"Trafalgar Dispatch" Hero's grave in Cornwall to be rescued.

The 1805 Club is bestowing another honour on the hero who brought back the news of victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Lord Nelson.

As a result of grants from two charitable trusts, the club hopes to begin work by the end of this year -the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar - on the conservation of Lt John Richards Lapenotière's tomb at Menheniot Parish Church in Cornwall.

Work on the tomb represents the start of the next phase of the Trafalgar Captains' Memorial Project, a two-year research initiative that has been the club's major contribution to the bicentenary.

The project's aim was to locate, record and where necessary conserve the graves and memorials of the 38 "forgotten heroes" who commanded the ships of the British fleet at the battle.

Founded as the only organisation that conserves monuments and memorials to Lord Nelson and other seafarers of the Georgian area, the club has also published a book "The Trafalgar Captains, Their Lives and Memorials" detailing the research and telling the individual stories of the captains and lieutenants.

During the research, seven graves were identified as being in particularly poor condition and in need of urgent attention, so the club sought financial assistance for their conservation.

As a result, the Leche Trust and Manifold Trust have offered the club grant aid totalling £6000 towards the conservation work. Lapenotière's tomb was the one the club recognised as being most at risk and £5240 has been earmarked towards its conservation. The remainder of this grant aid will go towards work on one of the other captains' tombs.

The story of Lapenotière came to the fore in 2005 through the New Trafalgar Dispatch, one of the major events of the bicentenary. It re-enacted the historic voyage on board his ship HM Schooner Pickle from Cape Trafalgar to Falmouth carrying Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood's dispatch with the bitter sweet news of the battle and Nelson.

Lapenotière then continued the 271 mile, 36 hour journey by post-chaise through Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Surrey and Middlesex to the Admiralty in London.

The event also celebrated the victory and heroism of Trafalgar and the international Brotherhood of the Sea.

Peter Warwick, Chairman of the 1805 Club, believes: "This is a marvellous way to end the Trafalgar bicentenary year. The Leche and Manifold Trusts' extremely generous donations allow us to conserve the tomb of Lapenotière, who became a pivotal figure in the Trafalgar story with his extraordinary journey by sea and land to deliver news of the battle to the Admiralty.

"We are also impressed at the way the Trafalgar Captains' Memorial Project has caught the imagination of so many people and we hope they will come to regard captains like Lapenotière as their own local heroes."