Whilst doing some transcribing from the 1844 Navy List I came across the following entry for a Lieutenant Radford Gundry Meech, RN ; with a name like that I could only think of Bridport and the rope and sail making industry. Lieutenant Meech joined the RN as a First Class volunteer, onboard HMS BRITANNIA, 100, on 25 Sep 1803, which was employed in the [English] Channel and then in the Mediterranean, during which time he was promoted to Midshipman and served at Trafalgar, 21 Oct 1805. He was then transferred to HMS ROYAL GEORGE, 100, flag ship for Sir John Duckworth and went on [what was, ISTR, the notably unsuccessful] expedition to the Dardanells (sic) in Feb 1807. Over the next three years Mr Meech served onboard the Brunswick,74, Owen Glendower, 36, Namur, 74, and Neptune, 98, which variously operated in the North Sea, Baltic, and West Indies. In March 1810, he was appointed Acting Lieutenant of the frigate FREIJA, for 3 months, then stationed in the West Indies and was confirmed Lieutenant on 15 Jun 1810, being transferred to the ORION, 74, which operated in the Baltic region until January 1813 [that would be excluding winter time when RN ships were withdrawn for fear of being iced in for the duration] Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars and [I think] the War of 1812, he was appointed to the WESER, 44, on 19 May 1815, which served on the North America Station, returning the following November. Lieutenant Meech's name continues to appear in the Navy List up until 1849, disappearing in 1850, and no further appointments are mentioned in the source for the above, ie the Naval Biographical Dictionary, so I would guess he would have remained on half pay until he probably passed away in about 1849 ? Paul 50.33.50N 02.26.70W http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html