By John D Ellis
John Ephraim was born on the Calabar Coast, Africa c.1783 (Calabar is a port city in Nigeria, adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers). He enlisted as a Landsman on HMS Temeraire in August 1803, shortly after it had completed re-fitting at Plymouth.
At the Battle of Trafalgar, 21st October 1805, the Temeraire was under the command of Captain Eliab Harvey (1758-1830), subsequently Vice-Admiral, Sir Eliab Harvey. Second in line in the “Weather Column” under Admiral Nelson, Temeraire captured two French ships and rescued the beleaguered HMS Victory. The actions of the ship won it great renown, and the nickname “The Fighting Temeraire” – but it was renown won at great cost: of the crew of 772 Officers and Ratings, 47 were killed and a further 76 wounded.
John Ephraim was certainly not the only Royal Navy Rating “of colour” at the Battle of Trafalgar: Ray Costello identifies ten Black crewmen on HMS Bellerophon, and another one on HMS Victory.(1) In addition, Charles Phillips, a “man of colour” from Senegal, was serving on HMS Ajax.(2) In fact, it is highly unlikely that Ephraim was the only Black sailor on HMS Temeraire – The National Archives “Trafalgar Ancestors” database facilitates the identification of another African, nineteen Americans, two sailors from the West Indies, three Canadians and a South American on the Temeraire,(3) In addition to any British or Irish sailors who might also have been Black.
In January 1806 Ephraim transferred to HMS Anson, again as a Landsman, and was on the ship when it captured the Spanish Frigate Pomona off Havana (1806) and participated in the capture of Curacoa (1807). On the 29th of December 1807, the Anson foundered in poor weather on Loe Bar, Cornwall. Over sixty of the crew were drowned in the incident. However, John Ephraim survived and was transferred to HMS Puissant.
Ephraim’s service on the Anson lasted just over a year – and he left the ship in April 1809 being “invalided”. He was admitted as an out-pensioner of Greenwich Hospital in May 1809, when he was described as 25 years of age, 5/6” tall and unmarried. The annotation “Blk” (i.e. Black) next to his name indicated his ethnicity (The Royal Navy of the period described Ratings of African or Asian origin as “Black” or “of colour”). Whilst he had been born at Calabar on the Coast of Africa, he was now a resident of Fenchurch Street, London. Although he had served seven years in the Royal Navy, prior to that “Sea” was given as his trade – suggesting that he was a merchant sailor before enlistment. The cause of his disability was “left arm hurt serving on Anson”.
Little is known of Ephraim’s movements following his becoming an out-pensioner. In May 1816 he was admitted briefly to Greenwich Hospital, possibly due to illness, and it was recorded that he was “A Black Man” in receipt of a pension of £14 per annum (approximately 7d per day. The average daily pay was almost twice that).
In December 1825 John Ephraim successfully applied to become an in-pensioner at Greenwich Hospital. On entry it was noted that he was 43 years of age, married (no name is provided – which is unusual in Royal Navy records), and had been living in Liverpool. The presence of a Black man in Liverpool, a major trading port with a prominent and historical Black presence is not unusual, and it is possible that Ephraim was working there as a merchant sailor.
John Ephraim died at Greenwich Hospital in April 1831 and was interred in the Greenwich Hospital Burial Ground. In September 1838, the Temeraire was towed to Beatson’s breaking yard in Rotherhithe. It was a sight witnessed and subsequently captured by JMW Turner in his famous painting The Fighting Temeraire (1838). The painting was voted Britain’s favourite in a BBC Radio poll (2005), appeared briefly in the movie Skyfall (2012) and appears on the back of the Bank of England £20 note (2020).
Notes and References:
For John Ephraim see: The National Archives (TNA) ADM 6/232. ADM 6/273. ADM 22/317. ADM 22/339. ADM 73/8/102. ADM 73/38. ADM 73/56. ADM 73/58. ADM 73/66.
See the website 3decks.org for the service histories of HMS Temeraire, HMS Anson and HMS Puissant.
For an account of the wreck of HMS Anson see www.helstonhistory.co.uk/w-f-iveys-shipwrecks/hms-anson/
For a reference to John Ephraim at the Battle of Trafalgar see: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/trafalgarancestors/results.asp The website suggests that prior to joining Temeraire, Ephraim served on HMS United Brothers, an armed tender. This may be why Ephraim was allowed seven to eight years-service to count towards his pension.
For the burial of John Ephraim see: Burial. John Ephraim. Greenwich Hospital, Kent, 26th April 1831, aged 49 years. TNA/RG/4/1674. ancestry.co.uk ancestry
1)Costello, R. Black Salt: Seafarers of African Descent on British Ships, (Liverpool University Press, 2014). Pps 52-64. Also see: www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Members/SimmonsJohn_Robert.htm
2)Ellis, JD. Charles Phillips c.1784-1837. historycalroots.com
3)www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/trafalgarancestors/results.asp
4)www.helstonhistory.co.uk/w-f-iveys-shipwrecks/hms-anson/
5)The National Archives (TNA) ADM 22/339.
6)The Fighting Temeraire, tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838. JMW Turner (1838). Oil on canvas. 91 X 122 cm. The National Gallery, London. For an in-depth talk on the painting by Matthew Morgan see: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-fighting-temeraire