![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
steepholmI've taken longer to come back for the second of the three mysteries I promised in my last than I'd intended - apologies for that.
The death of Charles William Butler (1779-1813), the third and youngest son of Weeden I, is actually well documented, though many details remain uncertain, so perhaps it doesn't quite count as a 'mystery', but it was certanly seen and treated as such in the early months of 1814, when his fate was still uncertain, which is why it belongs here. Charles's death also, inevitably, marks a rupture in the life of his wife and widow Fanny, aka Fanch - although not quite as large a one as might have been expected. But more of that in Part 3.
Unlike his elder brothers, Weeden II and George, Charles showed no inclination for the Church, but was set from boyhood on a sailor's life. We can glimpse him in the letters of Pierce Butler, the American politician, in 1792, when thirteen-year-old Charles becomes seriously ill while his ship was in the United States and Pierce (no relation, but whose own son was one of Weeden I's pupils in London) had the opportunity of talking with him during his convalescence:
The letters I have from Charles match this character, but also go beyond it. He is religious, humorous, uncomplaining, devoted to his wife, and physically brave. At some point he joins the East India Company, swapping the Atlantic for the Indian Ocean. The run from London, round the Cape of Good Hope, and then on to Batavia (Indonesia) and China, becomes his circuit. It's a dangerous profession, what with disease and accidents, as well of course as the possibility of drowning. Here - to give you a taste - is a letter written on 12 March 1808 to George, from the sick bay of the East Indiaman Alfred, of which he was then mate:
Eventually Charles was given a command of his own, the William Pitt. He made one successful voyage on her from 1811-1812, and was returning from Batavia at the conclusion of a second, when he came to Algoa Bay off the Cape in December 1813.
What happened next is still not entirely clear. It's evident now that the ship was lost with all hands, but whether it ran aground or went down in deep water, or why either might have happened, is less obvious. I have quite a collection of contemporary letters and reports, which it would be tedious to reproduce in full here, but I'll give you a representative sample. One thing I find particularly interesting is the forensic reasoning used by some correspondents, notable Capt. Bayliffe below.
31 December 1813: from J.G. Cuyler to the War Office
Sir,
Several Pieces of Ship having lately been cast upon the coast of this district under my superintendence, I lost no time in having a search made along the coast, and a Box has been found, though nothing as yet of the Hull of the Ship, or of any of the crew. In said Box were several letters, much damaged by the sea water, among which were those under this cover, however less injured than many others. From what I can collect, it appears that the letters were a mail made up at Batavia about the 20th October last, and sent per ??? East I. Com. Extra Ship William Pitt, which was to have sailed about the 22d October in company with the Lord Eldon for London. I have dried the letters and now send them all by this opportunity to the Colonial Secretary at Cape Town, and hope they may reach their destination.
May I solicit your giving information of this loss to the East India Company.
With the greatest respect,
I have the honor to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient hum. Servant
J.G. Cuyler Lieut. Col
& Major Cape Regt.
11 January 1814: from C Chatfield (solicitor) to Weeden II
21 January 1814: from Capt. Phipps Hornby of The Stag to Admiral Tyler
What little Information I have been able to collect respecting her probable fate comes from the officer commanding the Troops at Algoa Bay where I first anchored on the 11th. This officer Captn. Evatt informed me that on the 16th Dec last they had seen a large Ship passing to the westward and that on the Friday night the 17th about 11 oclock 5 signal Guns as if fired in distress were heard in St Francis of Gamptoos Bay which is the Bay directly to the westward of Cape Recife ; on the Saturday it blew very hard from the westward and in a day or two afterwards he heard that much wreck had been thrown up in one spot particularly near the mouth of the little River Gamtoos. He then ordered our officer’s Party round to the place who remained there two or three days during which time wreck continued to come on shore but no bodies. The pieces of the wreck that I have seen (and they describe there being nothing lager) appear to be only bulk heads of cabins, Lids of Boxes, Furniture, the medicine chest (marked William Pitt) pieces boats and small spars and such articles as might be expected to have been washed away from the upper deck and Cabin from a heavy Sea striking her. There is indeed on plank as if of the Poop Deck with the Cot Screws still in it and this is the only thing that bespeaks at all the Ship to have gone to pieces. I have also seen the sheave of four of her top masts, and some of the party said that a little distance from the other pieces of the wreck there was what appeared to them to be the Heel of top-mast. It is somewhat remarkable that if the Ship has been wrecked on any part of this Coast, none of the larger Timbers have been thrown up as she must from the Surf have gone immediately to pieces neither has one bit of Rope or Sail been thrown on shore or seen attached to any of the Fragments picked up. About the latter end of the Month the party returned to Algoa Bay but Captn Evatt having since learnt that some drown’d Sheep & Pigs had been thrown up on the same spot I was induced to beg him to send again round, to see if anything further could be gained, in which request he kindly complied whilst I in the mean-time intended to go and look at the Bird Islands. I accordingly left Algoa Bay during the night in order to reach the Rocks by day-light. It however blew so strong from the S.W. that I could not approach them and therefore ran on in the hope of gaining shelter in the Bay which the books describe to the eastward of Cape Padtoon. It did not however seem to offer safe anchorage and during the night it blew very hard with a tremendous Sea, in which we lost our quarter Boats. I got back to Algoa Bay on the 13th and found the party had returned from Gamptoos without further information. I again therefore weighed on the morning of the 14th for the Bird Islands and was standing on and off them during that forenoon but they are so surrounded by breakers on the South South East side that I could not safely approach them nearer than four miles and as the wind was from the S. with a direct Lee Shore I did not venture to send my boats on shore. I can however to a certainty say that there is no human being alive on them, even should the ship have been lost on them, which there is no reason to expect.
9 May 1814: Capt Bayliffe to George Butler
My Dear Doctor Butler,
You, who know the operations of the human mind, will not be surprized to hear the Questions I have asked myself, since the conversation that passed between us yesterday. “Well, what would Dr Butler infer from your remarks? Is he to suppose from your observations that there are greater Hopes of his Brother’s safety, than what other People had induced him to believe?” To which I should answer, probably and possibly No: but I must confess, it is a qualified No. The Modification of the Negative arises from these Reflections: as a professional man you put into my possession certain Documents, from which you wish me to draw a professional conclusion.
To a person who I think would not misapply my Reasoning I should thus remark:
The first Report of the Ship being lost, was slighted, because there was not sufficient Evidence. My conclusion was very different: it shewed great Cause for suspecting the fatal Accident.
The next Report stated some pieces of Wreck were discovered, and some part bearing the Ship’s Name; but that no other Tidings were known, nor had she otherwise been heard of; from which it appeared very conclusive that she was gone: - the Mind was left at large to imagine How, When, and Where.
A circumstantial Detail next appears,- which reports the particular Articles that had come to view: those Articles are decidedly nothing more than what would be washed from a Ship’s Upper Deck; - except a Medicine Chest: That, most assuredly, would not be an Appendage of the Upper Deck; nor is it possible to be the only thing of the other Deck; because there must naturally be more buoyant things on the Deck where the Medicine Chest was, than that Thing itself: and even the natural Things likely to be on the Upper Deck floatable does not appear to justify a conclusion, that all was washed from that particular Part, which was floatable.
Now, I can account for a probable Mistake in the Parties’ concluding the Article to be a Medicine Chest. It probably was a Part of a Colour Chest; which always, like the other, bears the Ship’s Name. and is of the same Size, and which, frequently and generally is kept on the Poop.
What does all this infer?- No less than this, that the Ship might have lost the Poop, or Part of it, and many of the Things on the Upper Deck; but that she might exist notwithstanding. How many Ships have lost their Poops, and so existed? – And, if otherwise in this Case, it is most extraordinary, that more of the Wreck has not been thrown up – this Wonder appears to strike the Judgement of the Captain of the Ship sent to make Enquiries. He expresses his Astonishment at it; and draws the natural Conclusion, “the she must first have struck on a Rock, and then gone down in deep Water:” But, the Things that have driven on Shore do not justify that Conclusion; but rather, that the Ship had lost her Poop: Whether she did not afterwards founder, God only knows.
To justify my own Conclusions, I have these Grounds.
The Ship was seen, as to-day, passing to the Westward: it is not noticed that she appeared in Distress: the People on board, we conclude, must have seen the Land. Guns—they say five—we heard at eleven o’Clock the following Night: it is most probable that more than five were fired, because at that Hour, People are not the quickest in their Notice.
Now, all I wish to infer about the firing of Guns, is this, - that the People on board knew of their Danger, - a contrary thing to their going suddenly down. All Seamen must know the Advantage of being apprised of Danger: Various are the Resources, at Times, in such awful Moments. That your poor Brother did not neglect some of them, we know, by the Guns being fire; and it is natural to conclude, he had Recourse to them all. This I know, his never-failing one would be a Trust in God, - and an affectionate Feeling to those left behind.
I feel also, my Friend, that this Explanation, to you, of the passing Thought in my Mind will not be Misapplied. I trust your Resignation will be that of a pious Man.
10 May 1814: Weeden II to George Butler
Hearing last night of Captn Bayliffe’s sanguine hopes, I called upon Captn Butterfield (a most excellent officer & a fond friend of dear Charles) and asked his opinion. I give you his ideas, in nearly his own words. “My good fellow! I wish I could join this supposition of their arrival at Madagascar. Madagascar lies full six days’ sail from Algoa Bay. I myself was nearly lost in Algoa Bay; but, by heaving overboard sixteen of my guns cautiously & some heavy articles, in nine days time, I got clear. With a Westerly or So. Westerly wind the sea there is dreadful. Even at sea, I have often only seen our consorts between the rollings. Depend upon it, the underwriters for their own sakes will cling to every reasonable hope, but they will pay their ventures on the William Pitt, I fear, without remarks now. I do think, that (being a slow-sailing ship, as it is reported) the William Pitt made land, when the Ld Eldon left her, & was caught in a gale before she again made good her offing. If she was distrest and lost her sails, as I think possible, she must in that case soon again near the coast. If she shipped a heavy sea, and had sugars on board, the sugars would melt, and she would become top-heavy. The wreck of yards, boats, bulk-heads of cabins, &c, &c, might be washed over with the pigs and sheep, by a heavy sea; but the bag of letters, the cot, the medicine chest give me great uneasiness, indeed. The signal guns seem to have been fired at the abandonment of all hope of self-preservation. Oh! Butler! how gladly would I give up my dollars, to shake my friend Charles by the hand once more. You know how eagerly I called with my enquiries at your house, though I would not trouble your good father. Charles was a sound officer & a worthy man.”
11 May 1814: Weeden II to George Butler
Yesterday, on his return from Harrow, our excellent father blessed my heart with Captain Bayliffe’s sensible remarks, - of which till then I had heard only an imperfect statement: I deem them strong & highly comfortable; and next to facts, the most satisfactory encouragements to hope that I can well conceive possible to be given.
I wish the bays where the “signals” were fired may have been explored: therein lies the solution, I fear, of all our doubts!!! But – God’s paths are in the mighty waters & his mercies are are all over his works. A truce now to ingenious conjectures; no doubt, the officers did their arduous duty well, - & if they are gone from us, God grant that the humblest of the crew may have been as virtuous & as prepared for immortality as (I am confident in hope) our valued brother was! My feelings are still wrought up too boisterously, alas! for me to contemplate in idea a rolling sea, a tempestuous sky, a shattered vessel, & a rocky shore, - & to hear the broken sound of 5 feeble guns – without horror unalloyed & overwhelming.
The Times, 19th May 1814
The sea did indeed prove a rough element, as Pierce Butler had predicted, but Charles made a tidy sum before it overwhelmed him, and he had made sure to give Fanny power of attorney before leaving on his final voyage. (I have a copy of it.)
What became of her afterwards? And what's the mystery surrounding that latter part of her life? Tune in next time - which I shall try to make sure comes without such a shameful interval as preceded this entry.
The death of Charles William Butler (1779-1813), the third and youngest son of Weeden I, is actually well documented, though many details remain uncertain, so perhaps it doesn't quite count as a 'mystery', but it was certanly seen and treated as such in the early months of 1814, when his fate was still uncertain, which is why it belongs here. Charles's death also, inevitably, marks a rupture in the life of his wife and widow Fanny, aka Fanch - although not quite as large a one as might have been expected. But more of that in Part 3.
Unlike his elder brothers, Weeden II and George, Charles showed no inclination for the Church, but was set from boyhood on a sailor's life. We can glimpse him in the letters of Pierce Butler, the American politician, in 1792, when thirteen-year-old Charles becomes seriously ill while his ship was in the United States and Pierce (no relation, but whose own son was one of Weeden I's pupils in London) had the opportunity of talking with him during his convalescence:
"The little time I had of conversing with your son, I tried indirectly to present before his the inconveinences of a seafaring life - but all to no purpose. He appeared to me quite determined to pursue it. I think, from some observation of him, that he is in his feelings and manners too amiable for a seaman. Not that there are not many amiable men of the profession, but you will agree with me it is a rough element for the exercise of mild manners and much sensibility, both of which are attached to your son." (2 September 1792.)
The letters I have from Charles match this character, but also go beyond it. He is religious, humorous, uncomplaining, devoted to his wife, and physically brave. At some point he joins the East India Company, swapping the Atlantic for the Indian Ocean. The run from London, round the Cape of Good Hope, and then on to Batavia (Indonesia) and China, becomes his circuit. It's a dangerous profession, what with disease and accidents, as well of course as the possibility of drowning. Here - to give you a taste - is a letter written on 12 March 1808 to George, from the sick bay of the East Indiaman Alfred, of which he was then mate:
since the 8th of Feby you h’bl Servant has not been out of his Cot, owing to a severe Jam or Squeeze between the Cable (which was running out & which we could not then stopper and the Messenger (another large rope of 11 inches Diameter). All about this “fortunate Event”, as to the ultimate Result, I hope in Sepr to be able to explain to you, when during our passage with Fanchy (probably) in the good Ship from the Downs to Long-Reach. Meanwhile I shall merely mention that I was dragg’d half way into the Fauld [?], & have yet escap’d without any Fracture of Bones whatever, though I never really expected to have come out alive, or at best, I thought I should have had my thigh torn out & consequently most likely in a worse Situation. Everyone who witness’d the Accident, were astonish’d at my Escape, which the more & more I reflect upon, by so much the more I think wonderful. The Flesh was of course lacerated, my Pantaloons and Stockings fairly ground, and yet I walk’d aft, wishing to prevent Confusion from the Men’s Feelings around me, who really, tho’ in an uncultivated State, had very nigh overpower’d mine (by their solicitous Enquiries & offers of Assistance) agitated as they were with Astonishment at the miraculous Interposition of Providence, and I trust not void of Grateful Emotions for my Preservation!!!
Eventually Charles was given a command of his own, the William Pitt. He made one successful voyage on her from 1811-1812, and was returning from Batavia at the conclusion of a second, when he came to Algoa Bay off the Cape in December 1813.
What happened next is still not entirely clear. It's evident now that the ship was lost with all hands, but whether it ran aground or went down in deep water, or why either might have happened, is less obvious. I have quite a collection of contemporary letters and reports, which it would be tedious to reproduce in full here, but I'll give you a representative sample. One thing I find particularly interesting is the forensic reasoning used by some correspondents, notable Capt. Bayliffe below.
31 December 1813: from J.G. Cuyler to the War Office
Sir,
Several Pieces of Ship having lately been cast upon the coast of this district under my superintendence, I lost no time in having a search made along the coast, and a Box has been found, though nothing as yet of the Hull of the Ship, or of any of the crew. In said Box were several letters, much damaged by the sea water, among which were those under this cover, however less injured than many others. From what I can collect, it appears that the letters were a mail made up at Batavia about the 20th October last, and sent per ??? East I. Com. Extra Ship William Pitt, which was to have sailed about the 22d October in company with the Lord Eldon for London. I have dried the letters and now send them all by this opportunity to the Colonial Secretary at Cape Town, and hope they may reach their destination.
May I solicit your giving information of this loss to the East India Company.
With the greatest respect,
I have the honor to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient hum. Servant
J.G. Cuyler Lieut. Col
& Major Cape Regt.
11 January 1814: from C Chatfield (solicitor) to Weeden II
I should have replied at an earlier period to your favour of the 4th instant, but I have been awaiting the information given by the India fleet, and it was only yesterday, that I was able to ascertain circumstances to a certainty. I have learned from a person, arrived by the Lord Eldon, that he was on board the William Pitt, on the day previous to the supposed loss of that unfortunate vessel. The William Pitt was then in perfect order, and parted with the view of standing in, towards the shore, to get into a better channel; whilst the Lord Eldon kept out to sea. The Company’s resident at the Cape has sent out a vessel to endeavour to find the crew, but they cannot discover any trace whatever of the ship or its people, excepting that considerable part of the vessel has been driven on shore at Algoa Bay, where there are a few persons resident; other articles belonging to the ship have been cast up near the same place, and the impression on my mind is, that the ship has struck upon a rock, and having afterwards floated into deep water, has there sunk. It is impossible for me to offer you any consolation in this afflicting event, and I must therefore leave you to the exercise of that patience of resignation, and of those religious resources, from which you are well able to derive consolation, infinitely greater than any which I can afford. I request you will believe that I have not been inattentive to the contents of your letter, altho’ I have so long delayed to return and answer to it, my only motive having been a wish to obtain decisive information.
21 January 1814: from Capt. Phipps Hornby of The Stag to Admiral Tyler
What little Information I have been able to collect respecting her probable fate comes from the officer commanding the Troops at Algoa Bay where I first anchored on the 11th. This officer Captn. Evatt informed me that on the 16th Dec last they had seen a large Ship passing to the westward and that on the Friday night the 17th about 11 oclock 5 signal Guns as if fired in distress were heard in St Francis of Gamptoos Bay which is the Bay directly to the westward of Cape Recife ; on the Saturday it blew very hard from the westward and in a day or two afterwards he heard that much wreck had been thrown up in one spot particularly near the mouth of the little River Gamtoos. He then ordered our officer’s Party round to the place who remained there two or three days during which time wreck continued to come on shore but no bodies. The pieces of the wreck that I have seen (and they describe there being nothing lager) appear to be only bulk heads of cabins, Lids of Boxes, Furniture, the medicine chest (marked William Pitt) pieces boats and small spars and such articles as might be expected to have been washed away from the upper deck and Cabin from a heavy Sea striking her. There is indeed on plank as if of the Poop Deck with the Cot Screws still in it and this is the only thing that bespeaks at all the Ship to have gone to pieces. I have also seen the sheave of four of her top masts, and some of the party said that a little distance from the other pieces of the wreck there was what appeared to them to be the Heel of top-mast. It is somewhat remarkable that if the Ship has been wrecked on any part of this Coast, none of the larger Timbers have been thrown up as she must from the Surf have gone immediately to pieces neither has one bit of Rope or Sail been thrown on shore or seen attached to any of the Fragments picked up. About the latter end of the Month the party returned to Algoa Bay but Captn Evatt having since learnt that some drown’d Sheep & Pigs had been thrown up on the same spot I was induced to beg him to send again round, to see if anything further could be gained, in which request he kindly complied whilst I in the mean-time intended to go and look at the Bird Islands. I accordingly left Algoa Bay during the night in order to reach the Rocks by day-light. It however blew so strong from the S.W. that I could not approach them and therefore ran on in the hope of gaining shelter in the Bay which the books describe to the eastward of Cape Padtoon. It did not however seem to offer safe anchorage and during the night it blew very hard with a tremendous Sea, in which we lost our quarter Boats. I got back to Algoa Bay on the 13th and found the party had returned from Gamptoos without further information. I again therefore weighed on the morning of the 14th for the Bird Islands and was standing on and off them during that forenoon but they are so surrounded by breakers on the South South East side that I could not safely approach them nearer than four miles and as the wind was from the S. with a direct Lee Shore I did not venture to send my boats on shore. I can however to a certainty say that there is no human being alive on them, even should the ship have been lost on them, which there is no reason to expect.
9 May 1814: Capt Bayliffe to George Butler
My Dear Doctor Butler,
You, who know the operations of the human mind, will not be surprized to hear the Questions I have asked myself, since the conversation that passed between us yesterday. “Well, what would Dr Butler infer from your remarks? Is he to suppose from your observations that there are greater Hopes of his Brother’s safety, than what other People had induced him to believe?” To which I should answer, probably and possibly No: but I must confess, it is a qualified No. The Modification of the Negative arises from these Reflections: as a professional man you put into my possession certain Documents, from which you wish me to draw a professional conclusion.
To a person who I think would not misapply my Reasoning I should thus remark:
The first Report of the Ship being lost, was slighted, because there was not sufficient Evidence. My conclusion was very different: it shewed great Cause for suspecting the fatal Accident.
The next Report stated some pieces of Wreck were discovered, and some part bearing the Ship’s Name; but that no other Tidings were known, nor had she otherwise been heard of; from which it appeared very conclusive that she was gone: - the Mind was left at large to imagine How, When, and Where.
A circumstantial Detail next appears,- which reports the particular Articles that had come to view: those Articles are decidedly nothing more than what would be washed from a Ship’s Upper Deck; - except a Medicine Chest: That, most assuredly, would not be an Appendage of the Upper Deck; nor is it possible to be the only thing of the other Deck; because there must naturally be more buoyant things on the Deck where the Medicine Chest was, than that Thing itself: and even the natural Things likely to be on the Upper Deck floatable does not appear to justify a conclusion, that all was washed from that particular Part, which was floatable.
Now, I can account for a probable Mistake in the Parties’ concluding the Article to be a Medicine Chest. It probably was a Part of a Colour Chest; which always, like the other, bears the Ship’s Name. and is of the same Size, and which, frequently and generally is kept on the Poop.
What does all this infer?- No less than this, that the Ship might have lost the Poop, or Part of it, and many of the Things on the Upper Deck; but that she might exist notwithstanding. How many Ships have lost their Poops, and so existed? – And, if otherwise in this Case, it is most extraordinary, that more of the Wreck has not been thrown up – this Wonder appears to strike the Judgement of the Captain of the Ship sent to make Enquiries. He expresses his Astonishment at it; and draws the natural Conclusion, “the she must first have struck on a Rock, and then gone down in deep Water:” But, the Things that have driven on Shore do not justify that Conclusion; but rather, that the Ship had lost her Poop: Whether she did not afterwards founder, God only knows.
To justify my own Conclusions, I have these Grounds.
The Ship was seen, as to-day, passing to the Westward: it is not noticed that she appeared in Distress: the People on board, we conclude, must have seen the Land. Guns—they say five—we heard at eleven o’Clock the following Night: it is most probable that more than five were fired, because at that Hour, People are not the quickest in their Notice.
Now, all I wish to infer about the firing of Guns, is this, - that the People on board knew of their Danger, - a contrary thing to their going suddenly down. All Seamen must know the Advantage of being apprised of Danger: Various are the Resources, at Times, in such awful Moments. That your poor Brother did not neglect some of them, we know, by the Guns being fire; and it is natural to conclude, he had Recourse to them all. This I know, his never-failing one would be a Trust in God, - and an affectionate Feeling to those left behind.
I feel also, my Friend, that this Explanation, to you, of the passing Thought in my Mind will not be Misapplied. I trust your Resignation will be that of a pious Man.
10 May 1814: Weeden II to George Butler
Hearing last night of Captn Bayliffe’s sanguine hopes, I called upon Captn Butterfield (a most excellent officer & a fond friend of dear Charles) and asked his opinion. I give you his ideas, in nearly his own words. “My good fellow! I wish I could join this supposition of their arrival at Madagascar. Madagascar lies full six days’ sail from Algoa Bay. I myself was nearly lost in Algoa Bay; but, by heaving overboard sixteen of my guns cautiously & some heavy articles, in nine days time, I got clear. With a Westerly or So. Westerly wind the sea there is dreadful. Even at sea, I have often only seen our consorts between the rollings. Depend upon it, the underwriters for their own sakes will cling to every reasonable hope, but they will pay their ventures on the William Pitt, I fear, without remarks now. I do think, that (being a slow-sailing ship, as it is reported) the William Pitt made land, when the Ld Eldon left her, & was caught in a gale before she again made good her offing. If she was distrest and lost her sails, as I think possible, she must in that case soon again near the coast. If she shipped a heavy sea, and had sugars on board, the sugars would melt, and she would become top-heavy. The wreck of yards, boats, bulk-heads of cabins, &c, &c, might be washed over with the pigs and sheep, by a heavy sea; but the bag of letters, the cot, the medicine chest give me great uneasiness, indeed. The signal guns seem to have been fired at the abandonment of all hope of self-preservation. Oh! Butler! how gladly would I give up my dollars, to shake my friend Charles by the hand once more. You know how eagerly I called with my enquiries at your house, though I would not trouble your good father. Charles was a sound officer & a worthy man.”
11 May 1814: Weeden II to George Butler
Yesterday, on his return from Harrow, our excellent father blessed my heart with Captain Bayliffe’s sensible remarks, - of which till then I had heard only an imperfect statement: I deem them strong & highly comfortable; and next to facts, the most satisfactory encouragements to hope that I can well conceive possible to be given.
I wish the bays where the “signals” were fired may have been explored: therein lies the solution, I fear, of all our doubts!!! But – God’s paths are in the mighty waters & his mercies are are all over his works. A truce now to ingenious conjectures; no doubt, the officers did their arduous duty well, - & if they are gone from us, God grant that the humblest of the crew may have been as virtuous & as prepared for immortality as (I am confident in hope) our valued brother was! My feelings are still wrought up too boisterously, alas! for me to contemplate in idea a rolling sea, a tempestuous sky, a shattered vessel, & a rocky shore, - & to hear the broken sound of 5 feeble guns – without horror unalloyed & overwhelming.
The Times, 19th May 1814
The sea did indeed prove a rough element, as Pierce Butler had predicted, but Charles made a tidy sum before it overwhelmed him, and he had made sure to give Fanny power of attorney before leaving on his final voyage. (I have a copy of it.)
What became of her afterwards? And what's the mystery surrounding that latter part of her life? Tune in next time - which I shall try to make sure comes without such a shameful interval as preceded this entry.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-07-19 11:08 am (UTC)Meanwhile I've been getting a bit more about my Romani ancestry!
(no subject)
Date: 2026-07-19 02:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-07-19 01:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-07-19 02:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-07-19 03:44 pm (UTC)Possibly the world would be a better place if people more of his type ignored well-meant advice and took their amiability into hostile professions.
Judging by the letter he sent after his accident, he retained his good nature, and while the sea might have beaten him down in the end, the company he kept never did.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-07-19 04:04 pm (UTC)Agreed!
(no subject)
Date: 2026-07-20 08:06 am (UTC)I have little to contribute, but I am enjoying the tracing of this history, especially the letters in this installment.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-07-20 09:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-07-21 11:52 pm (UTC)