Share Bookmark

Chart bought by Henry Gardiner Guion in Paris 1818

 

On this chart he draw

1. The name of the ships he was emplyed on and the journeys he made on them between 1789 and 1820

2. the "Grand Tour" he made through France in 1818

 

All ships are mentioned in his "Memorandum of the services" exept the Tartar on which he travelled in the Mediterranean at the coast of France in 1796

It is not visible where the ship came from and to which harbour it sailed.

There were two ships called Tartar employed by the Royal Navy in 1796.

A Frigate launched 1756 and wrecked at the island St.-Domingo april 1797 and

a Cutter hired in 1794 and disposed of in 1801

 

Summary of the events concerning Corsica between 1794 and 1796

In 1794 Britain sent a fleet to Corsica under Admiral Samuel Hood. It was during the fighting to capture Calvi the then-Captain Horatio Nelson lost the sight in his right eye. For a short time, Corsica was added to the dominions of King George III, chiefly by the exertions of Hood's fleet, and Paoli's cooperation.

The constitution could be considered democratic for its time. A viceroy represented the King. There was an elected unicameral Parliament, and a Council that was the executive body of the Kingdom.

Sir Gilbert Elliot represented the king's government as viceroy. Carlo Andrea Pozzo di Borgo was procureur-general-syndic (chief of the civil government), and later president of the council of state.

The relationship between Paoli's government and the British was never clearly defined, however, resulting in numerous questions of authority; in particular, tensions arose from the conflict between Sir Gilbert's loyalty to the British monarchy, and Paoli's republican leanings and desire to defend Corsican autonomy. There was also a pronounced division between Corte, the traditional capital and an inland stronghold, and Bastia on the coast, where Sir Gilbert moved the capital in early 1795, and which was the centre for French and Corsican royalists. At last the crown invited Paoli to resign and return to exile in Britain with a pension, which, having no alternative, he did in 1796. With Spain coming in on the side of the French, the British realised their position in the Mediterranean was on precarious hold, so they had to withdraw their forces from the island before October. On October 19, 1796, the French reconquered Bastia and Corsica became a French département

Wikipedia

Naval History of Great Britain - Vol I

 

1996

The evacuation of Corsica

On the 2d of November, having completed, as far as was deemed practicable, the evacuation of Corsica, and ascertained that the fleet of Admiral Langara had come to an anchor in Toulon, Sir John Jervis set sail from Mortella bay, with a fleet of

  • 15 ships of the line and

  • some frigates, having on board the troops and stores embarked at Bastia,

  • and under his convoy 10 or 12 merchant vessels, which his cruisers had brought down from Smyrna.

On the 11th of December the whole of this fleet anchored in safety in Rosia bay (Gibraltar)

On the same da the 74-gun ship Courageux was wrecked in a gale of wind that increased to a perfect hurricane, the other ships of the line were: Victory, Britannia, Barfleur, Blenheim, St.-George, Gibraltar, Captain, Culloden, Egmont, Excellent, Goliath, Zealous, Diadem, and St.-Albans.

 

Toulon

In 1790, following the French Revolution, Toulon became the administrative centre of the département of the Var. The leaders of the city, however, were largely royalists, and they welcomed the arrival of a British fleet. At the siege of Toulon (18 September - 18 December 1793), the British were expelled by a French force whose artillery was led by a young captain, Napoleon Bonaparte. To punish Toulon for its rebellion, the town lost its status as department capital and was briefly renamed Port-la-Montagne.

 

ADM 52 Admiralty: Masters' Logs

3059
There is no Ship's Log of HMS Tartar for 1796 but this is the Master's Log and shows that the ship was in the Mediterranean for the first few months of the year.   She was located as follows:

1 Jan   1796 - 

8 May 1796 -

 

8 Sep  1796 -

1 Oct  1796 -

Algiers Bay

Genoa Mole (Blocked by the RN since April 25,

six french vessels with cannon, ordnance-stores, intrenching tools, and provisions were captured  on the 31st of April)

Having left the Mediterranean is now proceeding up the English Channel and is close to the Nore.

Continues up the Thames and arrives Woolwich where she stays till the end of the year.

The English Royal Navy (in blue), the French Fleet (red) and the HMS Tartar (yellow)  in In Googlemaps

 

Gardiner was an Agent for Transports by Navy Board (established 1794) and stationed at the Meditterrenean Coast of Spain & Portugal from Jul 1794, when Corsica is conquered by the English, until Oct 1797

In Oct 1796 the English withdraw their forces from Corsica and also in 1796 Gardiner Henry Guion is sailing in the Mediterranean between Nice and Marseille on "the Tartar"  (see on his chart). (ADM52)

Dec 1797, he arrives in London and writes a  "Request for a leave of absence" to settle his personal afairs. (ADM1/ADM12)

The same year Ann Guion, his mother, resigned as a Matron of the London Hospital (she was appointed 22 Apr 1790)

Obviously Gardiner traveled with Polini on the Tartar from Corsica to probably Gibraltar bef Oct 1796.

Polini probably must have lived on Gibraltar until Gardiner took her to London dec 1797

Jun 1798 Gardiner's aunt Charlotte (Guion) wrote him a letter (ADM12)

3 months later Anne Mary Guion, daughter of Gardiner and Polini, is born 4 Nov 1798 in Sheerness (Census 1851). Almost 4 years later she is baptized on 6 Aug 1802 in St. George the Martyr, Queen Square, Holborn, short after Gardiner Henry married Harriet Grindall Holt on 27 Jul 1802. (See Harriet's last Will, she was buried 17 jul 1806 in Mylor). Most likely Polini must have died in childbirth or short afterwards.

 

 

Home Page |  What's New |  Most Wanted |  Surnames |  Photos |  Histories |  Documents |  Cemeteries |  Places |  Dates |  Reports |  Sources