Stanton’s autobiography from 1860-61 paints a vivid picture of this colourful mariner.
William Henry Stanton (1803-78) first went to sea at the age of 11. By the time he passed his examination as a Cinque Ports pilot (aged about 30) he had been a fisherman, a mariner on deep sea voyages to India and South America, a boatman and a smuggler! He also played a key role in improving the wages for Deal boatmen. He spent the rest of his working life (30 more years) as a ship’s pilot.
Intriguing manuscript
We know much of the story of his early years from his manuscript autobiography written during the winter of 1860-61. It is an intriguing if curious volume, containing selected episodes from his life interspersed with observations, songs, poetry and even the occasional illustration.
Take a look at the image above. The flags on the right of the picture were Marryat’s code of signals. There were several editions of the code between 1817 and 1870 and these were used to decipher the flags displayed by commercial ships.