I was very interested in the article
which appeared in the Sunday Telegraph of 27 October about
the cabin boy who was eaten by the crew and your experiences
of coincidence.
I have to say that my husband and
I do not normally buy a Sunday newspaper but my daughter
and her friend were house-sitting for us while we were on
holiday and the friend bought the Sunday Telegraph. I read
it on the Monday and immediately felt what a coincidence
when I saw the article.
My husband and I were on holiday
in Guernsey staying in the Duke of Normandie Hotel in St
Peter Port. On the Saturday, 26 October we were sitting
at a table in the bar and on this table is carved into the
wood the story of the shipwreck and the fate of the cabin
boy. I was quite sceptical of this story and could hardly
believe it when I read about it again in the following day's
Sunday Telegraph.
JANICE ROBERTSON- Loanhead Midlothian
Copyright Craig Hamilton-Parker
I don't know if you can print this,
but I write the day after I received my subscription copy
of FT with the tale of Richard Parker's death by cannibalism
and the coincidences which crop up whenever his name is
mentioned.
Last night feeling a little under
the weather, I read my FT from cover to cover, which is
not my usual practice. Then I fell asleep. Also against
my usual practice, I stayed in until past 11 AM whereupon
I was roused by a phone call from a friend, asking me to
help him compose a letter to his employer, Dudley's, with
whom he is in dispute over the withholding of sick pay.
After composing and mailing said letter we went along to
a local advice centre in order to find out exactly what
the legal position was.
During the course of the interview
my pal was told that his employer. Terry Dudley, was riding
roughshod over accepted legal procedures. Then we went for
coffee, and a discussion on the mindset of the boss classes
ensued. "Well, I reckon this riding roughshod over
legal procedures is in his blood" said my friend. "This
guy is into tracing his ancestors, and one of his ancestors
was a sea captain who was done for eating a cabin boy without
drawing lots....."
My pal wasn't a FT reader (though
I reckon he will be now!) and the relevant issue of FT was
not yet in the shops. I'm willing to bet this is not the
only Richard Parker-based coincidence letter you receive.
As Terry Dudley must also be distantly
related to the guy who ate the distant relative of Craig
Hamilton-Parker, perhaps you would like to pass this on
to him?
Carlton B Morgan - Newport, Gwent.
Copyright Craig Hamilton-Parker
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I was interested in the cannibalism
incident (FT92) in your family's history. Your account of
the survivors' stay here in Falmouth is very brief, so I looked
up the microfilm copies of "Lake's Falmouth Packet and
Cornwall Advertiser" (the local weekly paper) in the
library here. The story was very fully reported in the 13/9/1884
edition, and the trial was followed almost every week to the
end of the year. (I realise that you have probably seen this
material already)
The local people were very interested
in the case and sympathetic towards the accused. The men appeared
before local magistrates on the Monday after they landed,
when they were remanded in custody until the Thursday- rather
to their surprise, because they had planned to return to their
homes! At the second hearing they were allowed home on bail
(much of which was put up by Falmouth supporters)
The "Packet" reported: "During
the (second) hearing of the case a seaman was painfully interested
in the proceedings- Parker's brother. He was dressed in the
usual costume of a yachtsman, with the name 'Marguerite' sewed
in red on the breast of his jersey After the court was over,
he came over to Captain Dudley to speak to him. Dudley extended
his hand, which Parker accepted. They only had a few words
of conversation in regard to the wages of the deceased, which
Dudley informed Parker were at the Customs House." (Dudley's
previous command was the steam yacht 'Myrtle', so there was
the SS 'Montezuma' and 3 yacht names with the initial 'M'
connected to the case.)
The "Packet" also reported
that the memorial headstone in Pear Tree Churchyard was paid
for by Mr Haskins, Engineer, of London. It was supposed to
bear a copy of a photograph of Richard Parker by 'the endolythic
process', but the picture in your article shows no sign of
this. (The photo supposedly used was of Richard's brother
William at age 17, because of their strong resemblance)
I now live in Falmouth, but once lived
in Brightlinsea (and later in Ipswich), the area where two
of the survivors lived. At that time I worked as a professional
yacht skipper myself, and sailed several times into Southampton-
happily, I never had to dine off my crew!
R J DOWNHAM- Falmouth, Cornwall
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