THE NORTH AMERICAN STATION. 1817-1822
A few letters which my father wrote home from the Halifax station,
covering a period of about twelve months from July 1817, I set out here
as giving better than any comment of my own an account of his life and
experiences in Nova Scotia at that time. They present a self-reliant
character, and the young midshipman who was so early recognised by his
superior officers as efficient and capable was found worthy of a small,
but most important, command soon after joining this station. His
father, Sir Joseph Yorke, who lost no opportunity of watching his son's
progress in his profession, was a little nervous at his undertaking a
responsibility of the kind, but how well his superiors' confidence was
justified will be evident from his letters. Young Yorke was full of
pride in his little sloop the _Jane_, and there is no hint in his
letters of the risk and danger of this service. As a fact, she was an
exceedingly difficult craft to handle, and if not unseaworthy, was, to
say the least, an unpleasant vessel in a sea, with decks constantly
awash, and the character she bore in the service appears in her
nickname the _Crazy Jane_. I have often heard my father describe this
as a most arduous and dangerous service, and say that life upon the
_Jane_ was 'like living on a fish's back.' In her he made voyages to
Bermuda from Halifax and back with despatches and ships' mails in very
heavy weather, and I find the following note referring to this service
in my mother's handwriting:
'C. commanded the _Jane_ at the age of nineteen, carrying mails from
Bermuda to Halifax during winter months when ordinary mail was struck
off, during which perilous service he had not a man on board who could
write or take an observation. This _crazy Jane_ was hardly seaworthy,
and he finished her career and nearly his own by running her into
Halifax Harbour in the dark, all hands at the pump.'
His certificate from Sir David Milne contains the following passage:
'Mr. Charles Philip Yorke, Midshipman of H.M.S. _Leander_, commanded
the _Jane_, Sloop, tender to the said ship bearing my flag, from the
23rd of December 1817 to the date hereof, during which time he took her
twice in safety from Halifax to Bermuda, and from Bermuda to Halifax,
and was at sea in her at different other periods, and conducted himself
at all times so as to merit my entire approbation.' Dated 28th December.
* * * * *
H.M.S. 'LEANDER,' HALIFAX:
July 10, 1817.
'MY DEAREST FATHER,
'I almost fear my letters have not reached you, for the May packet has
arrived, and no letters. But silence I always take in a favourable
light, so I conclude you are all well and happy; indeed I had a letter
from Lady St. Germans which informed me so.
'I am, thank God, very well and like my station very much; it is really
a very pleasant place, and the inhabitants attentive and hospitable. I
am now very well acquainted all over Halifax thanks to Captain Lumley's
kindness; pray tell him so, for the family he introduced me to is very
pleasant and kind, so that it is a great comfort to go on shore, and to
be able to spend your evenings among friends instead of being obliged
to go to a dirty tavern.
'I have been on several very delightful fishing parties, and have never
returned with less than three or four dozen fine trout. This will make
the English sportsmen stare, but the fishing here is beyond everything
I could have imagined. The shooting has not come in as yet, and does
not until August, and then it will be very fine.
'The way I go fishing is this. I have got an Indian canoe, and I just
jump into it with my gear, paddle on shore, shoulder it, and carry it
to the lakes. I am become quite an Indian in the management of this
canoe, and with the expense of only one ducking. I was upset in the
harbour, but swam on shore and towed the canoe and all with me quite
safe. I can paddle this canoe much faster than any gig in the fleet.
'We are now just on the point of sailing for Shelburne with Ld. and
Lady Dalhousie, and I fancy shall be absent about ten days. The _Jane_
has not yet arrived, so I am still a mid, not a captain, but expect her
hourly. Last Monday we mids of the _Leander_ gave a grand entertainment
to the inhabitants of Halifax and officers of the fleet; a play, ball,
and supper, which went off remarkably well. _The Iron Chest_ was the
play; the _Wags of Windsor_ the farce. I did not perform being steward
of the supper, but merely spoke the prologue. Our stage was very large
and scenery very good, and on the whole, nothing could go off with more
_éclat_ than it did.
'The girls of Halifax are pretty, generally speaking, and certainly
rather ladylike in their manners, but not very accomplished, but there
is one thing very formidable in their structure, which is tremendous
hoofs, so that a kick from one of them would make you keep your bed for
a week. But they certainly are 50 degrees better than the Bermudians,
they are very affable and agreeable, which is the great point to an
indifferent person.
'Now I have tired your patience with lots of nonsense, which in fact is
all the news I have to tell, so you must excuse it. Give my kindest
love to Lady Clanricarde, Urania, and all the boys, not forgetting
little Agneta, who by this time must be grown and improved much.
'I remain, my dear Father,
'Your most affectionate son,
'C. P. YORKE.'
SIR J. S. YORKE,
_Admiralty._
* * * * *
H.M.S. 'LEANDER,' HALIFAX HARBOUR:
Aug. 8, 1817.
'MY DEAR FATHER,
'I have received your letter by this packet, and am very sorry to find
you disapprove of my commanding the Admiral's tender, and am also
astonished to find that you can imagine I have so little command of
myself that I cannot keep from what you term "low company." This is a
thing which since I have been at sea I have never kept, and especially
at a time when I had charge of a vessel and the safety of men's lives.
I am happy to say I took care of myself and of the vessel, and pleased
the Admiral as much as I could wish. I have not got the large tender,
as I expected, on account of a prior application having been made,
which I am now glad of, as you disapprove of the sort of thing, and it
certainly will deter me from accepting any offer of the kind made to
me, though at the same time I consider myself perfectly capable in
every sense of the word.
'I am very glad to hear Grantham has so well got over the measles.
'We have had a very pleasant trip along shore to Shelburne, Liverpool
and Mirligash(?), all of which ports you knew well in their former
state. Shelburne now is miserably fallen off, not above 200 inhabitants
in that once populous town, and more than half the houses falling to
the ground, having no owners. I asked the price of a good house and
about 40 acres of land, and they said the most they could ask for it
would be £30, a cheap place to settle, for provisions also are cheaper
than anywhere I have been. Liverpool is a very flourishing little town,
and on the contrary with Shelburne, a rising place with a vast deal of
commerce and trade which keep the place quite alive. At these two
places I had capital fishing both salmon and trout. I caught one day at
Liverpool three very fine salmon and two or three dozen trout. In this
country they take most with the fly, and it does not matter of what
description. I am now become a very expert fly fisherman, make my own
flies, &c. Pray next season send me out a good assortment of fly gear
which is rather difficult to get here and not good.
'I am going to-morrow to Salmon River, a very fine river about seven
miles inland on the Dartmouth side. I was there last week with two of
our officers, and between the three of us we caught eleven dozen salmon
trout. Fine sport, and all with the fly. Do not forget to send me a
flute as soon as possible and some music; let it be new. Give my
kindest love to Lady C., Urania, and all hands. How delightful the
Lodge must look. I suppose the Urania is by this time ready for sea,
and Henry fighting captain. I must say I envy your circle, but Adieu!
'I remain, my dear Father,
'Your most affectionate son,
'C. P. YORKE.'
* * * * *
Aug. 14.
'I imagined that the packet was just going to sail, but I am happy to
say I am disappointed because I have a little news to tell you. I am
just returned from a cruise of rather a curious sort. I have been sent
along the coast with a party of armed men to take some smugglers who
ran from the _Leander_. I landed at Chester, and marched and rode just
as I could to Lunenburg, but without success, and then back, and so
about twenty miles to the eastward. It gave me a good opportunity of
seeing the country, and made it very pleasant, from the kindness and
hospitality of the inhabitants. I have no doubt I shall have many of
these trips from being in the admiral's and captain's notice. This
letter I send by Moorsom, whom you may recollect when I was at college.
Now I shall conclude with love and best wishes to all.'
* * * * *
H.M.S. 'LEANDER,' HALIFAX: Novr. 12, 1817.
'MY DEAREST FATHER,
'I received both your most kind letters by the _Forth_ and packet,
which as you may suppose, gave me great pleasure and satisfaction. I
return you my most grateful thanks for your great kindness in attending
to my little wishes, and hope the things will arrive quite safe. I have
written as you wished to Lady St. G. and told her all the news I could
think of, which I shall now relate to you.
'We have not been out of harbour since the cruise to the east, so I got
leave of absence and accepted the invitation of Judge Wilkins (Lumley's
friend) to go and spend some time with him at Windsor, a small town
about forty-five miles N.E. of Halifax, where I assure you, I passed my
time very pleasantly in shooting, fishing, &c. In that part of Nova
Scotia the country is beautiful, completely cleared of wood, very well
cultivated, and yields to its owners immense crops of grain. I am now
returned to the ship, and we sail for Bermuda in about a fortnight or
three weeks. This I am rather sorry for, for Halifax is very pleasant
during the winter, and Bermuda always very much otherwise. But Sir
David Milne dreads the cold, so we go.
'I am remarkably well in every point, and find the climate agrees with
me very well indeed. I am glad to hear Urania made her _début_ with so
much _éclat_ in the _beau monde_ at Winchester, pray let me also hear
of her in town. I am glad to hear all the boys are well and getting on
so fast in their respective schools. Agneta [Footnote: Agneta,
afterwards Lady _Agneta Bevan_.] by this time must be a very fine
little girl; does she ever talk of me? I really have no news to tell
you worth mention, but the service is very stale for want of war, every
day the same story. Adieu, my dear Father.
'Your most affectionate son,
'C. P. YORKE.
'Tell my uncle Mr. Yorke I will write to thank him for his present as
soon as I have it in my possession.'
* * * * *
H.M.S. SLOOP 'JANE,' BERMUDA:
Jan. 23, 1818.
'MY DEAREST FATHER,
'I sit down to write to you after rather a long silence, but I have
been quite well and by no means ill employed. I did not hear from you
by the last packet, so by your silence I consider all is well and right
in England.
'I have the satisfaction to communicate to you I am honoured by the
command of the _Jane_ Sloop on this station, which command I shall in
all probability keep till my return to England. The young man who
commanded her before and whom I superseded, was obliged to invalid from
her after he brought her from Halifax. She sailed in company with us
and we experienced a heavy gale of wind, and the poor _Jane_ was nearly
lost, but escaped with the loss of her bulwarks. She really is a
beautiful vessel; was a Yankee clipper in the war; 80 tons and 12 men.
I am remarkably happy in her, as you may suppose. I anticipate much
pleasure going up the St. Lawrence in her next summer. I am sure you
will be happy to hear of my good luck, but pray do not have any more
dreads of my inability to command. I positively would not accept it if
I thought myself in the least inadequate to undertake it. I have now
again fitted her at the dockyard at Ireland where I saw much of your
friend Commissioner Lewis, who really is to me a very kind and
affectionate friend; I like him exceedingly.
'The packet is just arrived, and I have received your letter of the
26th ult, and likewise one from Lady St. G. You may believe your letter
gave me sincere gratification to find that I am giving you all
satisfaction; it is the first wish of my heart to be a credit to my
friends and an honour to my country. It is not my wish to be expensive
in the least beyond what it is necessary for a gentleman to be, to pay
my debts, have a good coat on my back, and sufficient in my pocket
never to be made look foolish. Now that I keep house for myself I
shall, I fear, be a little more expensive, for reasons which you must
well know, and the first fit out is the worst and greatest, after that
all is regular, and I am sure you do not wish me to live on His
Majesty's own altogether. Bermuda is a terrible dear place.
'This vessel you may know something of by hearsay, Mr. Brett, the 1st
Lieut. of the _Wye_ had her up the Bay of Fundy.
'You may rely on it I will express your gratitude to Lord Dalhousie for
his attentions to me the very first time I have an opportunity. I need
not express to you how much I regret the loss of your departed friend
Mrs. Rattray, but her great sufferings in this world made it rather a
blessing than otherwise, especially to one I believe to have been so
truly good. Your advice of the prudence of keeping a ship's head off
shore when near the land at night is a point of my profession I have
long seen the absolute necessity of, especially on the coast of Nova
Scotia where the fogs are so intense, and the shore so dangerous. But
if ever there was in my humble opinion a lubberly series of accidents
from the time she got on shore to the time she was on her beam ends
alongside the wharf, it was on board H.M.S. _Faith_. The first thing
she did after getting on shore was to anchor in Halifax harbour with
her B.B. anchor without a buoy on it, slipped her cable and never
buoyed it, took in moorings, unshipped her rudder and let it go to the
bottom; slipped her anchors without a buoy on them, and to cap the
whole, let three of her guns fall overboard in getting them out
alongside the wharf. Sir D. Milne was furious, no wonder. I am sure I
can with pleasure meet you halfway in your wishes to establish a free
intercourse of sentiment between us, for I am perfectly sure, my
dearest Father, I can nowhere find a better friend and adviser.
'I am exceedingly happy to hear so favourable accounts of the
youngsters, and of Lady Clanricarde and her fair daughter.
'Bermuda is a dull place. I am perfectly at my ease and my own master,
and the only things which annoy me are the tremendous gales of wind
which blow here, and which I, of course, feel much in the _Jane._ The
admiral did think of sending me to the West Indies for a cruise, but I
believe that is dropped, as he now and then uses me to sail him about
for his health. I am a very good pilot for Bermuda, what with the
schooner and sloop _Jane_.
'Remember me most kindly to all; I shall answer Lady St. G. immediately.
'Adieu, my dear Father,
'Your affectionate son,
'C. P. YORKE.'
* * * * *
'JANE,' HALIFAX: June 16, 1818.
'MY DEAREST FATHER,
'... I am still in the _Jane,_ and continue in every way to give
satisfaction. I brought her from Bermuda, parted company from the
squadron in a fog, and got in before the admiral; you may suppose I was
not a little pleased with my navigation. I have pretty often the honour
of presiding at my own table, as Sir David often takes trips with me
along shore, on fishing excursions, &c. &c., which makes it exceedingly
pleasant.
'... I have been somewhat uneasy about some drafts upon you--heavier
than usual--and I fear you will be led to think I am getting into an
extravagant turn, but it is not so, I assure you. In this vessel I am
obliged to find everything, and Bermuda charges are so extravagant that
nothing can equal them. At any time you please to call for my bills and
receipts they are at your service, but mark, I have no debts. I never
leave a port that I do not pay every shilling. Pray let me know what
you wish; if Sir D. Milne goes home, shall I return with him or not? I
have not quite a year more to serve; or shall I remain with Ld. --- who
I understand will supersede him?...
'C. P. YORKE'
* * * * *
'JANE,' HALIFAX:
Aug. 19, 1818.
'MY DEAREST FATHER,
'It is with the greatest pleasure I received your most kind and
affectionate letter from St. James's St. I am delighted to see by your
letter you are recovering your spirits and that you have been elected
for Reigate, for I should have been very sorry for both you and my
uncle to give up.
'I am happy to inform you that I am in perfect health and enjoying all
the happiness that that invaluable blessing brings, and all the little
comforts which your bounty affords me, together with the happiness
which the perfect approbation of my superiors and respect of my
inferiors can alone give a man. I feel your great kindness and
generosity more than I can express; by the way you speak on money
matters I hope to God I never may offend you by an absurd extravagance.
'I am excessively delighted with all you say of my kind family,
particularly Lady St. G. who I am truly rejoiced to hear is so much
better. Say everything that is kind from me to her, and my apology for
not writing is that my right hand is very weak, as you may see from my
writing, from an inflammation I have had in it occasioned entirely by a
slight scratch on the knuckle of the fore finger; but it is now quite
well, but still weak.
'You are now enjoying the sweets of Sydney Lodge and its appendages,
the _Urania_ by no means the smallest of the inanimate sort, on board
of which ship I hope your 1st Lieut. that gallant officer Mr. H. Yorke
continues to give perfect satisfaction, and also the mate of the decks,
Mr. E. Y. mid. continues to improve his mind in those studies which a
young gentleman of his abilities should attend to. I am very happy to
hear Urania is grown up so fine a young woman; I most sincerely hope
that all the wishes of her fond and amiable mother may be perfectly
fulfilled. Pray give my love to her, if I may say so much now, if not,
my esteem and regard. Pray give my love to Lady C. and tell her that I
look forward with extreme pleasure to the time when I shall see her and
all the family. Among my remembrances do not forget Nurse Jordan.
'Now I will tell you the little or nothing I have been doing since I
arrived. I sailed on the [ ] of June on a cruise of pleasure having the
honour of the company of Sir D. Milne and Col. Duke. We sailed up the
Muscadobit, or Bank's Inlet, to fish, in which river the pilot ran us
ashore three times; each time obliged to shore up, being left almost
dry at low water, and on one night about eleven, all in bed, down she
came bumpus on her bilge; in consequence of our shores being made of
trees with the bark on, the bark and lashings went together. We
returned to Halifax where I refitted, and have not been out since, but
sail on Monday on a cruise to the eastward in company with _Leander_
and _Dee_, which will be very pleasant, as we touch at every harbour
where there is lots of sport. Oh, I quite forgot to thank my uncle and
yourself for the books that are coming....
'C. P. YORKE.'
* * * * *
'JANE,' HALIFAX:
Octr. 19, 1818.
'MY DEAREST FATHER,
'... We had a very agreeable cruise of six weeks and on my return I am
now fitting for Bermuda, to which place we sail next Sunday in company
with _Leander_ and _Belette_. I have not time to give you an account of
our cruise, so I must defer it to my next; suffice it to say I have
enjoyed most perfect health and my little command now in high order and
beauty....
'C. P. YORKE'
* * * * *
My father got his first promotion as acting lieutenant on the
_Grasshopper_ early in 1819 at the age of twenty, and was confirmed in
that rank by commission bearing date of August of the same year. In the
following October he joined the _Phaeton_ frigate, on which vessel he
served during the rest of his service on the North American station
until 1822, when he got a second step.
There is no doubt he learned his profession very thoroughly during
those years in the North Atlantic; he deplores the absence of the
excitement of war in one of his letters, but he had ample opportunity
of graduating in the details of seamanship, which, like other
professions, can be best learned at an early age, and by those whose
hearts are in their work and are diligent in their business. In those
qualities my father was certainly not lacking, though he managed to
procure a share of enjoyment, which is the privilege of youth and high
spirits. There are many anecdotes told of him at this time. On one
occasion he swam across the harbour at Halifax, a feat which, in the
circumstances, I have heard described with great admiration. On
another, a lady giving a ball and wishing to prolong the pleasures of
the evening, consulted Lieutenant Yorke as to the best way. She
suggested putting back the clocks, but he advanced a step or two on
that proposal, and while dancing was going on vigorously, stepped away
and hung all the ladies' cloaks on a large tree not far from the front
door. Imagine the confusion and merriment! I have often heard him tell
the story.
His next appointment, in 1822, was to the command of the brig
_Alacrity_, where I shall be able to follow him in some interesting and
important service on the Mediterranean station.