Edwin Cooper

In the New Navy List of 1844, Cooper is listed as an “Additional do.” on the Caledonia, entering service on 3 September 1844. He is then listed in the 1847 Navy list as “Edwin,” entering service on 10 February 1845. He is also listed in the 1850 Navy List and, in the 1851 version, he is recorded as having gone into service on the discovery ship Plover on 17 October 1850.

The purser is the officer in charge of the accounts, and is often also the head steward.

Launched in India in 1822 under the name HMS Termagant as a fighting vessel, the HMS Herald was repurposed into a survey ship two years later and given the new name. After spending 28 years primarily surveying the coast of Central America (but also including her visit to Fort Victoria), she was sent to help search for the missing Franklin expedition between 1848 and 1850. She then went to England, was sent to the Fijian Islands, and was eventually decommissioned in 1862.

Sources:

  • Great Britain Admiralty. The Navy List: Corrected to the 20th December, 18487. London: Albermarle Street, 1848. http://books.google.ca/books?id=reUNAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=navy+list+1847 &hl=en&sa=X&ei=ImGpUZaNA6aZiQKup4DwCA&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=na vy%20list%201847&f=false.
  • Great Britain Admiralty. The Navy List: Corrected to the 20th December, 1850. London: John Murray, Albermarle Street. http://books.google.ca/books?id=dD9ABVyDPAsC&pg=RA1- PA150&lpg=RA1- PA150&dq=lieutenant+edwin+j.+l.+cooper&source=bl&ots=nzT8SXLgg5&sig=FU0RMLIbifC Ha5pSKl4CoVmrilg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=a12pUfmDGI3ligL5z4F4&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=on epage&q=lieutenant%20edwin%20j.%20l.%20cooper&f=false.
  • Great Britain Admiralty. The Navy List: Corrected to the 20th December, 1851. London: John Murray, Albermarle Street. http://books.google.ca/books?id=KhmMWcTECDsC&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=lieutenant+j. +l.+cooper&source=bl&ots=bY0bsYnhUE&sig=GNb1zWdBOTFmTiX406XvSGBvAYQ&hl=e n&sa=X&ei=316pUZXlDeKpiAL93YDYDQ&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=lieutenant %20j.%20l.%20cooper&f=false.
  • Haultain, Charles. The New Navy List: 1844. London: Simpkin, Marhsall andCo., 1844. http://books.google.ca/books?id=qukNAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=navy+list+1844 &hl=en&sa=X&ei=DWGpUYX2KJHyigLH0IGwDw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=n avy%20list%201844&f=false.
  • “HMS Termagant, 1847-1867.” Colonial Despatches. http://bcgenesis.uvic.ca/vessels.htm.
  • Seemann, Berthold "Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Herald During the Years 1845-51...” Fort Victoria Journal. http://www.fortvictoriajournal.ca/pdf/Victoria%20chapter%20from%20Seeman_Narrative_of_th e_voyage_of_H_M_S_Herald.pdf.
  • Oxford Dictionary Online. s.v. “Purser.” http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/purser?q=purser.
Miranda Harvey