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Compiled by Jeremy Eddon
The following is a list of the officers and crew that were present in the British Fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar 1805. Many of the entries have additional information covering a brief history of their naval achievements along with some notes describing their activities before, during and after the battle itself. The accompanying notes are fairly brief and can be regarded as only a small beginning to a much larger project.
My initial research was taken from a limited number of books and publications in my own collection, without reference to other library sources. I have tried, where possible, to cross reference each entry with other publications in order to improve accuracy and remove possible bias and personal interpretation of material by individual authors. The additional notes in this work are general rather than detailed to maintain brevity to the text, and many publications listed in the bibliography provide more detailed information on their lives, especially regarding the officers.
My project started with an unpublished list of some 1600 names and went on from there!! It is relatively easy to find information for the senior officers, but very few publications or websites give any details of the ordinary crew members and their lives. Over time I managed to build up a list of some 3500 names before searching internet material. After a long pause in my work I was given a copy of the Ayshford Trafalgar Roll CD. This is a truely fantastic resource for any researcher studying the men who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, and I am grateful to both Derek and Pamela for allowing me to use so much of their research in this work. It has enabled me to add the missing names and return to my original sources to improve and extend my initial project.
I would now like to open this project up to other individual researchers and groups to expand the work still further. This will need much more work searching documents like Parish Registers, family records, additional muster books and ship transfers as well as from the National Census records from 1841 onwards. Additional information may be possible using local history societies, school projects, internet projects or individual maritime history society members who can study information in their own local areas or countries. All this additional information can then, hopefully, be shared and collated into one major ongoing project.
If you wish to assist with this project by sending me any further information you have researched I would be happy to receive it. Please email me at jeremyeddon@gmail.com Thank you.
Jeremy Eddon – January 2018
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