5010-G-EARLY YEARS 1850-70

EARLY YEARS OF GEORGE KING-HALL

(1850 - 1870)

1850-1863

George King-Hall was born in Weymouth on the 14th August 1850. For the first years of his life his father was almost continuously at sea serving in the Indian Ocean during the Eighth Kaffir War, the Baltic during the Crimean War and the China Station during the Second Chinese War. During these long separations Louisa lived with her young family either in Weymouth or Devonport or with her parents in Canada. By the age of six GKH had crossed the Atlantic three times.

Despite the separations the size of the family of William and Louisa grew steadily and by 1857 she had had four sons and one daughter, however shortly after William had left England for a three year commission on the China Station, the eldest son, also called William, died, leaving George as the eldest surviving child. As will be seen this position gave George considerable responsibilities in the future.

In 1859 the family was reunited in Halifax when William was appointed as Flag Captain to the Commander in Chief on the North American and West Indies Station. However the reunion was brief and three months after the arrival of his father George was sent back to school in England. His passage home was an uncomfortable experience as the Captain had unwisely decided to take the northern route and the voyage took a month as the ship met gale after gale. In later life George recalled that his most lasting recollection of this voyage was that when provisions began to run out the Wardroom officers decided to eat the fine sugared cake that he had been supplied with by his loving mother.

On arrival in England he found himself under the charge of a Miss Adams who kept a Dame School in the village of Frant, near Tonbridge Wells. One of the more remarkable features of this establishment was the employment of a phrenologist to assess the career potential of the students. As GKH recalled, he was alarmed to hear this expert pronounce more in sorrow than anger "This boy will turn out very bad or the reverse". Some seventy years later he was able to say with some satisfaction that the latter outcome had been nearer the truth. He spent his Christmas holidays with his paternal grandfather, James Hall and his step grandmother. In 1860 William King-Hall returned from the North American Station and was appointed to the three decker line-of-battleship Royal Adelaide, a Guardship moored at Devonport which became the home of the King-Hall family. For the next few years the growing family, which by 1866 consisted of four boys and four girls, lived in similar nautical accommodation, first at Falmouth and then at Sheerness.

In 1862 GKH went to school at North Grove House in Southsea, an establishment that prepared young boys for entry into the Royal Navy, and from there passed into Britannia as a Naval Cadet at the age of 13. After a year on board Britannia at Dartmouth he was appointed to Narcissus, which was due to sail from Devonport to Rio de Janeiro as the flag ship of the C-in-C on the South East Coast of South America Station.

1863-70

The following description of GKH's life as a Cadet and Midshipman is based on an introductory section to his diaries and some reminiscences that he wrote later in his life. GKH passed into Her Majesty's Service December 1863 as a Naval Cadet and joined the Britannia at Dartmouth in January 1864. He remained in Britannia for eighteen months and during this time he acquired a reputation for his skill and agility while working on the upper yards of the ship, his speciality being standing on the Topmast Cap.

In April 1865 GKH joined the Narcissus, a wooden screw frigate that had started life in 1857 as a fourth rate sailing frigate and had been converted to the new method of propulsion while on the building stocks. The Narcissus was the flag ship to the Commander in Chief on the South East Coast of South America and was sailing to replace the previous flag ship Bombay which had been destroyed by a fire with considerable loss of life a few months earlier. On the passage to Rio de Janeiro, which was made almost entirely under sail, a fire broke out in the paint store room and the Narcissus very nearly suffered the fate of her predecessor.

Gun Room life was not very comfortable. The Gun Room was able to hold 18 comfortably but there were 34 officers in the mess. This meant that double sittings of meals were necessary and the 5 naval cadets had to have their meals on their sea chests. At 9 pm a fork was stuck in the beam which was signal for all under 18 years of age to clear out. Ships biscuits were still an important part of the menu and were kept in bags where they often became 'weevily'. The unwanted insects were removed by tapping the biscuits on the table. On the lighter side, sport was provided by racing cockroaches with a bit of candle dip on them.

It must be remembered that GKH and many of his colleagues were still no more than children. At a Ball in Rio GKH had lost his heart to a young Brazilian girl, both of them being about 4 ft 8 in height. The Admiral seeing them dancing together called them up to him and patting them on the head said what a nice little couple they were. The Admiral might not have been so affable if he had known about some of GKH's other nocturnal activities. The Admiral had recently married and on occasions used to embark his young wife and little baby boy on board. With them he also embarked a maid, horses, cattle and goats, the last to provide milk for the young child. During the Middle Watch (0001-0400) the Mids used to milk the goat so as improve the quality of their cocoa, there being no condensed milk in those days. The Admiral's steward apparently used to wonder why the goats gave so little milk.

Discipline on board was still barbaric by modern standards. GKH saw his first flogging in the service (this form of punishment was suspended, and never reintroduced, in the 1870s) when a seaman received 30 lashes and the Petty Officer who was mixed up with him was disrated and towed ashore on a grating. On another occasion the bowman of a boat was so infuriated by the nagging he received from his Midshipman that he struck him on the head. For this offence he received 5 year's penal servitude.

The ship's programme consisted largely of a series of port visits and during his time on board GKH went to most of the places on the station, including the Falkland Islands, where he remembers proudly dining with the Governor, an old naval friend of his father. These visits often offered an opportunity for sporting activities such as fishing, riding and shooting.

In June 1866 GKH transferred to the Challenger, a screw corvette which was on her way out to Australia to act as flag ship to the Commodore. After a good passage under sail, during which 3400 miles was covered in 17 days, the Challenger arrived at Simons Bay. After a six day visit the ship sailed for Sydney. This passage is best described in GKH's own words. 'We left Simons Town at the end of July and stretched across the Indian Ocean. Westerly gales chased us nearly the whole way, long seas 600 ft between crests and the ship creaking and rolling in her efforts to outstrip the following rollers. It was quite a glorious sight seeing the full sweep of the waves passing under us. At times her head was almost buried in the sea the stern high out of the water, however she rose splendidly and did not take in any water to speak of.'

On arrival at Sydney in early September they found that the ship they were relieving was in Auckland so after a 6 day stay they sailed for New Zealand where they spent the next few months visiting various ports in the W. Pacific. One of their visits was to the Fiji Islands where GKH met King Thakanbow, who had recently placed his realm under the protection of Britain. This old king, who had been a cannibal in his youth, caused a slight sensation in the Gunroom when on visiting the ship he eyed one of GKH's plumper messmates and said 'What a fine dish you would make'.

On returning to Australia the ship visited Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney. In Sydney, while his ship was refitting at Cockatoo Island, he made friends with Captain Mann and his family of four daughters. He was to meet them again 55 years later when he returned as Commander in Chief. One visit that made a lasting impression on him was to the penal settlement at Port Arthur. He appears to have been deeply shocked by what he saw and describes some of the barbaric practices of these establishments in later parts of his diaries.

Heavy drinking appears to have been a problem on board. GKH describes a dinner party given by the Commodore at which a senior Lieutenant drinks so much that he slides under the table and has to be removed by a couple of marines. On another occasion the same officer appears on deck while the ship was at sea and gives loud orders to hoist out the Boom Boats. He was led down to his berth again. Members of the Gunroom also disgraced themselves. One midshipman and his boat's crew ate and drank most of the supper that had been laid on for those attending a dance at the Club in Auckland. The next morning the midshipman in question was found asleep at the end of the pier.

While the ship was refitting at Cockatoo Island the Commodore fell into the dock and had to be invalided home. One of the reasons that GKH had been appointed to Challenger had been that the Commodore, Rockford Macguire, was a close friend of his father, and as he was not on particularly good terms with the Commander, GKH wrote to his father asking if he could arrange for him to be appointed to another ship. In June 1867 he was transferred to the Esk, also a screw corvette, which was returning to England.

Esk sailed from Sydney on 14th June for Auckland. They had an extremely rough passage. During a gale GKH nearly lost his life when getting in the mizzen topsail. He slipped and only saved himself from dropping into the raging sea by clutching the puttock shrouds.

On 3rd July Esk set sail for the long passage across the South Pacific. Cape Horn was rounded in calm weather and a heavy snow storm. Having picked up supplies at Bahia in Brazil and Horta in the Azores the ship arrived at Portsmouth on October 4th, having covered 13 000 miles in 120 days.

While in the Atlantic the Esk met with the White Adder and Taitsing two tea clippers, 105 and 104 days respectively, out of Foochow. These two ships were taking part in the famous race, which brought the first of the new season's tea to Europe. The skipper of the winning vessel received a prize of £1000. GKH describes the occasion: 'It was calm at the time and we were steaming, so easily overtaking these vessels, but soon afterwards a breeze sprang up and one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen passed before my eyes, the Taitsing rushing along a mass of canvas from sky scrapers to water sails, a thing of life...In these clippers it was a rare thing to take in a sail, they carried on until blown away...There was such competition in this race home.'

On paying off the ship GKH went home on leave to Sheerness where his father was Captain of the Dockyard. He had been away from home for 2½ years and during that time had circumnavigated the world and rounded both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. He had also grown in height from 4 ft 8 ins to 5 ft 5 ins. It is perhaps not surprising that his father failed to recognise him at first as he walked up the path to the house. The warmth of the welcome was tempered slightly by the arrival of his sea chest. In his old age GKH still remembered the astonished look on his mother's face as she said 'Now I must look into the question of your clothes'. On being opened in front of the family the chest was found to be fairly empty except for a lot of south sea shells. These were offered as gifts to pacify enquires about where all his clothes were. GKH reports that his father took it very well when he realised that a new outfit would be required before his son could join his next ship.

After Christmas 1867 GKH joined the Minotaur, a broadside ironclad of very similar design to Warrior, which can be visited today in Portsmouth Habour. When GKH joined her Minotaur was flag ship of the Channel Fleet and was commanded by Captain Goodenough, who had previously served under his father in the China Wars. The continuity of these family connections is illustrated by the fact that some 50 years later, Stephen King-Hall, the son of GKH fought at the Battle of Jutland under the command of Commodore Goodenough, the son of his father's old Captain.

The Channel Fleet took several cruises round the English, Scottish and Irish coasts visiting many ports. In the winter they made Lisbon their headquarters going to Madeira and ports in Spain and Portugal. As in the smaller ships in which he had served, life in the Gunroom was fairly uncivilised. Being a flag ship Minotaur had a number of well connected midshipmen serving onboard. In later years GKH recalls with some satisfaction that he gave black eyes to the future Lords Bessborough, Tankerville and Ellenborough.

In the summer of 1869 the fleet visited Wilhelmshaven on the Jahde. This port had been rented by Prussia from the Duchy of Oldenburg and recently had been opened as a Naval Port. At this date the German Navy (or to be more accurate the North German Federation Navy) was a very small organisation consisting of a few foreign built ironclads and a number of wooden frigates. On this occasion it was represented by one of the wooden frigates and a double ended gunboat given by the British.

The quality of visitors was of a higher calibre. Minotaur was visited by the King of Prussia (later to be the first Emperor of Germany), Count Bismarck (later Prince) and Field Marshals Moltke and Von Roon. GKH describes a mishap that occurred during this visit which, if the timing had been slightly different, might have changed the course of European history. 'Unfortunately, on the King's barge coming alongside, the salute went off too soon, providentially all the Big Wigs were out of the Barge, but the Royal Standard was blown into the air and several of the men stunned.' At the end of the visit GKH took the two Field Marshals ashore in his cutter.

In 1870 GKH took his exams for Sub-Lieutenant while in Lisbon and having successfully obtained a 1st Class pass, he returned to England. In the autumn he was appointed to Lord Warden which was due to go out to the Mediterranean as flag ship of the Commander in Chief, Vice Admiral Sir Hastings Yelverton.

George King-Hall starts his diaries on his 20th birthday while on leave between appointments.