British Maritime History 1850-1860

[Tony Warren]

I have a letter dated 6th December 1855(8?) from a ship in Plymouth Sound from a Naval Officer (Capt. ?) to his wife in Blackheath, his name is Alfred Beech.
Despite many attempts to trace him or his ship I have not got no further.
He does not appear on the Admiralty List nor can the people in Plymouth # find a trace of him [or a Capt.Luscombe he mentions] even as he writes " I shall see the Admiral and Commanding Officer at 9 tomorrow" about passengers and his time of sailing.
NB Please be aware that deciphering the handwriting can be difficult as spelling and grammar was not 100% at the time and I could have made mistakes e.g. it took a while to realise that "pallsenders" was in fact "passengers"
I can forward a copy of the original and my interpretation to anyone interested.
# They did confirm that the name and address in Blackheath was correct.
Can anyone help ?

[Colin Tabeart]

Hello Tony, I assume by "Admiralty List" you mean "The Navy List"? If not in the Navy List he is not a commissioned Royal Navy officer. Have you considered that he may well have been a Merchant Navy officer? If you would like to send scans of the outside cover and the actual letter I will see if I can help. Probably easiest to send direct to colintabeart@btinternet.com
Best wishes, Colin

[Colin Tabeart]

Hello Tony, thanks for the scans. There is no indication in the letter that this was a warship. I think this passage from the Isle of Wight Observer on 6 Dec is your ship. "The Govt hired transport BERWICK, with 7 officers, 20 foremen, and 207 men of the Army Works Corps, which left Blackwall on 2 Dec ... put into Plymouth and sailed again for Balaklava." Part of the huge transport effort for the war in the Crimea. From the tone of the letter the writer was probably the Captain of the vessel. Hope this helps, Colin