Napoleonic battle: victory in the Algeciras campaign against the navies of Spain and France established Sir Richard Goodwin Keats as one of the leading admirals in Nelson’s navy
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Trawling through documents that are more than 200 years old provides DAVID MORGAN with precious insights into people’s lives and times
Admirable admiral: Sir Richard Goodwin Keats GCB, who after retiring from the Royal Navy was Governor of Newfoundland
Historic wills are fascinating documents. And there’s plenty of them in the Croydon Minster archive…
A will from a person who lived in Croydon in the first half of the 19th Century is always an interesting starting point in endeavouring to uncover more about their circumstances and the times in which they lived.
Richard Griffith died in Croydon in 1840, aged 41, and left all his goods and chattels, lands and tenements, to his father, William, who lived in “Thornton Heath near Croydon.”
The will was drawn up in June 1829, 11 years earlier. And during the intervening period, Richard’s father had himself died. Thus, an interesting footnote was added to the proving of the will. The nearest living relative made a claim to inherit what was left of Richard Griffith’s estate.
The relative was Richard’s brother, William Keats Griffith, a surgeon based in London with a practice in Leadenhall Street.
But why did his brother not include him in his will originally? Brothers falling out? Family feuds?
William Keats’ claim was a successful one, though, although the amount of money or the names of the properties he inherited from his brother were not disclosed.
Last will and testament: documents such as Commander Richard Griffith’s will provide a real insight into their lives and times
William Keats Griffith’s partnership as apothecary and surgeon with Edward Duncan at 3 Leadenhall Street was dissolved on May 1, 1840, just 19 days before he was awarded his brother’s estate.
Brother William should have inherited a fair sum, as Richard Griffith ought to have been one of the better-off residents in Croydon, a retired Commander in the Royal Navy.
When the will was drawn up, though, he was still on active service. The wording of what would happen to his body after his death reflected this.
“My body I commit to the Earth or the sea as it shall please God to order.”
He also realised that he needed to draw up a will “because of the perils and dangers of the seas”.
As a bachelor, Griffith kept his money in the family by naming his father as the sole beneficiary. In Georgian Great Britain, a Commander in the Royal Navy, one rank below Captain, could expect to earn around £200 per year – equivalent to just less than £20,000 today – but with more money coming from “prizes”, any goods captured from enemy vessels.
Special agent: naval officers in the early 19th Century needed the services of people like John Copland to manage their affairs while at sea
The named executor of Griffith’s will was John Copland. He was a navy agent with offices in Surrey Street – not Croydon’s market, but a road coming off The Strand and running down to the Thames, close to where the main building of King’s College stands today. In Copland’s day, the street was a centre for shipping agents, chandleries and other maritime companies.
Copland was one of the well-known and respected naval agents of the day. Griffith must have had dealings with him previously, as the proceeds from a captured enemy ship would have been paid through such an agent as him to for the officers and crew of one of His Majesty’s ships.
A navy agent’s role was to collect officers’ pay and emoluments and deal with naval bureaucracy, while offering a range of financial and other services. Some agents acted as personal bankers, loaning their clients money. This had led to some officers getting into financial difficulties, because following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, many had their pay cut and found it difficult to keep up their repayments.
Wage cuts and the laying up of many vessels resulted in much hardship for navy personnel in the post-war years. One way in which many ordinary sailors survived was by going into Greenwich Hospital. There were 2,500 inpatients in 1815.
Published “Navy Lists” included the dates of Griffith’s promotions. He was made a Lieutenant, a relatively junior rank, on December 14, 1821, and he became a Commander on September 9, 1828.
Bounty of war: it was the job of naval agents to distribute money from ‘prizes’
Reaching the rank of Commander by the age of 30 was almost certainly down to Griffith’s family connections. His uncle was the most decorated and one of the most skilful admirals in the whole of the British fleet, second only to Nelson himself.
Admiral of the Blue, Sir Richard Goodwin Keats GCB – Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, no less – had served in the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence in the 1770s and later in the Napoleonic Wars, distinguishing himself especially during the Algeciras campaign.
This was a series of naval battles and skirmishes fought between the combined fleets of Spain and France against Britain in the Straits of Gibraltar over nine days in July 1801. Victory meant that the Royal Navy really did rule the waves in the Mediterranean.
Admiral Keats retired in 1812 due to ill health, although he served as Governor of Newfoundland from 1813 to 1815. In 1821, he became Governor of Greenwich Hospital, a post he held until his death, aged 77, in 1834.
A great funeral was held for him at Greenwich. Two of the mourners in the procession following his coffin were his nephews, Captain Griffith RN and Rev Richard Keats. A regiment of Marines was lined up to form a guard, with the men carrying their rifles upside down, a mark of military respect.
The young Richard Griffith first served on HMS Boudicea in 1810, when he was 12 years old, the same age that Horatio Nelson had been when he first went to sea.
There was another similarity, too. Nelson served under his uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling. Griffith served under his uncle, Richard Keats. Griffith’s mother Mary, Keats’ sister, would have insisted that her brother made sure her young son was looked after.
Keats had already overseen the early naval career of another nephew, William, who was Richard’s cousin. This young man began his career in the Navy in 1805 and was appointed as a Captain in 1826.
King’s favourite: Captain Adolphus FitzClarence was the illegitimate son of the future William IV
Richard Griffith served on various ships until, in 1821, he was appointed second in command of HMS Redwing, under Captain Adolphus FitzClarence. The use of the preface “Fitz” was a device in Georgian times to indicate a relationship to royalty.
FitzClarence was the illegitimate son of the future William IV, who would come to the throne in 1830. For Griffith, serving beside such a high-profile figure would have been interesting, to say the least.
Again, the observers of naval affairs had reason to suspect Griffith’s appointment had a touch of family influence upon it. Admiral Keats was firm friends with Prince William, Adolphus’ father. That friendship carried on even when William became King.
Such was the King’s regard for Keats that it was his express wish that his old friend be interred in the mausoleum at Greenwich Hospital.
One of Keats’ obituaries commented on his strong Christian faith. He and his sister Mary had a clergyman for a father. Rev Richard Keats was the curate of Chalton, Hampshire, who later became rector of Bideford and King’s Nympton in Devon.
He also became the Headmaster of Blundell’s School in Tiverton. One of the pupils admitted to the school in August 1803 and staying for a year was William Keats Griffith, the son of William Griffith, a London surgeon…
Matters of faith determined where Richard Griffith’s birth was registered. Born on July 17, 1798, his details were held at Dr Williams’ library in London, a major archive for “dissenters”, which suggests he had a Methodist background and upbringing.
The Griffith and Keats families certainly left their mark on the world.
It’s amazing what you can determine from a will.
I hope you have made your will. It might become a digital footprint in years to come.
If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
Some previous articles by David Morgan:
- How Croydon’s second rink skated past Edwardian Nimbyism
- Church Street pub where Penny performer sang of the great fire
- The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
