Q. What made you create this website
A. I discovered that I had a ancestor who was in the Navy during the Napoleonic wars, and was given a medical discharge. Afterwards, he lived at Greenwich as the naval equivalent of a Chelsea Pensioner.
Q. How did you find this out?
A. Googling! My ancestor has an obscure surname, and grew up in a small village. When I googled these, I discovered that my ancestor was a Greenwich pensioner. The details appeared on Kevin Asplin's medals website, where the Greenwich Hospital Entry Books have been partially transcribed, with the help of Ted Beard.
Q. What was your motivation for this website?
A. The motivation is twofold.
Firstly, I am very grateful that I have been able to find out by googling that I had a Naval ancestor. My way of reciprocating is to reconcile the poorly transcribed 1841 Census with the entry books. Perhaps other people will learn through googling that they have Naval ancestors in Nelson's navy!
Secondly, although the existence of the Army's Chelsea Pensioners is well known, the existence of a Naval equivalent which existed until the 1860s is less well known. By consulting several books in the Caird library at Greenwich, I have been able to find out a bit more about Greenwich Hospital, which I have wanted to share with a wider audience.
Q. What have you found interesting about your research?
A. The most interesting aspect for me has been the initiation of the Naval General Service Medal 1793-1840. When it came into being, only the literate middle classes would have had the wherewithal to apply for the medals. Arrangements were made at Greenwich for a bulk application for medals from the residents; around a thousand Pensioners were eligible. Few records relating to working class men from the Nineteeth century have survived, so it is interesting to find such a source that is of interest to genealogists.
In addition, the cultural diversity in Nelson's navy has come as a surprise to me.
Q. You mean that the bulk of the Navy did not come from the West Country?
A. Sailors came from all four corners of the globe. In addition, Marines came from all nations except France. Although many sailors came from coastal area, the Marines tried to recruit from non-coastal areas. This same multinational diversity is reflected in the backgrounds of the pensioners at Greenwich. You would not know this from the 1841 Census, so the embellished census with entry list should add more colour. The story of John Deman is being used by the Old Royal Naval College to introduce the ethnic diversity of Nelson's navy to the wider public.
Q. If I have an ancestor who was at Greenwich, how can I find out more about their life
A. You would do well to employ a researcher, or to do the research yourself at the National Archives, if you live within travelling distance of Kew. Bruno Pappalardo's book gives further detail on the records that are out there (description books, discharge books, subsistence at shore lists, hospital lists etc). For considerably less than the fee of a researcher, amateur historian Kevin Asplin could be approached. The links page will take you to his website.
Q What can I found out without travelling to Kew?
A. There is this website (in the throws of completion) which may help to determine whether or not your ancestor was at Greenwich in 1841. If your ancestor was awarded the Naval General Service Medal, their Greenwich enrolment number may be recorded. This is useful for consulting the General Register of Pensioners, and for indicating the year in which they entered the Royal Hospital.
A limited number of certificates of service (admission papers) have survived, and these can be searched online.
If you know your ancestor was at Trafalgar, the Ayshford Roll (see links) will provide you with a potted history of your ancestor. This can be purchased online.
Q Will you do some research for me, as you have some experience?
A. No. I have created this site, and this is all that I am doing. I do not want to create another rod (or cat o'nine tails) to beat my own back with. I'm trying to get my social life back, as this military genealogy malarkey has taken over my life for a few months.
Q. What is there in print about Greenwich
A. Not a great deal, as far as I can tell. It was the frustration of finding very little on this subject that motivated me to create this website. The only book I am aware of which is still in print is the superb "Jack Tar" (by Roy & Lesley Adkins), which also gives the illuminating account of George King's application for entry to Greenwich Royal Hospital, and contains some illustrations of Pensioners. The May 2010 edition of Practical Family History contained an article on this institution.
Q. My ancestor appeared as a Greenwich Pensioner in the census, but was not living there?
A. For the invalided soldiers and sailors associated with the Royal Hospitals at Chelsea and Greenwich, the men who lived in the institution itself were known as "in-Pensioners". Those men who received a quarterly payment, but resided elsewhere were known as out-Pensioners. Although out-Pensioners are outside of the scope of this project, the page on this website named Out-Pensioner research - a case study may be useful. The following links may also be of use
http://www.nelsonandhisworld.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=814