John Pasco

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John Pasco
20 December 1774-16 November 1853

Rear Admiral John Pasco, 1847
Place of birth England
Place of death East Stonehouse, England
Service/branch Royal Navy
Rank Rear Admiral

John Pasco (1774-1853) served in the Royal Navy between 1784 and 1853, eventually rising to the rank of Rear Admiral. He acted as signal officer on board HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and notably advised on the wording of Nelson's famous signal "England expects that every man will do his duty".

[edit] Biography

Pasco was born on 20 December 1774 (some accounts say 29 December) and entered the Royal Navy on 4 June 1784 as Captain's Servant, on the Druid. In 1786 he moved to Pegasus, under the command of the then Duke of Clarence (later William IV), spending about 12 months on duty in the West Indies and along the coast of North America. He served on various ships after 1787 and by 1790 he had risen to the rank of Midshipman under Captain John Manley on Syren. He continued serving on various ships as Midshipman and Master's Mate until 1795, mainly in the English Channel and West Indies.

On 15 July 1795 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and assigned to Majestic. In 1796 he joined Beaulieu under Lancelot Skynner (who, three years later, captained Lutine on her last voyage). During his service aboard the Beaulieu he assisted in the capture of St. Lucia and on 27 December 1799 he became first Lieutenant aboard the Immortalite. In 1801, still serving on Immortalite he volunteered to command a boat to cut out the French corvette La Chevrette from Camaret Bay on the north coast of Brittany, but bad sailing conditions put pay to the plan.

On 7 April 1803 he was assigned to Nelson's flagship Victory. While serving on Victory he assisted in the capture of the French 32-gun frigate Embuscade, was involved in the blockade of Toulon and pursued the French squadrons in the West Indies.

A portrait of Pasco painted around 1805
A portrait of Pasco painted around 1805

On the day of the Battle of Trafalgar Nelson appointed Pasco as signal officer. In this role he was to hoist the famous signal "England expects that every man will do his duty". Nelson asked Pasco to send the message "England confides that every man will do his duty". Pasco suggested "expects" be substituted for "confides", since the former was in the signal book, whereas confides would have to be spelt out letter-by-letter. Nelson quickly agreed to the change, Pasco recorded:

“ His Lordship came to me on the poop, and after ordering certain signals to be made, about a quarter to noon, he said, 'Mr Pasco, I wish to say to the fleet, ENGLAND CONFIDES THAT EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY' and he added 'You must be quick, for I have one more to make which is for close action'. I replied, 'If your Lordship will permit me to substitute the confides for expects the signal will soon be completed, because the word expects is in the vocabulary, and confides must be spelt', His Lordship replied, in haste, and with seeming satisfaction, 'That will do, Pasco, make it directly'. ”

Nelson then ordered "Engage the enemy more closely" to be sent. Pasco ran it up and it remained flying until shot away in the battle. Pasco was severely wounded in the right side and arm with grapeshot early in the engagement and was carried below decks.

It was Nelson's personal practice to assign the officer first on his list for promotion to the role of signal officer, and the second on his list to the position of First Lieutenant. John Quilliam, the Sixth Lieutenant, was appointed to the position of First Lieutenant vacated by Pasco's promotion to signal officer during the battle. It is likely that Pasco would have been advanced, but Nelson's death meant standard Navy traditions were followed rather than his personal preferences - Quilliam was promoted to Captain while Pasco and the other lieutenants were only made up to Commander.

With no ship to command and nursing an injury, Pasco returned to land. He married Rebecca Penfold on 1 September 1805, and would eventually have nine children with her, six sons (two of which died as children) and three daughters. He remained without a ship on half-pay until 1808. For his injury he received a pension of £250 and a payout from the Patriotic Fund. In May 1808 he managed to obtain the command of Mediator for three months. In November 1809 he took command of Hindostan travelling to New South Wales. During the voyage he was noted to show an eagerness in pursuing and engaging any unknown ships, perhaps in an attempt to provide for his growing family from the spoils (his wife and two of his children accompanied him on the voyage). On his return he was appointed to the Tartarus where on 3 April 1811 he was appointed Captain. Stationed in Halifax, he captured several French and American vessels including in August 1811, an American slave schooner named Severn which was converted to a very successful Brtish privateer named Liverpool Packet. In June 1815 he assumed command of the Rota in Lisbon and 20 August 1815, served on Lee stationed in the English Channel. During this last appointment he took several smuggling vessels. He was paid off on 2 September 1818 and remained shipless for almost 30 years, although on 19 February 1842 he was selected as a recipient of the Captain's Good Service Pension. In 1843 he was married again, to Eliza, the widow of the Royal Marine, Captain Weaver.

In 1846 he was placed in command of Victory at Portsmouth and was promoted to Rear Admiral (of the Blue) on 22 September 1847, Rear Admiral (of the White) on 9 October 1849 and Rear Admiral (of the Red) sometime in 1852. He died in East Stonehouse on 16 November 1853.

[edit] References

Persondata
NAME John Pasco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION English admiral
DATE OF BIRTH 20 December 1774
PLACE OF BIRTH England
DATE OF DEATH November 1853
PLACE OF DEATH East Stonehouse England