Popular in History

Arts and Humanities

Freedom’s Dominion

Vanderbilt University Jefferson Cowie

Arts and Humanities

Titus Quinctius Flamininus’ “Italian triumph”

McGill University Michael Fronda

Arts and Humanities

Lincoln and the Jews

Brandeis University Jonathan Sarna

Arts and Humanities

Early Modern Natural Law Theories

University of Copenhagen Knud Haakonssen

Arts and Humanities

Phoenicians Among Others: Why Migrants Mattered in the Ancient Mediterranean

University of California San Diego Denise Demetriou

Arts and Humanities

La Güera Rodríguez

Brandeis University Silvia Arrom

Arts and Humanities

The Myth of Continuity in American Gun Culture

University of California Berkeley Brian DeLay

The loneliness of leadership

View more insights in Arts and Humanities - History - British History

View more figures from University of Liverpool

View the page of Elaine Chalus

Read the Study

Next in Arts and Humanities

Does the United States Need a Climate Refugee Policy?

Maria Cristina Garcia | Cornell University

The European Reformation

Euan Cameron | Columbia University

Elaine Chalus discusses the loneliness of leadership experienced by active Royal Navy officers during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, specifically captains and admirals, who not only were often away from their loved ones for years at a time but were also, as a result of the increasingly rigid, hierarchical structure of the Royal Navy, set apart professionally, socially and psychologically from their subordinates.

Image courtesy of interviewee. May 12, 2024

Log-in or Sign-up to Faculti
Currently viewing this subject insight as a guest. You have insight(s) remaining for this month. Login to view 8000+ figures on the platform.

Generating Workspace...

Export as PDF

This video video discusses an essay that is part of a broader exploration of the history of loneliness, particularly in the context of British naval officers during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The author reflects on their research into the Fremantle Papers, which reveal the loneliness experienced by naval officers who were often separated from their families for extended periods due to the demands of naval service.

Key points include:
1. **Loneliness in Historical Context**: The author notes a lack of historical writing on the topic of loneliness, especially prior to the 19th century, despite its prevalence during wartime.
2. **Separation and Loneliness**: Officers faced personal loneliness due to prolonged absences from family, compounded by difficulties in communication, such as delayed or lost letters.
3. **Professional Loneliness**: As naval officers ascended the ranks, they experienced a form of professional loneliness due to social hierarchy, leading to reduced interactions with peers and subordinates.
4. **Social Isolation**: As captains and admirals spent long periods at sea, they often lacked the camaraderie common among lower-ranked crew members, leading to both personal and professional isolation.
5. **Role of Letters**: Personal letters served as vital connections to home, offering emotional support amidst isolation.
6. **Motivations for Service**: Despite the loneliness, many officers felt a strong sense of duty and patriotism, choosing to serve out of commitment rather than for personal gain alone. Some pursued naval careers for potential rewards or to secure a comfortable future post-service.

Overall, the essay emphasizes the dual aspects of loneliness experienced by naval officers—personal and professional—and the enduring value of connection to home through correspondence during periods of separation.

Language:

Export as PDF

Export as PDF
Here are five key points from the video:

1. **Exploration of Loneliness**: The video discusses an essay that examines the history of loneliness, particularly in the convideo of naval officers during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The author reflects on how prolonged separations during wartime led to feelings of loneliness and lack of social interaction, which were inadequately documented in historical literature.

2. **Impact of War on Communication**: The essay highlights the difficulties faced by naval officers in maintaining communication with loved ones due to the slow and unreliable nature of letter delivery during the 1793-1815 wartime period. This contributed to both personal and professional loneliness, as officers often went for extended periods without news from home.

3. **Personal and Professional Loneliness**: The video distinguishes between two types of loneliness experienced by naval officers: personal loneliness, which stems from the lack of family and social interaction, and professional loneliness, resulting from the hierarchical structure of the Royal Navy that limited camaraderie among officers.

4. **Role of Letters**: Personal letters were portrayed as crucial for emotional support and connection, serving as tangible reminders of family ties. They officers with a sense of continuity in their relationships despite long periods at sea and facilitated an emotional link to home.

5. **Motivation for Service**: The essay examines the motivations behind officers' commitment to naval service, which included a strong sense of duty, patriotism, and the potential for financial gain through prize money. Many officers felt compelled to serve, believing that their sacrifices would ultimately allow them to return home and establish a stable life with their families.

Export as PDF
Here are some key quotes from the video that express the main themes and ideas:

1. **On the origins of the essay:**
- "This, uh, particular essay comes out of a book...on the history of loneliness."

2. **On historical convideo:**
- "One of the things that I picked up on very quickly...was the fact that they were apart for years at a time over the course of the war."

3. **On the lack of historical writing on loneliness:**
- "When I was looking at the history, we had very little history written about loneliness...most of the work that was had been done...failed."

4. **On the nature of loneliness during war:**
- "And so consequently, they were in particular positions of leadership...they were also in particular positions...of loneliness, is really what I started to try and engage with."

5. **On personal and professional loneliness:**
- "The Royal Naval officers dealt with two kinds of loneliness. There was personal loneliness and professional loneliness."

6. **On personal loneliness:**
- "Personal loneliness is very much around that lack of social interaction, lack of confidants, uh, lack of close friendship."

7. **On professional loneliness:**
- "Professional loneliness...an indication of what's going on with the profession itself in that captains and admirals particularly, miss out on the kind of mess room camaraderie."

8. **On the importance of letters:**
- "One of the things that...we know coming out of this is that letters, uh, personal letters...the contact with home was absolutely crucial and very much valued."

9. **On the motivations of naval officers:**
- "Most of them are incredibly dedicated. They have very strong sense of duty, and they have a very strong sense of patriotism."

10. **On the personal impact of military service:**
- "It would give them the opportunity to then be able to go back home, live perhaps as gentlemen set themselves up with their families."

These quotes encapsulate the essay's exploration of the historical convideo of loneliness among naval officers during the Napoleonic Wars, the distinction between personal and professional loneliness, and the significance of letters and communication during periods of separation.

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.315 --> 00:04.485
This, particular essay comes out of a book,

00:04.825 --> 00:06.525
on the history of loneliness.

00:07.305 --> 00:11.045
And it, it's part of a much bigger collection of essays

00:11.045 --> 00:12.645
that, we had put together, a number

00:12.645 --> 00:14.885
of us had put together, and it, it, it developed

00:14.995 --> 00:16.045
because of the fact

00:16.045 --> 00:19.045
that I had been working on the Fremantle Papers.

00:19.235 --> 00:23.205
This is a family set of papers looking at the, a family,

00:23.985 --> 00:27.765
who had, a naval captain later admiral,

00:27.765 --> 00:30.965
during the Revolution, French Revolutionary Napoleonic Wars.

00:31.225 --> 00:34.605
And one of the things that I picked up on very quickly when

00:34.605 --> 00:37.085
I was reading through their, their correspondence

00:37.745 --> 00:39.605
was the fact that they were apart

00:39.665 --> 00:41.885
for years at a time over the course of the war,

00:42.065 --> 00:44.805
as people are, you know, through various wars.

00:45.225 --> 00:48.685
And that there was a, a, an, an ongoing thread

00:48.685 --> 00:51.685
of loneliness throughout this and how they addressed it.

00:52.025 --> 00:54.085
And yet, when I was looking at the history,

00:54.465 --> 00:57.405
we had very little history written about loneliness and,

00:57.465 --> 01:00.445
and sort of trying to historicize something that like that.

01:00.865 --> 01:04.565
Um, most of the work that's was, had been done, failed.

01:04.825 --> 01:07.205
Fay bound Alberti had talked about loneliness as a,

01:07.265 --> 01:08.325
an emotional cluster,

01:08.585 --> 01:11.245
but basically set it sort of 19th century.

01:11.705 --> 01:13.125
And of course, the mid majority

01:13.185 --> 01:16.925
of modern work thinks about it as pathological,

01:16.925 --> 01:18.685
often psychological, but pathological.

01:19.065 --> 01:23.205
And it attributes it to the atomization of society in a,

01:23.265 --> 01:25.285
in a post age.

01:25.745 --> 01:28.125
And I was picking up on, on things

01:28.125 --> 01:29.325
that were much earlier than that.

01:29.505 --> 01:32.365
And so it was part of a much bigger study, to look at

01:32.995 --> 01:34.605
what we could find out about loneliness

01:34.605 --> 01:35.725
and the way it was expressed.

01:36.495 --> 01:37.965
Prior to the 19th century.

01:38.925 --> 01:41.315
There are many, royal naval officers.

01:41.475 --> 01:42.915
I was looking specifically, and,

01:42.915 --> 01:44.915
and maybe I should step back one step first

01:45.535 --> 01:48.595
and say that, the French

01:48.595 --> 01:50.675
and Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,

01:50.895 --> 01:55.555
we are looking at Britain being at war from about 1793,

01:55.735 --> 01:58.315
almost consistently through to 1815.

01:58.625 --> 02:01.395
There's a short interval for the peace of am yen

02:01.395 --> 02:03.155
between 1802 and 1803,

02:03.855 --> 02:05.595
but effectively, we're at war

02:05.695 --> 02:07.235
for a very long period of time.

02:07.935 --> 02:11.435
And the na and the Royal Navy is central

02:11.695 --> 02:14.235
to the protection of, of, of England,

02:14.255 --> 02:17.235
but also central to the, the control of the oceans

02:17.375 --> 02:19.995
and the attempt to, to control

02:20.055 --> 02:21.675
and effectively defeat France.

02:21.855 --> 02:24.475
Uh, one of its main tactics is blockading

02:24.475 --> 02:26.755
and preventing the, the French fleet from getting out.

02:27.415 --> 02:30.795
Um, the people I was looking at were,

02:30.795 --> 02:34.755
largely captains or later admirals of the fleet.

02:35.105 --> 02:37.195
This particular essay,

02:37.195 --> 02:41.475
looked specifically at Captain Sir Edward, Coddington,

02:41.975 --> 02:46.195
Admiral Lord, Collingwood, Cuthbert Collingwood,

02:46.195 --> 02:50.075
who is, Admiral Lord Nelson's second in command at

02:50.085 --> 02:51.195
Judge Alger.

02:51.815 --> 02:55.395
And one of the, the young hot shots of, of the,

02:55.455 --> 02:58.195
the Royal Navy, captain William host.

02:58.455 --> 03:00.685
And those were the key people I was looking at

03:00.685 --> 03:05.165
because I had, collections of their, their papers

03:05.625 --> 03:08.205
and their letters that I could access.

03:08.825 --> 03:10.445
And it, it gave me a really

03:11.045 --> 03:13.245
interesting insight to these people.

03:13.315 --> 03:14.645
It's also, it was important

03:14.645 --> 03:19.165
because as captains are admirals, they're,

03:19.995 --> 03:23.125
they're, they're divided sort of,

03:23.485 --> 03:24.645
hierarchically socially

03:24.865 --> 03:28.445
and professionally from the men below them.

03:28.985 --> 03:31.405
Um, the higher up you go hierarchically,

03:31.405 --> 03:34.285
the more you could be, divided in terms

03:34.285 --> 03:37.365
of Royal Navy was developing, just in terms

03:37.365 --> 03:40.605
of social status and hierarchy, deference, all of that.

03:40.865 --> 03:43.205
And so consequently, they were in particular positions

03:43.205 --> 03:45.725
of leadership, but they were also in particular positions

03:45.725 --> 03:48.565
where, because of their situation, they were appointed

03:48.585 --> 03:49.685
for three year stints at a time.

03:49.685 --> 03:51.085
It might have been, away for much longer.

03:51.505 --> 03:55.445
Um, Cuthbert Collingwood, for instance, is away from 1803

03:55.495 --> 03:57.365
until his death in 1810.

03:57.705 --> 04:00.125
You know, these are long, long periods away at sea

04:00.535 --> 04:04.725
where you have minimal sometimes interactions with people

04:04.825 --> 04:09.045
who are your inferiors, in, in terms of work,

04:09.345 --> 04:12.365
and perhaps have, have limited contact with your,

04:12.435 --> 04:13.645
your, your equals.

04:13.645 --> 04:16.325
It brings its own kinds of loneliness, is really

04:16.325 --> 04:17.725
what I started to try and engage with.

04:18.195 --> 04:20.725
This builds on what I've already been saying.

04:21.225 --> 04:24.845
Um, what do you find this is in, in the Napoleonic period?

04:25.425 --> 04:28.165
Um, contact with ships at sea,

04:28.325 --> 04:31.045
although it is getting much better, is still slow,

04:31.265 --> 04:35.485
and there's still, many, many opportunities for letters

04:35.515 --> 04:39.245
that are being sent from loved ones to be mislaid.

04:39.465 --> 04:43.845
Um, miss sent Misdirected lost at Sea, you know,

04:44.385 --> 04:47.885
ending up in a huge pile of letters so someone could get up

04:47.885 --> 04:49.965
to perhaps 14 letters at a time,

04:50.225 --> 04:53.165
but not hear from family for months and months at a time.

04:53.625 --> 04:56.405
Um, so consequently, there's, there's difficulties that way.

04:56.905 --> 05:01.765
Uh, as, as I was saying, the, the appointments were

05:01.905 --> 05:05.245
for about three years at a time usually,

05:05.265 --> 05:07.725
and while, while officers

05:07.725 --> 05:10.205
and their ships might come back into the port

05:10.945 --> 05:14.125
to do a quick refit or to restock,

05:14.505 --> 05:16.925
and in some families that meant, for instance,

05:16.925 --> 05:19.285
with the Fremantles in my earlier work,

05:19.855 --> 05:21.085
Betsy Fremantle would get a,

05:21.205 --> 05:23.965
a letter from her husband saying, you know, I'm going

05:23.965 --> 05:25.485
to be in port at such

05:25.485 --> 05:26.925
and such a time, you know, basically,

05:26.985 --> 05:28.165
can you come down to meet me?

05:28.165 --> 05:29.645
And she would grab a coach

05:29.645 --> 05:31.525
and whatever small children there were, and a,

05:31.525 --> 05:32.565
and a couple of servants,

05:32.705 --> 05:35.125
and go post-haste to the, to the,

05:35.135 --> 05:36.325
coast to the South Coast.

05:36.675 --> 05:38.165
This gets more and more difficult

05:38.505 --> 05:41.645
as you are moving on in time through the Napoleonic Wars

05:41.675 --> 05:46.205
because we've got increasing idea of, of wanting

05:46.265 --> 05:49.485
to do fast refits, keeping the captains on board

05:49.905 --> 05:53.005
and keeping the, so the sailors, if at all possible,

05:53.005 --> 05:54.525
on board as much as possible too,

05:54.555 --> 05:56.485
because of course, that prevents desertion.

05:56.785 --> 05:59.885
So there isn't this much chance to get away as the, the,

05:59.985 --> 06:01.085
the wars go on.

06:01.465 --> 06:02.925
So they, the, the people

06:02.945 --> 06:05.205
who are coming in may not get the chance

06:05.305 --> 06:08.125
to actually come back to see their, their wives or,

06:08.185 --> 06:10.845
or their children for extended periods of time.

06:11.065 --> 06:13.565
So you've got that degree of personal loneliness,

06:14.185 --> 06:16.365
and as I said, as well, you have a degree

06:16.365 --> 06:19.405
of professional loneliness because of the, the nature

06:19.425 --> 06:22.365
and the hierarchy of the, the Royal Navy as it's developing

06:22.365 --> 06:23.965
and professionalizing in this period.

06:24.625 --> 06:29.445
Um, so the ideal, kind of mess room antics

06:29.505 --> 06:34.045
and mess room camaraderie, bon homi, the lower ranks isn't,

06:34.125 --> 06:36.925
that isn't going to be there when you get up to,

06:37.225 --> 06:38.725
the captains and the admirals.

06:38.825 --> 06:40.685
And if you've got a very good admiral

06:40.685 --> 06:43.125
or a very good captain who's really very extroverted

06:43.125 --> 06:45.605
and very social, there will be opportunities

06:45.745 --> 06:47.205
to dine and to meet together.

06:47.825 --> 06:51.005
Um, but that's not the case in all in, in all cases.

06:51.745 --> 06:54.885
And of course, if you're away at sea, various circumstances,

06:55.105 --> 06:57.085
you may not have that opportunity anyway.

06:57.465 --> 07:00.565
So there are professional problems as well as personal ones.

07:01.725 --> 07:05.065
The Royal Naval officers dealt with two kinds of loneliness.

07:05.065 --> 07:07.625
There was personal loneliness and professional loneliness.

07:07.965 --> 07:12.705
And personal loneliness is, really looking at the kind

07:12.765 --> 07:16.825
of lack of personal social interaction of family contact,

07:17.565 --> 07:18.705
of contact with friends

07:18.765 --> 07:23.305
and loved ones, that, they would have had,

07:23.325 --> 07:25.345
had they been in a different job at home.

07:25.685 --> 07:28.505
But it also meant that they didn't have the kind of

07:29.205 --> 07:33.785
of simple, peer socialization that would've been,

07:34.005 --> 07:36.705
perhaps the norm in other positions of leadership.

07:37.045 --> 07:39.545
Uh, if you're a c all the time, you simply aren't going

07:39.545 --> 07:41.825
to get a chance to meet as often with your,

07:42.175 --> 07:43.705
your peer captains

07:43.725 --> 07:46.505
or peer admirals as you would,

07:46.645 --> 07:48.265
if you were in a different kind of position

07:48.405 --> 07:49.865
and if you were based elsewhere.

07:50.245 --> 07:53.905
So personal loneliness is, is very much around that lack of,

07:54.005 --> 07:58.465
of of social interaction, lack of confidants, lack

07:58.465 --> 07:59.505
of close friendship,

08:00.045 --> 08:03.065
and even the ability to, to be known that you're,

08:03.065 --> 08:04.945
you're useful to someone, that kind of thing.

08:05.365 --> 08:08.745
The professional loneliness is very much more as,

08:09.485 --> 08:11.185
an indication of what's going on

08:11.185 --> 08:13.945
with the profession itself in that captains

08:13.945 --> 08:17.065
and admirals particularly, miss out on the kind

08:17.165 --> 08:20.985
of mess room camaraderie, the Bon Ho Me

08:20.985 --> 08:24.825
that you would have as a, a young midshipman perhaps,

08:25.045 --> 08:28.225
or a, a junior officer where everyone messes together.

08:28.845 --> 08:32.025
Um, the, the increasing professionalization

08:32.125 --> 08:36.345
of the Royal Navy in set up, a hierarchy of status

08:36.915 --> 08:39.425
where the lower, officers were expected

08:39.425 --> 08:42.105
to be deferential to their superiors.

08:42.645 --> 08:46.825
And consequently, you might have, a captain

08:46.885 --> 08:50.505
or an admiral spending much of his time on his own

08:51.045 --> 08:53.825
social time when he wasn't actually on watch,

08:53.845 --> 08:56.725
and only the more extroverted having people into Dine.

08:57.065 --> 09:00.845
And even then there would be a, a, a, a division in terms of

09:00.985 --> 09:03.285
how they, how they socialized with them.

09:03.425 --> 09:06.125
So loneliness at a professional level

09:06.675 --> 09:08.405
when they could get together with their peers.

09:08.705 --> 09:11.045
But when they were on their own, which is often, you know,

09:11.435 --> 09:13.565
heading their ships, that position

09:13.605 --> 09:16.725
of leadership was very much one that put them in a position

09:16.725 --> 09:19.525
where they could be very lonely and could quite cut off.

09:21.285 --> 09:24.735
Okay. There's some conclusions, and, implications.

09:24.735 --> 09:28.215
Well, one of the things that, we know coming out

09:28.215 --> 09:32.695
of this is that letters, personal letters,

09:33.035 --> 09:35.815
the contact with home was absolutely crucial

09:36.035 --> 09:37.255
and very much valued.

09:37.755 --> 09:39.615
And letters were really, really useful

09:39.615 --> 09:43.815
because they were not only a way to create a fictional,

09:44.405 --> 09:48.015
ongoing conversation with family members,

09:48.195 --> 09:51.775
but they were also, visible and tangible.

09:52.675 --> 09:56.975
Um, mementos of the were missing

09:57.125 --> 09:58.695
because they were actually physical.

09:58.695 --> 10:00.375
You could touch them, you could look

10:00.375 --> 10:01.535
again and again at the writing.

10:02.035 --> 10:03.255
So having that kind

10:03.255 --> 10:05.255
of ongoing correspondence really, really mattered.

10:05.475 --> 10:07.255
And so that's one of the things that comes out of it.

10:07.515 --> 10:09.895
The other thing is, one of the questions I was,

10:10.095 --> 10:11.975
I was looking at is why do these people do it?

10:12.115 --> 10:14.815
You know, why are they, why are they out there?

10:14.995 --> 10:18.415
You know? Uh, and they could potentially have, by some

10:18.415 --> 10:21.495
of them, by the time that they're at, at levels of admirals

10:21.495 --> 10:24.375
and whatnot, might have been able to, to opt for a,

10:25.155 --> 10:27.175
the equivalent almost of a desk job in some cases.

10:28.115 --> 10:30.775
And largely what we find out is they're there

10:30.775 --> 10:32.015
for a variety of reasons.

10:32.635 --> 10:36.495
Um, most of them are incredibly dedicated.

10:36.525 --> 10:38.095
They have very strong sense of duty,

10:38.555 --> 10:40.895
and they have a very strong sense of patriotism.

10:41.435 --> 10:45.215
And so the fact that they are, they are there sometimes

10:45.215 --> 10:47.015
for prize money, you know, young,

10:47.145 --> 10:48.655
young guy who's on the make

10:48.655 --> 10:51.375
and is interested in getting, you know, status and,

10:51.595 --> 10:53.655
and, you know, public awareness

10:53.915 --> 10:55.335
and, you know, some adulation

10:55.515 --> 10:57.815
and the, you know, the royal naval captains

10:57.815 --> 11:00.055
and whatnot become heroes of that, this period.

11:00.515 --> 11:02.935
So there's some of that, but you can't guarantee you're

11:02.935 --> 11:05.735
gonna get prize money and, and catch prizes and, and,

11:05.795 --> 11:08.655
and, you know, be a great, William host character.

11:09.295 --> 11:12.855
A lot of it really is about, about looking

11:13.515 --> 11:17.615
and believing in the fight that they were involved in,

11:18.365 --> 11:20.455
feeling very strongly that they should have,

11:20.455 --> 11:23.695
they had a sense of duty, a sense of, of,

11:23.705 --> 11:25.015
commitment to the country.

11:25.555 --> 11:29.335
And also there's a degree of personal reasons for it

11:29.335 --> 11:30.335
that's slightly different,

11:30.595 --> 11:34.775
and that is perhaps that they saw this period as going

11:34.775 --> 11:36.455
to be time limited in some ways.

11:36.635 --> 11:37.815
And it would give them,

11:38.165 --> 11:39.935
they hope they would anyway, if they survived.

11:40.515 --> 11:43.775
Um, it would give them the opportunity to then be able

11:43.775 --> 11:48.655
to go back home, live perhaps as gentlemen set themselves up

11:48.725 --> 11:52.935
with their, with their families and lead the kinds of lives

11:53.225 --> 11:54.925
In terms of, financial

11:55.465 --> 11:56.885
and just in terms of comfort

11:57.275 --> 11:59.325
that they might not have been able to do otherwise.

11:59.425 --> 12:01.445
So there's a personal reason for what they're doing,

12:01.665 --> 12:05.325
but that personal reason is very strongly underlined

12:05.325 --> 12:08.885
and in reinforced by a patriotic and dutiful reason.

12:09.525 --> 12:09.645
I.

Exploring Loneliness in Naval History

00:00:00 - This, particular essay comes out of a book, on the history of loneliness. And it, it's part of a much bigger collection of essays that, we had put together, a number of us had put together, and it, it, it developed because of the fact that I had been working on the Fremantle Papers. This is a family set of papers looking at the, a family, who had, a naval captain later admiral, during the Revolution, French Revolutionary Napoleonic Wars.
00:00:34 - I was reading through their, their correspondence was the fact that they were apart for years at a time over the course of the war, as people are, you know, through various wars. And that there was a, a, an, an ongoing thread of loneliness throughout this and how they addressed it. And yet, when I was looking at the history, we had very little history written about loneliness and, and sort of trying to historicize something that like that. most of the work that's was, had been done, failed.
00:01:07 - an emotional cluster, but basically set it sort of 19th century. And of course, the mid majority of modern work thinks about it as pathological, often psychological, but pathological. And it attributes it to the atomization of society in a, in a post age. And I was picking up on, on things that were much earlier than that. And so it was part of a much bigger study, to look at what we could find out about loneliness and the way it was expressed.
00:01:38 - There are many, royal naval officers. I was looking specifically, and, and maybe I should step back one step first and say that, the French and Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, we are looking at Britain being at war from about 1793, almost consistently through to 1815. There's a short interval for the peace of am yen between 1802 and 1803, but effectively, we're at war for a very long period of time.
00:02:11 - to the protection of, of, of England, but also central to the, the control of the oceans and the attempt to, to control and effectively defeat France. one of its main tactics is blockading and preventing the, the French fleet from getting out. the people I was looking at were, largely captains or later admirals of the fleet. This particular essay, looked specifically at Captain Sir Edward, Coddington,
00:02:46 - who is, Admiral Lord Nelson's second in command at Judge Alger. And one of the, the young hot shots of, of the, the Royal Navy, captain William host. And those were the key people I was looking at because I had, collections of their, their papers and their letters that I could access. And it, it gave me a really interesting insight to these people.

Loneliness Among Naval Officers in the Napoleonic Era

00:03:14 - because as captains are admirals, they're, they're, they're divided sort of, hierarchically socially and professionally from the men below them. the higher up you go hierarchically, the more you could be, divided in terms of Royal Navy was developing, just in terms of social status and hierarchy, deference, all of that. And so consequently, they were in particular positions of leadership, but they were also in particular positions
00:03:48 - for three year stints at a time. It might have been, away for much longer. Cuthbert Collingwood, for instance, is away from 1803 until his death in 1810. You know, these are long, long periods away at sea where you have minimal sometimes interactions with people who are your inferiors, in, in terms of work, and perhaps have, have limited contact with your, your, your equals. It brings its own kinds of loneliness, is really
00:04:18 - This builds on what I've already been saying. what do you find this is in, in the Napoleonic period? contact with ships at sea, although it is getting much better, is still slow, and there's still, many, many opportunities for letters that are being sent from loved ones to be mislaid. miss sent Misdirected lost at Sea, you know, ending up in a huge pile of letters so someone could get up
00:04:50 - but not hear from family for months and months at a time. so consequently, there's, there's difficulties that way. as, as I was saying, the, the appointments were for about three years at a time usually, and while, while officers and their ships might come back into the port to do a quick refit or to restock, and in some families that meant, for instance, with the Fremantles in my earlier work,
00:05:21 - a letter from her husband saying, you know, I'm going to be in port at such and such a time, you know, basically, can you come down to meet me? And she would grab a coach and whatever small children there were, and a, and a couple of servants, and go post-haste to the, to the, coast to the South Coast. This gets more and more difficult as you are moving on in time through the Napoleonic Wars because we've got increasing idea of, of wanting to do fast refits, keeping the captains on board
00:05:53 - on board as much as possible too, because of course, that prevents desertion. So there isn't this much chance to get away as the, the, the wars go on. So they, the, the people who are coming in may not get the chance to actually come back to see their, their wives or, or their children for extended periods of time. So you've got that degree of personal loneliness, and as I said, as well, you have a degree of professional loneliness because of the, the nature and the hierarchy of the, the Royal Navy as it's developing

Loneliness Among Naval Officers: Personal and Professional

00:06:24 - so the ideal, kind of mess room antics and mess room camaraderie, bon homi, the lower ranks isn't, that isn't going to be there when you get up to, the captains and the admirals. And if you've got a very good admiral or a very good captain who's really very extroverted and very social, there will be opportunities to dine and to meet together. but that's not the case in all in, in all cases. And of course, if you're away at sea, various circumstances,
00:06:57 - So there are professional problems as well as personal ones. The Royal Naval officers dealt with two kinds of loneliness. There was personal loneliness and professional loneliness. And personal loneliness is, really looking at the kind of lack of personal social interaction of family contact, of contact with friends and loved ones, that, they would have had, had they been in a different job at home.
00:07:29 - of simple, peer socialization that would've been, perhaps the norm in other positions of leadership. if you're a c all the time, you simply aren't going to get a chance to meet as often with your, your peer captains or peer admirals as you would, if you were in a different kind of position and if you were based elsewhere. So personal loneliness is, is very much around that lack of, of of social interaction, lack of confidants, lack
00:08:00 - and even the ability to, to be known that you're, you're useful to someone, that kind of thing. The professional loneliness is very much more as, an indication of what's going on with the profession itself in that captains and admirals particularly, miss out on the kind of mess room camaraderie, the Bon Ho Me that you would have as a, a young midshipman perhaps, or a, a junior officer where everyone messes together.
00:08:32 - of the Royal Navy in set up, a hierarchy of status where the lower, officers were expected to be deferential to their superiors. And consequently, you might have, a captain or an admiral spending much of his time on his own social time when he wasn't actually on watch, and only the more extroverted having people into Dine. And even then there would be a, a, a, a division in terms of
00:09:03 - So loneliness at a professional level when they could get together with their peers. But when they were on their own, which is often, you know, heading their ships, that position of leadership was very much one that put them in a position where they could be very lonely and could quite cut off. Okay. There's some conclusions, and, implications. Well, one of the things that, we know coming out of this is that letters, personal letters,

The Value of Letters in Naval Loneliness

00:09:36 - and very much valued. And letters were really, really useful because they were not only a way to create a fictional, ongoing conversation with family members, but they were also, visible and tangible. mementos of the were missing because they were actually physical. You could touch them, you could look again and again at the writing. So having that kind
00:10:05 - And so that's one of the things that comes out of it. The other thing is, one of the questions I was, I was looking at is why do these people do it? You know, why are they, why are they out there? You know? and they could potentially have, by some of them, by the time that they're at, at levels of admirals and whatnot, might have been able to, to opt for a, the equivalent almost of a desk job in some cases. And largely what we find out is they're there for a variety of reasons. most of them are incredibly dedicated.
00:10:38 - and they have a very strong sense of patriotism. And so the fact that they are, they are there sometimes for prize money, you know, young, young guy who's on the make and is interested in getting, you know, status and, and, you know, public awareness and, you know, some adulation and the, you know, the royal naval captains and whatnot become heroes of that, this period. So there's some of that, but you can't guarantee you're gonna get prize money and, and catch prizes and, and, and, you know, be a great, William host character.
00:11:13 - and believing in the fight that they were involved in, feeling very strongly that they should have, they had a sense of duty, a sense of, of, commitment to the country. And also there's a degree of personal reasons for it that's slightly different, and that is perhaps that they saw this period as going to be time limited in some ways. And it would give them, they hope they would anyway, if they survived.
00:12:09 - to go back home, live perhaps as gentlemen set themselves up with their, with their families and lead the kinds of lives In terms of, financial and just in terms of comfort that they might not have been able to do otherwise. So there's a personal reason for what they're doing, but that personal reason is very strongly underlined and in reinforced by a patriotic and dutiful reason. I.

Faculti AI can make mistakes

Research

Policy

Analysis