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Historical records matching Capt. Frederick Marryat
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About Capt. Frederick Marryat
Captain Frederick Marryat (10 July 1792 – 9 August 1848) was an English Royal Navy officer, novelist, and a contemporary and acquaintance of Charles Dickens, noted today as an early pioneer of the sea story.
From Dictionary of Canadian Biography
MARRYAT, FREDERICK, author; b. 10 July 1792 in London, second of 15 children of Joseph Marryat and Charlotte Von Geyer; m. 21 Jan. 1819 Catherine Shairp, and they had 11 children, 8 of whom survived infancy; d. 9 Aug. 1848 in Langham, Norfolk, England.
Frederick Marryat, “a model young scamp” at Mr Freeman’s Academy in Ponders End (London), ran away twice with the intention of going to sea. His determination led his father, an influential businessman and later a Tory member of parliament, to get the boy a berth in September 1806 as a volunteer on the naval frigate Impérieuse. After service in various ships that saw more action than most, Marryat passed for lieutenant in October 1812. Promotion was delayed until 26 December because he had not been christened “according to the rules of the Established Church of England.”
In 1829 in London he published his first, largely autobiographical, novel, The naval officer; or, scenes and adventures in the life of Frank Mildmay. He became editor of the Metropolitan Magazine (London) in 1831 and its proprietor from 1832 to 1836. By 1836 he had published eight more novels, including Mr. Midshipman Easy, one of his best-known works. His vivid narrations of adventures, written with zest and humour, together with his talent for characterization, brought him immediate popular and financial success.
Volatile, even unstable, Marryat became progressively more estranged from his wife. On 3 April 1837 he left for America, ostensibly “to examine what were the effects of a democratic form of government and climate upon a people which, with all its foreign admixture, may still be considered as English,” but also with a view to taking action to protect his copyright from pirated American editions of his books and to escape from his marital problems. (He would draw up a formal instrument of separation in 1838.)
A British naval historian summed Marryat up best:
- “energetic beyond the ordinary, gifted in diverse ways, never common-place, uncertain in temper and behaviour, and, like many other men and women, tending to overvalue the past as it receded.”
Frederick Marryat is the author of A diary in America, with remarks on its institutions (3v., London, 1839) and other works listed in the National union catalog.
From Wikipedia
He is now known particularly for the semi-autobiographical novel Mr Midshipman Easy and his children's novel The Children of the New Forest, and for a widely used system of maritime flag signalling, known as Marryat's Code.
Marryat's novels are characteristic of their time, with the concerns of family connections and social status often overshadowing the naval action, but they are interesting as fictional renditions of the author's 25 years of real-life experience at sea. These novels, much admired by men like Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad and Ernest Hemingway, were among the first sea novels. They were models for later works by C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian that were also set in the time of Nelson and told the stories of young men rising through the ranks through successes as naval officers. Along with his novels, Marryat was also known for his short writings on nautical subjects. These short stories, plays, pieces of travel journalism and essays appeared in The Metropolitan Magazine too, and were later published in book form as Olla Podrida. Marryat's 1839 collection of stories "The Phantom Ship" contained The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains, which includes the first female werewolf in a short story.
He was named a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his invention and other achievements. In 1843 he moved to a small farm at Manor Cottage in Norfolk, where he died in 1848. His daughter Florence Marryat later became well known as a writer and actress. His son Francis Samuel Marryat completed his late novel The Little Savage.
Links
- Papers of Captain Frederick Marryat (1792–1848): naval officer, journalist and novelist.
- http://www.legacyfamilytree.ca/ODoherty/1215.htm
- Hogg, Bruce; Freemasons and the Royal Society ed 2; Library and Museum of Freemasonry; January 2012; page 78
- Wikipedia contributors. "Frederick Marryat." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
- Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Mar 26 2017, 5:20:08 UTC
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Capt. Frederick Marryat's Timeline
| 1792 |
July 10, 1792
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Westminster, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
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| 1819 |
1819
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1819
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| 1822 |
1822
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| 1826 |
1826
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1826
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| 1827 |
September 1, 1827
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| 1828 |
1828
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| 1833 |
August 21, 1833
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Brighton, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
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