Captain Charles Austen’s Ceremonial Spadroon

A naval captain’s awards and gifts in recognition of meritorious service are springboards to understanding the diversity of his professional career and his versatility as an officer. In the case of Captain Charles Austen, brother of Jane Austen, two special objects merit exploration.[1] I have already written about the significance of Charles’s General Service Medal with its two clasps, one, referred to as “Unicorn 8 June 1796,” was awarded for his participation in the impressive capture of an enemy vessel, La Tribune (44 guns), and the other for the campaign for “Syria[2] Charles received this distinguished British naval award in 1849. A very different mark of grateful recognition of his services occurred in 1827 during Charles’s naval mission to South America. This acknowledgement took the form of a beautifully decorated ceremonial “spadroon.”[3].

Fig. 1: Portrait of Charles Austen and his Sword

“[Charles’s] spadroon is a ceremonial sword with a canon-shaped cross guard and eagle-headed pommel. The loop guard is in the form of a rope, which is held in the eagle’s mouth, and loops around the canon. The grip is made of carved ivory. The steel blade has been etched with decorative patterns, with gilded decoration. The scabbard [or sheath for holding the sword] has been decorated with eagle and sun motifs on one side, and on the other side is inscribed the dedication to Charles Austen from General Simon Bolivar.”[4]

This wonderful artefact connects to a period in 1827, when, as captain of the frigate HMS Aurora (38 guns), Charles was one of the Royal Navy captains stationed in the West Indies. Part of this squadron’s duties was to provide various services of support for General Simon Bolivar, liberator of Spain’s former colonies in South America.

 This past summer in England, I tried to find out more about the circumstances surrounding Charles’s receipt of his spadroon. It made sense to follow the clue which the historic inscription on the scabbard of the sword provides. That text reads: “Presented to Charles John Austen, R.N. commanding HMS Aurora at the City of Caracas, 1st March 1827 by Simon Bolivar the liberator of his country as a mark of his esteem.”

I knew that Charles kept a private journal during his years as Captain of HMS Aurora (1826-28). His writings are contained in nine notebooks in the collection of the Caird Library, which is part of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Once at the Caird Library, I expected to discover Charles’s entry for 1 March 1827 would provide a description of the sword’s presentation at a Venezuelan location, probably accompanied by Charles’s impressions of Bolivar. This was not the case. As Charles’s journal entry for that date reveals, he spent time at a Dockyard (most likely in Antigua) during the day.[5] That evening he entertained guests for dinner, the party concluding with “cards and liquors in the after cabin [of the Aurora].”[6] As further research revealed, Charles did not meet Bolivar until 20 April 1827, 50 days later. 

So here was a mystery. Where and when did Bolivar present the sword and for what reasons did he select Charles for this honour? Answering this question will provide a glimpse of how Charles undertook various assignments, and activities which would not ordinarily occupy a naval captain on a station.

In a later post, I plan to place Charles’s receipt of the sword in the context of his career, exploring how, for a short period, Charles played a small part in British international diplomacy in South America. That narrative will also introduce several interesting individuals with whom Charles interacted: the artistic and ambitious British Consul in Caracas, Venezuela, Sir Robert Ker Porter, the Honorable Alexander Cockburn, His Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary to the Columbian States, and the flamboyant and dynamic General Simon Bolivar, the illustrious military and political leader, who was known to his people as the Liberator and hero of the South American revolution. During his time in Caracas, Charles was welcomed by these men into the social and diplomatic life of the city.

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[1] Owned by Austen descendent David Willan.

[2] See my blog for 26 May 2023, “Honouring Jane Austen’s Naval Brother Charles: The Story of his General Service Medal.” I have been recently told that Charles’s medal is very rare because of the two clasps. I thank Nick Ball of the Chatham Historic Dockyard for explaining to me that only four “Unicorn” claps were awarded, so the combination of one with the more common “Syria,” is almost certainly unique.

[3] A spadroon was lighter than a broad sword, because it was designed to both cut and thrust.[3] Earlier this year, Charles’s sword became part of the exhibit “Command of the Ocean,” at the Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, England.

[4] Many thanks to the sword’s owner, David Willan for the fine detailed description of its appearance.

[5]Antigua is the most likely location as Charles’s guests included Captain and Mrs Wilson of the 93rd, a Regiment, which was stationed there.  

[6] Charles Austen, Private Journal, 1 March 1827, AUS/121.

Honouring Jane Austen’s Naval Brother Charles: The Story of His Naval General Service Medal

Fig.1: Charles Austen’s Naval General Service Medal[1]

In 1849 Charles Austen received a distinguished award, the Naval General Service Medal. It was created by Queen Victoria in recognition of participation in significant naval actions between 1793 and 1840, such as an important single-ship capture of an enemy vessel, a larger naval engagement, like the Battle of St Domingo (1806), or a major fleet action, such as the defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar (1805).[2] The medal shows a left facing effigy of the Queen on one side and the figure of Britannia on the other. It hangs by a white ribbon edged with dark blue. Clasps, each designating the action for which the participant is honoured, are affixed to the ribbon.

Charles’s ribbon carries two clasps: “Unicorn 8 June 1796,” a reference to a single ship action by the 38 gun frigate, HMS Unicorn,[3] and “Syria” which refers to an extensive campaign in Syria in 1840.[4]  These actions are like bookends to a 42 year period during Charles Austen’s long naval career. He was a 16 year old midshipman when the Unicorn triumphed over the much larger French frigate, La Tribune (44 guns). By 1839, during the action in Syria, he was the 60-year-old captain of HMS Bellerophon (80 guns). In this blog, I will explore the two naval actions which Charles’s medal recognizes and consider the significance of this award for Charles. 

HMS Unicorn vs La Tribune: A dramatic chase and capture

Those aboard HMS Unicorn on 8 June 1796 would long remember that day. As dawn broke, the Unicorn, while cruising west of the Scilly Islands, sighted and gave chase to an enemy frigate, La Tribune.[5] During the day, the French ship ran before the wind, and although the Unicorn gained on her target, she was also subjected to well directed fire, resulting in damage to her mast and rigging. Undeterred, the Unicorn kept up the chase and a running fight for 10 hours. According to her captain, Thomas Williams, “at half past ten at night, having [run 210] miles, we [came] up alongside our antagonist and gave him [broad] sides for 35 minutes.”

As the smoke cleared, the Unicorn realized that she was still in considerable danger. La Tribune was, in Williams's words, “attempting by a master manoeuvre to cross our stern and gain the wind.”[6] Williams and his men responded by “instantly throwing Unicorn’s sails aback, by which means the ship gathered stern way, passed the enemy’s bow, regained her former position”[7]  and renewed the attack. The triumphant Williams continued: “the effect of our fire soon put an end to all manoeuvre for the enemy’s ship was completely dismantled,[8] her fire ceased, and all further resistance appearing ineffectual, they called out they had surrendered.”[9] It was a spectacular triumph of seamanship and bombardment for all those aboard the Unicorn.

Fig. 2: Capture of La Tribune by HMS Unicorn on June 8th 1796.[10]

Only similarly significant single ship actions during the French Revolutionary Wars (1793-1802)  were deemed worthy of the Naval General Service Medal.[11] The Admiralty recommended only those actions which counted as exceptional accomplishments in which the captain and the men had displayed marked courage and excellent seamanship, and the action was completed with as little loss of British lives as possible. The capture was also deemed praiseworthy if the enemy vessel, although damaged, could readily be repaired and refitted.  In such instances, the ship could be recommissioned into the British Navy, thereby adding to the British fighting forces while at the same time reducing the enemy’s fleet.

Evidently, the taking of La Tribune by the Unicorn satisfied these expectations. With a crew of 251 compared to the enemy’s 337, Williams and his men undertook a daring and challenging action, which required bravery, stamina and perseverance. They managed to sustain a running fire for 10 hours over a distance of 210 miles. Moreover, Captain Williams’s leadership was exemplary. Throughout the action he displayed “judicious and seamanlike conduct.”[12] The enemy’s final desperate strategy to cross the Unicorn’s stern and gain the wind was “skillfully defeated”[13] by Williams’s quick thinking and his men’s rapid response. An extraordinary feature of the action was that La Tribune failed to inflict any casualties aboard the Unicorn, whereas 37 men on the Tribune were killed, and 15 were wounded, including her captain, Commodore Moulson. In addition, La Tribune was a valuable prize - only three years old, well built and well designed. She was repaired and commissioned into the British navy as HMS Tribune.[14]

To be a participant in an action of this importance surely thrilled the young Charles Austen. It was his first experience of a long and complex pursuit and capture. We don’t know what specific part he played. As a senior midshipman, he might have been involved in commanding a group of guns in action during the prolonged chase. Charles must have felt some reflected glory, given the public praise for the Unicorn’s remarkable feat. Certainly, the Austen family rejoiced when, soon after the Unicorn’s return to port, King George III knighted Captain Thomas Williams as a reward for his gallant bravery. The Austens had a personal reason for being delighted since Captain Williams had married Mrs Austen’s niece, Jane Cooper, two years earlier. For Charles, the Unicorn action demonstrated what fame and fortune a naval career might bring. If he developed expert naval skills and was lucky enough to have auspicious future commissions and assignments, he too might enjoy a life of adventure, honour and riches. That Charles did come by adventure and honour, at last, is signalled by his award of the second clasp designated “Syria.”

HMS Bellerophon (80) and the Syrian campaign 1840

 “Syria” refers to the capture of the Egyptian held fort, St Jean d’Acre, on 4 November 1840 by Austrian, British and Turkish forces and the operations connected with it along the coast of Syria. What was Charles’s involvement in this offensive?

In April 1838, Charles was commissioned as captain of HMS Bellerophon, an impressive ship of the line with a crew of 650, and mounting on her lower, upper and quarter decks seventy-two 32 pounder guns and six 68 pounder guns. Among her crew were Charles’s only sons, nineteen-year-old Charles John, as master’s mate, and fourteen-year-old Henry. When the Admiralty dispatched reinforcements to the western Mediterranean that year, the Bellerophon was among the ships deployed on this mission.[15]

The political mood in the western Mediterranean at that time was tense as Mehemet Ali, the Viceroy of Egypt, had forcibly expanded his control into Syria. Britain and other allied powers demanded he withdraw. Hostilities began when the combined fleets of Britain, Austria and Turkey assembled close to Beruit in August 1840. The Bellerophon, together with HMS Hastings (74 guns) and HMS Edinburgh (74 guns) bombarded the town, which surrendered on 3 October. Tripoli was evacuated by October 22nd, leaving Ali with one last stronghold, the reputedly impregnable fortress of St Jean d’Acre with its surrounding town.[16]  

Fig. 3: Bombardment of St Jean d’Acre, 3 November 1840[17]

At 2:00 pm on 3 November, the British and her allies mounted an intensive attack on the town of St Jean d’Acre,[18] its citadel and adjacent fortifications. The first division of British ships, initially led in by HMS Powerful and followed in order by the Princess, Charlotte, Thunderer, Bellerophon, and Revenge, was supported by a second division led by the Turkish admiral[19] with seven additional British warships, three Austrian and two Turkish vessels. The firing, once begun, “waxed furious.” The smoke obscured visibility even before the ships anchored.  “The defenders, … [who] wrongly supposed the enemy would not venture close to the fortifications, were deceived as to the exact stations of the [attacking] ships, and thereby gave their guns too great an elevation.”[20] As Clive Caplin has described the scene, “the roar of the cannon was tremendous and incessant. A hail of enemy missiles whistled in all directions over the fleet, while a tempest of shot and shell poured down on the batteries and citadel of the town.”[21] 

At 4:30 pm, the defenders suffered a catastrophe. A large powder magazine in the town blew up with a frightful explosion causing dense clouds of smoke. Upwards of 1200 people were killed. Quantities of debris fell on the Bellerophon, which continued to fire at any indications of resistance. During three and a half hours of constant action under Charles’s effective leadership, the Bellerophon expended 160 barrels of gunpowder and 28 tons of cannonballs.

Fig. 4: HMS  Bellerophon leading the bombardment of the Syrian fortress at Acre[22]

By 6:00 pm all firing ceased. In addition to the devastation of property and lives caused by the explosion in the town, 300 were killed in the batteries and almost all the guns at the sea face were disabled. The Austrian Archduke Friedrich, who commanded the troops, led a landing party of allied soldiers to capture the citadel. This force, united with 5000 men who arrived from  Beruit, took possession of the town of St Jean d’Acre. The combined navies’ action in this last Allied victory in the Egyptian-Ottoman war was complete. The only task left was the transfer of 2000 prisoners to Beruit, a task which Charles Austen shared with three other vessels.

What might this campaign have meant to Charles? Personally, he had the satisfaction of being part of a combined international force which successfully completed a large and significant naval action. He could be proud of his men who had deployed Bellerophon’s gun power with steady and effective industry. To his great relief, Charles's two sons survived unscathed, in fact he lost no men in the intense bombardment.

Subsequently, in addition to being awarded the “Syria” clasp for his participation in the campaign, Charles was picked out for further honour for his particular performance in the action.  On 18 December 1840 he was one among only thirteen British captains and one Lieutenant who were made Companions of the Order of the Bath (Military Division), a prestigious British order of Chivalry founded by King George 1 in 1725. Moreover, the Syrian action, which illustrated his competence in battle, enhanced Charles’s naval record and likely contributed to his selection for what would be his last commission, his appointment in1851 as Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies and China Station.  

Fig.5: Badge of the Companion of the Military Division of the Order of the Bath

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[1] Owned by Charles’s direct descendent David Willan, the medal in currently on display at the Historic Dockyard, Chatham in the exhibit, “Command of the Oceans.”

[2] Other fleet actions include: Camperdown (1797), the Nile (1798), Copenhagen (1801), Abukir (1801).

[3] Only four individuals from the Unicorn action were still alive at the time this clasp was awarded.

[4] 6,978 individuals received this clasp.

[5] Unicorn’s action began as a pursuit, in company with HMS Santa Margaritta, of two French frigates the Tribune, and the Tamise. The Santa Margaritta quickly took the Tamise. The Unicorn continued to chase the Tribune.

[6] Thomas Williams to Admiral Kingsmill, 8 June 1796. The text of Williams’s letter is from a cutting of a newspaper report affixed to the back of a print, titled “The capture of  La Tribune by HMS Unicorn …,” after Francis Chesham, in the possession of the National Trust, Gunby Estate, Lincolnshire.                                                                                          

[7] See “Sir Thomas Williams, Royal Naval Biography, ed. John Marshall, 1827.

[8] Only her mizen mast was left standing

[9] Thomas Williams to Admiral Kingsmill, 8 June 1796.

[10] After a painting by Thomas Whitcombe, published in The Naval Achievements of Great Britain from the year 1793 to 1817, London, 1817.

[11] Only 32 single ship actions were recognized.

[12] “Sir Thomas Williams, Royal Naval Biography, ed. John Marshall, 1827.

[13]“ Sir Thomas Williams,” J.K Laughton, revised Andrew Lambert, Oxford Dictionary of Biography.

[14] La  Tribune was originally the French frigate, Galathee, launched in 1793. As HMS Tribune, her career in the British navy was short lived. See my blog “Jane Austen’s Naval Brother, Charles, and La Tribune: Milestones in a Naval Career, 1 August 2022.

[15] My account draws on Clive Caplan’s article, “The Ships of Charles Austen,” JAS Report for 2009, 154-5.

[16] See W.L Clowes on the 1840 Syrian campaign, paragraph 17, URL https://pdavis.nl/Syria.htm. The fort had been considerably strengthened since its occupation by the Egyptians in 1837. The defences were very strong towards the sea, where the works mounted 130 guns and about 30 mortars.

[17] By Lt  Col William Freke Williams, published in England’s Battles by Sea and Land, 1857.

[18] According to Clowes, “the town was low standing on an angle presenting two faces to the sea, both walled and covered with cannon - in one place a double tier.” See paragraph18.

[19] He was Captain Baldwin Wake Walker RN.

[20] See Clowes, paragraph 11.

[21] See Caplan, 155.

[22] Signed and dated by John T. Baines, Dec. 19, 1840.

The Capture of the Jeune Estelle, Charles Austen’s Premier Prize

Dear Readers,
I am happy to be backing blogging again.
Continue to stay safe.
Sheila

During the Napoleonic wars, the mission of the North American squadron of the Royal Navy was to disrupt enemy trade and to protect British and colonial commercial activities. The British ships were expected to engage enemy warships and armed privateers in combat and to apprehend merchant ships transporting enemy trade goods and supplies. As an incentive for this dangerous work, the officers and men of the British ship that captured an enemy vessel or merchant man were offered the prospect of receiving a share of the value of the vessel and/or its cargo. The legitimacy of the capture, according to the law of prize, had to be proven in a Vice Admiralty court. The court had the power to condemn the capture as lawful prize and to order its sale by public auction. The resulting prize money, less costs, would be distributed among all those aboard the British vessel at the time of capture, in proportions and according to rank. Prize taking was a chancy but significant perk of naval conflict.

While serving on the North American station, Charles Austen had the good fortune to capture or co-capture thirteen vessels, at least eight of which provided him with prize money. The records for these cases are very incomplete but the account of the seizure and condemnation of the French privateer, La Jeune Estelle (4 guns), reveals a nearly complete anatomy of a prize case. This capture was Charles’s most valuable prize, according to existing records. Here is how the business proceeded from the moment of capture to the distribution of prize money. 

On 19 June 1808 Charles was cruising off the coast of South Carolina in his sloop of war, HMS Indian (18 guns) when, as reported in the ship’s log, “a strange sail [was] sighted.” Immediately, the Indian went into action. According to Charles’s official report of the event, it became a vigorous encounter. The Indian’s chase guns were fired, killing one Frenchman and wounding another.[1] Eventually, after a tense chase of 1½ hours, the Indian “hove to, boarded and took possession of the [vessel].”[2] She proved to be the French schooner, La Jeune Estelle, enroute from St Mary’s River (near St Augustine’s, Florida) to the French colony of St Domingo, with a crew of 25. She carried a cargo of mixed supplies.[3]

Fig. 1: HMS Atalante, sister ship to Indian (18 guns). The Indian captured the Jeune Estelle at latitude 32 degrees north and longitude 68 degrees west.

Charles was required to continue his mission at sea, but he sent “a lieutenant, master’s mate and midshipman with 20 men to navigate [the prize] to Bermuda”[4] where proceedings before the Vice Admiralty Court followed swiftly. James Christie Esten (Charles’s brother-in-law) acted as Advocate General for the crown’s claim to the vessel and cargo, and, since they were unquestionably enemy property, it is not surprising that on 25 July the court ruled to condemn both as the lawful prize of the Indian, its captor.[5]

Charles had sent the prize to Bermuda because part of her cargo included perishable foodstuffs such as “superfine flour, pork, beef, fish, herrings, bread, cheese, lard, pease and hams.” She also carried “soap, tallow, oil in baskets, small shot, pig iron, a new cable, two hawsers,” and an unspecified amount of claret in casks.[6] According to a notice in the Bermuda Gazette, the agents acting for Charles were Edward Goodrich and Archibald Snedden of Bermuda, while George R. Hulbert represented the interests of Admiral Warren, Charles’s commander-in-chief, and Austen and Maunde in London were Charles’s bankers, the Austen being Charles’s brother, Henry.

The cargo was sold at the premises of Edward Goodrich in St George’s, Bermuda for the gross sum of £2539.11s. 4d. in Bermuda currency.[7] Charles must have been delighted to eventually learned how well the sale had gone.

Fig.2: The Home of Charles’s Bermuda Prize Agent, Edward Goodrich

Fig. 3: An Auction of Prize Goods, known as a Vendue.

The vessel, the Jeune Estelle, was, as expected, also sold because the eventual payout notice in the Bermuda Gazette refers to “a distribution of the net proceeds of the said vessel and cargo.” Unfortunately, there is no record of the price it fetched though it must have been of some value as the prize crew from the Indian were able to navigate it to Bermuda after the capture.  

Yet before there could be any distribution of prize money, a large number of expenses, inevitably incurred in the course of the condemnation and sale, had to be paid. Agent George Hulbert’s account book reveals the extent of these deductions.[8] James Esten, Advocate General before the court, received £50. Court charges were £28. 5s. 6d. Pilotage, the cost of delivering cargo after sale, the fee for customs house entry and custody, the cost of storage and wharfage, altogether amounted to £38. 16s. 11d. Other bills included £2. 13s. 4d. for hiring a cooper for 2½ days to repair flour casks, £3. 10s. for the recording of agency power, and £3. 6s. 8d. for advertisements in the Bermuda Gazette. The 5% duty payable to the Greenwich Hospital[9] amounted to £129. 19s. 6d and a like sum was charged as fees by the agents. The total costs, fees, and duties amounted to £380. 11s. 5d. The net fund of prize money for distribution was £2158. 19s. 11d. Once the claims were settled, the court ordered the distribution of the prize money and advertised to this effect in the Bermuda Gazette.

According to a prescribed formula, Charles, as Indian’s captain, received a ¼ share of the net proceeds, Admiral Warren received ⅛ share, and the officers and men received smaller shares according to their rank. Charles’s prize money amounted to £539. 16s. 11¾d.  plus, presumably, an unknown amount from the proceeds of the sale of the vessel. The total would have been a sizable sum for Charles compared with his annual salary of £246. 3s. 10d. as commander of a sloop of war.

Fig. 4: Payout Notice for the Jeune Estelle, 24 September 1808.

Charles’s benefits from the Jeune Estelle were not only personal and financial. The payout of prize money boosted the morale of his crew and lined their pockets with cash as well. The Indian’s recruitment notice in April 1805 had promised seamen they would win “plenty of Spanish doubloons and dollars”- that is prize money. Charles delivered on this promise.

Fig. 5: The Indian’s Recruitment Notice.

Moreover, his official report of the episode to Admiral Warren appeared on the front page of the London Gazette, 20-23 August 1808. This was pleasing publicity for him and gratifying for the Austen family at home in England to read public acknowledgement of Charles’s recent capture. Moreover, there was Fanny, who Charles described as “his lovely and beloved wife [who rejoiced] at all the good that befell me.”[10] Making Fanny happy always gave Charles great pleasure. The prize money from the Jeune Estelle was surely a means to this end.

Exploring the saga of the prize, the Jeune Estelle, yields a fascinating snapshot of a significant aspect of Charles Austen’s naval career on the North American Station.

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[1] Charles Austen to Admiral Sir John Warren, 27 June 1808, ADM 1/498/fol.283. The National Archives (TNA), Kew, London, England.

[2] See Indian’s logbook, 19 June 1808, ADM 51/1868, NA.

[3] In capturing La Jeune Estelle Charles was interfering with France’s attempt to support her colonies in the West Indies.

[4] The Indian’s logbook, 19 June 1808.

[5] List of Ships and Vessels Captured by His Majesty’s Ships of War and Brought to the Port of Bermuda for Adjudication from June 7th 1808 to the 18th  Day of May 1810, List of Prizes, VA 221,1-4, Bermuda Archives, Hamilton, Bermuda.

[6] Bermuda Gazette, 23 July 1808.

[7] In the currency used, “£” stands for pound, “s” for shilling, and “d” for penny. There were 20 shillings in a pound and 12 pence in a shilling. Bermuda currency fluctuated in relation to the British pound which was more valuable. 

[8] George Hulbert’s Cash Book 1808-1812, HUL/23, National Maritime Museum (NMM), Greenwich, London.

[9] The Greenwich Hospital at Greenwich, London, administered a pension fund for seamen wounded in naval service. 5 % of any distributed prize money was required to be contributed to this fund.

[10] Charles Austen’s Journal, 10 May 1815, AUS/102, NMM.

In the Footsteps of the Austens: A Walking Tour of Halifax, Nova Scotia

In early summer 2017, Austen scholar Sarah Emsley and I created a Walking Tour to highlight places familiar to Jane Austen’s naval brother’s, Charles and Francis and their families, during the time that they spent in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The purpose was to share this perspective on Halifax with participants at the Jane Austen Society UK conference, held in the city from 20-27 June. The original version of the tour is also available on Sarah’s webpage. The version you are viewing here benefits from further enhancements added by Trudi Smith. You can click on each image for further details. You can check out the immersive Global Earth Walking Tour version. Thanks, Trudi, for these fine additions.

Download a PDF of this walking tour: In the Footsteps of the Austens- A Walking Tour of Halifax, Nova Scotia

Jane Austen never visited Halifax, Nova Scotia, but two of her brothers were stationed in the city during their time in the Royal Navy, and she was very interested in their careers. She drew on their experiences when she wrote her two naval novels, Mansfield Park (1814) and Persuasion (1818). Nova Scotia and Bermuda are the only places in North America where the Austen brothers lived and worked, and it is still possible to see many of the sites they knew. This walking tour of Halifax includes Citadel Hill, St. Paul’s Church, the Naval Yard Clock, Government House, St. George’s Church, and Admiralty House, along with the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

HMS Cleopatra

Captain Charles Austen was the first to visit Halifax. He came as a young officer during his appointment to the North American Station of the Royal Navy and stayed several times between 1805 and 1811—first with his ship HMS Indian, a 399 ton, 18 gun sloop of war, later with HMS Swiftsure (74 guns) as flag captain to Admiral Sir John Warren, Commander-in-Chief of the North American Station, and finally with HMS Cleopatra, a 32 gun frigate. It was the turbulent time of the Napoleonic Wars with France and Spain.

In 1811, Jane Austen, who was beginning her novel Mansfield Park, wrote to her sister Cassandra that she knew, “on the authority of some other Captn just arrived from Halifax,” that Charles was “bringing the Cleopatra home” to England (25 April 1811).

Thirty-four years later, in more peaceful times, Admiral Sir Francis Austen arrived on the 50 gun HMS Vindictive as Commander-in-Chief of the North American and West Indies Station, 1845-48. He was seventy-one and on what would prove to be his last command. He and his squadron spent each June to October based in Halifax.

HMS Vindictive (50 guns), moored off the Naval Yard, by Herbert Grey Austen (Private collection; reproduced with permission of the owner.)

Halifax is famous for its huge natural harbour. It was chosen as a British naval and military base and settlement because of its natural features and its location as the first mainland landfall in North America from Europe. Founded in 1749, Halifax was strategically positioned close to the route to French possessions in Québec to the north and the Thirteen Colonies on the American seaboard to the south.

When Charles was in port between 1805 and 1811, his vessel could be found either moored at the north side of Georges Island or perhaps at one of the anchorages adjacent to the Naval Yard. When Sir Francis arrived each year to set up a summer headquarters, it was most convenient to moor HMS Vindictive close to the Yard and in sight of his official residence, Admiralty House.

walking tour highlights

Click on each image for details. For the full walking tour, download the PDF, or check out our immersive Google Earth Walking Tour.

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A. Citadel Hill

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B. St. Paul's Church

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C. Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

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D. Naval Yard Clock

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E. Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

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F. Government House

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G. St. George's Church

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H. Admirality House

Sheila introduces “Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister”

Fanny Palmer Austen by Robert Field

Just over two hundred years ago a young naval wife spent an anxious summer in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was the later years of the Napoleonic Wars. Her husband had been suddenly called away on a mission to transport troops to a war zone off the coast of Portugal. During the months that followed, she waited for his return with growing trepidation until she finally welcomed back to port her “beloved Charles.” The genteel young woman was the beautiful, Bermuda-born Fanny Palmer Austen; her husband was Captain Charles John Austen, a naval officer, then serving on the North American Station of the British navy, and the youngest brother of the novelist Jane Austen.

This vignette, derived from Fanny Austen’s own letters in 1810, has turned out to be an inspiration for me. Since 2005 I had been writing extensively about Charles Austen’s career in North American waters, about the excitement of his first command and his pursuit of naval prize. More recently I became intrigued by the evidence that his young wife, Fanny Palmer, had spent parts of two years in the place which I call home – Halifax, Nova Scotia. I wanted to find out about her personality and character, as well as about the kind of life she led in Halifax and elsewhere. There was much to explore, beginning with her formative years in St George’s, Bermuda, through her naval travels with Charles in North America to her later years in England when she came to know the rest of his family. This biography presents what I have learned about Fanny Palmer Austen in all the ordinary and extraordinary aspects of her short life during exciting times.

My investigations began with Fanny’s letters, which have proved to be a treasure trove of personal narrative and contemporary detail. By further research, I have been able to present the letters in the social and cultural context of Fanny’s life. The picture of a lively, resourceful, and articulate young woman has emerged. I discovered a wife intimately involved with her husband’s naval career and a new and significant member of the Austen family.

Charles John Austen by Robert Field

The narrative of Fanny’s life describes what it was like to be a young woman living at sea with her husband and small children in early nineteenth-century wartime. Little has been written about wives who had immediate experience of their husbands’ professional careers and naval society. Fanny Austen’s letters, along with the story which surrounds them, affords a unique insight into female life in the theatres of naval warfare on both sides of the Atlantic during this tumultuous time.

Through her marriage to Charles, Fanny became closely connected with other members of his family. In particular, Fanny developed a relationship with Jane Austen that excited my attention. Their sisterly association led me to enquire whether Fanny’s experiences may have influenced Jane in the writing of her fiction. Evidence presented in the book supports a number of parallels between Fanny’s conduct and character and Austen’s portrayal of women with naval connections, such as Mrs Croft and Anne Elliot in Persuasion. Because Fanny was with Charles both on the North American station of the British navy (1807–11) and then with him and their children aboard HMS Namur stationed off Sheerness, Kent (1812–14), she had a truly transatlantic experience within his naval world that she could impart to Jane. Hence the title of the book, Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister.

HMS Atalante, sister ship to Charles Austen's sloop of war, HMS Indian (18 guns).

Before Fanny travelled to England with Charles and their children in 1811, she sailed with him on his sloop of war, HMS Indian (18 guns), between Bermuda and Halifax, Nova Scotia on a number of occasions. It was not always smooth sailing. The North Atlantic is frequently disturbed by gale force winds and heavy seas that can readily overpower a small wooden sailing ship. Fanny learned the hard way, as the following passage from the book reveals.

The Indian cleared the harbour on 29 November [1809] for a voyage that would be fraught with danger. Fanny and [her daughter, one year old] Cassy experienced their first major storm at sea and it was terrifying. Just out of Halifax the Indian met “strong gales with sleet and snow.” By the evening the “gale increased” and “the ship was labouring and shipping heavy seas.” For the next five days, the vessel lurched and rocked in the merciless gales. The Indian became separated from the flagship HMS Swiftsure (74 guns) and the three other vessels in convoy, HMS Aeolus (32 guns), HMS Thistle (10 guns), and HMS Bream (4 guns). On 3 December when the Indian signalled the Thistle with a blue light, which is ordinarily a sign of distress, she did not reply. It was not encouraging … that they were 495 nautical miles from a navigational point identified in the ship’s log as Wreck Hill, Bermuda.

The erratic rolling of the vessel and the bone-chilling wind must have greatly distressed and alarmed Fanny, now almost seven months’ pregnant. She needed to be brave and to try to hide her trepidation, especially as she had a terrified Cassy to calm and reassure. Finally, on 5 December the wind dropped to moderate breezes. The men surveyed the damage to the vessel and repairs began. According to the logbook, “people [were] employed repairing the rigging after the gale” and “fitting a new main sail.” By 10 December, the Indian’s deck was still awash with as much as two inches of water. Imagine Fanny’s relief when land was sighted and they “made all sail” for St David’s Head, Bermuda, arriving in St George’s on 12 December after a harrowing voyage of fifteen days, almost twice the time the journey usually took.

After reaching Bermuda, Fanny settled down on shore to await the birth of their second child, Harriet Jane, a namesake for her own sister Harriet and her sister-in-law, Jane Austen. She would experience many more adventures both at sea and on land; she would survive a potentially dangerous crossing of the North Atlantic; she would get to know Charles’s family in England, and she would develop a significant relationship with Jane Austen. All this and more was yet to come.

First posted on https://mqup.ca