------ Beginning of Forwarded Message From: Claire Bettag <claire@clairebettag.com> Subject: US Descendants of TRAFALGAR Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 15:23:54 -0500 > I was asked by a staff member at the National Archives (who is also a member > of APG) to post this announcement. I am only the messenger and have no > additional information. If you wish to respond, please do so to John Gower > directly. > > Thanks, > Claire > --------------- > Dear Sir or Madam, > > I am the Assistant Naval Attache at the British Embassy in Washington DC. > This year (Oct 21st) marks the 200th anniversary of Admiral Lord Nelson's > famous vistory at the Battle of Trafalgar. This much is well known! What is > less well known, however, is that at least 20 members of the crew of his > flagship, HMS VICTORY, were at that time Americans, or born in America. > > With the assistance of the National Archives I am trying to locate any living > descendants of those who fought with NELSON with a view to some sort of > commemorative event, possibly in Washington DC, in the fall. Unfortunately, > none of the records in the UK at the Naval Historical Branch records what > happened to the individuals listed as being from America after the battle, so > with the exception of Midshipman Richard Bulkeley (after whom a USN ship was > named in WW1, and whose descendants knew about him, including the Medal of > Honor winner, VAdm John D Bulkeley, USN 1911-1966). > > THe National Archives gave me your email addresses. Is there anything we can > do to "cast the net" to find the descendants? I am loath to pass out the > names at the first instance, to reduce the spurious returns, but I wondered if > a call as to whether anyone knew that their ancestors had served in the battle > might work. We could then check in more detail later against the names I > hold. Failing that, we could release the names, accepting that we may be > deluged with "wannabees". > > > Yours aye, > > John Gower > J H J GOWER OBE > Captain Royal Navy > Assistant Naval Attache > British Embassy > Washington DC > (202) 588-6804 ------ End of Forwarded Message -- Michelle Tucker Chubenko Professional Genealogist http://mywebpages.comcast.net/famhist/michprogen.htm