Tracing Your Royal Marine Ancestors
Tracing Your Royal Marine Ancestors

Author: Richard Brooks

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2009-04-22

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 178159645X

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Whether you are interested in the career of an individual Royal Marine or just want to know more about the part played by the Marines in a particular battle or campaign, this book will point you in the right direction. Assuming that the reader has no prior knowledge of the Royal Marines, their history or organization, Richard Brooks and Matthew Little explain which records survive, where they can be found and how they can help you in your research. They also describe in vivid detail the evolution of the Royal Marines, from the tentative beginnings of the service in the seventeenth century to their present position as a key part of the British armed forces.

British Naval Swords and Swordmanship
British Naval Swords and Swordmanship

Author: Mark Barton

Publisher: Seaforth Publishing

Published: 2013-07-03

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 184832135X

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This new publication is intended to bring together a mass of research dealing with all aspects of British naval swords. Unlike the much sought after Swords of Sea Service by May and Annis, this work offers a far broader coverage and, for the first time, the complete story of swords and swordsmanship is presented in one concise volume. While the swords themselves are described the authors also tell the story of naval swordsmanship For exsample, subjects such as how swords and cutlasses were used in action and how training was conducted and covered. The authors also address how how the use of swords developed into a sport in the Navy, and how swords and swordsmanship may have entered naval symbology in such areas as ships' names. Many current myths are addressed and corrected, and the story is brought right up to date with information on the sport from 1948 to 2000. While the book concentrates on the Royal Navy, foreign weapons, including those of the Irish Naval Service, are mentioned where appropriate Other British Maritime organisations such as the Merchant Navy, the Customs and Coastguard Services, and the Reserves are also addressed The book also covers subjects such as dating, collecting, and conservation of swords and re-examines those swords attributed to Nelson. The Appendices include the first list of Swords of Peace awarded to naval units to be published. Recent research by the authors is also reflected in the updated lists of Patriotic Fund Awards, City of London Swords, and Naval fencing champions contained in the Appendicitises The comprehensive nature of the work has not been attempted before and the book will appeal to a wide range of naval enthusiasts and historians, collectors of weapons, fencers and re-enactors.

Midshipmen and Quarterdeck Boys in the British Navy, 1771-1831
Midshipmen and Quarterdeck Boys in the British Navy, 1771-1831

Author: S. A. Cavell

Publisher: Boydell Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1843837196

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A fascinating study of midshipmen and other "young gentlemen", outlining their social background, career paths and what life was like for them. Officer recruits - "young gentlemen" - entered the Royal Navy with dreams of fame, fortune and glory, but many found promotion difficult, with a large number unable to progress beyond lieutenant. Recent scholarship has argued thatduring the wars of 1793-1815 there was greater social diversity among naval officers, with promotion increasingly related to professional competence. This book, based on extensive original research, examines the social backgroundof around 4,000 "young gentlemen" a term which includes midshipmen and various other categories, including captains' servants, volunteers and masters' mates. It concludes that in fact high birth became an increasingly important factor in the selection of officer candidates, and that as the Admiralty grip on the appointment and management of officer aspirants increased, especially after 1815, aristocratic presence in the ranks of young officers increased significantly as a result of deliberate Admiralty policy. The book also discusses the assertion that the increase in elite sons led to a dramatic increase in cases of indiscipline and insubordination, concluding that although therewas a marked increase in courts martial for insubordination during and after the French Wars there is no evidence that such cases related more to the elites than to young aspirants in general". The book includes many case study examples of midshipmen and other "young gentlemen", illustrating what life was like for them and how they themselves viewed their situation. S.A. CAVELL is a graduate of the Queensland University of Technology and Louisiana State University and completed her doctorate at the University of Exeter.