Hello.

I am pursuing my ggggrandfather John Lupton, who, according to an unverified marginal note possibly entered by one Edith May Pottage, died in a battle with Spain in 1808. In the entry of his marriage in 1798 in Stoke Damerel he gives his occupation as shipwright. (I wonder to whom Edith May Pottage passed her genealogical records? Would it be ethical to try to find out something from her will?)

I cannot find Lupton's name in the apprenticeship records, nor could it be found in any shipyard record.

I have had the records of Wellington's campaign searched and nothing was found. I have Tracy's Naval Chronicle which includes 1808. In it I find an entry about Cochrane's raid on the coast of Spain, which includes the names of a number of vessels. I requested a search among Admiralty records, but was told they could not find a John Lupton among the muster records for those ships. I have thought about naval pension records, or some record of money paid out to the widows of lost mariners. I do not know where those would be - and how long his widow would have received a payment; she apparently remarried, though I do not know when.

So, does anyone have any idea of how to check naval pension records and prize money payments for a mariner killed in combat, or, does anybody have any other idea of how to proceed?

Sorry to be so long-winded, but this just scratches the surface....

Regards,

Charlie