Captain James Clephan (1768–1851) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

officer who served as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

in 1805. He rose from the ranks to become a post-captain. A flag presented to him after the battle by the crew of the ship on which he served at Trafalgar was sold at auction for £384,000 on

Trafalgar Day Trafalgar Day is the celebration of the victory won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. History The formation of the Navy Leag ...

2009.

Biography

Born in

Scoonie Scoonie is a settlement and parish in Fife, Scotland, the parish contains the town of Leven. It is bordered on the north by the parishes of Kettle and Ceres, on the east by the parish of Largo, on the south by the parishes of Markinch and Wem ...

in Fife, Scotland in 1768, Clephan was originally a weaver but joined the Merchant navy when the weaving industry went into decline. He was press ganged into the

on 23 July 1794 aged 26. Beginning as an Able Bodied 2nd Class Mate aboard HMS ''Sibyl'', he then made 2nd Class Gunner's Mate on HMS ''Doris'' and

master's mate Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master. Master's mates evolved into the modern rank of Sub-Lieutenant in t ...

on 10 October 1796.Charles Miller sale catalogue October 2009
/ref> He was promoted to Midshipman on 7 January 1801 and was promoted to

on 31 July 1801 for distinguished conduct during the successful capture of the French corvette ''Chevrette'' at

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.'Last surviving Trafalgar flag expected to fetch £15,000 at auction'
– ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' 8 October 2009 pg 25 Despite being wounded and knocked overboard, Clephan was still the first man to reach the enemy's deck. On his promotion Admiral Sir William Cornwallis said "..you well deserve your promotion; few officers have earned it so hardly." Assigned to the 90-gun HMS ''Namur'', Clephan served as her Second Lieutenant until the Peace of Amiens in April 1802. Taking the opportunity to marry during this brief interval, in March 1803 Clephan was appointed First Lieutenant of the 74-gun HMS ''Spartiate'', which had been captured from the French during the Battle of the Nile. He was on board ''Spartiate'' during the

in 1805, after which he was presented with the ship's

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

as a mark of esteem from the crew. He served on board ''Spartiate'' until December 1809. Turner, The Battle of Trafalgar (1806)

In 1811 he joined , and in April was promoted to commander and given the sloop in which he captured two American vessels, the brig and the

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Blockade'' in 1813 during the

American War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

. In 1814–15 he participated in the British expedition against

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and, on its failure, conveyed the despatches. In August 1815, with the Peace, he was paid off at

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and placed on half pay. In the 1830s Clephan is recorded as living at 3 Salisbury Place in

Newington, Edinburgh Newington is a neighbourhood of southern Edinburgh, Scotland. Developed from the early 19th century, it is an affluent, predominantly residential area. Located between 1 (1.5km) and 2.5 miles (4km) south of Edinburgh city centre, Newington is ...

. He retired in 1840 with the rank of captain. He was one of only 16 press ganged men to attain the rank of Captain out of an estimated 300,000 men. Clephan retired to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and died there in 1851 aged 83.

Trafalgar flag

On 8 October 2009 ''

'' reported that the Union Jack which had been presented to Clephan after Trafalgar had been discovered in a drawer by a descendant and was to be

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

ed. The 11 ft x 7 ft (3.5m x 2.1m) flag had been made by the crew out of 31 bunting panels and was riddled with holes made by cannonshot and bullets. As the only surviving Union Jack from the battle, it was expected to raise £15,000 but actually made £384,000 (A$687,774). Among the unsuccessful bidders was the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...

Blockade flag

A rare American flag of 17 Stars and 17 Stripes, flown by the U.S.

Privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Blockade'' descended in the Clephan family and surfaced in 2007, when it was sold in private sale to the Zaricor Flag Collection. Captain Clephan's ship, the H.M.S. Charybdis, captured the ''Blockade'' off of the island of

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in the Caribbean on 31 October 1812. The ship was sold as a prize of war, and Captain Clephan kept the ship's flag. The flag is one of the earliest known Stars and Stripes in private hands, and the only 17-Star, 17-Stripe flag known to survive. The flag was sold in private sale to the Zaricor Flag Collection of Santa Clara, California. The Zaricor Flag Collection also purchased the Trafalgar flag, and both of Captain Clephan's early flags remain together.'U.K Jack – HMS Spartiate, Battle of Trafalgar' – Zaricor Flag Collection website
/ref>

References

External links

'Last surviving Trafalgar flag expected to fetch £15,000 at auction'
''

'' 8 October 2009 *Charles Miller Ltd

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clephan, James 1768 births 1851 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy officers People from Scoonie Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars

Biography

Trafalgar flag

Blockade flag

References

Further reading

External links