SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

The following is part of a report in John Mayhall’s ‘Annals of Yorkshire’ vol 3:-August 29 1874. “There died, at Bramley, in his 89th year, George Dawson, the oldest naval pensioner in the borough of Leeds. He was taken by a press-gang when passing through Liverpool on the 14th of May, 1805, and shortly afterwards drafted into the Channel Fleet…During his service he received several dangerous wounds. He was paid off in the year 1816 with a yearly pension of £12, which was afterwards increased to £25 8s. for life. A native of Armley, and by trade a tanner, he was manager for more than twenty years for Mr. R. Nichols, Bramley. He enjoyed robust health, and his faculties were unimpaired almost to the last”.Though 1805 is a long time back the mention of a press-gang does bring that period to a more local level of interest. Using an inflation calculator in the Bank of England website £12 in 1816 was equivalent to about £960 in 2011 at an average inflation rate of 2.2%.

Hi LeoThrows up some interesting maths.Mr Dawson was born 1785.Just 20 pressganged into the Navy. At least he had http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_rationAfter bad wounds he was paid off after 11 years service in 1816. Not fit for Navy life he was able to work as a Manager back in civvies for 20 years.I don't know what the pension would buy him (or what his Navy wage) but it hopefully gave comfort on top of his earnings.He'd a pension for 58 years.

Hiya JogonI wonder if there are any relatives of George Dawson currently in the Leeds area, though if there are they may no longer know about him.

In the 1861 census he lived at Aire Dale View, on White Cote Hill, Bramley, listed as Greenwich pensioner , with Ann Clagger, a 49 year old general servant

chemimike wrote: In the 1861 census he lived at Aire Dale View, on White Cote Hill, Bramley, listed as Greenwich pensioner , with Ann Clagger, a 49 year old general servant Thanks for that information chemimike. It's much appreciated.

He could well have been at the Battle of Trafalgar, October 1805. I bet he had stories to tell just like Uncle Albert:-)

geoffb wrote: He could well have been at the Battle of Trafalgar, October 1805. I bet he had stories to tell just like Uncle Albert:-) Same thought had occured to me geoffb.Napoleon had planned an invasion of the United Kingdom at the start of the War of the Third Coalition. This was never actually carried out although from 1803 until 1805 a new army of 200,000 men was gathered and trained at camps at Boulogne, Bruges and Montreuil. This was a major influence on British naval strategy as well as the fortification of the coast of south-east England.(Source - where do you think?)No wonder men were needed to bolster the Channel Fleet.This website lists HM Ships operating in the English Channel in May 1805....http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Navy_List_1 ... htmlGeorge must have been on one of those.Pressed in May, George could well have been off the south-west coast of Spain when the Battle of Trafalgar was won in October. British impressment ended, in practice not law, after 1814 at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The Royal Navy fought no major naval actions again until World War I, when conscription was used for all the military services.The big question is what was George doing in Liverpool in the first place?Here's a good tale from the interweb which tells of a press gang getting just what they deserved....In an excellent work, The Press Gang Afloat And Ashore, by John R Hutchinson, we read an interesting insight into the work of the Liverpool press gang: “One night in the winter of 1780, whilst Capt Worth of the Liverpool rendezvous sat lamenting the temporary dearth of seamen, Lieut. Haygarth came rushing in with a rare piece of news. On the road from Lancaster, there was a whole coach-load of sailors. The chance was too good to be lost, and instant steps were taken to intercept the travellers.“The gangs turned out, fully armed, and took up their position at a strategic point, just outside the town, commanding the road by which the sailors had to pass. By and by along came the coach, the horses weary, the occupants nodding or asleep. In a trice they were surrounded. Some of the gangsmen sprang at the horses' heads, others threw themselves upon the drowsy passengers.“Shouts, curses and the thud of blows broke the silence of the night. Then the coach rumbled on again, empty. Its late occupants, 15 in number, sulkily followed on foot, surrounded by their captors, who, as soon as the town was reached, locked them into the press-room for the rest of the night, it being the captain’s intention to put them on board the tender in the Mersey at break of day. In this, however, he was frustrated by a remarkable development in the situation. Unknown to him, the coach-load of seamen had been designed for the Stag privateer, a vessel just on the point of sailing.News of their capture reaching the ship soon after their arrival in the town, Spence, her 1st lieutenant, at once roused out all his available men, armed them, to the number of eighty, with cutlass and pistol, and led them ashore... .At the rendezvous the opposition of the weary sentinels counted for little. It was quickly brushed aside, the strong-room door gave way beneath a few well-directed blows, and by the time Liverpool went to breakfast the Stag privateer was standing out to sea, her crew not only complete, but ably supplemented by eight additional occupants of the press-room."

£25.8s.0d was a good yearly pension.In 1962 my wage for 45 hours a week was £156. Or £3 a week.My Dad went to the interview with me to get that job inan office as a Junior. He also agreed to the £3 a weekuntil I was 18 years old when it would go up to £5.Needless to say at 17 yrs I was fed up with that andleft that job to get more money. Those were the days. There were quite a few familiesliving in Armley when I was young called Dawson.

geoffb wrote: He could well have been at the Battle of Trafalgar, October 1805. I bet he had stories to tell just like Uncle Albert:-) Hi geoffb. When I sent the extract I decided to omit a piece from Mayhall's report as I thought the whole thing would look too long and might put people off reading the thread. On reflection I probably should have left it in as it would not have added that much. The following contains small parts of what I posted, with the bit I omitted in between those:-"...drafted into the Channel Fleet. He was engaged at the battle of Corunna, embarking Sir John Moore's army; also at the bombardment of Flushing in the same year, and several other battles. During his service...".I've found that the Battle of Corunna was on January 16 1809 and the bombardment of Flushing was on August 16 1809, with both being part of the Napoleonic Wars. The embarking of the British Army at Corunna saved many thousands of British lives, though many were killed including Sir John Moore.Thanks also to salt 'n pepper and ArmleyLass47 for your contributions.

Fabulous thread. Well done.PC