Events
The Execution of Admiral Byng
“Any court-martial is a perilous thing, whether you are in the right or the wrong – justice has nothing much to do with it. Remember poor Vincent of the Weymouth: remember Byng – shot for an […]
law
Impressment
An Introduction to Life at Sea in Aubrey’s Royal Navy
The full experience of life aboard a man o’ war in Aubrey’s Royal Navy is not something that can be easily summed up in a short article. It’s not something that can be easily summed […]
Punishment
Naval Punishment for Boys: “Kissing the Gunner’s Daughter”
In the eighteenth century the Royal Navy encouraged boys as young as nine to enlist as ‘servants’ (the lower age limit was raised to 13 in 1794). They acted as cabin boys to officers and […]
Events
Breaking the 29th Article
“It is odd how the law always harps upon the unnaturalness of sodomy,” observed Stephen. “Though I know at least two judges who are paederasts; and of course barristers. What will happen to him?” “Oh, […]
Primary Sources
The Articles of War
Compiled and introduced by Gibbons Burke. The Articles of War on board a Royal Navy ship assumed the proportions and gravity of holy writ. It served as the law and axis mundi of the secular religion practiced upon […]