Greetings Listers I've come across the article below commending Midshipman John Gunn ROBINS, my ggf's brother, for an Act of Bravery. However I have a couple of confusions! In the first paragraph the date is 22nd May 1825; however in the attached Certificate the date is December 1823. Either date would fit as John enlisted in the Royal Navy on 23 April 1823. The other confusion - was John on the HMS Herald or the HMS Genoa (reference to 'that ship' is a bit ambiguous to me)? It could only be the Herald if the date is 1825 as it was renamed in 1824 (that's if I've got it right!). I have John's appointments from 1829 but not in his early RN years. J G Robins, Midshipman On the 22nd May 1825, as His Majesty's ship "Herald" was sailing up channel, the usual thrilling cry was heard, "A man overboard!" Mr J G Robins was then on the quarter-deck, and judging from the rate the ship was going through the water, that the man would rise near the stem, he threw himself into the sea, but had scarcely risen to the surface, when he found himself grasped by the drowning man, with an energy which nearly proved destructive to both. Mr Robins, however, succeeded in extricating himself sufficiently to support the man in the water; and after much labour and difficulty, as his companion could not swim, reached the life-buoy, to which they both clung until a boat was sent to their assistance. The annexed certificate is highly creditable to Mr Robins. These are to certify, that, in the month of December 1823, Samuel Redwood, a gunner in the 1st company of the Royal Marine Artillery, then serving on board His Majesty's ship "Genoa" fell overboard in Plymouth harbour in the night, and was saved from drowning by Mr John Gunn Robins, a Midshipman of that ship, who in the most prompt and humane manner instantly plunged into the water, with his clothes on; and with much difficulty and at the risk of his own life, succeeded in supporting Redwood (who was in a state of intoxication, and could not swim) until a boat was sent to his assistance. I would appreciate some clarification on these points from someone much more au fait with the RN than I am. Many thanks. Pam Beaudesert, Queensland, Australia This email has been protected by YAC (Yet Another Cleaner) http://www.yac.mx This email has been protected by YAC (Yet Another Cleaner) http://www.yac.mx

Why not two separate events? On 22/4/1830 John Gunn Robins RN was presented with an honorary medallion by the Royal Humane Society *(The Morning Post* (London), Friday, April 16, 1830, p1) - copy attached to direct email. Could not find any more detail in the newspapers, but all the records of the RHS are at Greater london Archives http://www.royalhumanesociety.org.uk/html/research_request.html http://search.lma.gov.uk/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/LMA_OPAC/web_detail/REFD+LMA~2F4517?SESSIONSEARCH David On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 12:11 AM, PMR via <mariners@rootsweb.com> wrote: > Greetings Listers > > > > I've come across the article below commending Midshipman John > Gunn ROBINS, my ggf's brother, for an Act of Bravery. > > > > However I have a couple of confusions! In the first paragraph > the date is 22nd May 1825; however in the attached Certificate the date is > December 1823. Either date would fit as John enlisted in the Royal Navy on > 23 April 1823. > > > > The other confusion - was John on the HMS Herald or the HMS > Genoa (reference to 'that ship' is a bit ambiguous to me)? It could only be > the Herald if the date is 1825 as it was renamed in 1824 (that's if I've > got > it right!). I have John's appointments from 1829 but not in his early RN > years. > > J G Robins, Midshipman > > On the 22nd May 1825, as His Majesty's ship "Herald" was sailing up > channel, > the usual thrilling cry was heard, "A man overboard!" Mr J G Robins was > then > on the quarter-deck, and judging from the rate the ship was going through > the water, that the man would rise near the stem, he threw himself into the > sea, but had scarcely risen to the surface, when he found himself grasped > by > the drowning man, with an energy which nearly proved destructive to both. > Mr > Robins, however, succeeded in extricating himself sufficiently to support > the man in the water; and after much labour and difficulty, as his > companion > could not swim, reached the life-buoy, to which they both clung until a > boat > was sent to their assistance. > > The annexed certificate is highly creditable to Mr Robins. > > These are to certify, that, in the month of December 1823, Samuel Redwood, > a > gunner in the 1st company of the Royal Marine Artillery, then serving on > board His Majesty's ship "Genoa" fell overboard in Plymouth harbour in the > night, and was saved from drowning by Mr John Gunn Robins, a Midshipman of > that ship, who in the most prompt and humane manner instantly plunged into > the water, with his clothes on; and with much difficulty and at the risk of > his own life, succeeded in supporting Redwood (who was in a state of > intoxication, and could not swim) until a boat was sent to his assistance. > > > > I would appreciate some clarification on these points from > someone much more au fait with the RN than I am. > > > > Many thanks. > > > > Pam > > Beaudesert, Queensland, Australia > > > > > This email has been protected by YAC (Yet Another Cleaner) > http://www.yac.mx > This email has been protected by YAC (Yet Another Cleaner) > http://www.yac.mx > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MARINERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Hi Pam Long time no speak ! If I'm not mistaken it looks to me as though you have 2 Acts of Bravery for young Mr. Robins - see : https://archive.org/stream/actsgallantrybe00youngoog/actsgallantrybe00youngoog_djvu.txt Not that unusual in those days, when men were issued with a quarter to half a pint of rum each day i.e circa 1824-5 it was reduced from a half pint to a quarter pint ; I've come across other instances where it has been noted that officers and men have performed very similar acts when the cry of man overboard was heard : cause can be from falling from aloft, or as in one of the cases here, where rum may have been the cause ? Looks to me as though they've been published by the Royal Humane Society's (RHS) Medals, an organisation which has been around since about 1774 ; so both the Herald and Genoa look right. One event taking place in the Hamoaze i.e. in Plymouth / Devonport Harbour, where the River Tamar enters the sea in Plymouth Sound, and can have a wicked current when the tide was in full flow, and the other in the English Channel. BTW the measure for rum was halved again in 1851, which in my experience with still too much ;-) and I have to say that whilst there was a tinge of sadness when I saw the tradition disappear in Jul 1970, in practical terms I was glad to see the end of it i.e. the cause of a number of deaths over the years, some by over imbibing at the time, say on a birthday, or in the long term when some men began to suffer from DTs etc., and in addition more breaches of discipline than anything else I know, and I suspect that the numbers of personnel appearing in front of the Captain declined accordingly, but I'm running off topic yet again...... Regards Paul On Sat, 3 Oct 2015 09:11:24 +1000, PMR via <mariners@rootsweb.com> wrote: >Greetings Listers > > > > I've come across the article below commending Midshipman John >Gunn ROBINS, my ggf's brother, for an Act of Bravery. > > > > However I have a couple of confusions! In the first paragraph >the date is 22nd May 1825; however in the attached Certificate the date is >December 1823. Either date would fit as John enlisted in the Royal Navy on >23 April 1823. > > > > The other confusion - was John on the HMS Herald or the HMS >Genoa (reference to 'that ship' is a bit ambiguous to me)? It could only be >the Herald if the date is 1825 as it was renamed in 1824 (that's if I've got >it right!). I have John's appointments from 1829 but not in his early RN >years. > >J G Robins, Midshipman > >On the 22nd May 1825, as His Majesty's ship "Herald" was sailing up channel, >the usual thrilling cry was heard, "A man overboard!" Mr J G Robins was then >on the quarter-deck, and judging from the rate the ship was going through >the water, that the man would rise near the stem, he threw himself into the >sea, but had scarcely risen to the surface, when he found himself grasped by >the drowning man, with an energy which nearly proved destructive to both. Mr >Robins, however, succeeded in extricating himself sufficiently to support >the man in the water; and after much labour and difficulty, as his companion >could not swim, reached the life-buoy, to which they both clung until a boat >was sent to their assistance. > >The annexed certificate is highly creditable to Mr Robins. > >These are to certify, that, in the month of December 1823, Samuel Redwood, a >gunner in the 1st company of the Royal Marine Artillery, then serving on >board His Majesty's ship "Genoa" fell overboard in Plymouth harbour in the >night, and was saved from drowning by Mr John Gunn Robins, a Midshipman of >that ship, who in the most prompt and humane manner instantly plunged into >the water, with his clothes on; and with much difficulty and at the risk of >his own life, succeeded in supporting Redwood (who was in a state of >intoxication, and could not swim) until a boat was sent to his assistance. > > > > I would appreciate some clarification on these points from >someone much more au fait with the RN than I am. > > > > Many thanks. > > > > Pam > > Beaudesert, Queensland, Australia > > > > >This email has been protected by YAC (Yet Another Cleaner) http://www.yac.mx >This email has been protected by YAC (Yet Another Cleaner) htt//www.yac.mx > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MARINERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message 50° 33' N, 2° 26' W http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html

That book's a superb find, Paul. Full pdf at https://archive.org/download/actsgallantrybe00youngoog/actsgallantrybe00youngoog.pdf David On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 1:56 PM, Paul Benyon via <mariners@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > Hi Pam > > Long time no speak ! > > If I'm not mistaken it looks to me as though you have 2 Acts of > Bravery for young Mr. Robins - see : > > > https://archive.org/stream/actsgallantrybe00youngoog/actsgallantrybe00youngoog_djvu.txt > > Not that unusual in those days, when men were issued with a quarter to > half a pint of rum each day i.e circa 1824-5 it was reduced from a > half pint to a quarter pint ; I've come across other instances where > it has been noted that officers and men have performed very similar > acts when the cry of man overboard was heard : cause can be from > falling from aloft, or as in one of the cases here, where rum may have > been the cause ? > > Looks to me as though they've been published by the Royal Humane > Society's (RHS) Medals, an organisation which has been around since > about 1774 ; so both the Herald and Genoa look right. One event > taking place in the Hamoaze i.e. in Plymouth / Devonport Harbour, > where the River Tamar enters the sea in Plymouth Sound, and can have a > wicked current when the tide was in full flow, and the other in the > English Channel. > > BTW the measure for rum was halved again in 1851, which in my > experience with still too much ;-) and I have to say that whilst there > was a tinge of sadness when I saw the tradition disappear in Jul 1970, > in practical terms I was glad to see the end of it i.e. the cause of a > number of deaths over the years, some by over imbibing at the time, > say on a birthday, or in the long term when some men began to suffer > from DTs etc., and in addition more breaches of discipline than > anything else I know, and I suspect that the numbers of personnel > appearing in front of the Captain declined accordingly, but I'm > running off topic yet again...... > > Regards > > Paul > > On Sat, 3 Oct 2015 09:11:24 +1000, PMR via <mariners@rootsweb.com> > wrote: > > >Greetings Listers > > > > > > > > I've come across the article below commending Midshipman John > >Gunn ROBINS, my ggf's brother, for an Act of Bravery. > > > > > > > > However I have a couple of confusions! In the first paragraph > >the date is 22nd May 1825; however in the attached Certificate the date is > >December 1823. Either date would fit as John enlisted in the Royal Navy on > >23 April 1823. > > > > > > > > The other confusion - was John on the HMS Herald or the HMS > >Genoa (reference to 'that ship' is a bit ambiguous to me)? It could only > be > >the Herald if the date is 1825 as it was renamed in 1824 (that's if I've > got > >it right!). I have John's appointments from 1829 but not in his early RN > >years. > > > >J G Robins, Midshipman > > > >On the 22nd May 1825, as His Majesty's ship "Herald" was sailing up > channel, > >the usual thrilling cry was heard, "A man overboard!" Mr J G Robins was > then > >on the quarter-deck, and judging from the rate the ship was going through > >the water, that the man would rise near the stem, he threw himself into > the > >sea, but had scarcely risen to the surface, when he found himself grasped > by > >the drowning man, with an energy which nearly proved destructive to both. > Mr > >Robins, however, succeeded in extricating himself sufficiently to support > >the man in the water; and after much labour and difficulty, as his > companion > >could not swim, reached the life-buoy, to which they both clung until a > boat > >was sent to their assistance. > > > >The annexed certificate is highly creditable to Mr Robins. > > > >These are to certify, that, in the month of December 1823, Samuel > Redwood, a > >gunner in the 1st company of the Royal Marine Artillery, then serving on > >board His Majesty's ship "Genoa" fell overboard in Plymouth harbour in the > >night, and was saved from drowning by Mr John Gunn Robins, a Midshipman of > >that ship, who in the most prompt and humane manner instantly plunged into > >the water, with his clothes on; and with much difficulty and at the risk > of > >his own life, succeeded in supporting Redwood (who was in a state of > >intoxication, and could not swim) until a boat was sent to his assistance. > > > > > > > > I would appreciate some clarification on these points from > >someone much more au fait with the RN than I am. > > > > > > > > Many thanks. > > > > > > > > Pam > > > > Beaudesert, Queensland, Australia > > > > > > > > > >This email has been protected by YAC (Yet Another Cleaner) > http://www.yac.mx > >This email has been protected by YAC (Yet Another Cleaner) > http://www.yac.mx > > > >------------------------------- > >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MARINERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > 50° 33' N, 2° 26' W > http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MARINERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >