Articled Singers, and The Great Sea Snake

A couple of possibly minor points, from a day spent trolling through the still amazingly disorganized history of London theatre in the first half of the 1800s:

1. Thomas Welsh articled many of his students who were unable to pay for his tutelage. As an articled -- what? -- apprentice?, the student was in Welsh's hands with respect to placement and work, and a portion of the student's wages during the period covered by the articles (three years, in the specific cases I have been able to find), went to Welsh. Seems, in retrospect, obvious.
2. Thomas Floyd's favorite song has been found, and a popular favorite it was. Now that I'm comfortable with the veracity of EHB's account of Thomas, I went looking for a "great sea snake" EHB mentions in her description of her contact with Thomas in the Autobiography and found it, in the form of a popular ballad.

Don't late the date on this exemplar fool you -- the song dates back to at least the 1810s, from what I can gather.

Manifestations Of A Cross Girl, Redux

I'm saying a few prayers today for the kindness of one particular stranger, Stuart Elliott, whose site on military medals I was led to by Google the other day. I'll just reproduce a chunk of Stuart's note to me here, and let him speak for himself:

The part of the site where you found reference to Thomas Floyd concerns those members of the Royal Navy, British Army Regiments & Honourable East India Company forces that served during what became known as the First China Opium War 1839 - 1842.

I found the information Thomas Floyd was a brother to Emma Hardinge Britten most interesting and in turn can offer the following that I'm hoping will be of value to you.

Thomas Floyd born Calne (entered as Clane in ship's description book) 17/03/1826.

He chose a career at sea entering HMS Vixen on 10th September 1841 as a Boy 2nd Class aged 15 years 7 months. His Muster entry number was '1' indicating he was the first boy rate to sign on the ship.

Thomas's normal residence was shown as Westminster - he was described as 5 ft 2 inches tall, fair complexion, grey eyes and with light brown hair. He had no distinguishing marks and was vaccinated (normal practice for RN) for smallpox. This was his first entry into the service.

HMS Vixen was a new vessel and as a steam paddle ship one of the most advanced ships of her type at the time. The paddle ships were invaluable in operating in the Chinese rivers and towed the larger RN vessels during most actions. Thomas would have been present during the major action at Chin kiang foo on 21/07/1842 but appears to have fallen ill shortly afterwards being discharged sick on 18th October 1842 to HMS Minden, the hospital hulk (ex 3rd rate ship) at Hong Kong.

Thomas Floyd was 'Discharged Dead' on 25th October 1842. Sickness by this time was rife in the fleet and especially on shore due to the unhealthy climate, poor drinking water and other bad practices. HMS Minden must have been 'hell' to all those who entered her and perhaps one should not dwell too much on the suffering poor Thomas must have experienced.

The China 1842 Medal muster shows Thomas as entitled to the medal but no indication as to whom the medal was forwarded on to (next of kin?) The whereabouts of his medal is also not known to me at this time. I retain a database of known medals.

A check at the National Archives, London also confirms his service papers have not survived.

The kindness of strangers... Thank you, Stuart.

Manifestation Of A Cross Girl

In her Autobiography, EHB records the details of a sitting in which she communicates, by raps and automatic writing, with her departed brother, Tom, a sailor:

"If that is you, Tom, tell me the name of the ship you went away in." No knock responded, but the Medium holding out a slip of paper on which she had been rapidly writing, we read this message, written before my very question was spoken.

" Sailed away in H.M.S. the 'manifestation of a cross girl'. "

"What on earth does that mean?" cried my companions.

"Sailed away in Her Majesty's Ship Vixen," I replied ; "but oh, Tom, why do you speak in such enigmas?"

Again the Medium wrote—" I gave those words only to signify the meaning of my ship's name, Vixen, because in after years no one should say that my answers were mind reading."

Robert Mathiesen, in his chronology of EHB's life, notes Tom's death as occurring in 1846, when Emma was 23, and acting in London, and Tom was 16. (The Unseen Worlds of Emma Hardinge Britten, p. 72). He does not cite the source of his information.

So, what of the HMS Vixen, and brother Tom?

The HMS Vixen was a steam-paddle driven, lightly armed (6 gun) first class sloop, built at the Pembroke royal dockyards, beginning in May of 1840, fitted for sea at Woolwich in the fall and winter of 1841, and manned and provisioned in Plymouth in the early part of 1842. Presumably, then, it looked much like the Peterel, below, a steam sloop operating at the same time.

The maiden voyage of the Vixen was out to the China Sea, and up the Yangtse river, to participate in the battle that resulted in the Treaty of Nanking, ending the First Opium War (1849-42). Vixen apparently operates in the China Sea until late 1845, when it is dispatched along with other vessels of the Royal Navy to the coastal waters around Borneo, for anti-piratical duty. The Port Philip Herald, from 11 December 1845, carries this story:

Destruction Of Pirates. -By a letter from H.M.S. Agincourt, dated Manila, 3rd September, we learn that the squadron, consisting of the Agincourt, Vestal, Daedalus, Cruizer (?) Wolverine, Vixen, Pluto, and Nemesis, had attacked, at Malloodoo (also Maladu) Bay, the pirate chief Seriff Housman (Sharif Hasman?). The boats of the squadron succeeded in taking his forts, being three in number, and mounting altogether fifteen guns; they destroyed his town, and all the goods they came across. The boats were under the fire of the batteries, while forcing the boom, upwards of fifty minutes, at little more than two hundred yards. distance. Our loss was six killed and fifteen wounded-two of the latter since dead. Mr. Pym, of the Vestal, was wounded in the back part of the thigh by a grape shot, but not dangerously. Gibbard, a mate of the Wolverine, was killed. The loss on the Agincourt alone was four killed and six wounded. The loss of the enemy could not be ascertained, as they carried the bodies immediately into the jungle, but it must have been immense. Two Arab chiefs are known to have been killed, and Seriff Housman himself (is said) to have been carried off the field, severely wounded in the neck.

Later, in 1848, Vixen is involved in slave trade disruption at the mouth of the Congo, and dispatched to Nicaragua to deal with some truculent local ruler; it remains apparently in Atlantic waters until 1856, when it returns to Portsmouth for refitting. Vixen then returns to duty in the Pacific until some time (as yet undetermined) in the 1860s, when it is either destroyed or decommissioned. The new HMS Vixen is ordered in 1864 and commissioned in 1866, bracketing the end-date of the first Vixen's life in that time frame.

Tom clearly served aboard the HMS Vixen, and is listed in the ship's company under "Boys". Presumably he signed aboard -- or was transferred aboard -- at Plymouth, in 1842 - at the age of 16.

And subject to verification and subsequent updates to this posting, it appears that Tom died, aboard the Vixen, in the China Sea, on 25 October 1842 -- whether from wounds sustained in the attack on Nanking, or of other natural or unnatural causes, we do not yet know.

Update: Confirmed, with detail, by someone who (as Emma liked to say) ought to know.

The Family Floyd

begins to piece itself together, but only just. All information in this post subject to revision -- consider this notes from the field.

Father definitely Ebenezer, son of Ebenezer, born circa 1795, and noted as the christening of several of his children.

Mother Ann Sophia, possibly Bromfield or Bromville, born circa 1798, possibly daughter of a clergyman. Also present at the christening of children. Known at times as Amy Sophia, and A. S. Floyd, and A. S. Harding, interestingly enough, when she traveled first to the US with "Miss Emma Harding".

Marriage of Ebenezer and Ann Sophia takes place on 9 December in Minehead, not Misterton, as often reported, and by license rather than by banns, which may say something about Ann Sophia's socioeconomic status, and may say something about the hurried-ness of the marriage.

News flash:Elder sister, Frances Ann, born probably in Minehead, christened at Minehead on 20 August 1820. She disappears from the records almost immediately thereafter, and is not part of the post-Ebenezer household in London. Current hypothesis: early death.

News flash:Brother Tom, who "died young" and acted as one of EHB's controls early on in her career, has been found in the records. He was born 17 March 1826, and christened in Calne, Wiltshire, on 26 April 1826. He also disappears from the records almost immediately, and is not part of the post-Ebenezer London household, which would be consistent with the tale that Tom died young, and at sea, or overseas.

Add younger sister Margaret's christening to the geographical mix, and we get a very interesting pattern.

View Larger Map

At A, Margaret's christening. At B, Thomas' christening. At C, the parents' marriage and Frances Ann's christening. And then, way over on the right, D: Emma's christening in Bethnal Green.

We know, from EHB's Autobiography that the family was living in the vicinity of Bristol up until Ebenezer's death (in 1834?) -- perhaps within walking distance of the Avon, into which Emma contemplated throwing herself before being called back by the voice of her father. So, the Bristol-centric cluster of the marriage and the other childrens' christenings makes sense.

Emma's an outlier, and the question is: why? Ann Sophia's relatives in the vicinity? Father in the coasting trade by this time - if there was a coasting trade between Bristol and the Thames at the time?