TALKS & PRESENTATIONS
Jim has a number of talks and presentations based on his work and research. Each talk can be tailored to the requirements of the audience. It does not matter if the audience is primary aged pupils, a Society or Group seeking an entertaining presentation or University students seeking a deeper understanding of specific areas of eighteenth-century naval history. Powerpoint presentations are used to illustrate all talks and venues should be suitable for such a presentation.
Details of how to contact Jim to discuss booking any of the presentations are on the contact page.
The Nore Mutiny 1797
The 1797 Mutinies at Spithead and the Nore brought the British Navy to its knees at a critical point in the war with France. The Mutiny at Spithead ended peacefully with seamen gaining the improvements in wages and conditions that they had requested. The Mutiny at the Nore and of the North Sea Squadron ended in executions, wholesale imprisonment of mutineers and a change in the relationship between officers and men. New research has analysed the motives of the mutineers and traced what happened to them after the mutiny was ended. The study has also looked closely at the roles of naval officers before, during and after the mutiny.
The Life and Times of John Inglis
The highlights from an action-packed career from boy seaman to retired Admiral. Born in America Inglis inherited his uncle's Edinburgh estate and is typically portrayed as a Scot. Amongst many other varied events his life includes dining with George Washington, being captured by the French, shipwrecked in Norway, his crew mutinied with the rest of the squadron in 1797, and he was severely wounded at the Battle of Camperdown.
Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
Was Winston Churchill’s comment on a seaman’s life as being imbued with rum, sodomy and the cat o’ nine tails correct? A close look at life as a Royal Naval Seaman in the Eighteenth Century to sort out fact from fiction and to establish exactly what a new seaman could expect. The navy is also compared with life on land to enable the audience to make up their own mind as to which path they would have chosen.
Saving the City of Adelaide
The City of Adelaide is the oldest clipper chip left in the world. This is the story of its recovery from the bed of the River Clyde to it returning to the City of Adelaide, South Australia. The rescue and the transportation of this internationally significant historic vessel is told from the perspective of a leading participant in a twenty-year project.
Nelson's Tactics at Trafalgar
Nelson’s defeat of the French and Spanish Fleets at Trafalgar needs no introduction but how and when he derived the tactics is not usually explored. This presentation traces the tactics used to an Edinburgh businessman who had never been in the navy yet wrote a best selling book on naval tactics twenty-five years before Trafalgar. All the major naval victories in the second half of the eighteenth century appear to have a connection with the businessman, John Clerk. Recent research has found documents that link him with Rodney, Howe, Duncan, St. Vincent and Nelson.
Eighteenth-Century Naval Recruitment, The Press and Desertion
Much has been written about the Press Gang and its contribution to naval recruitment during periods of war. Recent documentary research has provided new insights into the effectiveness of the press and the attitude of the Navy to desertion. Little has been written about the contribution to recruitment made by British Consuls in foreign ports and of charitable bodies such as the Marine Society. New research gives a better understanding of all these aspects of providing seamen for the Navy.