Shipwreck and salvage in the tropics: the case of HMS Thetis, 1830-1854

Journal of Historical Geography

Volumn 32, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 539-562

  Driver, Felix ^a   Martins, Luciana ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Brazil; Narrative; Royal Society; Shipwreck; Thetis; Tropics; Visual image

Indexed keywords

VESSEL;

BRAZIL; CABO FRIO; RIO DE JANEIRO [BRAZIL]; SOUTH AMERICA;

EID: 33745207362     PISSN: 03057488     EISSN: 10958614     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhg.2005.10.010     Document Type: Article

References (94)

1. R. Fitzroy, Narrative of the Surveying Voyage of HMS Adventure and Beagle, between the Years 1826 and 1836. Vol. 2: Proceedings of the Second Expedition, 1831-36, London, 1839, 67.
2. In the period between 1816 and 1832, fifty-two Royal Navy ships were lost through shipwreck, though in more than half these cases the entire crew were saved:. Royle S.A. Perilous shipwreck, misery and unhappiness: the British military at Tristan da Cunha, 1816-1817. Journal of Historical Geography 29 (2003) 521
3. The story of the wreck and salvage is briefly outlined in E. Gomes Filho, Histórias de Célebres Naufrágios do Cabo Frio, Rio de Janeiro, 1993;
4. McConnell A. O salvamento da HMS Thetis em 1830. Revista Marítima Brasileira 107 10-11 (1986) 67-79
5. R. Sténuit, The wreck of HMS Thetis lost 'in the Brazils' in 1830, in: M. Bound (Ed.), The Archaeology of Ships of War, Oswestry, 1995, 77-89.
6. T. Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations for the Recovery of the Public Stores and Treasure Sunk in HMS Thetis, at Cape Frio, London, 1836.
7. T. Baker to R. Dewar, 14 August 1832 (The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO) ADM 7/598).
8. In August 1842, John Barrow expressed his 'disgust' at Dickinson's persistence with his claim: memorandum on the Thetis Case, 20 July 1844 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/599).
9. Thetis salvage case: precis for Sir James Graham, 26 May 1854 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/599);
10. The Times (19 July 1854) 7
11. G. Quilley, The imagery of travel in British painting: with particular reference to nautical and maritime imagery, circa 1740-1800, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Warwick, 1998, 318.
12. Venning B. A macabre connoisseurship: Turner, Byron and the apprehension of shipwreck subjects in early nineteenth-century England. Art History 8 (1985) 312-315
13. Boase T.S.R. Shipwrecks in English romantic painting. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institute 22 (1959) 332-346
14. In addition to the records of the Court Martial (TNA: PRO ADM 1/5476), the Admiralty archive includes two large files of papers devoted to the Thetis case (TNA: PRO ADM 7/598-9). The Royal Society records are associated with three papers presented at the Society in 1832 and 1834. We have drawn on further related materials at the National Maritime Museum, the Brazilian national archives in Rio de Janeiro, the municipal archives in Cabo Frio and the National Library of Australia, Canberra. The Thetis case was also widely reported in the newspaper and periodical literature in Britain and Brazil.
15. Privy Council Appeal (1834), Joint Appendix, Affidavit of Dickinson, 43-4 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/599).
16. Harris S.J. Long-distance corporations, big sciences, and the geography of knowledge. Configurations 6 2 (1998) 272
17. Driver F. Distance & disturbance: travel, exploration and knowledge in the nineteenth century. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 14 6th series (2004) 73-92
18. Fitzroy, Narrative of the Surveying Voyage of HMS Adventure and Beagle.
19. J. Purdy, The Brasilian Navigator, London, 1844, 141.
20. Letter dated 17 August 1809 (MS 195/3, National Library of Australia, Canberra).
21. Driver F., and Martins L. John Septimus Roe and the art of navigation, c. 1815-1830. History Workshop Journal 54 (2002) 144-161
22. Gough B.M. Sea power and South America: the 'Brazils' or South American station of the Royal Navy, 1808-1837. American Neptune 50 (1990) 26-34
23. L. Martins, O Rio de Janeiro dos Viajantes: O Olhar Britânico, 1800-1850, Rio de Janeiro, 2001.
24. Extrait d'une lettre écrite à bord du vaisseau anglais la Thétis, en date de Callao le 20 septembre 1830, par M. Sayer. Bulletin de la Societé de Géographie de Paris 17 (1832) 108-111
25. Gough B.M. Specie conveyance from the West Coast of Mexico in British warships, 1820-1870. Mariner's Mirror 69 (1983) 419-433
26. S. Burgess to T. Baker, 6 December 1830, including Narrative of the loss of Her Majesty's Ship Thetis on Cape Frio, 15 minutes past 8 on the night of 5 December 1830 (TNA: PRO ADM 1/5476);
27. see also. Loss of HMS Thetis. Athenaeum (19 February 1831) 122
28. Wreck and total loss of His Majesty's Ship Thetis. United Service Journal 1 (1831) 403-405
29. Thetis court martial, Narrative of the loss of HMS Thetis, by Captain Samuel Burgess, 15 March 1831, and evidence of ship's master William Gowdy (TNA: PRO ADM 1/5476).
30. Thetis court martial, judgement, 21 March 1831 (TNA: PRO ADM 1/5476).
31. On the advantages possessed by naval men, in contributing to general science. Nautical Magazine 1 (1832) 180
32. Barlow P. On the errors in the course of vessels occasioned by local attraction; with some remarks on the recent loss of His Majesty's Ship Thetis. Philosophical Transactions 121 (1831) 215-221
33. Cawood J. The magnetic crusade: science and politics in early Victorian Britain. Isis 70 (1979) 493-518
34. On Barlow's own contributions, see. Miller D.P. The revival of the physical sciences in Britain, 1815-1840. Osiris 2 (1986) 127-128
35. E.G.R. Taylor, The Mathematical Practitioners of Hanoverian England, 1714-1840, Cambridge, 1966, 330-331.
36. P. Barlow, An Essay on Magnetic Attractions, and on the Laws of Terrestrial and Electro Magnetism; Comprising a Popular Course of Curious and Interesting Experiments in the Latter Subject, and Early Experimental Method of Correcting the Local Attraction of Vessels on the Compass in all Parts of the World, 2nd Edition, London, 1824.
37. Sketch of the operations at Cape Frio. Nautical Magazine 1 (1832) 23
38. Winter A. 'Compasses all awry': the iron ship and ambiguities of cultural authority in Victorian Britain. Victorian Studies 38 1 (1994) 69-98
39. Cawood, The magnetic crusade;
40. Barlow P. On the present situation of the magnetic lines of equal variation, and their changes on the terrestrial surface. Philosophical Transactions 123 (1833) 667-673
41. E. Sabine, Report on the Variations of the Magnetic Intensity Observed at Different Points of the Earth's Surface, London, 1838.
42. J. Herschel, Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, London, 1851 Edition, 29. The original account of this voyage was published in B. Hall, Extracts from a Journal, Written on the Coasts of Chili, Peru and Mexico, in the Years 1820, 1821 and 1822, 4th Edition, Edinburgh, 1825.
43. Basil Hall conducted a series of pendulum experiments on the Conway, an account of which were published in. Philosophical Transactions 113 (1823) 211-288
44. For telling summaries of their contrasting naval careers, see W.R. O'Byrne, A Naval Biographical Dictionary, London, 1849, 280, 287.
45. Proceedings of the Royal Society 3 (1834) 266-267 271-274
46. Dickinson's paper was read by the Secretaries of the Society on 20 March 1834 (not 1833 as stated in the Proceedings). See also T. Dickinson to J.G. Children, 12 March 1834 (Royal Society archives, London).
47. The full manuscripts are held in the Royal Society archives: T. Dickinson, Narrative of the proceedings of Commander Thomas Dickinson of His Majesty's Sloop Lightning, while employed in the enterprise for the recovery of the public stores and other property sunk in His Majesty's late frigate Thetis on the South-West side of the island of Cape Frio (dated 28 March 1832); F. De Roos, An account of some operations executed at Cape Frio by the officers and crew of HMS Algerine (received 14 January 1834).
48. The connection between the reading of papers to the Royal Society and the progress of the court case is clear from contemporary accounts: see the letters of Jenkin Jones and Thomas Dickinson in United Service Journal (20 March 1834) 533-535; (February 1835) 263-264. This exchange was part of a longer correspondence on the subject of the salvors' claims, which also involved De Roos: United Service Journal (March 1835) 418-419; (April 1835) 543-546.
49. The evidence presented to the Court included Dickinson's daily log of the salvage operation: Privy Council Appeal (1834), Journal of the Proceedings going on at Cape Frio, Joint Appendix, 73-110 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/599).
50. Cases Determined in the High Court of Admiralty: HMS Thetis, 20 March 1833 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/599). The Admiralty Court's judgement pleased no-one, except the Admiralty, which was awarded costs for wear and tear of its ships. Dickinson contested Baker's right to a share on the grounds of his rank alone, while Baker (supported by the underwriters) insisted that his proportion was too low. Both appealed to the Privy Council, which awarded them each a further sum, while confirming the Admiralty's deduction. While De Roos did not join the appeal to the Privy Council, he renewed his claim for additional reward following the decision of the court in June 1834. See Reports of Cases Before the Privy Council, 19-20 June 1834; J. De Roos to G. Elliot, 27 June 1834 and 26 November 1835; J. De Roos to S. Herbert, 23 August 1843 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/599).
51. Owen, whose ship HMS Eden visited the site of the salvage operation in May 1831, praised Dickinson's skill and ingenuity in constructing the derrick: High Court of Admiralty: HMS Thetis, 20 March 1833, 52 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/599).
52. Sketch of the operations at Cape Frio, 22, 68, 126.
53. J. Jones, Narrative of proceedings of Commander Thomas Dickinson of HMS Lightning, July 1831 (JON/8, National Maritime Museum, London).
54. T. Baker to G. Elliot, 10 August 1832 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/598).
55. Temporary diving-bell. Transactions of the Society of Arts 54 (1843) 97-101
56. Privy Council Appeal (1834), Joint Appendix, Burchett's evidence, 36-40 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/599).
57. Cases Determined in the High Court of Admiralty, 46-47.
58. T. Dickinson, Letter to the Right Hon. Sir James Graham, upon the 'Thetis' Salvage, London, 1854, 15.
59. Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations, 36, 44, 66-67, 79.
60. Narrative of the proceedings of Commander Thomas Dickinson (Royal Society archives), 6.
61. Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations, 35-36, 104-105.
62. Sketch of the operations at Cape Frio, 73-74.
63. Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations, 133-135.
64. Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations, 39, 62. The bell-men testified in support of Dickinson's case. As members of the crew of the Lightning, they would benefit proportionately for any compensation awarded to him.
65. As one Brazilian newspaper reported, 'The fishermen were filled with pity for the crew in misfortune, and conceded their huts, with the characteristic civility of our Nation, offering all the help at their reach; even before receiving the letter from the Ministry of External Relations, the local inhabitants of Cabo Frio have shown they were truly Brazilians' (Diario Mercantil 21 December 1830, 3 January 1831, our translation). Cf. Thetis court martial, Narrative of the loss of HMS Thetis, by Captain Samuel Burgess, 15 March 1831, and evidence of ship's master William Gowdy (TNA: PRO ADM 1/5476).
66. G. Hamilton to G. Elliot, 20 August 1831 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/598); Atas das Legislaturas da Câmara Municipal de Cabo Frio, 1830-1832 (Cabo Frio Municipal Archives).
67. T. Dickinson to T. Baker, 31 March 1831 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/598); Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations, 113-114, 126-132. On images of tropical bounty, see P. Hulme, Dominica and Tahiti: tropical islands compared, in: F. Driver and L. Martins (Eds), Tropical Visions in an Age of Empire, Chicago, 2005, 77-90;
68. Connell J. Island dreaming: the contemplation of Polynesian paradise. Journal of Historical Geography 29 (2003) 554-581
69. B.M. Stafford, Voyage into Substance: Art, Science, Nature, and the Illustrated Travel Account, 1760-1840, Cambridge, MA, 1984, 25.
70. E. Eigen, Where landscape ends, the sea begins: understanding seascape, in: H.A. Salgueiro (Ed.), Paisagem e Arte: A Invenção da Natureza, a Evolução do Olhar, São Paulo, 2000, 111-120.
71. Cf. Rozwadowski H.M. Small world: forging a scientific maritime culture for oceanography. Isis 87 (1996) 409-429
72. H. Blumenberg, Shipwreck with Spectator, Cambridge, MA, 1997, 44.
73. Wreck of the Thetis. Nautical Magazine 1 (1832) 128
74. Dickinson to Baker, 16 February 1831, 19 March 1831 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/598).
75. Wreck of the Thetis. A similar image appeared in Dickinson's Narrative.
76. For an account of the development of seafloor mapping, see R.E. Doel, T.J. Levin and M.K. Marker, Extending modern cartography to the ocean depths, Journal of Historical Geography 32 (2006), this issue.
77. S. Smiles, Eye Witness: Artists and Visual Documentation in Britain, Aldershot, 2000, 41-43.
78. This work has recently been re-published in facsimile: see M. Fardell and N. Phillips (Eds), Submarine Researches on the Wrecks of His Majesty's Late Ships Royal George, Boyne, and Others, by Mr. C. A. Deane, in his Improved Diving Apparatus, London, 2001.
79. M.J.S. Rudwick, Scenes from Deep Time: Early Pictorial Representations of the Prehistoric World, Chicago, 1992, 47, 231-232.
80. For an overview of the expansion of marine science in the early nineteenth century, see M. Deacon, Scientists and the Sea, 1650-1900: A Study of Marine Science, Aldershot, 1997, 220-248.
81. Hall B. Diving operations at Portsmouth. Nautical Magazine 1 (1832) 360
82. D. Lambert, L. Martins and M. Ogborn, Currents, visions and voyages: historical geographies of the sea, Journal of Historical Geography 32 (2006), this issue.
83. Quoted in P. Carter, Dark with excess of bright: mapping the coastlines of knowledge, in: D. Cosgrove (Ed.), Mappings, London, 1999, 144.
84. Baker to Elliot, 14 March 1831, Dickinson to Baker, 19 March 1831 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/598); Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations, 37, 41-49.
85. De Roos, An account of some operations (Royal Society archives), 5; Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations, 61.
86. J.M.W. Turner to W. Buckland, 30 November 1843, in: J. Gage (Ed.), Collected Correspondence of J. M. W. Turner, Oxford, 1980, 193.
87. Turner to Buckland, Collected Correspondence of J. M. W. Turner, 193-194. That Schetky's paintings were the source of the engraved views is not acknowledged either in Dickinson's Narrative or, it appears, in Turner's letter.
88. J.L. Roget, A History of the Old Water-Colour Society, Vol. I, London, 1891, 230-231; see also D. Brook-Hart, British Nineteenth-century Marine Painting, Woodbridge, 1974, 17-19.
89. 'HMS Lightning beating up to undertake the work for recovering stores and treasures sunk in HMS Thetis at Cape Frio 1830', Geyer Collection, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
90. L. Martins, The art of tropical travel, 1768-1830, in: M. Ogborn and C. Withers (Eds), Georgian Geographies: Essays on Space, Place, and Landscape in the Eighteenth Century, Manchester, 2003.
91. Harris, Long-distance corporations, 273.
92. High Court of Admiralty, 50 (TNA: PRO ADM 7/599).
93. C. Darwin, Diary of the Voyage of HMS Beagle, Vol. I, London, 1986, 3 April 1832, 45; C. Martens, Journal of a Voyage from England to Australia 1833-35, Sydney, 1994, 4 July 1833, 8-9; O. Brierly, Sketches made in England and during the voyage to Australia in the Wanderer, 1841 (PX*D71, Mitchell Library, Sydney).
94. A sketch of Cabo Frio island made by a naval officer on service in the Pacific Station (1849-1852) is thus annotated with the caption 'Lighthouse on highest point': Album of watercolours by Admiral Sir Edward Gennys Fanshawe (PAI4607, National Maritime Museum, London).