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Stockham is amongst the most elusive of the Trafalgar Captains: very few details of his life and naval career are known for certain. Nevertheless, they provide the basis for some interesting commentary.
There were two main branches of the Stockham family, in Wiltshire and in Devon, and in both John was a popular name. This John, one of the Devon Stockhams, was baptised at St Sidwell’s Church in Exeter on 24 July 1765 and was commissioned as a lieutenant on 29 April 1797, around the time of his thirty-second birthday. Such a late date is in itself significant. The Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 1660–1815 lists him as having been promoted commander prior to Trafalgar, but gives no date; The Trafalgar Roll, in contrast, describes him as still a lieutenant at the time of Trafalgar. But despite the lack of definite data, some probabilities may be defined, and some insight given into his situation on the morning of 21 October 1805.
To become a lieutenant at age thirty-two was unusually late, but while talent and ability helped early promotion, having ‘interest’ – some influential connection – was of nearly paramount importance, and it seems that Stockham’s provincial background lacked ‘interest’. To give just one example of the power of interest, Thomas Capel (captain at Trafalgar of the 32-gun frigate hms Phoebe) was eleven years younger than Stockham, but was commissioned lieutenant only twenty-four days earlier than him, then was promoted commander in October 1798 and captain in December 1798; but Capel’s rise was helped by the fact that he was the son of an earl.
Even so, any able young officer could bring himself to senior attention by a distinctive contribution in action. Many did, including at least one, Thomas Hardy, whose social background was scarcely more distinguished than Stockham’s; but while the still youthful Hardy gained ‘interest’ through his professional relationship with Nelson and went on to become flag captain at Trafalgar, there is nothing to suggest that Stockham had any comparable opportunity.
Thus it seems plain that if Stockham joined the Navy at thirteen, as did most potential officers, he did not come to early notice for promotion because (unlike Capel) he lacked social connection; and either for the same reason or through sheer bad luck from the competitive situation, unlike Hardy he was not in a position to gain distinction in action before Trafalgar.
Even so, he was clearly a very capable officer, because in 1805 he was first lieutenant of the warship hms Thunderer (74) – not an office given lightly away. So in the context of Trafalgar, it is worth considering what a first lieutenancy meant, and the situation of contemporary senior lieutenants.
Leaving Nelson aside, out of all the Royal Navy officers in command during Trafalgar, nine were commissioned lieutenant in 1775–9; ten in 1780–9; and eighteen in 1790–7. Stockham and Capel were the last two and, as noted, Capel gained early further promotion. On the day of battle, only six officers in command were still lieutenants: four (Stockham, Pilfold, Hennah and Cumby) were first lieutenants of their ships and two (Lapenotiere and Young) had their own small commands.
There was a tendency for a lieutenant to be given, when possible, roughly alternating roles to improve his experience: a third lieutenant in a large warship could move to command a very small one, then return to be second lieutenant, and so on, until reaching the rank of first lieutenant, when he was deemed fit to take full control whenver the captain was not present – as, for example, by cause of death. The first lieutenant was only a heartbeat away from command, and it was nearly impossible for him to be anything less than competent – especially on the eve of a great battle in a unit such as a 74.
First Lieutenants Cumby and Hennah, both commissioned in 1793, took over command in the heat of battle when their captains were killed. Pilford (commissioned in 1795) and Stockham had rather more notice, taking over when their captains were recalled to Britain to stand witness at Calder’s court martial; but of all the British commanders present, Stockham was certainly the most junior.
He was also probably the least experienced in a major command. Thomas Capel, his close contemporary on commissioning, had become his senior in rank, but at Trafalgar commanded a frigate half the Thunderer’s size. Moreover, Capel had been consistently in command in the years since his rapid promotion; Stockham had not. And even Nelson had not commanded a 74 until joining hms Captain in 1796, by which time he was thirty-seven years old and a commodore.
When the day of Trafalgar dawned, Stockham was forty years old, acting captain of a major unit, and yet without (as far as we know) any previous comparable command. Given his apparent background of no worthwhile connections but long naval experience, his emotions may be guessed at – some personal fear, and a strong professional understanding of what was expected – and although, like Pilfold in the Ajax, he played a comparatively limited role, nevertheless it was valuable: he assisted the Revenge and did not shy from engaging far stronger enemy vessels (the Spanish Principe de Asturias (112) and the French Neptune (84)), sustaining losses of sixteen killed and wounded, including three officers, but without material damage to his ship. Stockham’s personal records may be limited, but the wider record speaks well not only for him but also for the Navy’s training of its first lieutenants in general.
After Trafalgar, Stockham received the gold medal, the thanks of Parliament and a sword of honour from the Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund, and with Pilford was promoted captain on Christmas Day 1805: both officers were thus given a few days’ seniority over Cumby and Hennah, promoted captain on 1 January 1806. Such a fine distinction could have been important on approaching flag rank, but none of them did. Stockham had no further naval career but died on 6 February 1814 in Exeter, where his body was buried at St Sidwell’s church in which he had been baptised forty-nine years before.
SWRH
Type: Grave
Location: St Sidwell’s Church, Exeter
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