Women in Nelson's Navy

Page 2 of 6

• 1. Attitudes then and now
• 2. On-board wives
• 3. Women on the lower deck
• 4. Passengers and nurses
• 5. Burials on Nelson's Island
• 6. Find out more
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On-board wives

In Nelson's navy, warrant officers were the ship's specialist officers, and included the carpenter, gunner, cooper, purser and master (the person responsible for the ship's navigation and sailing). Their name comes from the fact that they received a warrant from the Admiralty, rather than a commission, which is what the captain and his lieutenants received. A number of these men took their wives and children to sea with them.

The presence of the women was largely hidden, for official purposes, as they were not paid or fed by the Navy, and therefore were not entered onto the ships' muster books. However other records, such as order books written by ships' captains, refer to their existence, as do memoirs and records of courts martial.

'The presence of the women was largely hidden, for official purposes ...'

The story of George Casey, his wife, and Nicholas Maeger is a good example. On Friday 5 January 1797, Commodore Horatio Nelson was presiding over the court martial of Lieutenant Nicholas Meager of HMS Dromedary. Lieutenant Meager was charged by George Casey, the ship's Master, because he '... took hold of me by the nose and pulled with all his strength', in public view on the deck of the ship.

Prior to the attack one witness recalled that 'I was walking on the larboard [left] side of the quarter deck, Mr Casey and his wife were walking on the starboard [right] side, the prisoner [Meager] came out of his cabin and as he passed Mrs Casey he spit in her face'. It is not recorded why Maeger spat in Mrs Casey's face, but this record attests to the fact that a warrant officer had his wife with him while at sea, was promenading with her in public view, and the court saw nothing unusual in this. And what is more, in a separate court martial also involving Casey and Maeger, it came to light that the Caseys also had a child, which stayed onboard with them.

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Published: 2004-02-15