MythicalMarian
03-09-2009, 8:39 PM
I'm shamed to death! (as my old gran, descendant of the Pigots would say.)
Having been thrilled to uncover my Pigot line recently, I now find that as black sheep go, this one was gold-plated! Hugh Pigot was the great nephew of my 7xgreat grandad (if you can work that out!) so thankfully he is not TOO close, but by all the gods - what a pig! Apparently he is notorious enough to have a Wikipedia entry, and he carries the dubious distinction of being the most sadistic and brutal officer in the history of the Royal Navy!
In 1797 he was captain of the HMS Hermione in the West Indies (despite being only 27 years old - his Dad was an Admiral) and drove his men to such desperation through constant floggings that they mutinied and murdered him.
I don't know whether to be happy or sad that I have found a book on Amazon - 'The Black Ship' by Dudley Pope - which arrived today about this chap. It is very odd to read about someone in your family in this way, although the story itself of the ship and the crew is fascinating and I am learning a great deal about naval service of the period through this well researched tome. But I am almost scared to turn the pages in case I find out even more dreadful things about 'our Hugh'
He's a far cry from the gentle vicars I have found in my Pigots so far, but it just goes to show - the more we dig, the more likelihood there is of uncovering an absolute rotter or two. |sad1|
Having been thrilled to uncover my Pigot line recently, I now find that as black sheep go, this one was gold-plated! Hugh Pigot was the great nephew of my 7xgreat grandad (if you can work that out!) so thankfully he is not TOO close, but by all the gods - what a pig! Apparently he is notorious enough to have a Wikipedia entry, and he carries the dubious distinction of being the most sadistic and brutal officer in the history of the Royal Navy!
In 1797 he was captain of the HMS Hermione in the West Indies (despite being only 27 years old - his Dad was an Admiral) and drove his men to such desperation through constant floggings that they mutinied and murdered him.
I don't know whether to be happy or sad that I have found a book on Amazon - 'The Black Ship' by Dudley Pope - which arrived today about this chap. It is very odd to read about someone in your family in this way, although the story itself of the ship and the crew is fascinating and I am learning a great deal about naval service of the period through this well researched tome. But I am almost scared to turn the pages in case I find out even more dreadful things about 'our Hugh'
He's a far cry from the gentle vicars I have found in my Pigots so far, but it just goes to show - the more we dig, the more likelihood there is of uncovering an absolute rotter or two. |sad1|