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THE UNEXPECTED PASSENGER
Dramatis Personae
Note: (*) designates historical character.
HMS Laconia,
36-guns fifth rate frigate
256 officers, men and boys
Captain Frederick
Wentworth
3 lieutenants
Lieutenant William
Price - 1st lieutenant
Lieutenant Alexander
Mumphrey - 2nd lieutenant
6 midshipmen
Mr. Dawsey - Midshipman
Sailing Master,
Purser, Gunner, Carpenter
Dr. Powell - Surgeon
Lieutenant Greengard
- Head of the Royal Marine contingent
Stokes - Boatswain
Nowak - Captain's
steward
Radle, Eades, Lauck,
Utley - Able Seamen
Pyke - Landsman
(inexperienced sailor)
Guests
Anne Elliot Wentworth
- Wife to Captain Wentworth
Dr. Stephen Maturin
- Physician of HMS Surprise
Lt. Colonel Tarleton
- Royal Marines, posted to Bermuda
Others
Sir Thomas Bertram
- Baronet and Member of Parliament, owner of Mansfield Park,
Northampton; Husband to Maria Ward; Children: Tom, Edmund, Maria,
Julia; Uncle to William and Susan Price and Fanny Price Bertram
Margaret Dashwood
- Daughter of the dowager Mrs. Dashwood of Barton Cottage, Dorsetshire
Julia Bertram Yates
- Wife to the Hon. John Yates
Sir Joseph Blaine
- British naval official and one of the premier botanists of
the age, "holding an obscure but influential position with
'the Committee'", suspected to be the head of British intelligence
Sir James Cockburn
(*) - Governor of Bermuda
Rear Admiral Edward
Griffith (*) - Commander, North American Station
GLOSSARY
BARKY - Nickname
for a ship.
BOADICEA (or BOUDICCA)
- a female chieftain in the British Isles who led the Iceni and
a number of other British tribes, including the neighboring Trinovantes,
in a major uprising against the occupying Roman forces in Britain
in 60 or 61 AD during the reign of the emperor Nero. The poet
William Cowper wrote a popular poem, Boadicea, an ode,
in 1782.
CAPTAIN - Generally
the person in charge of a sailing vessel. See POST-CAPTAIN.
COMMANDER - See
MASTER & COMMANDER.
COMMODORE - A temporary
rank for a senior Post-Captain placed in charge of a squadron.
They wore the uniform of a Rear-Admiral and received an Admiral's
salute.
LARBOARD - Left;
the left side of a vessel; also one of two, such as the larboard
watch. Today, to end confusion with starboard, mariners use the
term "port".
LIEUTENANT - Naval
officer's rank between (Master &) Commander and Midshipman.
A candidate for Lieutenant must pass an examination after at
least six years service.
LOBLOLLY BOY - Name
given for a surgeon's assistant.
MASTER & COMMANDER
- Naval officer's rank between Post-Captain and Lieutenant. A
(Master &) Commander could be placed in charge of any vessel
smaller than a ship, such as a sloop or brig. By naval custom,
he was referred to as "Captain" once he has assumed
command of the vessel. Should a Commander be placed temporarily
in charge of a ship, that ship temporarily became "disrated".
Should a Commander be transferred into a ship under a Post-Captain,
he reverts to a Lieutenant. By 1815, only men who had achieved
this rank could hope to be promoted to Post-Captain.
MIDSHIPMAN - Lowest
of the officer ranks.
POST-CAPTAIN - Naval
officer's rank between Admiral and Commander. A Post-Captain
could be placed in charge of (posted to) a ship; in other words,
a "true" captain. This is the highest rank a naval
officer could be promoted to. Once "posted" the officer
was placed on the "list" - seniority would determine
when that officer rose to Admiral.
RANK - Approximate
British military rank during the Napoleonic Wars:
|
Army/Marines |
Navy |
|
Field
Marshal |
Admiral
of the Fleet |
|
General |
Admiral |
|
Lt.
General |
Vice Admiral |
|
Major
General |
Rear Admiral |
|
Brigadier
(temporary) |
Commodore
(temporary) |
|
Colonel |
(Post) Captain |
|
Lt.
Colonel |
(Master &)
Commander |
|
Major |
First Lieutenant |
|
Captain |
Lieutenant
(other) |
|
Lieutenant |
Midshipman |
RATED SHIPS - The
British Navy rated their warships thusly (in 1815):
|
1st Rate: |
110+ guns on 3 decks |
|
2nd Rate: |
90-110 guns on 3 decks |
|
3rd Rate: |
80-90 guns on 2 decks |
|
4th Rate: |
60-80 guns on 2 decks |
|
5th Rate: |
32-60 guns |
|
6th Rate: |
up to 32 guns |
|
Unrated: |
all others, not being ships (sloops,
brigs, gunboats, etc...) |
SHIP - In the early
19th century it referred to a three-masted square rigged ship
to which a Post-Captain was posted (posted ship). In the Royal
Navy at the time only line-of-battle ships and frigates would
be considered ships.
SHROUDS - Part of
the rigging of a ship, a range of large ropes extending from
the mastheads to the sides of the ship, secured by the chains.
The parallel bands of ratlines running between the shrouds functioned
as ladders by which the topmen climbed up to and down from the
mastheads.
STARBOARD - Right;
the right side of a vessel; also one of two, such as the starboard
watch.
WATCH - Being on
duty.
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