Francis French AB served on HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. Whether the great man conversed with Horatio Nelson, Viscount Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe we shall never know. Francis was born in Lyme (Regis), so he could be related to the “Thorncombe” Frenches. He was born around 1778 and pressed, as an Able Seaman – indicating that he might well have been a merchant sailor – into the Navy in 1803. He served on The Victory from 21 May 1803 to 15 January 1806, HMS Ocean from 18 January to 25 June 1809 and HMS Milford from 26 June 1809 until he was invalided out on the 30 July 1814. The only other detail of his life we have managed to glean is that he married Honour WILLING in either 1792 or 1794.

Aged 27, Ordinary Seaman, born in Stratford Essex and died 16th December 1862. entered Greenwich Hospital in 1837; aged 60; served 13 years and 11 months in Royal Navy; born Stratford, Essex; married; wife’s residence – Greenwich; two children under age of 20; last ship served on HMS Boyne as a Midshipman; occupation, shoemaker; died 16th December 1862 and was buried in Greenwich.

And we are lucky in that we have more information about him and a drawing of him from The Illustrated London News of the 13th April 1844. We believe that he was awarded The Naval Medal for Trafalgar in 1847.