Marine Society
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Marine Society is a British
charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...
, the world's first established for seafarers. In 1756, at the beginning of the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
against
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, and
Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
(and subsequently the
Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
) Britain urgently needed to recruit men for the navy.
Jonas Hanway Jonas Hanway Royal Society of Arts, FRSA (12 August 1712 – 5 September 1786), was a British philanthropist, polemicist, merchant and Explorer, traveller. He was the first male Londoner to carry an umbrella and was a noted opponent of tea drinki ...
(1712–1786), who had already made his mark as a traveller, Russia Company merchant, writer and
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
, must take the chief credit for founding the society which both contributed to the solution of that particular problem, and has continued for the next two and a half centuries to assist many thousands of young people in preparing for a career at sea. In 2004, in a merger with the Sea Cadet Association, the Marine Society & Sea Cadets was formed.


Formation

The Marine Society, the world's oldest public maritime charity, was an initiative of a group of London merchants and gentlemen, who first met at the King's Arms Tavern,
Cornhill, London Cornhill (formerly also Cornhil) is a ward and street in the City of London, the historic nucleus and financial centre of modern London, England. The street runs between Bank Junction and Leadenhall Street. The hill from which it takes its n ...
on 25 June 1756 to discuss a plan to supply two or three thousand seafarers for the navy. Recruitment began immediately. Sponsors were sought and advertisements for volunteers appeared in newspapers and on the street:
"''Notice is hereby given, that all stout lads and boys, who incline to go on board His Majesty’s Ships, with a view to learn the duty of a seaman, and are, upon examination, approved by the Marine Society, shall be handsomely clothed and provided with bedding, and their charges born down to the ports where His Majesty’s Ships lye, with all other proper encouragement.''"
Ten men were duly clothed and delivered to ships of the King's navy. In this small way began the work of the Marine Society. The main object of the charity when founded was sending unemployed or orphaned teenagers to sea as officers' servants. The Royal Navy was estimated to need about 4,500 boys as servants during wartime. Approximately a thousand were 'young gentlemen' intending to be officers, and many of the remainder were supplied by the society. As the boys were for the most part from non-seafaring families the society probably provided a real increase of several thousand to the pool of naval recruitment. The society also provided over ten thousand naval recruits with free clothing, which helped reduce the
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...
problem.


Incorporated by act of Parliament

The scheme really took off. By 1763, the society had recruited over 10,000 men and boys; in 1772, such was its perceived importance in the life of the nation, it was incorporated in an act of Parliament, the Marine Society Act 1772 ( 12 Geo. 3. c. 67). Admiral Nelson became a stalwart supporter and trustee of the charity, such that by the time of the
Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...
(1805) at least 15% of British manpower was being supplied, trained and equipped by the Marine Society. The relative professionalism of these men, the great British naval hero readily acknowledged, played a part in his victories.


Hostilities cease, education starts

But the end of hostilities meant that naval recruitment was no longer the nation's first priority, although Admiral Boscawen was later to write: "''No scheme for manning the navy, within my knowledge, has ever had the success as the Marine Society’s.''" Hanway now formulated plans for transferring boys to the merchant service on their discharge from naval ships and from then on, the Society was equally involved with both
Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...
and Merchant navies. Early reports from commanding officers had indicated that the number of desertions might be reduced if boys equipped by the Society were given a period of training before being sent to sea. Initially the Society hired a
schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...
and
bandmaster A bandmaster is the leader and conductor of a band, usually a concert band, military band, brass band or a marching band. British Armed Forces In the British Army, bandmasters of the Royal Corps of Army Music now hold the rank of staff ...
to teach some of the boys and in 1786 purchased a merchant ship the Beatty, which was converted to a training ship and renamed ''Marine Society''. The Society thus became the first organisation in the world to pioneer nautical training for boys in its special school ship which was moored in the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
between
Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...
and
Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...
. This example was followed in the nineteenth century by many other organisations in ports round the
British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
. From 1799 until 1918
The Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of its h ...
provided a succession of training ships, the last two of which were renamed ''Warspite''; starting with HMS Warspite (1807) in 1846, and later HMS Conqueror renamed in 1877. In 1922 the Society commissioned HMS ''Hermione'' as the third ''Warspite''. However the outbreak of the Second World War forced the Society to evacuate the ship owing to the probability of air attack. From 1756 to 1940 the Society recruited over 110,000 men and boys for the Royal Navy, the
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
and Merchant service. Records show that from 1756 to 1815 the charity provided some twelve percent of naval manpower, all the more valuable to the nation since each one was a volunteer. In February 1945 the vice-president of the Society, Frederick Mead, retired from the chairmanship of the Society, following 51 years as a committee member. Mead was 97 years old.


After the Second World War

After the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the society concluded that there were by then sufficient facilities for sea-training provided by national authorities. It continued to provide sea-kits for many young seafarers and, where necessary, offered grants for their education, but in the 1950s the Society began to insist that cadets thus helped should have completed a good general education, obtaining a minimum of four GCE passes at
O level O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), ...
. In this way the Marine Society pioneered what was subsequently accepted as standard practice for the entry of officers into the Merchant Navy. Between 1940 and 1987, as the society's reserves increased, it was not only able to help individual seafarers but also to make grants to many maritime charities. In 1981 it provided the base funds for the Marine Adventure Sailing Trust, a limited life investment trust fund, which enabled it to make further substantial grants to the Sea Cadet Corps, TS Foudroyant, Ocean Youth Club and other maritime youth charities. In 1976 the society amalgamated with various other maritime charities with similar aims, including the Incorporated Thames Nautical Training College (ITNTC, located on a succession of ships renamed ), the Seafarers Education Service (SES), the Sailors' Home and Red Ensign Club, the Merchant Navy Comforts Service Trust and the British Ship Adoption Society. The merger of the SES with the Marine Society at this time was hugely significant and helped to ensure the continued relevance of both of their operations. The SES consisted of the Marine Society College of the Sea and the Seafarers Library service, and had been inaugurated in 1919 by
Albert Mansbridge Albert Mansbridge, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (10 January 1876, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England – 22 August 1952, Torquay, Devon) was an English educator who was one of the pioneers of adult education in Britain. He is best know ...
who had earlier founded the Workers Educational Association. Both the College of the Sea and the ships' library service continue to flourish today. For the past 30 years, the principal objectives of the Marine Society have been to facilitate and to provide practical and financial support for the education, training and well-being of all professional seafarers and to encourage young people to embark on maritime careers.


Marine Society & Sea Cadets

For many years the Marine Society has had strong ties with the Sea Cadet Corps, not only as benefactor and landlord to the Sea Cadet Association but also by providing sea training opportunities for hundreds of sea cadets each year. It was because of the complementary objectives of the two charities and, more specifically, the mutual desire to introduce an element of Merchant Navy ethos to the Sea Cadet Corps, that a merger of the Sea Cadet Association with the Marine Society came about on 30 November 2004. The new charity created thereby, known as The Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC), is the holding brand for the two distinct organisations and is the UK's largest non-profit maritime organisation. It is based in a Victorian building close to the river
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
and adjacent to
Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...
in south
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Within the MSSC organisation, the Marine Society continues as a charity involved in lifelong learning for maritime professionals.


Notes


External links


The Marine SocietySea CadetsThe Marine Society Online ShopMaths@Sea E-LearningTwitterFacebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marine Society Charities based in London Organizations established in 1756 1756 establishments in Great Britain Seafarers' Welfare Organizations