Memoir of William Owen, RN

Manuscript memoir, 1774-1775, of William Owen, recalling his early years in the Royal Navy, from 1750 to 1761, in particular his time in India from 1754. The volume recounts life and events on board ship, together with incidents, escapades and misadventures ashore.
Owen went to sea as a midshipman and passed his Lieutenant's exam on 1 February 1758 (pp. 328-329). He served aboard several ships, most notably HMS Tyger, 1754-1759 (pp. 137-403), and HMS Sunderland, 1759-1761 (pp. 411-547). He participated in several naval and land actions in the Carnatic, Bengal and elsewhere, including the capture of Geriah (Vijaydurg), February 1756 (pp. 194-204), the expedition to retake Calcutta, December 1756-February 1757 (pp. 242-68), the battle of Chandernagore, 23 March 1757 (pp. 282-9), the naval battles off Cuddalore, 30 April 1758 (pp. 343-7), Negapatam, 3 August 1758 (pp. 368-73) and Pondicherry, 11 September 1759 (pp. 444-9), and the subsequent siege and blockade of Pondicherry, August 1760-January 1761 (pp. 530-53). Other incidents of note include a fraught voyage from Jamaica to England, October 1753-January 1754 (pp. 120-32), an ill-fated shooting expedition in Trincomalee, Ceylon, July 1759 (pp. 427-36), the loss of his right arm during a raid at Pondicherry, 6 October 1760 (pp. 531-6), and the sinking of HMS Sunderland in a cyclone shortly before Owen was due to rejoin her, 1 January 1761 (pp. 544-7). The volume, which contains occasional corrections, deletions and interpolations, is based mainly on Owen's journals, log books and other papers (see NLW, Glansevern Estate Records). In addition, certain passages, especially accounts of wider events, are either copied verbatim or adapted from published works, including Edward Ives, A Voyage from England to India… (London: Edward and Charles Dilly, 1773, ESTC T12210) (pp. 154-5, 163, 171, 178-9, 195, 197-8, 200-204, 210-13, 218, 223-5, 234, 242-3, 251-2, 259-60, 262-3, 264-6, 269-76, 280-81, 284-5, 294-305, 313, 316-7), and unspecified editions of Richard Owen Cambridge, An Account of the War in India, Between the English and French… (London: T. Jefferys, 1761, ESTC T145098) (pp. 339-41, 345, 353-60, 366, 368-70, 372, 386-9, 403-9, 454-90, 496-7, 513-20, 523, 558-62), John Entick, The General History of the Late War…, 5 vols (London: Edward Dilly and John Millan, 1763, T138198) (pp. 506-12, 520, 523-6, 540-43, 550-51, 553, 562-7), An Impartial History of the Late Glorious War (Manchester: printed by R. Whitworth, 1764, T110585) (pp. 459-50) and the third volume of An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere..., ed. by John Hawkesworth, 3 vols (London: printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell in the Strand, 1773, T74465) (pp. 578-82). Owen's second volume of memoirs is partly published in Narrative of American Voyages and Travels of Captain William Owen, R.N., and Settlement of the Island of Campobello in the Bay of Fundy 1766-1771, ed. by Victor Hugo Paltsits (New York, New York Public Library, 1942), a copy of which is included with the present manuscript (NLW MS 24132E(a)).

William Owen, who was baptised at Llangurig, Montgomeryshire, on 10 April 1732, was the fourth son of David Owen and Frances Owen (née Rogers) of Glangynwydd, Llangurig, and Cefn yr Hafodau, Llanidloes. He joined the Royal Navy in April 1750 as a midshipman on HMS Sphinx. He joined HMS Tyger in 1754, becoming her 2nd Lieutenant in October 1758, then transferred to HMS Sunderland in 1759 as 3rd Lieutenant. He saw action on several occasions in India during the Seven Years' War, lost his right arm at Pondicherry in 1760, and returned to Britain in 1761 following the sinking of the Sunderland. In 1766 he accompanied Lord William Campbell, governor of Nova Scotia, to Halifax, and the following year he was granted the island of Campobello, N.B., by Campbell. Owen established a settlement there in 1770-1771. Whilst living in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, in 1768, Owen lost an eye in an election fight; he was later the town's mayor, 1775-1776. He returned to active service in 1776; he was made Captain of HMS Cormorant in November 1777, but died in Madras in October 1778. His two sons were Admiral Sir Edward William Campbell Rich Owen and Vice-Admiral William Fitzwilliam Owen. His nephew Arthur Davies Owen erected the mansion of Glansevern in Garthmyl, Montgomeryshire.

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Sotheby's; London; Purchased at auction, lot 13; 9 July 2019; 99977143802419.

William Owen, who was baptised at Llangurig, Montgomeryshire, on 10 April 1732, was the fourth son of David Owen and Frances Owen (née Rogers) of Glangynwydd, Llangurig, and Cefn yr Hafodau, Llanidloes. He joined the Royal Navy in April 1750 as a midshipman on HMS Sphinx. He joined HMS Tyger in 1754, becoming her 2nd Lieutenant in October 1758, then transferred to HMS Sunderland in 1759 as 3rd Lieutenant. He saw action on several occasions in India during the Seven Years' War, lost his right arm at Pondicherry in 1760, and returned to Britain in 1761 following the sinking of the Sunderland. In 1766 he accompanied Lord William Campbell, governor of Nova Scotia, to Halifax, and the following year he was granted the island of Campobello, N.B., by Campbell. Owen established a settlement there in 1770-1771. Whilst living in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, in 1768, Owen lost an eye in an election fight; he was later the town's mayor, 1775-1776. He returned to active service in 1776; he was made Captain of HMS Cormorant in November 1777, but died in Madras in October 1778. His two sons were Admiral Sir Edward William Campbell Rich Owen and Vice-Admiral William Fitzwilliam Owen. His nephew Arthur Davies Owen erected the mansion of Glansevern in Garthmyl, Montgomeryshire.

Title based on contents.

Dated on the basis of comments on pp. 248 and 362.

Covers worn; leaf cut out after p. 536; some text hidden in the gutters; pp. 374-376, lower page edges trimmed with some loss of text; page edges repaired at NLW, 2019, with no loss of text.

July 2021.

Description compiled by Rhys Jones.

Usual copyright laws apply.

The manuscript (together with the second volume) appears to have passed down through the descendants of William Owen's second son William Fitzwilliam Owen (1774-1857). His daughter Cornelia married J. J. Robinson[-Owen] and their daughter Cornelia Ramsay Robinson-Owen (d. 1925) married Vice-Admiral Basil E. Cochrane (d. 1922); according to Paltsits (1942), p. ix, 161, both volumes of memoirs were in Cornelia Cochrane's possession in 1920. Her son, Rear-Admiral Archibald Cochrane (1874-1952), married Maya Brooke and, following his death, she donated the second volume of memoirs to the National Maritime Museum in 1952, together with some family papers but not the present volume.

For William Owen's papers, including journals and log books used to compile this manuscript, see NLW, Glansevern Estate Records 4392-4437, 8882-937, 11681-3, 14247-9, 14251-95, 14319-49, 14438-43; his second volume of memoirs is now Greenwich, National Maritime Museum COO/1.

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales