Lifesaving

Memorial: M3445

Memorial at St Peter’s Church, Port Royal, Jamaica commemorating Captain Augustus James Champion de Crespigny d. 1825

Location

St Peter's Church, Port Royal, Jamaica, Rest of the World

Transcript

'SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF / AUGUSTUS JAMES DE CRESPIGNY, 3D SON OF SIR W. CHN & LADY SARAH DE CRESPIGNY, / WHO DIED ON BOARD H.M.SHIP 'SCYLLA', OCT. 24TH, 1825. / CAPT DE CRESPIGNY WENT FIRST TO SEA UNDER THE / PATRONAGE OF LD. ST VINCENT, & SERVED UNDER THE FLAG / OF NELSON, AT TRAFALGAR, FROM THENCE, HE WAS TAKEN UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF LD. COLLINGWOOD, WHO MADE HIM STUDY THE DUTIES OF A SEAMAN, UNDER HIS PARTICULAR CARE. / THE ABOVE GALLANT OFFICER SAVED NO LESS THAN SIXTEEN LIVES OF HIS FELLOW CREATURES / DURING HIS NAVAL CAREER FOR WHICH HE WAS PRESENTED WITH A SERVICE OF PLATE FROM HIS SHIP'S CREW, AS WELL AS A MEDAL FROM THE R.H.S., IN THE ANNUAL REPORT OF WHICH SOCIETY AN ACCOUNT IS GIVEN, THE LAST PARAGRAPH IS AS FOLLOWS: / THESE ARE TO CERTIFY TO THE PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY / THAT LIEUTENANT AUGUSTUS C. DE CRESPIGNY / SERVED WITH ME AS A VOLUNTEER MIDSHIPMAN FROM HIS / MAJESTY'S SHIP 'TONNANT' IN THE GUNBOAT SERVICE IN CADIZ IN 1810, / DURING WHICH TIME I HAD OPPORTUNITIES OF SEEING HIS / NOBLE CONDUCT ON THREE VERY PARTICULAR OCCASIONS. / FIRST, IN JUMPING FROM A BOAT IN A VERY STRONG TIDE WAY AND SAVING A MARINE, / SECOND, A BOY IN THE SAME WAY, AND THIRDLY, IN TAKING TO A SMALL / BOAT & PULLING INTO THE VERY MUZZLES OF THE ENEMY'S GUNS, / AND / EVIDENTLY SAVING FIVE MEN THAT WERE NEAR DROWNING, BY THE / 'ACHILLES' BARGE BEING SUNK: HIS CONDUCT ON THE LAST OCCASION / WAS SO TRULY NOBLE THAT HE NOT ONLY GAINED THE ADMIRATION OF THE / WHOLE FLOTILLA BUT THE ENVY OF THE FRENCH COMMANDING / OFFICER, WHO AT LAST ORDERED HIS MEN TO CEASE FIRING ON HIM. / GIVEN UNDER MY HAND, THIS 12TH DAY OF JULY 1815, WEST COWES, G.W. SARMON. / THIS TRIBUTE TO A FATHER'S MEMORY WAS ERECTED BY HIS ELDEST SON, SIR CLAUDE CHN. DE CRESPIGNY, BT. 1841'

Details

Date Erected: 1841

Event

Battle of Trafalgar

Event Date

1805

Event Category

1803-1815 Napoleonic War

People

Champion de Crespigny, Augustus James
Age: 34
Date of Death: 24/10/1825
Cause of Death: Infectious disease
Rank / Occupation: Captain RN
Organisation: Royal Navy

Extra

Notes: The letter to the Royal Humane Society quoted was from Commander George Wood Sarmon, who was a Lieutenant at the time of the incident in 1810. The RHS report of 1816 also includes letters from Thomas Forrest and Rear Admiral Francis Laforey in support of an award to Augustus de Crespigny, also dated 1815. Captain de Crespigny died of yellow fever.
Bibliography: Captain J.H. Lawrence-Archer 'Monumental Inscriptions of the British West Indies' (London, 1875) p.291.
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