Women in Nelson's Navy

Page 4 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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Passengers and nurses

Royal Navy ships were constantly carrying passengers on board. These could be government officials coming or going to foreign stations, discharged invalids going home, or soldiers being transferred from one post to another - and a number of them were women.

'Out of every 100 men, three soldiers were allowed to bring their wives ...'

During the 1801 Egyptian campaign, over 60 Royal Navy vessels carried and escorted 12,000 troops to Aboukir Bay, Egypt, in an attempt to drive French forces out of Egypt. Out of every 100 men, three soldiers were allowed to bring their wives, which meant that there were at least 360 women in the fleet, as well as their children. These women and children are recorded in the ships' muster books. For instance the muster book of HMS Charon records that there were 30 women and 20 children onboard 'belonging to the 30th Regiment [now the Queen's Lancashire Regiment]'.

After the successful landing in Aboukir Bay, many of the troopships were turned into hospital ships, and although some of the women and children left to join the army now camped ashore, many stayed on board ship, and volunteered to act as nurses to the sick and wounded. In appreciation of this, Admiral Lord Keith, the expedition's naval commander, allowed them to be fed from the ships' stores, and encouraged them to volunteer for this service.

The Royal Navy of the time had a comprehensive health care system, which included compulsory vaccination against smallpox, free medical treatment for sailors, a sick bay and a surgeon on every ship - as well as an extensive network of hospitals and hospital ships. However, the nurses who attended the sick and wounded at these establishments had quite a bad reputation, and were continually being sacked for prostitution, drunkenness and helping the sailors desert.

One sailor wrote that, '... those ladies are exceedingly bold and audacious ... I had a great deal to do to repulse the temptations I met with from these sirens'.

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Published: 2004-02-15