Robert Jeffrey – 9 days on an island
( A map of Sombrero island made in 1880)
Robert Jeffrey was a blacksmith who worked on board a ship called the Lorn Nelson, which was a privateering ship that took contracts from the British government. One day in July of 1807 the Lord Nelson was harbored in the Cornish port of Falmouth when Captain Warwick Lake landed his ship, the “Recruit” in the same dock looking for men to join his crew.
Since he was an officer in the Royal Navy, Lake had the option of enforcing conscription to add men to his crew. This was normally done by taking either people in prisons or the unemployed between certain ages, but upon seeing an already trained crew and being short of time before having to depart for the West Indies, Lake forced some of the crew of the Lord Nelson to join his own.
Robert Jeffrey was amongst the ones chosen as he also happened to be a blacksmith, which made him one of the top choices for Lake. The Recruit left for the West Indies at the end of July and reached the Caribbean by mid-November, at which point drinking water was running dangerously low.
Since privateering ships aren’t owned or operated by the Royal Navy they tend to have much more relaxed rules, especially when it comes to drinking. On the 10th of December, Robert Jeffrey was seen drawing several pints of beer from the captain’s personal cask and was promptly reported on. He admitted the offence and Captain Lake put him on a blacklist.
On the 13th of the same month, the ship passed Sombrero island, a small piece of land only a quarter mile wide and just over 1 mile long, and completely void of any kind of natural water source or man-made well.
Apparently the captain staggered out of his cabin rather drunk and said “Lieutenant Mould! Do you see that rock? Lower the boat instantly. I’ll have no thieves on board my ship! Man, a boat and set the rascal on shore!”
Lieutenant Mould and a couple of the crew put Jeffrey in a small row boat and took him to shore with nothing but the clothes he was wearing, he didn’t even have shoes. The lieutenant is said to have delayed a while at the beach in the hope that the captain would change his mind, but after it seemed it wasn’t going to happen he handed Jeffrey a pair of shoes, a knife, and a handkerchief before heading back to his ship.
The Recruit headed to Barbados to join a fleet stationed there by Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, and when the crew started to meet other crews on other ships, the story of how Lake marooned Jeffrey on the island began to leak out. Admiral Cochrane was furious at Lake and ordered him back to the island to recover Jeffrey’s, but upon reaching the island there was no sign of him, all they found was a tomahawk and a pair of trousers that didn’t appear to have belonged to Jeffrey.
The story of the marooning spread throughout Britain and became a bit of an overnight sensation, with everyone speculating as to what had happened to him, with the most probable explanation being he was picked up by another ship.
As for Jeffrey, he had been spotted by a ship called the American Adams and taken to Massachusetts, after spending only 9 days on the island. He had survived by drinking rainwater that had collected in cracks in the rocks and eating limpets he found near the shoreline.
After news reached Britain of his survival and whereabouts, a ship was sent for him and he landed back in Portsmouth to find out that Captain Lake had been court-martialed and discharged from the navy for his crime. He was taken to his home and the whole village turned out to welcome him.
Lake offered him a compensation payment of £600 if he agreed not to pursue any legal action against him, which he gladly accepted as that was the equivalent of about 45 years’ worth of salary at the time.
His story didn’t end as well as he’d hoped though, as he blew through his money very quickly, even buying his own personal schooner, and died shortly after of consumption, leaving a wife and daughter with nothing.