youre-a-niche-interest

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A Pair of Stafforshire porcelaine figures of Sir John Franklin and Lady Jane Franklin, 19th century, each 10in. (25.4cm) high

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Ep 55 – Inglourious Basterds: Tarantino’s Bloody, Brilliant WWII Fantasy

"Each and every man under my command owes me one hundred Nazi scalps..." Happy Rosie Friday! This week on Rosie the Reviewer, we're taking a (in)gloriously bloody ride through Inglourious Basterds (2009) — Tarantino’s brilliant, violent rewrite of WWII history.

We’re talking: ✨ Brad Pitt’s finest ridiculous accent in multiple languages ✨ Christoph Waltz redefining terrifyingly polite ✨ Tarantino’s master-level tension and music drops ✨ Plot-relevant glasses of milk ✨ And the sweet, sweet satisfaction of watching cinema literally burn it all down.

Nazis? Obliterated. History? Rewritten. Cinema? Glorified. Our rating system? Extremely milky. 🥛

If you've ever wanted to see WWII go off the rails in the most cathartic way possible, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen to the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts!

🖥️ Website: www.rosiethereviewer.com 📸 Insta: @rosiethereviewerpodcast

Tag yourself: 🔥 Shoshanna setting the world on fire 🎩 Aldo Raine hunting scalps 🎬 Marcel lighting the match 👢 Landa ordering one glass of milk too many

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Ep 54 – Bobby Schofield on Playing Dave Kershaw in SAS Rogue Heroes, Being a History Nerd & WWII Acting

“Give me a uniform, a couple lines, and a fascist to punch — I’m in.” – Bobby Schofield, probably

We just dropped one of our most scouse episodes yet of Rosie the Reviewer — featuring Bobby Schofield, aka everyone's favorite “bit mad” rogue hero, Dave Kershaw from SAS Rogue Heroes.

🎧 In this episode: ✦ Bobby’s chaotic origin story as a WWII history nerd ✦ Tracking down Dave Kershaw’s REAL family (some real sleuthing going on!) ✦ Spanish Civil War medals, secret socialist nods & “No pasarán!” ✦Emotional scenes, scouse grit, and what it means to portray a real soldier ✦ Also: many tangents, great stories, and excellent chaos energy

Yes, he still has his SAS beret. Yes, he tried to keep the MP40. No, he’s not sorry. Watch the video version here:

Listen to the audio version here or whenever you get your podcasts

🪖 More info like Bobby's book rec: www.rosiethereviewer.com 📸 Follow us: @rosiethereviewerpodcast 💬 Reblog if “No pasarán!” is now your new rallying cry

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Who knew that being a military advisor on SAS Rogue Heroes could be so relatable. Coming to you this Friday.

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New sources on Arctonauts!

The allotment lists of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, 1845 (Franklin Expedition) can now be found on Arctonauts through the overview page of allotment lists!

(please be aware that despite all optimisation for mobile, these remain pretty big tables that are best viewed on a bigger screen!)

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Hi, wondering if you could help with this: What were the rules and practices of captains' wives living with their husbands on their ships in the British navy, the merchant navy, whalers,... in different circumstances (war, peace, on peacekeeping missions,... ) ca 1800-1835? What was personal choice, what was navy rules, what social norms? Asking in order to better understand the Franklins' (Sir John and Jane, Lady Franklin) Mediterranean period. This also came up in a Jane Austen Persuasion discussion. I'd be really grateful for any literature tips on this issue apart from individual biographies. Thank you.

Hello,

And that's actually a very good and unfortunately also difficult question, because women on board were not very common. And if they existed, they were hardly noticed, they hardly appear in pattern books or other documents. Very rarely are they found in private records. What is known, however, is that actually only three women were tolerated on board, namely the wives of the permanent officers, i.e. those of the boatswain, the carpenter and the gunner. These are the three staff officers who always stayed on the ship, they were responsible for the ship no matter where it was.

As these men were mostly older men (due to their education), their wives were also older and thus posed no moral threat to the rest of the crew. They were more of a maternal figure on board, looking after the boys in particular (cabin boys, captain's servants, young midshipmen and powder monkeys). The Admiralty published the "Regulations and Instructions relating to His Majesty's Service at Sea" in 1731. These specified the duties of women on board. In 1731, women were only allowed on board if the Admiralty allowed a woman on board, otherwise they were forbidden. In 1759 there was a regulation that when a ship was in port, women were allowed on board, but not in sea service and there the women were allowed to take care of the cleanliness of their husbands. From 1806, women were again forbidden. The three wives of the permanent officers lived with their husbands in their cabins and had to share meals with their husbands. Most of them often had an arrangement with the purser, who provided them with meals for a small fee. However, there were also women who were occasionally hired by the captain to serve on board and so they also lived on board as was the case on HMS Goliath during the Battle of Aboukir.

In the case of Lady Jane Franklin, she spent the three years he was in the Mediterranean alone at home and later had to travel with a migratory ship Fairlie on 6 January 1837 to Australia to accompany him. In principle, however, women were also on board as passengers. Wives accompanying husbands appeared on the Whalers from the middle of the 19th century onwards, and then these ships were affectionately known as Hen Frigates.

Women on board was a tricky business, and the subject itself is still not very well researched today. There are a few books, but unfortunately not many. Here is a list, maybe you can use some of them.

https://ltwilliammowett.tumblr.com/post/641034820314660864/women-at-sea

Otherwise, I'm still looking myself, so I'll add to the list when I have something new. I hope I could help you at least a little.

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@so-i-did-this-thing mentioned that folks at Terror Camp loved this Franklin relic that was recreated for the show but never made it on screen. It's knit with glass seed beads, so you know I had to work on putting together a pattern chart! I will put together a more professional version shortly, but here's the quick mockup I did in Excel.

To make a purse like this, the beads would have to be strung onto the silk thread before knitting, which means very careful counting. I love that in the original you can see places where the knitter didn't quite count correctly and the pattern is a little off, but they kept going and ended up with an awesome result anyway.

The original purse is held at Royal Museums Greenwich.

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A small biographical note on John Bridgens.

In honour of Terror Camp day, which I'm an eager attendee of, I thought I'd finally post some digging I've been doing lately.

Unlike his counterpart in The Terror, John Bridgens was not in his early sixties, but joined the expedition at 26, and came from Woolwich, Kent. He was the Subordinate Officers’ Steward aboard Erebus. Being endlessly fascinated by the way historical fiction can subsume historical identity, Bridgens piqued my interest particularly in the way he has been wholesale lifted from his historical counterpart to become a brand new character. So I went looking for him. What follows is conjecture on my part, but I'm putting it out here as I continue to fact check. This is all subject to correction.

The facts at my immediate disposal were Bridgens’ details on the Erebus muster (ADM 38/672), and a reference to his mother Harriet Richards in the allotment books for Erebus (ADM 27/90/93).

John Bridgens came to the Erebus having previously served on the Endymion, where he was an AB. From the allotment books for the Erebus and Endymion, we know that his mother, who would receive his pay, was called Harriet Richards.

The National Archives, ADM 27/90/93

We also have Harriet’s address - 3 New Road, Woolwich, Kent.

That the surname was different was an interesting point, and on further investigating, I was able to find a marriage certificate for a “Harriott Bridgens”, marrying a William Richards in 1822 at St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich. The interesting part came in noting that Harriet was listed as a spinster, suggesting that Bridgens was not a married name. Additionally, if the age in the muster is correct, John Bridgens would already have been three or four at this point. If this is the right Harriet/Harriott, was John potentially an illegitimate child?

Harriott and William Richards turn up in the census for 1841, living at New Road, Woolwich. They do have several children: James, Robert, Nancy, George and Emmalea (Emily) - no John (though he would have been about 21 by this point and potentially already at sea). Harriet and her children by William Richards turn up again in the 1851 census, but living at Rope Yard Rails. William Richards is not present, and from the record of his death, in 1846, it looks like the family moved from New Road some time after that fact - also some time after John Bridgens would have set sail.

Harriott marries again in December 1854, this time to an Alexander Wood, a widower - both of Rope Yard Rails. On this certificate, her father’s name is listed: William Bridgens and his profession given as “labourer”.

London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P97/MRY/034; Viewed on: Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

With her approximate year of birth from the 1841 census, 1799, it was possible to find a Harriet born to a William and Ruth Bridgens of Flaggon Row baptised on 27th March 1798 at St Nicholas, Deptford. Here, her middle name is given as Maria.

London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P78/NIC/002; Viewed on: Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

So far, so good, but still no record of John Bridgens. None of Harriet’s siblings have this name either.

In the Death Duty Register for 1854, a John Bridgens is listed registered against a Harriet Richards for Woolwich. This is certainly the right John Bridgens, as the entry for the name confirms that Bridgens was a seaman on Erebus. It includes the updated address for Harriet - Rope Yard Rails. It also contains two other crucial details, his name: “Henry James, otherwise John” (in the index Hen. Jas. othse John) and the additional descriptions “Bachelor", "a Bastard”. Interesting.

The National Archives, IR27/63. Viewed on findmypast.co.uk

Armed with this, a little digging reveals a baptism on 22nd August 1821, for a Henry James, son of Harriet Maria Bridgens and Joseph Gladman. Joseph's profession is listed as “Gunner, Royal Artillery”. Henry James’ birthdate is also listed - 30 September 1818. His surname too, is listed - Bridgens. And in the margin, the person updating the register has written “sp?” Some suggestions from genealogy forums has turned up that this may be an abbreviation for “spurious” or illegitimate.

London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P97/MRY/013; Viewed on: Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Three years previously, in the same location, a “Henry Gladman” was baptised on 25th October 1818, to “Harriet Mary Gladman” and “Joseph Gladman”, the latter again being listed as a Gunner in the Royal Artillery. Though the address given is different, if further evidence is needed that this is the same child, the birthdate is added here too - 30th September, 1818. Both of these are registered by the same person, in the same place, so it would be some coincidence.

London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P97/MRY/012; Viewed on: Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

A September 1818 birthdate would put him squarely at age 26 for March 1845, when he appears on the muster for Erebus.

It looks like that this Henry James was hurriedly baptised by at least one of his unmarried parents, falsely claiming their marriage. A few years later, for whatever reason, the baptism was repeated, and this time his father did not give his surname to his offspring, or to Harriet. As for Joseph Gladman himself, he married another woman, Jane Kelly, a little over a month after Henry James Bridgens/Henry Gladman was born and later moved to Scotland with her and their children.

I’m still working through what happened to this child between his birth and showing up in the Royal Navy (I have Suspicions, but we shall see). That he does not appear in Harriet’s census records is inconclusive - he likely would have already been at sea in 1841. There are other John Bridgens and Henry Bridgens who appear in census records, but these can mostly be associated with other individuals.

It looks to me likely that Henry James Bridgens was born the illegitimate child of Harriet Maria Bridgens, and died John Bridgens, a steward on board HMS Erebus, lost looking for the Northwest Passage. As I said at the top, I'm still fact checking, but it does make an interesting story.

[youre-a-niche-interest]

There are a pair of these Staffordshire figures in the Fitzwilliam Museum, from the Glaisher bequest. The Fitzwilliam posits that it is likely they were made in about 1850.

These can be viewed on their Collections Online:

Lady Jane Franklin - Sir John Franklin

Image: Staffordshire figurine of Lady Franklin from The Fitzwilliam Museum, image CC-BY-ND-NC

Image: Staffordshire figurine of Sir John Franklin The Fitzwilliam Museum, image CC-BY-ND-NC

Other Staffordshire figurines in the Fitzwilliam collection that might be of specific interest to maritime enthusiasts include:

Will Watch, a legendary Sussex smuggler. Popular enough in ballad form to have one such ballad about him quoted by Marryat in The King’s Own. 

Admiral Sir Charles Napier, who began his long - and interesting - career with the Royal Navy in 1799.

Grace Darling and her father, a lighthouse keeper at Longstone. Grace and her father took part in a stormy rescue of survivors from the shipwrecked Forfarshire in 1838, and Grace and her story have been immortalised in art, music and folk history ever since.

A Pair of Stafforshire porcelaine figures of Sir John Franklin and Lady Jane Franklin, 19th century, each 10in. (25.4cm) high

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Very exciting news!

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Parks Canada Tour Inside HMS Terror

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Senior Research Fellow, Professor Ken Donaldson talks about the ill-fated Franklin Expedition and it’s connection to Surgeons’ Hall Museums.