Napoleon, Nelson, Menzies ...and Newcastle, Australia

Leonard Joel Auctioneers in Melbourne provided this historical evidence, based on Royal Marines Historical Society records (see reference). The auction is on 19th May 2013.

Charles A.F.N. Menzies (1783-1866) was born in Perthshire in Scotland, the son of an army captain. The young lad was educated at Stirling and, at age 15 commissioned as a second Lieutenant in the Royal Marines, serving on HMS Holden with Lord Nelson's squadron off Boulogne during the blockade of the French Invasion Fleet.

In 1803 Menzies sailed on HMS Calcutta to transport convicts to Australia and shortly after was promoted to lieutenant. In 1804 he was in com­mand of a detachment of marines that crushed an uprising near Castle Hill in New South Wales by a group of Irish convicts, who were political prisoners from an earlier uprising in Ireland. The Australian skirmish must have been horrible.

In March 1804 Governor Philip Gidley decided to separate the worst offenders to establish a new settlement on Coal River. He accepted Lieutenant Menzies' offer to found and take command of the new settlement. The group sailed from Sydney on the Lady Nelson and two other small ships, and soon arrived at the new settlement that Menzies initially named Kingstown, but was re-named Newcastle by Governor King. From the very beginning of this small settlement, Newcastle was to be a work camp, from which coal and timber would be taken for the benefit of the main settlement in Sydney.

General Sir Charles Menzies with sword, by Daniel Cunliffe
Oil on canvas, 54 x 38 cm, 1843
Royal Marines Museum in Hampshire

Although still only in his early 20s this Royal Marines officer acquitted himself well and by the time he resigned his position in March 1805 to return home to Britain, Newcastle was estab­lished.

Menzies resumed active service soon after returning home. He commanded the Royal Marines attached to HMS Minerva and was involved in many actions. In June 1806 Menzies was in one of the Minerva's boats that were responsible for cutting out five boats from under Cape Finisterre, the Spanish scene of many naval actions during the Napoleonic wars. He led a landing party which rushed the fort; in fact because Menzies was the first to enter, it was he who lowered the enemy's colours and safely raised the British flag.

In July 1806 he planned an attack on a barge that captured a Spanish privateer and was instrumental in cutting out a Spanish vessel of war, landing at the Spanish Bay of Arosa and taking prisoners. Menzies also led his men at the capture of Fort Guardia.

In 1813 Menzies was promoted to Captain of the Royal Marine Artil­lery. In 1817 he married the daughter of the physician to the Duke of Gloucester and had children. His career progressed smoothly until he was the Colonel Commandant of the Portsmouth Royal Marines.

Menzies was appointed aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria in 1851, then knighted and appointed General in 1857. He died peacefully in old age. Clearly he a significant military man, yet I have three important questions:
1. Why was Charles Menzies given a valuable Patriotic Fund sword that displayed the crowned arms and cypher of George III?
2. What was Charles Menzies’ importance to early Australian history?
3. Why did the sword come to Australia?

Since 1803 Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund has worked closely with armed forces charities to identify the individuals and their families who are in urgent need of support. The contributors created the fund to give grants to those wounded in service to the Crown and to set up annuities to the dependents of those killed in action. The Fund’s prizes, awarded to those British combatants who went beyond the call of duty, could be money, a sword or a piece of silver plate.

Charles Menzies was an obvious candidate for a Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund award. Not only was he brave and full of leadership; Menzies also led his men at the capture of Fort Guardia in 1806 when he was severely wounded and his right arm was amputated. He received a sword from the Fund.

Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund sword
Awarded to Lieutenant Charles Menzies of HMS Minerva, 1806
Leonard Joel Auctions, Melbourne 

His sword has a curved single-edged hollow-ground blade. The blue ground is intricately etched and gilt with a naval trophy, figures of Britannia and Hope, the crowned arms and cypher of George III, cornucopia and flora. The inscription says 'FROM THE PATRIOTIC FUND AT LLOYDS TO LIEUT. CHARLES MENZIES OF THE ROYAL MARINES, FOR THE DISTINGUISHED COURAGE & BRAVERY DISPLAYED BY HIM IN COMMAND OF THE ROYAL MARINES AT THE STORMING FORT FINISTERRE, BEING THE FIRST WHO MOUNTED THE BREACH AND PLANTED THE BRITISH COLOURS ON THE RAMPARTS ON THE 22ND JUNE - RECORDED IN THE LONDON GAZETTE OF THE 15TH JULY 1806.

There is an engraved inscription 'R. TEED Dress Sword Maker to the PATRIOTIC FUND Lancaster Court STRAND'; a red leather belt with embroidered silver-gilt thread, with gilt mounts, bosses in the form of lion's heads, and a fitted mahogany case lined with blue velvet.

Charles Menzies did not have this sword during his time in Australia. He had already returned to Britain in 1805 and was not awarded his Lloyds Patriotic Fund award until 1806. But any direct physical links with the larger-than-life characters whose energy helped build Australia are rare and to be treasured. Charles Menzies had an important role in establishing Newcastle, so the good burghers of Newcastle want the sword to rest there. It could sit next to the Menzies Commission, the original document appointing Lieutenant Charles Menzies and the Royal Marines to command and superintend the settlement of Newcastle. Signed by Governor King in March 1804, this ink-on-vellum warrant was presented to the Newcastle School of Arts in 1930 by a British family.

How did the sword get to Australia’s most famous and long serving prime minister Sir Robert Menzies (1894–1978)? Apparently the sword had been given to the prime minister by a British relative in the 1950s, believing he was related to the famous General Sir Charles Menzies. No evidence was found to support the claim, but the sword nonetheless remained in Australia for many years at one of the prime minister’s clubs in Melbourne. If the London-based relative wants the sword back, he needs to bid at the Leonard Joel auction this week (estimate: $80,000-120,000). 

Reference: 'The Battle of Hernai and General Sir Charles Menzies, Daniel Cunliffe's Royal Marine Artillery Paintings by Major Alastair Donald', Royal Marines Historical Society, The Sheet Anchor, Volume XXII No.2, Portsmouth, 1997.

Gustave Eiffel's Paris synagogue

Synagogue Tournelles is a Jewish house of worship built in the heart of Paris’ important Marais district (in the 4th arrond­ise­ment).

main synagogue entrance in Rue de Tournelles

architect: Marcellin Emmanuel Var­collier

In 1872 the building was designed to seat 1400 people, with the men on the ground floor and two higher storeys for women. The barrel vault­ed building was designed by architect Marcellin Emmanuel Var­collier (1829-95) who was well known in the area because of his other architectural commissions. [Varcollier’s best known works came later. The town hall for the 18th arrondisement was started in 1888 and his Palace of Metallurgy and Mines was an amazing part of the 1900 World Exposition in Paris]. Varcollier seemed to admire the Romanesque style of architecture.

But then something remarkable happened. Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) had been appointed as the principal engineer of the Compagnie Belge way back in 1857. Apparently his work had gained the attention of several important people who were impressed, especially once they saw the metalwork of the Bordeaux bridge. Further promotion within the company followed, but in 1865 Eiffel felt he had to resign and set up as an independent consulting engineer.

exposed ironwork in the nave

engineer Gustave Eiffel

Eiffel designed the engineering structure of Saint-Joseph church Paris in 1863 and the glass roof of the Palais Galliera/now Musée de la Mode a decade later. His fame was spreading. Varcollier invited Eif­fel to prepare designs for exposed ironwork in the splendid Synagogue Tournelles nave which was to be 21 meters wide. Eiffel also took the role of protecting the Holy Ark by really lovely wrought iron gates that have decorative value but no real security role.

The street façade in rue des Tournelles, highlighted by a rose window of stained glass, might have come from a church. But one element made it clear that the building was Jewish. The iconic Tablets of the Law were sculpted, inscribed in Hebrew letters and placed high above the front facade. 

In the centre, two heraldic shields of Paris indicated that synagogue was successfully constructed, in part because of the financial contribution by the city. Paris' City Council had given its approval because the Jewish population of Paris was rising and the old synagogues were starting to look inadequate.

finely wrought iron gates in front of the ark

When this lovely synagogue was opened with great festivities in 1876, it was intended to suit the practices of Ashkenazi Jews and was used by congregants from Alsace and Lorraine. Then it was popular with those who emigrated from Poland and the Russia lands.

But the Holocaust exterminated part of the Ashkenazi community and by 1946 the congregation was much reduc­ed. By the 1950s, the synagogue was being used by Sephardi Jews instead. I know what difference that would make to the liturgy and the music, but I wonder if it would make any difference to the architecture.

Synagogue Tournelles has been attacked by neo-Nazi thugs but has never been destroyed. Fortunat­e­ly the synagogue was classified as a Historic Monument in 1987.

**

In 1875 the Royal Portuguese Railway Company set up a competition for a bridge to carry the Lisbon-Porto railway across the river fast flowing Douro river. The Maria Pia bridge, which Joe and I saw in Porto last year, was built in 1877 by Gustave Eiffel! Built of wrought iron, its two-hinged crescent arch used to carry the railway to Lisbon for 350 metres across the River Douro at a height of 60 metres over the water. When it was inaugurated in 1877, it was the longest single-arch span in the world.

Now consider the immaculate timing. Did the Royal Portuguese Railway Company travel to Paris to see Synagogue Tournelles - between the time the synagogue plans were first considered in 1872 and the time the synagogue was inaugurated in 1876? In any case the success of Eiffel's Ponte Maria Pia in 1877 was more likely than Eiffel's synagogue to have inspired later engineering design (especially over inhospitable river gorges) in France, Spain and elsewhere.

Eiffel, Maria Pia Bridge in Porto

Husband hunting in British India

My favourite area of history for reading and writing has always been social hist­ory, regarding marriage, child rearing, dom­es­tic architecture, education, men’s and women’s careers, collecting in the arts, entertainment and transport. Royal chronicles and military histories leave me relatively unmoved. So I was delighted to read The Fishing Fleet: Husband Hunting in the Raj, written by Anne de Courcy and pub­lished by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2012. The only thing I found difficult was the sexist language of the time.

British soldiers, traders and administrators had been travelling to India for a very long time. But in the later C19th, ev­ents were chan­g­ing.

Firstly the India Act enhan­ced Par­l­iam­ent's control ov­er the East India Company i.e the British government now ruled the colony, rather than a company of traders. Later Governors General were faced with the very real task of governance. Legislation after legislation back in London ensured that British rule reformed India’s law, commerce and education. In 1858 the British formally exiled the last Moghul ruler to Bur­ma, ending the Moghul Empire. Clearly many more young British men were going to be needed to run the country.

Secondly transport was improving rapidly. The Suez Canal design was published in December 1858 and work started on the shore of the future Port Said almost immediately. The canal formally opened to shipping in Nov­ember 1869. And inventions that improved ship engines soon made steam-shipping between Britain and India economically viable. The long and risky journey around South Africa could be avoided.

Anne de Courcy's book

Thirdly British soldiers and administrators were no longer allowed to mix with Indian women, let alone marry them. Men were warned that a strong connection with the motherland should guide their choice of a mate. And since most officers in India almost never visited Britain until their retirement, who were they to marry? The level of sexual frustration must have been intense, and seems to have been diverted into tiger hunting and polo playing.

Between 1850-1910, a third of young middle class women in Britain were unmarried. If a woman could not find a husband by her early 20s, she was doomed to a life of spinsterdom. These “surplus to require­ment” women would have been advised to think of moving to a target-rich environ­ment in the Empire, especially India. Single British men, with rel­iable incomes, were located all over India, starved for family life, sex and fun; these men were very keen to find eligible women to mar­ry. British women who were not attractive or too poor to find a hus­b­and at home would expect to succeed beautifully in India.

Surpringly (to me) the British men in India were fitter, more sporty, more handsome in their uniforms and more sex-starved than their male friends in Britain. The fishing fleet and the fishermen were onto a win-win situation.

And there was another thing. A young married couple in India would expect to live more comfortable and exciting lives than they could at home, with as many servants as they needed, good quality housing and vice regal parties for every occasion.

The newly arrived women had plenty of opportunities to be seen. A hectic social scene was on offer in British India, with dances, hunting parties, cinemas and theatres, picnics, tennis games and royal or vice regal invitation.

And, with single men greatly outnumbering single women, each man had to move quickly. If he wanted to catch a woman before another man made a move, the romance had to be pursued very quickly, foll­owed by a short engagement and a lovely wedding. Courtships that might have lasted a year or two in Britain were completed within a month in India. The fishing metaphor was useful again – women were snapped up out of the bridal pool as fast as possible.

Tennis Doubles

Photo credit: The Guardian Newspaper

It seems that once the honeymoon ended, married life in British India was not necessarily blissful. Big city women suddenly found that their new husbands had been given remote outposts to command, that the weather was beastly and that disease was rampant. All wives in the world might have found their lives subordinated to that of their husbands, but Fishing Fleet brides were lonely AS WELL AS rigidly controlled.

Naturally the new wives were ranked according to their husband's position. I was partic­ularly struck by the idea of the Warrant of Precedence that showed the exact status of everyone working for the crown. Protocol was clear.

De Courcy allowed the women themselves to describe the colourful world in which they found themselves. The very evocative writing often came from those courageous fishing fleet women who left their letters and diaries to following generations.

Would I have travelled there myself, had I not found a husband at home? My tolerance for heat ends at 36c; I have zero tolerance for humidity; and I am terrified of spiders and scorpions. Worst still I would not have allowed my children to be taken to boarding school 10,000 ks from home. But I would also not have liked seeing my mother’s disappointment every day of her life, had I remained single. So while wom­en who travelled were too young and too virginal, I really do understand why their mothers believed they were looking after their daughters by sending them away. The pressure to marry was relentless.

At the end of a year’s fishing, the would-be brides who failed to land a husband had to be shipped home as “returned empties”. Readers will have to be old enough to remember milk being sold in glass bottles to understand this appalling metaphor.