The Magazine
The Magazine is published monthly and covers St Tudy, Michaelstow and St Mabyn.
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NEWS FROM THE ST TUDY HISTORY GROUP RESEARCH TEAM
On 27th September we held a commemoration in conjunction with the 1805 Club for “Private Richard Masters, Royal Marines” who lived at Loskeyle and died in The Battle of Trafalgar on 21st October 1805. As numbers were limited, we decided to hold a Trafalgar Day event on Saturday 18th October in the Village Hall between 1.00 – 4.00 p.m., as this date is close to the 220th anniversary of Richard’s death. The aim is to not only commemorate Richard Masters, but to also hopefully make contact with any descendants of the Masters family.
Richard was baptised in St. Tudy Church on 19th September 1784. He was the fifth child of nine children born to William and Ann Masters (nee Higgs). At the time of their marriage, William was living in St Mabyn and Ann Higgs was living in St Tudy.
From what I can tell Richard’s Father, William, was an agricultural labourer. The family would have survived on a very low income, and to make ends meet four of the nine children, William Jnr aged 13, Job 9, Mary 11 and Henry 8, were apprenticed out to families in St. Mabyn, the boys for husbandry on farms, and Mary for domestic husbandry. When William Snr died in 1801, Elizabeth, the eldest child, was 24 years old and still living at home working as a low skilled agricultural labourer. Richard who was now 17 years old also worked as a labourer, and although he would have been poorly paid, as a male he was still the main wage earner for the family.
Why did Richard join the Cornish Militia, and then the Royal Marines? In the early 1800’s Richard would have been on a very low, sometimes irregular wage. He was most probably conscripted by ballot to serve for five years. The Militia offered a regular pay, clothing and meals, this provided a reliable means of income for a young man from the lowest social classes. Richard could continue working in his job to support his family and train with the Militia when required. The Militia would have given him the taste for Army life and installed in him strong patriotic ideals. It would have been difficult to transfer to the Royal Marines as he had not served his five years with the Militia, however at this time there was intense anxiety about a potential French invasion. He may well have made the decision to transfer for adventure and prize money, and a chance to discover the world through naval service. The Napoleonic Wars provided opportunities for a long-term overseas career in the Marines which was a prestigious and adventurous choice, this was very appealing for a poor farm labourer. His mother had died in June 1805 of Smallpox, so she wouldn’t have had the heartbreak of his death, only the pride of her son being a Royal Marine.
(This, and much more news, is in the current magazine)
