Edward Little - Royal Navy Commander

Sharing my findings about the historical Edward Little

[cdr-edwardlittle]

Masterpost

Edward Little

Physical Description

Edward's birth and baptism

Edward's handwritten letter Second one

Service Record

Court Martial Testimony p 1.5 Full Court Martial

The Tahitian Dispatches

Edward's epitaph

The Little family

The Little Family Genealogy

Family Tree

Census records

James Cornelius Little (1807-1875)

[cdr-edwardlittle]

Not a real post this time, but I'm off to Jersey to hopefully find more about Edward's family

They moved on the island in the 1840's and most of them stayed there for the rest of their lives

I'm staying in St Helier for a week, let's hope I can find something nice to show you ⛵

[cdr-edwardlittle]

Happy 214th birthday to Edward Little ! ✨🎉

[cdr-edwardlittle]

Commander Edward Little

     The goal of this blog is to present a comprehensive compilation of the life of Edward Little, Royal Navy Commander, mostly known for

IT'S HERE ! After a year of hard work, I'm finally done writing a regular blog/website to compile everything I have written about Edward Little.

I added more context and sources to most articles and already have new ones planned.

Please bare with me as I'm going to improve it over time and thank you again for your continued support !

[cdr-edwardlittle]

The Tahitian Dispatches

In 1843, Edward Little served on HMS Vindictive under Captain John Toup Nicholas (also spelled Nicolas) as first Lieutenant. The ship was sent to assess the escalating situation of Tahiti which just fell under the control of the French. These events would later lead to the Franco-Tahitian war (Apr 1844 - Mar 1847) 

“Tahiti was converted to Protestant Christianity by the London Missionary Society (LMS) in the early 19th century. In 1836, Queen Pōmare IV of Tahiti, under the influence of British consul and former LMS missionary George Pritchard, evicted two French Catholic missionaries from the islands in order to maintain the dominance of Protestantism in the island kingdom. Seeing this as an affront to the honor of France and the Catholic religion, Jacques-Antoine Moerenhout, the French consul in Tahiti, filed a formal complaint to the French. In 1838, the French naval commander Abel Aubert Dupetit Thouars forced the native government to pay an indemnity and sign a treaty of friendship with France respecting the rights of French subjects in the islands including any future Catholic missionaries. Four years later, claiming the Tahitians had violated the treaty, he returned and forced the Tahitian chiefs and the queen to sign a request for French protection which he sent back to Europe for ratification. Pritchard had been away on a diplomatic mission to Great Britain during the incident with the admiral and returned to find the islands under French control. Encouraged by Pritchard, the queen resisted in vain against French intervention, writing to Queen Victoria, asking for British intervention, and to King Louis Philippe I of France. In November 1843, Dupetit Thouars deposed the queen for her continued resistance and formally annexed the islands, placing Armand Joseph Bruat in charge as colonial governor. Pōmare IV and her family fled into exile on the neighboring island of Raiatea aboard the British ship HMS Basilisk. Pritchard was imprisoned and deported by the French, an action which nearly sparked conflict with the British had the French not formally apologized for the seizure of the British consul." ¹ 

Queen Pomare’s writings to Queen Victoria asking for British intervention fell into the responsibility of Little, who was sent to deliver them to England in March 1843. The event was reported in several newspapers (English and French), in the Vindictive’s Captain’s log  and in several of Captain John Toup Nicholas’ correspondences.

Captain’s log

“Wednesday 15th, Remarks [unintelligible] in Papiete* Harbour, March 1843

[...]

Sent Lieut Little, Mr G Horwood 2nd Master & nine seamen and 1 boy to a small schooner that the consul had hired with the approbation of the Commodore to convey Dispatches of great importance to Pannama* and the coast of South America which Dispatches Lieut Little is in charge of the Schooner has hired at 30 a month and commenced pay from today PM. Horwood 2nd Master & 10 seamen” [...] ²

*spelling mistakes in the text

Captain John Toup Nicholas’ Letterbook

The Caird Library has a whole journal containing Captain John Toup Nicholas’ correspondences at the time, he mentions Little in several letters:

10th March 1843, From Captain J Toup Nicholas to Rear Admiral Rich° Thomas 

(some parts are missing)

“[...] Sir, since the schooner left this, which the Commander had hired to convey my dispatches, and his own, to you, [...] and to Panama, on which part of the coast I have be[...] informed that you are likely to be met at the [...] that this vessel will arrive there, I have first heard that there is a schooner going to Valparaiso, I therefore shall forward to you the copies of each part of my correspondence with the authorities here, as were omitted by the vessel that is now on [...] I attach so much importance, to proceed direct to England in the event of his not falling in with your Flag on the South American Coasts as it is the last of my wishes [...]”

13th March 1843, From Captain J Toup Nicholas to Rear Admiral Rich° Thomas

“[...] I earnestly trust that neither you nor their Lordship will deem me defective in my duties towards you, by my ordering the officer in charge of the dispatches to which I attach so much importance, to proceed direct to England in the event of his not falling in with your Flag on the South American Coasts as it is the last of my wishes [...]”

14th March 1843, From Captain J Toup Nicholas to the Admiralty

“[...] I have thought it my duty to send an Officer of intelligence who is acquainted with all the principal facts, direct to England with the result of the meeting of all the Chiefs and principal Inhabitants of Otahite in relation to the circumstances to which I allude.

The Officer who conveys this letter will also take my dispatches to Rear Admiral Thomas acquainting him with the “Vindictive’s” being at Otaheite and of the measures that I have pursued and am pursuing [...]

17th March 1843, From Captain J Toup Nicholas to Rear Admiral Rich° Thomas

[...] Although I hope and believe that my dispatches are on their passage to you in charge of the First Lieutenant of this ship, will reach you long before this letter, which will be forwarded via Valparaiso yet I think it right to forward by this conveyance the Duplicate of my letter to the Admiralty [...]

23 July 1843, From Captain J Toup Nicholas to ?

[...] I hope will meet with your approbation more specially so from Mr Little my First Lieutenant having gone to England with dispatches and two of our Lieutenants being unfitted for duty, and the second Master being away in the schooner that I had ordered the Consul to hire to go to Panama [...]

6 October 1843, From Captain J Toup Nicholas to ?

[...] Believing as I do that important dispatches relative to Otahite will be brought to Panama for you by the September mail and very likely in charge of the First Lieutenant of this ship the moment the “Salamander” was ready for sea, on the 25th instant, I thought right to order Commander Hammond to proceed [unintelligible], and I sincerely hope that he will find a satisfactory decision of Her Majesty’s Ministers relative to Otahiti, after they are acquainted with all the facts connected with the late events there as by the calculations I have made I think Lieutenant Little will have arrived in England about the 20th of July, he having left charges for Jamaica in an American corvette on or about the 4th or 5th of June there going six weeks for the communications [unintelligible] between our Government and that of France [...] ³

Newspapers

The newspapers give us an idea of Little’s journey back to England, as he was entrusted with the command of a schooner : ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷

A French article published in La Quotidienne on August 18th 1843 gives us a glimpse on how the whole event was perceived back in France, it translates to : 

“We have reported several times for several days, the serious concerns about our position at Otahiti. The English are definitely putting more unwillingness towards the French authorities of these distant vicinities, and their methods are so naturally haughty and so against the laws of nations, that it would be possible these matters would get more complicated in the most serious way. The Times turns out to be insulting, as usual; it seems that M. Guizot is finally about to receive from his friends the marks of recognition they are most used to.

The first news of the conflict were dated from March 12th; at that time, the English were accusing our fellow countrymen of having taken numerous unfair actions towards the Tahitians and to have claimed from them, wrongfully, the sum of 10,000 dollars which wasn’t due to them. Following these disagreements, Queen Pomare would have found aboard the Vindictive generous protection and the most respectful considerations. The 24th of the same month, Captain Nicholas, commanding the same ship, the Vindictive, had called for a meeting with the leaders of the country and declared that he would defend the independence of the island against our fleet. To this end, he moored in front of the Queen’s palace, and the relations between M. Nicholas and our officers had taken such a personal sourness, that it seemed difficult that no concession could have peacefully ended the quarrel. However, to this date, March 24th, no collision had yet to take place, and our fleet was waiting, to take a side, the arrival of Admiral Dupetit-Thouars that several ships were looking to meet.

From then, the United States newspapers have reported, if nothing positive, at least some details which seem to have shed a light on this case. The Abeille, from New Orleans, wrote July 15th : 

“Quarels had risen between some English and French vessels, docked in Otahiti islands. The decision of these quarrels had been given to the respective admirals of the two fleets. The Queen has surrounded herself with a guard of six hundred men to ensure her safety.”

In this short note, there is only one important passage; it’s the one referring to the cause of the decision of the two admirals. Obviously, this news comes after the one we already know about, and it’s probable it’s due to some indiscretion from the English officers charged by Captain Nicholas, to carry in England the news of what transpired; it is, indeed, what we can read in the newspapers of Kingston (Jamaica) on the 8th; we report the version and the comment of the Courrier des Etats-Unis; it seems that in the absence of any English ship at Chagrès, American Commodore Dallas, taken by the importance of the news carried by two officers, had put the frigate Vandalia at their disposal to carry them from Chagrès to Kingston

“At the word of the Kingston newspapers, from the 8th, two officers from the frigate Vindictive, would have been sent to carry the news of the quarrel happening in Otahiti to England, without a doubt, so that by taking two different sails, the message would have more chances to arrive quickly at its destination.

“Lieutenant Little and his companion had declared to the American Commodore Dallas, to get from him one of the ships of his wing, that they were carrying dispatches from Queen Pomare to Queen Victoria, in which she was begged to help her Indian sister, to shake off the yoke of the French who had taken the sovereignty of her small kingdom by force. If this protestation from Pomare exists, and there is no ground for doubt, the Franco-English diplomatie would have way more difficulty resolving this quarrel, than it would have if only the maritime conflict was to be judged. The problem, indeed, would be called into question in its entirety; because it’s obvious the English government, which only recognized the legitimacy of the French possession because it was a voluntary donation and not a violent conquest, would not fail to accuse the French ministry of having lied to obtain the British approval when the pleas from the Queen of the island reach them, pretending their occupation of these islands to be peaceful, when it’s a usurpation. And at the same time, Lord Aberdeen will call on the example given by Great-Britain, in the Sandwich islands, which she has protected the independence of, against her own officers”

The Standard announces that one of the two officers had disembarked at Plymouth” ⁸

 Portrait of Queen Pomare IV of Tahiti by Charles Giraud, 1851, Musée de Tahiti et des Îles

The Dispatches

As for the dispatches, I believe I have found the ones Little carried to London, as the file I have found at The National Archives contains letters related to the conflict : several letters from Captain John Toup Nicholas addressed to the Admiralty, a letter from Captain John Toup Nicholas to Lieutenant Edward Little, giving him the order to leave with the said dispatches, several letters from Queen Pomare to Queen Victoria and a report of the proceedings of the assembly held at Tahiti early March 1843, a declaration from Du Petit Thouars to Queen Pomare, a letter from Commodore Buglet to Queen Pomare from January 1842, several letters from E E de Bouger to the Regent of Tahiti from 1842 and testimonies from a missionary and a merchant residing in Tahiti

Only the letter to Little mentions him, but I'm including the whole file to provide more context, these are in the same order as in the original file and not in a chronological order ⁹

Letter from Captain John Toup Nicholas to the Secretary of the Admiralty

Her Majesty’s Ship Vindictive,

in Papiete Harbour, Tahiti,

14th March 1843

Sir,

Since I had the honor to address you,

immediately after my arrival here, I have closely

investigated into all the various documents connected

with the late transactions in this Island, and inquired

diligently into all the events that have occurred

connected with the usurpation of the Queen’s authority

by the Forces of France, and I have discovered a circumstance

which I deem of such importance as connected with

any negotiations that may between the Governments 

of England and France on this delicate question, that

I have thought it my duty to send an Officer of 

intelligence who is acquainted with all the principal

facts, direct to England with the result of the meeting

of all the Chiefs and principal inhabitants of Otaheite

with relation to the circumstances to which I allude to

The Officer who conveys this letter will also take my 

dispatches to Rear Admiral Thomas acquainting 

him with the “Vindictive’s” being at Otaheite, and of 

all the measures that I have pursued and am pursuing

My object in this hastening to send to England

this refutation of the Queen’s and Chiefs to the French

Admirals charges against them, is, that the British

Government may be in possession of this important

document by which to set aside at once the pretence

that has been set up by the French for the aggressions

that they have been committed here, I allude to the grounds

set forth in the Officiel “Declaration” of Admiral Du

Petit Thouars in justification of the extraordinary

measures that he has taken in this Island,

I could desire especially to call their

Lordships attention to the fact that this “Declaration”

of the French Admiral, as it is styled, containing the

foundation of the pretended cause of all their late

hostile measures against Queen Pomare and her

Dominions, was never seen by the Queen nor by any

of her Chiefs until I discovered it amongst the

Consuls papers and got it translated and showed

it to Her Majesty, as it had been sent to our Consul

by the French Admiral in the French language,

but it had never before been translated into the

Tahitian language, consequently even if the Queen

To the Secretary of the Admiralty

London

[rest of the letter missing]

—--

Letter from Captain J Toup Nicholas to Edward Little

By John Toup Nicolas, Companion

of the Bath Captain of Her 

Majesty’s Ship “Vindictive”, and

Senior Officer in the Georgian

and Polynesian Islands

You are hereby directed to take 

charge of my Dispatches for the Lords Commissioners

of the Admiralty, and also those addressed to Rear

Admiral Thomas

You will proceed with them

in the schooner, which has been hired by the

British Consul, with my approbation, toward

the Coasts of South America, between [unintelligible] 

and Panaman where I expect, from the information

I have received you will meet the Commander

in Chief, to whom you will shew this order,

and deliver all the despatches in your charge

stating to Rear Admiral Thomas that

you have my instructions to proceed

direct to England by way of Panama and Jamaica

to Lieutenant Edward Little

HMShip Vindictive

I annex, as I deem the dispatches of both the

Consul and myself of the greatest importance

but should the Commander in Chief think

otherwise, you of course will follow his orders for

your further proceedings. If, however, you

should not meet the Commander in Chief, 

you will make the best of your way to 

Panama, and thence to England, by way

of Jamaica, and use very diligence in delivering

to the secretary of the Admiralty the dispatches

bearing his address, and you will apply to

the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty for your further proceedings

Dated on board Her Majesty’s

Ship Vindictive, at Tahiti this

15th day of March 1843

J Toup Nicholas

The full transcript can be found here: The Tahitian Dispatches

Little was discharged from the Vindictive on Aug 21st 1843 after fulfilling his mission, without ever returning to Tahiti or the Vindictive. He was then appointed to the Victory from August 22nd 1843 to October 20th 1843

The situation in Tahiti would later escalate into the “Franco-Tahitian war”, where the French would fight the Tahitian forces from 1844 to 1847. In November 1843, Dupetit Thouars deposed the Queen for her continued resistance and formally annexed the islands, Pōmare IV and her family took refuge at the British consulate and Pritchard was imprisoned and deported by the French.

When Queen Pomare came back from her exile, she was pressured to rule under a French protectorate

England remained officially neutral and never intervened militarily, but the presence of British Naval warships nearby put constant pressure on the French.

Ultimately, the French formally annexed Tahiti in the 1880s ¹⁰

Little seems to have kept a cordial relationship with Captain John Toup Nicholas. They were both mentioned in an article about the Queen’s Levee in March 1845, where J Toup Nicholas presented Little to the Queen ¹¹

Sir James Clark Ross, Sir John Franklin, F.R.M Crozier (spelled T.R.M in the article), James Fitzjames, H.T.D. Le Vesconte and George Hodgson were also in attendance

Sources

¹  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Tahitian_War

² ADM 51/3744 Captains' logs, including: VINDICTIVE (1841 Oct 14-1844 July 26) The National Archives

³ LBK/67 117399, Letterbook of Commander J Toup NIcholas, HMS Vindictive, The Caird Library

⁴ Weekly True Sun, 12 August 1843

⁵ Bucks Gazette, 19 August 1843

⁶  Hereford Journal, 9 August 1843

⁷ Royal Cornwall Gazette, 11 August 1843

⁸ La Quotidienne, 18 August 1843 

⁹ ADM 1/5531, In-letters and papers, From Captains and Lieutenants, 1843, The National Archives

¹⁰ Images de guerre méconnues : le conflit franco-tahitien (1843-1847), Viviane Fayaud

¹¹ Sun (London), 13 March 1845

[cdr-edwardlittle]

Edward Little's Genealogy

When looking for potential descendants of the Little family, we can quickly figure out that only his sister Margaret Ann had children of her own, and her descendants can be traced down to this day, but not an exclusively female or male line

Even when going back as far as the 17th century on his mother’s side, I still couldn’t find any leads

So I tried my chance on his father’s side, but since the only useful information about him online was his approximate date of birth, his date of death and some parts of his record as a purser and paymaster in the Royal Navy, I tried to find more clues at the National Archives

Once again, here is what I could make out of Edward’s family tree, with his parents and siblings,

What interested me this time were the names given to the children, many of them were named after members of Sarah’s family and I wondered if we could have some clues about any of Simon Little’s family members, especially when some of the names were given to more than one of their child (Cornelius, Margaret, John, Jane/Janet) 

Their firstborn daughter is Elizabeth Jane, (Elizabeth being the name of Sarah’s mother and sister), could Simon’s mother have been named Jane ?

Their firstborn son is James Cornelius, (Cornelius being the name of Sarah’s father and brother), could Simon’s father have been named James ?

Simon’s date of birth is uncertain, given that his age seems to vary depending on the source:

From his burial certificate, he was 84 in 1852, 

(birth estimated to be in 1768-1769)

From the 1836 Survey of age and services of Purser, he was 62 in 1834 

(birth estimated to be in 1772-1773)

From the Census records, he was around 65 in 1841 & 80 in 1851

(birth estimated to be in 1771-1776) but we know that the ages on census records are often rounded up or down to a multiple of 5

Simon Little was a Purser & Paymaster in the Royal Navy from 1795 to 1843, he was the only Purser & Paymaster in the Royal Navy by that name at that time, one newspaper article mentions him being a clerk on the Audacious during the “Glorious First of June” (and also confirms him being Edward’s father)

Burial Register of St Helier Parish

ADM 6/193 The National Archives

Morning Herald 29 July 1852

The Navy list, 1844

ADM 36/11734, Audacious’ muster (01 Jan 1793 - 31 Oct 1793), the National Archives

With this, I tried to find any Simon Little that could match all these criteria and the only one I could find is this one: Simon Little, born or baptised on Dec 15th 1769 in Terrona, Dumfriesshire

This closely matches Edward Little’s father being 84 in July 1852 as stated in the burial record

But there is also some circumstantial evidence with the names of the family members, as on this record, Simon’s parent’s names are James and Jean (Jane), which matches my theory that our Simon could have named his firstborn daughter and son after his and his wife’s parents

This Simon’s brothers were named Archibald and John, and our Simon named one of his son Archibald John

And this Simon’s sisters were named Margaret and Janny, and our Simon named three of his daughters Jane Margaret, Margaret Ann and Louisa Janet

In trying to find more information on any Little family from Dumfriesshire, the results always mention the Little family Clan, which the Simon Little mentioned above was a part of

And the Little family being from Scotland could also explain why one of their child (Archibald John) was baptized in Scotland

I always wondered why Edward was the only one with a sole given name, was there a special meaning to it ? When reading about the Little Clan’s history, we can learn that “Edward” was the name of the founder of the Clan

The ancestry of Edward Little "of Meikle-dale", founder of the clan, can be traced back through Normandy and Norway to Ingiald Ill

https://electricscotland.com/webclans/htol/little2.htm

Another clue may also be the lack of information available about the Simon Little from Terrona, which could match with our Simon moving to England and joining the Navy in 1793, since no date of death seems to be listed

With the information on Wikitree and the clan website, Simon’s father, James, even seems to have been a descendant on the Lairds of Mickledale : 

Monumental Inscription, Ewes Churchyard, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, UK. Published in ‘The Ewes Valley - An Historical Miscellany’ by Brenda I Morrison & R Bruce McCartney, 2000, ISBN0951785818.

68) “Here lyes Thomas Little son to the Laird of Mickledale an honest gentleman and well beloved by all the country who dyed in April 27th 1665 his age 67. Here lyes Simon Little in Wrea son to the aforesaid Thomas Little who departed this life 23rd January 1716 aged 77. Also Simon Little In Terrona son to the above Simon Little in Wrea died February 8, 1757 aged 72 years. Also Margaret his spouse died 8th March 1787, 88. Here also lyes interred James Little in Terrona who departed this life April 7,1799 aged 58 years. And Jean his spouse of Pious Memory died March 1, 1808 aged 74 years. And Margaret their daughter who departed this life September 26, 1793 aged 21 years. Likewise their children John and Janet died in infancy. In memory of Archibald Little in Terrona died in Langholm 14th August 1850 aged 76 years. Erected to the memory of Simon Little tenant in Terrona who died September 1757 aged 72 years.”

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Little-13729

And more information about the genealogy of the clan’s Lairds from the Clan Little website :

Another Simon Little, grandfather of David the last chief, was chief at the Union of the Crowns when Border warfare officially came to an end.  Simon's son Thomas, and Thomas' son David, were the last Littles to be Lairds of Meikledale.  David was given work as a groom at Windsor Castle.  The chiefly line can be traced down to yet another Simon Little in Nittyholme, Canonbie in 1745 "the linear heir male of this family".

https://clanlittlesociety.org/clanhistory.php

However, the clan does not currently have a chief and no male line has been traced down to today

[cdr-edwardlittle]

Edward Little's birth and baptism

Edward's birth and baptism places aren't as easy to pinpoint as we could think, so here is everything I gathered on the subject :

(With some speculations on my part because some documents contradict each other)

As I was in London, I took the opportunity to visit the site of St Mary's church in Hornsey, where Edward seems to have been baptised on Jan 12th 1812

The old medieval church was first mentioned in 1291, but by the 1820s the building was dilapidated and it was knocked down in 1832

After that, two new churches were built on these grounds, but none of them remains today, the churchyard was closed in 1892 and the third church was demolished in 1969

Today, only the bell tower from the first church still stands, surrounded by a park and a Primary school playground

Only him, his older sister Margaret Anne and older brother Cornelius Hayter seem to have been baptised here

(Margaret Anne on 18 Feb 1810 & Cornelius Hayter on 15 Nov 1810)

London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriage and Burials, 1538-1812

But for Edward and Cornelius Hayter, the register mentions

"baptized be the Rev° Matthew Irving Rector of Redmile, Leicestershire".

Given that information, we can speculate that the Reverant could have come to Hornsey especially to baptise them

---

From his baptism register and all the Ship Musters I have seen, I always assumed Edward was born in Hornsey

ADM 37/9921, HMA Scylla, The National Archives

But one of the muster I have checked recently mentions him actually being born in Stonehouse, Devon

ADM 37/7848, HMS Alert, The National Archives

From his service record, it is the same Edward Little

Given that his older brother (who was baptised just eleven months before Edward's birth) is also registered to have been baptised in Hornsey, I don't think the family moved to Stonehouse to move back to Hornsey in such a short time, maybe his mother could have been staying with family members in Stonehouse at the time of Edward's birth

I'm still looking into it, but for now, we can only speculate

[cdr-edwardlittle]

The Full Court Martial (Edward Little's Testimony)

For more context, see my previous post

Edward Little's Testimony

After days of transcribing, the full court martial is here, the original was 60 pages long with several annexed letters

So I put everything in a single Google Doc, the comments on the document are open, because I feel there is so much to comment on, it's gonna be easier that way for everyone, so feel free to do so !

Thanks again to @aristosakielon for her precious help !

Court Martial 1835 - John Christie

ADM 1/5480 TNA

[cdr-edwardlittle]

Edward Little's handwritten letter II

A second handwritten letter from Edward Little I've found at TNA, this one is from October 28th 1834

TNA ADM 1/4866

It reads :

N°9 St Michaels Terrace Stoke

Devonport October 28th 1834

Sir,

Having been informed that Captain Chesney of the Royal Artillery is about to processed on an Expedition to the Euphrates, and that two passed Mates are to be employed under that officer, I take the earliest opportunity of offering my humble services on the occasion trusting, that an abscence of eight years on foreign service may entitle me to favourable consideration

In June 1826 I joined His Majesty's Ship Forte Captain J. Coghlan, where I remained untill that ship left the west coast to South America for England. I then joined successively His Majesty's Ships Sapphire, Alert and Dublin, and was paid off from the last named ship on 1st October last,

In June 1832, I passed my examination for Seamanship 

     To Captain the Hon'ble 

      George Elliott RN

      &&&

      Admiralty                                                                                    and

and on my arrival in England I also passed at the Royal Naval College Lord James Townshend, my last Captain is now in London, to whom, as well as my other Captain’s I can with safety refer for character and general fitness, I have the honor to be,

Sir, your most obedient

Very humble servant

E Little late Mate

of the Dublin

In the corner :

"? November

As there

? have no(thing ?) to say

& and the expe(dition?) he alludes to"

It could be :

"1st November

As I have there/already

two mates have nothing

to say to the Expedition

he alludes to"

Thanks @dogleginyourhand for that transcript !

(Thanks to everyone on Discord who helped me with that last part, please feel free to add your own transcription as it's quite hard to read)

But this confirm several things to us : his adress being 9 Michael's Terrace, Stoke Devonport, which I have already found some mentions of it being the family's adress at the time (before any census)

And it also confirm to us that the Edward in the description book really is the same one, as we can link his Lieutenant service record to the one from the description book, before his promotion

We also now know that he passed his examination for Seamanship in 1832 while on board the Dublin, and passed his Lieutenant examination at the Royal Naval College in 1834 (Portsmouth)

But based on his service record, Edward did not join the Euphrates Expedition, as his next appointment after leaving the Dublin on Oct 2 1834, was on the Royale Adelaide, Sept 5 1835, still as Mate

His first appointment as Lieutenant would be in Dec 1837, on HMS Donegal

James Fitzjames actually took part in the Euphrates Expedition as Mate, which he joined on October 25th 1834, here is @jamesfitzjamesdotcom's post about it

The Expedition

In the 1820’s it took about 4 months before mail from England reached India. The English Government and the East India Company wanted to lau

[cdr-edwardlittle]

The Court Martial Testimony Part 1.5

Since you were all so enthusiastic, I did my best to quickly transcribe that part of the record, so here is Edward's testimony

I'll transcribe the whole record when I can, because it's sixty pages long, and with several annexed letters (that I'll add when necessary to give you some more context to this)

TNA ADM 1/5480

The "The manner is which this Gentleman gave his evidence called forth the animadversions of the Court" from the newspaper arcticle has a different ring to it now :')

(Sorry for the potential typos, I kept them from the original record)

[cdr-edwardlittle]

Court Martial Testimony Update

So, I'm spending the week in London to look at more archives, and I've just found the record for Mr Christie's court martial (and Edward's testimony) and... Well I just couldn't stop laughing while reading the whole thing, I really wasn't expecting that !

I'll be posting Edward's testimony soon, since it's only two pages long, but I'll need more time to transcribe the whole thing (as it's SIXTY pages long !) but Edward if often mentionned,

Just to make you wait, here is an extract :

Mr Christie : "Will you swear you never heard Mr Little call me "a d_d cowardly villain" and say "this moment shall be your last" ?

[cdr-edwardlittle]

Edward Little's epitaph

Edward's parents, Simon & Sarah were buried in Green Street Cemetery (Section Roseville Street, Grave YY2, St Helier, Jersey) with their eldest daughter Elizabeth Jane. Following their epitaph, the family added a few words to commemorate Edward

It's the tombstone on the right, you can see the names if you zoom in, image in better quality here (For the story, I was scrolling throught random pictures of the cemetery when I zoomed in on this one with no reason in particular and well... it's theirs)

It reads :

"To the memory of Sarah, the beloved wife of Simon Little Paymaster RN who died 9th May 1847 aged 68 years,

Also of Simon Little, husband of the above, who died 20th July 1852, aged 84 years

And of Elizabeth Jane Little, eldest daughter of the above, who died 27th May 1874, aged 70 years,

Also of Edward Little, their son, Commander RN who was lost in the Arctic Expedition under Captain John Franklin RN, ?? HM Ship Erebus, 1847"

I've found better pictures on The Genealogist (under licence) and I could decifer most of what's written, except for the very last part. If anyone has a better picture with the rest of the inscription, I'd be happy to add it to the post !

[cdr-edwardlittle]

James Cornelius Little

(1807 - 1875) Edward's eldest brother

James Cornelius was fourth child and first son of Simon & Sarah Little, he was baptised in Hackney and passed away in St Helier, Jersey, where he is now buried

Like his father, James Cornelius was a purser & paymaster for the Royal Navy, he passed his certification in 1835

There is a James Cornelius Little recorded in the Freemasons registers : in 1843 for the St John and St Paul lodge and in 1859 for the Phoenix lodge, this seems to be him as he's mentionned on the registers as being a purser

His father bought a house in St Helier for him by procuration in 1845, he probably joined some of his sisters and his parents on the island around that time, as he's registered there on the 1851 & 1871 census (2 Almorah Road)

In 1857, he took part in a meeting centered about Lady Jane Franklin's effort to send another expedition in the search for his brother and his crewmates. He was described as "an esteemed resident" and the he "had taken a lively interest in the proceedings of this meeting. He had to deplore the loss of a brother in the ill-fated expedition of Sir John Franklin. He was happy to have the opportunity to express his thanks to the gentlemen who had taken the initiative in the proceedings."

Jersey Independant and Daily 27 Jun 1857

A James Cornelius was charged with indecent behaviour & exposure in 1860 it seems that this could have been him, given that the name and rank are right (but in one of the article, he's supposed to be 58yo in 1860 which would make his birth around 1802)

But the story is an unusual one, please read the articles, if only for "The astonishment of the Recorder and the bench can be better imagined than described"

He passed away from pneumonia on Dec 8th 1875 at 66yo in Jersey, he is now buried in Green Street Cemetery on the island

[cdr-edwardlittle]

The Little family census records

Here is a compiled version of every information I could find about the family from 1841 to 1901

(as the last siblings passed away in 1909)

As always in the census, the ages are "a bit" off, but all their named, occupations and place of birth coincide with what we know about them

Can't be 100% sure about these two :

* listed as only "Richard Little from Hampshire Botley" but the age is accurate, the last mention of him in the Navy Lists that I could find is from 1844 (And I couldn't find any other Richard Little living in Jersey before or after that census)

But ! I may have a clue on his whereabouts, we'll see that on the post about him 👀

** Listed as "Janet L Little" (but she seems to have been using "Janet" a lot rather than "Louisa" as other census mention her as "Janet" or "Janet L", when still living with her family, so we know it's her) and from Botley (which is accurate), employed by William Horton, RN Captain

[cdr-edwardlittle]

The Little family tree

Let's focus on this part of Edward's family tree for now :

Edward was born from Simon Little and Sarah "Sally" Hayter on 14 Dec 1811 in Hornsey and was baptised on 12 Jan 1812 at St Mary, Hornsey

He was the seventh child, with six sisters and five brothers, the twelve siblings reached adulthood, his brothers and father served in the Royal Navy as well (the only one I don't have much information on for now is Cornelius Hayter Little)

Four of them married, and only one of his sister had children of her own, some of her descendants are still living in the UK today (but there is no all-female line from her that could be used for DNA testing)

I'll be posting about each of them in more detail, as I have found some interesting stories about the siblings

(I also have more about the extended family on his mother side, but we'll see that later)

London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812

[cdr-edwardlittle]

The Court Martial Testimony

When I first came across this article, I coudn't be sure that it mentionned our Edward Little. But now that we know about his early service record, we know that he was serving aboard the HMS Dublin as mate (from Nov 1831 to Oct 1834)

So, I do think it's highly probable he's the one mentionned here :

Albion and the Star 26 Sep 1834

"A Mr. Edward Little, mate, was brought forward as witness, to prove Mr. Christie's assaulting him. The manner in which this Gentleman gave his evidence called forth the animadversions of the Court."

If you want to read more about the whole Court Martial, I've got you covered (but with no other mention of Little) :

Morning Herald 23 Sep 1834 True Sun 24 Sep 1834 True Sun 26 Sep 1834 London Packet and New Lloyd's Evening Post 26 Sep 1834 Caledonian Mercury 29 Sep 1834

[cdr-edwardlittle]

Edward Little Service Record

Following my post on the description book, something else was specified there, and it's Edward's service record before his promotion as a Lieutenant in 1837 :

Description book joined to HMS Scylla muster TNA - ADM 37/9921

If we compile this with the other record which can be downloaded on the National Archives website, the informations on the Scylla muster and the Forte muster :

ADM 196/5/124

Description book joined to HMS Scylla muster TNA - ADM 37/9921

Forte, Ship's muster - ADM 37/7447

Then, a "complete" record would be something like this :

Infos on the Captains and stations taken from : Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels and Three Decks

I'll update this with more info once I've checked all the musters