Private George Hopkins in the Royal Marines 124th Company & Third Division, 1808-1811
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 12:20 pm
An ancestral uncle George Hopkins was baptised 2 April 1790 at Curry Rivel, Somersetshire, son of Thomas Hopkins and Martha Hewlett.
I am please looking for further information about his career and the ships he served on in the Royal Navy between 1808 and 1811.
His 1808 attestation papers (ADM 157/5/336) and his will written in 1811 and proved in Canterbury in 1813 (PROB 11; Piece: 1548) give some details of his service.
Aged 18 on 29 June 1808 (and then with the occupation of a painter) he enlisted at Middlesex as a Royal Marine in 124th Company, Royal Marines, Chatham, Kent. His birth place is recorded as Curry Rivel.
His will is dated 16 November 1811 and shows him as a Private in the third Division of Royal Marines late belonging to His Majesty's Ship Minden No on Her Supernumerary Marine List No 5.
He was then a patient on hospital ship HMS Wilhelmina.
His will mentions the £300 left to him in the will of his grandfather Thomas Hopkins and also names his parents Thomas and Martha Hopkins and brother Samuel, proving this is him.
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui- ... -233543966 (There are various other Royal Navy wills either side of this one.)
The probate section shows he served on the following ships:
Cornelia
Russell
Phaeton
Diamonde
Procris
Barracouta
Illustrious
Minden
My transcription of his will is included below.
George Hopkins will was proved on 21 October 1813 and shows he died on Prince of Wales Islands, East Indies (now Penang).
The records on findmypast show him as "seaman on HM ship Wilhelmina" and that he died or was buried on 25 December 1811:
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record? ... D%2F609013
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record? ... D%2F609978
I have been made aware that ADM 102/842 Death Certificates From Naval Hospitals & Hospital Ships 1809-1815 are online at findmypast here:
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record? ... 2&_lang=en
However I have had a look through them and it appears that the years 1811 and 1812 are sadly missing.
There are 2965 images and they are not in order.
1-453 is for 1815
454-893 is for 1809
894-1464 is for 1814
1465-2037 is for 1813
2038-2695 is for 1810
So near but missing the vital year of 1811 that I need! I assume they are missing or lost?
I am please trying to find out:
1. More about 124th Company, Royal Marines, based in Chatham.
2. When and why he might have changed regiments.
3. More about the third Division of Royal Marines.
4. More about the ships he served on and if a timeline of his service can be created. Do any ship's logs or contemporary accounts survive?
5. As he died on hospital ship HMS Wilhelmina, what he may have died of. Result of injuries? Natural causes?
6. Information on what life and treatment on hospital ship HMS Wilhelmina would have been like.
7. Why when he died in December 1811 did it take until October 1813 for his will to reach England to be proved?
10. When and where he might have been buried. Do burial registers survive? Would he have been buried at sea?
If anyone is please able to assist me with the above in any way, that would be amazing.
I particularly love to read contemporary accounts, newspaper records or regiment records, but would of course appreciate being pointed in the direction of more modern accounts to so I can better understand the period and what he was involved in doing and why.
Thank you,
Jon
16 November 1811: Will of George Hopkins, Private in the third Division of Royal Marines late belonging to His Majesty's Ship Minden, proved 21 October 1813
England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858; PROB 11: Will Registers 1811-1814; Piece 1548: Heathfield, Quire Numbers 458-512 (1813) accessed 26 Mar 2022 on ancestry.com
In the name of God Amen I George Hopkins Private in the third division of Royal Marines late belonging to H.M. ship Minden No. on her Sup.(?) Marine list five and now a patient on board His Majesty's hospital ship Wilhelmina in Port Cornwallis being in an indifferent state of health but of sound and disposing mind and memory and considering the perils and dangers of the Seas and other uncertainties of this transitory life do for the avoiding of all controversies after my deceased make publish and declare this my last Will and Testament in manner following that is to say | first I recommend my Soul to God that gave it and my body I commit to the Earth or Sea as it shall please God to order and as for and concerning all my worldly Estate I give bequeath and dispose thereof as followeth that is to say | all my pay wages and prize money as Private Royal Marine serving on board H.M. Ships Cornelia Russell and Minden and all and Singular other Sum and Sums of Money Lands Tenements Goods Chattels and Estate whatsoever as shall be any ways due owing or belonging unto me at the time of my decease particularly the Sum of Three hundred pounds Sterling being a Legacy left and bequeathed to me by my Grandfather Thomas Hopkins and placed in the hands of his Executor Samuel Maitland Esqr. No. 9 Charlotte Row Walworth Surrey according to his last will and Testament payable to me when I attained the age of 21 Years at which I arrived in the Month of March last I do hereby give devise and bequeath the same unto my mother Martha the wife of Thomas Hopkins Factor residing in Walworth No. 16 New Street East Lane Surrey (if alive) but in case of her deceased then to my youngest brother Samuel for and towards her or his sole use and benefit and as for and concerning all my Cloaths wearing apparel or property whatsoever which may be found in my possession at the time of my decease I do leave and bequeath the same to my Ship mate John Willicott Corporal of the same division of Royal Marines in consideration of our former friendship and his is care and attention towards me in my distress And I do hereby nominate and appoint J.W. Bedingfield Esqr. Inspector of Seamans Wills Somerset House Strand London Executor of this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former and other Wills Testaments and Deeds of Gift by me at any time heretofore made and I do ordain and ratify these presents to stand be for and as my my only last Will and Testament In witness whereof to this my said Will I have at my hand and seal on board His Majesty's said Hospital Ship in Port Cornwallis Prince of Wales Island East Indies this sixteenth day of November in the year of our Lord One thousand Eight hundred and Eleven and in the fifty second year of the Reign of our Sovereign King George the Third over the united Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland George x Hopkins his mark Signed Sealed Published and declared in the presence of us B.W. Coley Surgeon of H.M.[_] Ship Wilhelmina H John Shaw Asst. Surgeon Do. H I.C. Robertson Hospital Clerk
On the 21 October 1813 admon with the will annexed of the Goods of George Hopkins late a Mariner belonging to His Majesty's Ships Cornelia Russell Phaeton Diamonde Procsis Barracouta illustrious and Minden a Bachelor deceased was granted to Thomas Hopkins the natural and lawful father and curator or Guardian lawfully assigned to Samuel Hopkins a Minor the natural and lawful Brother and Residuary Legatee substituted in the said will for his use and benefit and until he shall attain the age of Twenty one years having been first sworn duly to administer [_] John Bedingfield Esqr. (In the will written J W Bedingfield) the sole Executor having first renounced the probate and execution of the said will and Martha Hopkins wife of Thomas Hopkins the mother and residuary legatee named in the said will dying in the lifetime of testator.
I am please looking for further information about his career and the ships he served on in the Royal Navy between 1808 and 1811.
His 1808 attestation papers (ADM 157/5/336) and his will written in 1811 and proved in Canterbury in 1813 (PROB 11; Piece: 1548) give some details of his service.
Aged 18 on 29 June 1808 (and then with the occupation of a painter) he enlisted at Middlesex as a Royal Marine in 124th Company, Royal Marines, Chatham, Kent. His birth place is recorded as Curry Rivel.
His will is dated 16 November 1811 and shows him as a Private in the third Division of Royal Marines late belonging to His Majesty's Ship Minden No on Her Supernumerary Marine List No 5.
He was then a patient on hospital ship HMS Wilhelmina.
His will mentions the £300 left to him in the will of his grandfather Thomas Hopkins and also names his parents Thomas and Martha Hopkins and brother Samuel, proving this is him.
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui- ... -233543966 (There are various other Royal Navy wills either side of this one.)
The probate section shows he served on the following ships:
Cornelia
Russell
Phaeton
Diamonde
Procris
Barracouta
Illustrious
Minden
My transcription of his will is included below.
George Hopkins will was proved on 21 October 1813 and shows he died on Prince of Wales Islands, East Indies (now Penang).
The records on findmypast show him as "seaman on HM ship Wilhelmina" and that he died or was buried on 25 December 1811:
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record? ... D%2F609013
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record? ... D%2F609978
I have been made aware that ADM 102/842 Death Certificates From Naval Hospitals & Hospital Ships 1809-1815 are online at findmypast here:
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record? ... 2&_lang=en
However I have had a look through them and it appears that the years 1811 and 1812 are sadly missing.
There are 2965 images and they are not in order.
1-453 is for 1815
454-893 is for 1809
894-1464 is for 1814
1465-2037 is for 1813
2038-2695 is for 1810
So near but missing the vital year of 1811 that I need! I assume they are missing or lost?
I am please trying to find out:
1. More about 124th Company, Royal Marines, based in Chatham.
2. When and why he might have changed regiments.
3. More about the third Division of Royal Marines.
4. More about the ships he served on and if a timeline of his service can be created. Do any ship's logs or contemporary accounts survive?
5. As he died on hospital ship HMS Wilhelmina, what he may have died of. Result of injuries? Natural causes?
6. Information on what life and treatment on hospital ship HMS Wilhelmina would have been like.
7. Why when he died in December 1811 did it take until October 1813 for his will to reach England to be proved?
10. When and where he might have been buried. Do burial registers survive? Would he have been buried at sea?
If anyone is please able to assist me with the above in any way, that would be amazing.
I particularly love to read contemporary accounts, newspaper records or regiment records, but would of course appreciate being pointed in the direction of more modern accounts to so I can better understand the period and what he was involved in doing and why.
Thank you,
Jon
16 November 1811: Will of George Hopkins, Private in the third Division of Royal Marines late belonging to His Majesty's Ship Minden, proved 21 October 1813
England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858; PROB 11: Will Registers 1811-1814; Piece 1548: Heathfield, Quire Numbers 458-512 (1813) accessed 26 Mar 2022 on ancestry.com
In the name of God Amen I George Hopkins Private in the third division of Royal Marines late belonging to H.M. ship Minden No. on her Sup.(?) Marine list five and now a patient on board His Majesty's hospital ship Wilhelmina in Port Cornwallis being in an indifferent state of health but of sound and disposing mind and memory and considering the perils and dangers of the Seas and other uncertainties of this transitory life do for the avoiding of all controversies after my deceased make publish and declare this my last Will and Testament in manner following that is to say | first I recommend my Soul to God that gave it and my body I commit to the Earth or Sea as it shall please God to order and as for and concerning all my worldly Estate I give bequeath and dispose thereof as followeth that is to say | all my pay wages and prize money as Private Royal Marine serving on board H.M. Ships Cornelia Russell and Minden and all and Singular other Sum and Sums of Money Lands Tenements Goods Chattels and Estate whatsoever as shall be any ways due owing or belonging unto me at the time of my decease particularly the Sum of Three hundred pounds Sterling being a Legacy left and bequeathed to me by my Grandfather Thomas Hopkins and placed in the hands of his Executor Samuel Maitland Esqr. No. 9 Charlotte Row Walworth Surrey according to his last will and Testament payable to me when I attained the age of 21 Years at which I arrived in the Month of March last I do hereby give devise and bequeath the same unto my mother Martha the wife of Thomas Hopkins Factor residing in Walworth No. 16 New Street East Lane Surrey (if alive) but in case of her deceased then to my youngest brother Samuel for and towards her or his sole use and benefit and as for and concerning all my Cloaths wearing apparel or property whatsoever which may be found in my possession at the time of my decease I do leave and bequeath the same to my Ship mate John Willicott Corporal of the same division of Royal Marines in consideration of our former friendship and his is care and attention towards me in my distress And I do hereby nominate and appoint J.W. Bedingfield Esqr. Inspector of Seamans Wills Somerset House Strand London Executor of this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former and other Wills Testaments and Deeds of Gift by me at any time heretofore made and I do ordain and ratify these presents to stand be for and as my my only last Will and Testament In witness whereof to this my said Will I have at my hand and seal on board His Majesty's said Hospital Ship in Port Cornwallis Prince of Wales Island East Indies this sixteenth day of November in the year of our Lord One thousand Eight hundred and Eleven and in the fifty second year of the Reign of our Sovereign King George the Third over the united Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland George x Hopkins his mark Signed Sealed Published and declared in the presence of us B.W. Coley Surgeon of H.M.[_] Ship Wilhelmina H John Shaw Asst. Surgeon Do. H I.C. Robertson Hospital Clerk
On the 21 October 1813 admon with the will annexed of the Goods of George Hopkins late a Mariner belonging to His Majesty's Ships Cornelia Russell Phaeton Diamonde Procsis Barracouta illustrious and Minden a Bachelor deceased was granted to Thomas Hopkins the natural and lawful father and curator or Guardian lawfully assigned to Samuel Hopkins a Minor the natural and lawful Brother and Residuary Legatee substituted in the said will for his use and benefit and until he shall attain the age of Twenty one years having been first sworn duly to administer [_] John Bedingfield Esqr. (In the will written J W Bedingfield) the sole Executor having first renounced the probate and execution of the said will and Martha Hopkins wife of Thomas Hopkins the mother and residuary legatee named in the said will dying in the lifetime of testator.