The Survivors-conundrum rev

		HMS Captain 1870 The Story of HMS Captain (cont)
		The Survivors (cont) And finally - Some further survivors . . . . and some not. Robert Mayne and Charles Hankin - The Times on 24th September 1870 reported the Admiralty saying "A telegram just received at the Admiralty from Lisbon states that Mr Robert Mayne, midshipman, and Charles Hankin, private, Royal Marines, of Her Majesty's Ship Captain, are in Lisbon Hospital" Mayne is not on the St Paul's list of casualties; Hankin is. Jenny Mayne from New Zealand subsequently e-mailed to say - "I can tell you that Robert Landale Mayne is part of our family tree and that he did survive the sinking of the Captain; in fact he appears on the 1871 census for Portsea, visiting with his aunt Charlotte a house where 23 year old Sarah Mayne is a ladysmaid to the aunt's first cousin, Sarah, who in turn is the vicar at St James, Newport, Isle of Wight. Robert was born on 18th April 1851 in Lahore, India. He was the eldest son of Major Robert Graham Mayne of the Bengal Staff Corps and Eliza Landale. Robert moved to New Zealand and died there, leaving a will, on 11th January 1914. He was the black sheep of the family. He never married, but lived with a married woman (horror of horrors), but I have also discovered that he dressed up in a false beard and whiskers in the early 1900s and set fire to someone's shop in Dannevirke and was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment. His portrait was still hanging on the wall in the house of his brother William in Mildura but was turned to face the wall!!" As for Charles Hankin, it would seem he too survived, for in the same 1871 census area as Robert Mayne - Portsea - he is listed at the Royal Marine Artillery Barracks as a marine, aged 21, born Walsingham, Durham. ______________________________ Robert Allan Brown - an e-mail was received from Terry Brown, whose great-grandfather was of one of those on the Captain, on that fateful night. The family story is that Robert Allan Brown survived the capsizing, not by being picked up by one of the boats, but by swimming ashore. The fact that he is recorded on the St Paul’s plaques (as A R Brown) “was often a point of humour/renown in the family”. _____________________________ Alfred Iles In December 2004, the writer was contacted about a sailor called Alfred Iles, with a further contact from Iles descendants in February 2006. Iles had written (in the 1930s) his life story, including, on face value, a quite believable story about how he survived the Captain disaster in the launch with the other eighteen. There are, however, so many holes in his story, not least that he is not mentioned in James May's account of those that survived in the launch, nor the list of survivors used in the Court Martial, nor appearing in the survivors' photograph. The account can be found on http://freepages.books.rootsweb.com/~jcrislip/Log%20of%20a%20Sea%20Going%20Pioneer/index.htm If anyone should want the critiques of his story, contact the website author via the home page. _{____________________________} Thomas Jeffery - a survivor by dint of not being on board Stuart Bayley has been in touch, a descendant of another of Captain's sailors, which I reproduce as received - "I thought I would pass on somewhat sketchy story told to me by my half-uncle some years ago. His mother's maiden name was Jeffery and a relative of her's, perhaps even her father - I don't recall exactly - was on the Captain when she sailed. If you look at the memorial in St Pauls Cathedral, there is a T. Jeffery listed amongst the crew. According to the family story, his wife drew a widows pension for two years before he turned up safe and well, unaware that he was presumed lost. The story goes that at one of the Captain's last ports of call he was transferred to another ship, left short handed by disease, but that the record of the transfer went down with his original ship. It was only when his new ship returned from its voyage that it was discovered that he was not amongst the victims of the disaster. That is, I'm afraid, all I can remember and, unfortunately, my uncle passed away nearly 20 years ago, so those are the only details I have. I've never tried to confirm the story from the records; I'm not an historian and I honestly wouldn't know where to start. However, my uncle was not a teller of tall tales, so I am sure that he believed the story to be true. This story gained more credence when the following e-mail was received from David Jeffery a great-great-grandson of Thomas Jeffrey - "I hope the following is of interest and gives some help in answer to one of the conundrums as listed regarding survivors of the HMS Captain disaster. Your site has notes from Stuart Bayley regarding a seaman; one T Jeffery thought to have survived the mishap, only by changing ships prior to the event. The sailor in question I believe was my great-great-grandfather, Warrant Officer Thomas Jeffery who is named on the memorial in St Paul’s Cathedral. I have visited St Paul's and have a photograph of the plaque. Recent investigation into my ancestry by another member of my family has shown from archive and census records the following information about Thomas Jeffery: Born before 1812 at Little Thurlow, Suffolk, died in 1888. He was a Warrant Officer from 1854 to 1880 and had sailed on HMS Indus some time before his position on HMS Captain. He was awarded the Turkish Medal during in his career. The story of Thomas Jeffery leaving the services of HMS Captain, shortly before the disaster, to assist on board another ship whose crew had been struck by some malady or disease has also been passed down by word of mouth through my family. He would have been 58 years of age at the time of the disaster. The anecdote that Thomas didn’t ‘turn up’ for a number of years after the disaster has also been related and is the source of some conjecture; and, with all due respect to the major calamity that occurred, in his case, some amusement. To name Thomas as a survivor of this horrific naval disaster is perhaps not quite true as it seems he was not there at the actual event, however his name is set on the plaque in St Paul’s and survive the disaster by default he certainly did. The information as above is true as I understand it. The details of the transfer of Thomas from one ship to another is, at this time, not known; however I would be pleased to hear from anyone who has more information and who may wish to add or amend the record. I have a small sea chest that has been handed down to me that I was told belonged to my Great, Great Grandfather. There is also at least one photograph of Thomas, posed with medals, in the possession of my family." Henry H Mothersole - also survived by not actually being on board Descendants of this man, described as Naval Engineer Officer, found reference to Henry in this website in `Other Publications' - `An Authentic Account' where he is listed, according to the Navy List, as being one of the officers on board. However, he appears neither on the list of survivors nor those lost on the St Paul's plaques. A descendant has offered this story, although saying more checks are necessary - Family legend has it that he was appointed the engineer of a ship and reported for duty in Portsmouth, only to find that his papers were not in order due to his imminent retirement. He therefore failed to board the ship. Meanwhile, his family in the Wirral were adjusting to life without the patriarch, having heard of the disaster (my great grandmother, Emily Jane Mothersole was the eldest of a brood of twelve , all brothers). A small sibling rushed in to the house to announce that he had just seen their father coming along the road, to be greeted with a sharp clip around the ear and a rebuke not to be so silly, then shortly after that, his arrival. On retirement, Henry returned to the Wirral, living there until his death in 1900. --oOo---