O is for HMS Orontes
O is for HMS Orontes My 2nd great-grandfather James Cook (no, not the James Cook) was a Gunner on the HMS Orontes from 15 June 1879 to 19 July 1879. (ADM 196/31 Warrant Officers Register of Service Image 351). He was 31 years old and had been married for nearly eight years to Caroline (nee Jefferies). His daughter Eleanor (my great-grandmother) was just four years old. According to this site he would have been paid about £2 6 per annum. In the remarks column on his register of service, it says " Naval Brigade 8 Mch 79 to VO (perhaps this is WO??) Orontes 6 to 9 June 79, Hosp.(???) to Cape of Good Hope from 10 June to 11 June 79 ". Before serving on the Orontes , my great-great-grandfather was serving on the Shah . His service record lists the period 19 April 78 to 14 June 79. Conrad Dixon's Ships of the Victorian Navy advises us that on the way back from her first commission: Shah was diverted to Natal to land 400 officers, seam...