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  1. #1

    Default Looking for a Master of HMS Daphne

    Hi all,

    New here so please forgive me if I get this wrong.
    I am looking for information on my 4 x great grandfather, Nathaniel Denham.
    I've been doing some creative googling and found tantalising bits and pieces but far from the full story.

    Nathaniel was b.around 1774 and Married Mary White on 25h January, 1798.
    In 1809 he appears to have been Master on board the HMS Daphne
    Then in 1813 he is a "free Mariner" in Calcutta, employed by the Dutch East India Company.

    We have a difficult to decipher will which was proved in 1823 which I guess is when he died. It looks as though he was still in Calcutta at the time but have found no death record that I can attach to him.

    He also seems to be the first cousin of John Charles Denham, civil servant, Secretary to the board of the Globe Insurance Company and watercolourist.


    He was the father of Admiral Sir Henry Mangles Denham (brother of my ancestor)
    I have Nathaniel's marriage, his children and those brief mentions but nothing else.
    He doesn't seem to be on any Naval records that I've found online.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated

  2. #2

    Default

    Welcome to the British Genealogy Forum. it sounds as though you'll fit in well!

    If you have access to one of the old newspaper services, it's worth a look there. For example, I have found a note in the Hamshire Chronicle of Mon 21 Nov 1803, that Mr Nathaniel Denham of the Hon. East India Company Service arrived at the India House 19 Nov 1803 having left Calcutta on 3 Aug on the Lord Eldon, changing to the Camilla at St Helena.

    Be careful, there's a second Nathaniel Denham around - a merchant who went bankrupt in 1803.
    There is a small chance that it's the same guy as a Nathaniel Denham, bankrupt mariner,had his share of the brig Dreadnought sold in 1807. He's described as "late of Walworth".

    If you haven't come across FIBIS (they are HERE ), they might be worth checking. They mention a will for a Nathaniel Denham in 1819 which is apparently available on Find My Past.

    PS Are you sure that the Daphne was HMS? That implies the Royal Navy....

  3. #3
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    The Google Books reference to the Daphne seem to be him being court martialled aboard the Salvador Del Mundo and dismissed from the service.

    Searching for him on the National Archives brings up a reference to him having been Master of the Lightning and Alamene:

    https://discovery.nationalarchives.g...ls/r/C10273593
    https://discovery.nationalarchives.g...ls/r/C10273796

    There are a few references to him on Find my Past, including Surrey Quarter Sessions (Newington) 3 Mar 1806, Nathaniel Denham, Mariner of Bermondsey Committed to Surrey County Gaol 22d of Feb, 1806, by J Harriott, esq, charged on the oath of John Jeffery, with assaulting and beating him, at Bermondsey; for want of sureties. Indictment Rejected By Grand Jury; Discharged. Annotated 'Detained for debt'

    There are also a few documents regarding his will and the administration of his estate

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    Looking at his will, it seems he wrote it 12 Sep 1818 & added a codicil 23 Feb 1819. This is followed by a Petition dated 3 Sep 1819 which states that Nathaniel has "lately parted this life".

    I've only scanned the will itself but noticed this: "Charles Nathaniel Denham born the day I was forty years old".

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    He was made bankrupt in 1804? and was described in 1809 as Nathaniel Denham, late of Walworth, in the County of Surrey, Mariner, Dealer and Chapman (but at the time of issuing the said commission, a prisoner for debt in the county gaol in the said County of Surrey):

    https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/...6284/page/1268

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    No idea how correct this is, but it claims that Nathaniel was from Sherborne, Dorset

    https://www.oxfordreference.com/view...10803095710202

  7. #7

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    Yeah.. I found that. and did the math.. We didn't know about Charles . He died in 1831 at the age of 15.
    Where was the petition? Was it in the will. I have been struggling to decipher it. If Nathaniel did die in 1819 rather than 1823 , I may have been on the wrong track.

  8. #8
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    On FindmyPast the petition follows on from the will.

    I didn't think the writing on the will was particularly bad - maybe the odd word here & there but otherwise much better than many I've had to read! Shout if youre still struggling with it.

  9. #9

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    Hi Lesley, Yes, I was aware of the second Nathaniel. I have been told that apparently he is an uncle.
    The "Daphne " was a Naval vessel then sold by the Admirality after the Napoleonic Wars.
    I found that Nathaniel who went bankrupt.. My Nathaniel was court martialled in 1809 for leaving the ship against the orders of the captain, found guilty and dismissed from the service. He subsequently gained employment with the Dutch East India Company, so I figured the 1803 bankruptcy probably wasn't him.

  10. #10

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    Yes, I saw that but can find no record of Nathaniel in Sherborne. Another biography of Henry Mangles Denham, another son of Nathaniel stated that a John Charles Denham was his brother.. A probate record revealed he was in fact a 1st cousin once removed so those biographies aren't always correct.

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