What is it about?
Captain Thomas Hurd, Hydrographer of the Navy, launched a surveying cadre to support fleet operations during the final years of the Napoleonic Wars. Its work would underpin the reputation of Admiralty charts, covering more and more of the world's seas, in the course of the nineteenth century. Recession and cuts to the naval establishment after the wars meant, however, that he could guarantee neither long-term employment nor promotion for his men. This is a case study of one such man, who contributed to surveys in Home Waters, the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean.
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Why is it important?
Men like John Frembly have gone unrecorded in the standard histories, and their experiences throw important light on a period before the concept of career was established when social standing and influence still played a disproportionate part in opening the door to employment.
Perspectives
John Frembly is an attractive character, with wide interests, who was a keen observer across the spectrum of the environment. He does not seem to have had a privileged education, but he reflects the alert intellect that marked out many of the recruits to the Royal Naval Surveying Service. This has remained a characteristic of that cadre. I myself contributed ornithological records throughout my world-wide service in HM Surveying Ships.
Captain RN Michael Kenneth Barritt
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This page is a summary of: Mr John Frembly RN, The Mariner s Mirror, April 2023, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/00253359.2023.2188790.
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