"Happy" Birthday Old Jervie

[anteros_lmc]

9th of January is a memorable date in naval history as it marks not only the funeral of Nelson, but also the birthday of John Jervis, Earl St Vincent who was born this day in Staffordshire in 1735.

I'm not going to even attempt to summarise Jervis character and career. Suffice to say he was a mass of contradictions. He was a notoriously taut hand and harsh disciplinarian but could also be immensely kind to his men. A staunch supporter of those he favoured such as Nelson and Troubridge, he was also an implacable foe of those whose character displeased him, such as Thomas Cochrane, or who fell out of favour, as Edward Pellew did. Towards the end of his life, relatives of St Vincent attempted to effect a reconciliation with Pellew but St Vincent refused all their overtures. Oh, and he hated Scots and was none too fond of Jack Aubrey either! Perhaps unsurprisingly, St Vincent seems to have got on rather well with Hornblower. But then, like St Vincent, Hornblower could be a bit of a contrary old bugger too ;)

Here's Forester's description of the man from Lord Hornblower

Beyond the door St. Vincent was awaiting them, the little wind tossing the ostrich feathers of his hat and ruffling the crimson cloak of silk. His massive legs bulged the white silk trunk hose; and he was pacing up and down on huge, gouty, deformed feet that distorted the white silk shoes. But the fantastic costume in no way detracted from the grim dignity of the man.

PS St Vincent has a street named after him in Glasgow. St Vincent street crosses Cochrane Street right in the center of the city. I'm sure both men would be delighted that their names live on side by side. Not.

Comments

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

He sounds like a prickly old guy. But loyal to those he liked, and that is something.

And maybe he was just cranky because his feet hurt?

[vespican.livejournal.com]

Sore feet can indeed make one cranky! Just ask me!
Dave

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Aye but there's cranky and cranky!

[mylodon.livejournal.com]

If any of us had two minutes to rub together and call our own, what a fic that would make, the two old geezers meeting at the crossroads.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Heh, can you imagine it? The pair of them stuck together for eternity in the middle of Glasgow!

[esmerelda-t.livejournal.com]

If he hated us why do we have a street named after him? That settles it! I must return if for no other reason than to lobby for a name change! Bartholomew street has a nice ring to it.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Bartholomew Street sounds splendid. I will petition the council immediately!

There are so many streets in the centre commemorating the Napoleonic wars (Wellington, Waterloo, Dundas, St VIncent, Cochrane, Cadogan) I wonder if they were all named in one go or if they were re-named over a number of years?

[vespican.livejournal.com]

If we had been more on the ball, a day or two ago we could have celebrated (commiserated?) the fictional near-sinking of Lord Nelson's funeral barge!

Anyway, if I remember Hornblower and the Atropos correctly, St. Vincent was First Lord at the time of Nelson's funeral... according to Forester anyway. Wasn't he the one HH and Bracegirdle had to ask for permission so Horatio could retrieve his watch? What little research I've done shows otherwise, but...

Dave

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I remembered about the funeral but I posted the barge scene from Atropos last year so I thought I'd give Old Jervie a spot in the lime light this year! XD

You're absolutely right. St VIncent is indeed the one who allows Hornblower to retrieve his watch and who later introduces him to the king.

Barham was First Lord at the time of Nelson's funeral but he was replaced by the Hon Charles Grey in February 1806. St Vincent held the position from Feb 1801 to May 1804 when he was replaced by Dundas.

[vespican.livejournal.com]

Most everything I've seen about First Lords' time of service only gives the year... hard to know exactly when one ended and another began. Maybe in the CSF universe, St. Vincent filled in for a couple of months, beginning in January '06.
Dave

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

NAM Rodger's Command of the Ocean gives the exact dates for all the First Lords from Prince Rupert (!) in 1673 to Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville in 1812. I'm not a huge fan of Rodger but he is a good source for these kind of references.