The Crew ListThe Crew List of the thousands of men who fought on the British side at the Battle of Trafalgar provides a unique historic database and a great way of engaging children with their past. It will help to bring history to life for them by allowing them to explore the background on individual crew members, some of whom were children as young as ten.
Some children may be able to make a match with a family surname - no guarantee of direct ancestry, but interesting nonetheless. However most schools will be able to find a crew member who lived near them and pupils may wish to commemorate that person's life in particular. Searches for more exotic locations (e.g. West Indies, Africa or Canada) will also return results - the crew were truly multinational.
Thanks to the compilers, Derek and Pam Ayshford, we are able to offer detailed records of the under 18s crew members in the fleet that were actually on board ship during the battle.
Particularly vivid and interesting records for the under 18s that your pupils can research include:
BRADLEY, James, LONDON, aged 14
CHAPMAN, James, LONDON aged 13
DUFF, Norwich, EDINBURGH aged 14
FRENCH, Joseph, SHOREDITCH, aged 15
MURRAY, George, SIDENEWRY, (Ireland), aged 16
OWEN, Henry, WIMBLETON (Wimbledon), aged 16
PALMER, Thomas, MILFORD (Pembrokeshire), aged 17
Visit Crew List to use the database.
Please refer to the Trafalgar poster and teacher notes for a formal exercise for lower secondary age based on the entry for one crew member, Henry Bellairs. This resource also has a useful glossary of terms that may be encountered when using the database.
