I wonder if there is an expert on the West Africa Squadron who can help me find out if my great, great grandfather John Dodds was, as family stories say in the Royal Navy in West Africa any time between 1814 - 1850 John Dodds was born 1790 in Alnwick, Northumberland. We have a good record of his four marriages and his children but nothing definite about his navy career and possibly army -can these two be mixed? Family story says that when his first wife, Elizabeth Strother died 1814 he went to sea and rose through the ranks to Capt. It is said that he went to Africa to act against the slave trade working out of St. Louis, Senegal. It is also said that he was in the army and was an aide de campe to Sir Thomas Brereton, governor of Senegal. 1818 he married Marie-Sophie Feultaine in Senegal and had 3 children. A grandson of this couple was General Alfred Amadee Dodds 1825 back in Alnwick he married Mary Frances Hindmarsh and they had 7 children., some say that he continued his naval career during this marriage but others say that he resumed it at her death in 1838. 1850 he married Mary Hughes , went to Australia and after the age of 60 had 8 more children! 1838- his motherless children in Alnwick saw him once a year and it was said that he was at sea the rest of the time. (I don't know if the children in Senegal ever saw him again) It is also said that at some point he contracted Yellow Fever while exploring the Gambia River area and was sent back to England to recover. I found a list of ships of the West Africa Squadron but no John Dodds. I know this is all rather vague. I would be grateful for any help or direction as to where to look for answers. Jo

Hi Jo If he served on board a vessel on the West Africa Squadron then you need to find the vessel on which he served. Over the years quite a lot of vessels were involved in this work, in the early days only spending relatively short periods on station, whereas, from the mid 1820s the vessels involved in this work could spend 2-4 years on station, often with brief breaks to Ascension Island, the Cape of Goog Hope, or St Helena from the 1840s. If any of his children were baptised when he was on board one of these vessels then there is a remote chance that the ship's name might have been mentioned in the PRs, and ditto for when he got married i.e. once you have a starting point you might be able to follow his career in the RN, from ship to ship, backwards as well as forwards using either the muster or pay lists for the vessels on which he served, since the former of these volumes list all the personnel who served on board, and the latter all those who were entitled to pay. Senegal, BTW, except for The Gambia, was mostly under French control during the 19th Century, although I'm not too sure what the state of affairs was during the Napoleonic Wars. See the Wiki page on Senegal, which includes a map showing where The Gambia was. In the main the Squadron operated from Sierra Leone, although, there was a brief period during the 1830s when Fernando Po was earmarked as the centre for operations, but the health problems experienced were worse than the mainland and the squadron soon moved back to Sierra Leone. In addition, parts of the Squadron were detailed off to operate along the coast from the Gambia, down to what is now Angola, as required. In addition vessels coming down from the UK would often have a look around the Cape Verde islands to see if slave vessels were hiding away in the islands, since the authorities were so poorly paid they were invariably happy to take back-handers to let the slave ships take advantage of the local facilities for watering their vessels and hiding away from the RN etc., until such time as they were ready to sail for the Coast to pick up their human "cargo." Please note that this was often the term used in those days. >definite about his navy career and possibly army -can these two be mixed? In those days yes, and in later years too, as long as there was no desertion involved. >It is also said that at some point he contracted Yellow Fever while >exploring the Gambia River area Most of the areas where fresh water might lie, especially during the rainy season, mosquitoes will thrive and malaria and yellow fever are a serious problem, and in those days few of the surgeons were familiar with what was known as the "Bark," i.e. the bark (of the Cinchona) from which quinine was produced and given to the crews by some of the better informed surgeons as a form of prophylaxis, at least for malaria.....quite good for leg cramps too ;-) So Malaria and Yellow Fever were quite common and it wasn't unknown for members of the ship's company to become debilitated by these diseases, and the only cure was to send them home, although if a lot of the ship's company were affected, with some deaths, they might sail for Ascension to get the crew fit again, but those who didn't respond to the sea air would usually be left there to pick up the next RN ship going to the UK. Many never got really fit again and were only ever able to do light work, if any, so it isn't unusual to see Greenwich Pensioners in the census who were late of the West Coast of Africa. So, ignoring all the waffle, you need the name of a ship on which he served, and from that, should they have survived, you need either the ship's Muster or Pay Lists, held by the National Archives at Kew, where he should hopefully be listed, and if you are lucky you may be able to follow his career from ship to ship, since there weren't that many volunteers for the West Africa Squadron, for good reason. Paul On Fri, 20 Mar 2015 20:28:19 +1300, Jo Wynne via <mariners@rootsweb.com> wrote: >I wonder if there is an expert on the West Africa Squadron who can help me >find out if my great, great grandfather John Dodds was, as family stories >say in the Royal Navy in West Africa any time between 1814 - 1850 >John Dodds was born 1790 in Alnwick, Northumberland. >We have a good record of his four marriages and his children but nothing >definite about his navy career and possibly army -can these two be mixed? >Family story says that when his first wife, Elizabeth Strother died 1814 >he went to sea and rose through the ranks to Capt. It is said that he went >to Africa to act against the slave trade working out of St. Louis, >Senegal. >It is also said that he was in the army and was an aide de campe to Sir >Thomas Brereton, governor of Senegal. >1818 he married Marie-Sophie Feultaine in Senegal and had 3 children. A >grandson of this couple was General Alfred Amadee Dodds >1825 back in Alnwick he married Mary Frances Hindmarsh and they had 7 >children., some say that he continued his naval career during this marriage >but others say that he resumed it at her death in 1838. >1850 he married Mary Hughes , went to Australia and after the age of 60 >had 8 more children! >1838- his motherless children in Alnwick saw him once a year and it was >said that he was at sea the rest of the time. (I don't know if the children >in Senegal ever saw him again) >It is also said that at some point he contracted Yellow Fever while >exploring the Gambia River area and was sent back to England to recover. >I found a list of ships of the West Africa Squadron but no John Dodds. >I know this is all rather vague. I would be grateful for any help or >direction as to where to look for answers. >Jo > >------------------------------- >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