New Trafalgar Dispatch comes to Hammersmith

---

 

200 years after one of the most decisive and bloody sea clashes of all time, Hammersmith & Fulham will stage a re-enactment of the dash by one British Navy Officer to deliver news of the historic battle back to the admiralty as the New Trafalgar Dispatch comes to Hammersmith.

The Hammersmith & Fulham leg of the New Trafalgar Dispatch takes place on Wednesday 7 September from 2pm on King Street outside Hammersmith Town Hall.

After Hammersmith, the New Trafalgar Dispatch will be presented at Kensington on 8 September and then at the Old Admiralty in Whitehall on 9 September, with the First Sea Lord and Deputy Prime Minister in attendance.

The Hammersmith copy of the New Trafalgar Dispatch will be deposited in the borough archives (The Lilla Huset, 191 Talgarth Road, London W6 8BJ. Tel: 020 8741 5159) where it will be available for viewing.

The event aims to show the journey of Lieutenant Lapenotiere who was ordered by Vice Admiral Collingwood to sail to England from Trafalgar to deliver news of the battle and death of Admiral Lord Nelson following the British victory on the 21 October 1805.

Despite high winds and heavy seas Lapenotiere completed the 1000-mile sea voyage from Cadiz to England in just over eight days. On his arrival at Falmouth, Lapenotiere hired a horse-drawn carriage before departing immediately to complete the final 265 miles of his journey to London. He completed the final cross-country stage of the journey in just 38 hours an amazing feat considering the scheduled stagecoach service normally took seven days.

The Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham, Cllr Charlie Treloggan, said, “It is important that people today remember the importance of the victory over the Spanish and French at Trafalgar. The Royal Navy stopped Napoleon in his tracks and in many ways Nelson’s victory paved the way for British history as we know it.”

At 2.30pm on Wednesday 7 September a horse drawn carriage will arrive at the town hall to recreate the Hammersmith leg of Lieutenant Lapenotiere’s journey. A plaque will be unveiled which will be displayed inside The Salutation Inn to mark the spot where Lieutenant Lapenotiere stopped back in 1805 and mark the borough’s place on the Trafalgar Way.

Anthony Fuller CBE, chairman of Fuller's Brewery, said: "The Salutation is a great Fuller's pub and we are delighted to see it take its place in the history books. The traditional British pub has been around for hundreds of years, and events such as this recreation remind us just how much they are a part of the social fabric of our country.

"I'd like to think that Lieutenant Lapenotiere would still stop at the Salutation if he was coming from Falmouth to London today. I expect the food is better now!"

Bunting, flags and flowers will dress King Street, which will be closed to traffic while the horse drawn carriage arrives. Sea Cadets, school children and visitors can hear about the historic buildings of Hammersmith in a display on the town hall forecourt from 2pm before watching the plaque unveiling and arrival of the horse drawn carriage from 2.30pm.

The Mayor continues, “In the run up to the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar it is only appropriate that we mark Hammersmith & Fulham’s place on the Trafalgar Way and remember the sailors from the borough who fought so bravely.”

Please arrive early to secure the best viewing areas as a large crowd is anticipated on the day.

Seven men from Hammersmith & Fulham are known to have taken part in the battle of Trafalgar.

James Douglass 36, HMS Colossus
George Frost 28, HMS Ulysses
George Wayman 27, HMS Defence
William Wittick 24, HMS Colossus
John Kelly 21, HMS Orion
Thomas Flowers 41, HMS Royal Sovereign
William Twitchen 24, HMS Colossus

John Kelly was a Royal Marine. The rest were all ordinary sailors. Interestingly, three of the sailors - Douglass, Wittick and Twitchin - all served on HMS Colossus, a new 76-gun two-decker launched at Deptford in 1803. Colossus suffered higher casualties than other British ships at Trafalgar, with 40 dead and 160 wounded. One of the wounded was James Douglass, who suffered injuries to his right leg.

Douglass married a Hammersmith lady at Fulham, presumably at All Saints, in 1816. Ten years later, by which time he was 60, he was awarded a Greenwich Hospital pension in recognition of his 11-year naval career - and perhaps also because of the wounds he had sustained at Trafalgar.

In March 1810 Marine John Kelly was discharged because of ‘derangement of intellect’. He was only 26 at the time. Perhaps his illness was something to do with his experiences during the battle five years before.

September 4, 2005