addition to the
ship's log. There were some in
the ships complement who did not enjoy the prospect of returning to
England.
On the 26th of November 1847,
Thomas Burton, 20, was put on
board 'Carysfort' for a passage to England to await a decision of the
Admiralty on a charge of manslaughter. He had come from Spitalgate
in York. He had a ruddy complexion, red hair and was rated
'good'. William Morris and George Marshfield were delivered to
Exeter Goal on the 4th of December 1849. They were rated 'very bad'.
Others did not return. Christian Shilling, musician, died at sick quarters
in Valparaiso 6th Feb 1847. James Copp died on board and Henry
North, 20, drowned at sea. There were others who could not survive
the service, like George Benoy, boy first class, who was caused to serve
with disgrace as a confirmed thief. And then there were some who
arranged to be paid off; some at Mazatlan or San Blas and two others -
Thomas Roebuck and Charles Sweetland - who dropped off at San
Francisco. We can only assume they were attracted to the "Gold
Rush". Perhaps their descendants live there now. For the
remainder, the good the bad and the deserters, shipboard life continued as
before.
|
| Although the ship's log makes no mention of
it, when 'Constance' arrived at Rio, Captain Courtenay went to pay his
respects to the C-in-C, Rear Admiral B. Reynolds CB, in his flagship HMS
'Southampton'. Reynolds, preferring traditional dress, was unwilling to
receive Courtenay because his boat's crew wore dungaree suits with red sashes
and long sheath knives at their belts. This incident is reported in a book by
Commander Robinson - The Dress of British seamen, 1913. Courtenay might
well have recalled with regret the similar incident of his own dress
taste, when he took earrings from three of the crew of 'Constance'. Their
time in Rio was short: they were hurrying home, but had time enough to
receive on board a distressed British subject, Thomas McLann, a negro. The
consul had requested a passage to London for this man. The ship set out
from Rio on the 13th of October and arrived at Spithead the 24th of
November 1849. HMS 'Constance' had completed her only commission as a
sailing ship. |
