Henry Rogers

Henry Rogers was a Lieutenant on board HMS Arethusa between 9 June 1852 and 15 January 1855.

Henry was born at Mawnam Sanctuary, Cornwall, near Falmouth, on the 24th December 1824. The 5th son and 6th child of the Rev Canon Rogers of Exeter Cathedral and of Mary Jope the daughter of John Jope, Vicar of St Cleer in the same County.

His mother was ill after his birth and he was taken by his father and mother to Italy, where his mother died at Pisa on 11 March 1827 and was buried at Leghorn. When he was 7 years old, he and his elder brother, Saltren, went to school at Chudleigh. He went on to Blundells Grammar School at Tiverton when he was 10 years old, and at 14 went to Doctor Burney's at Gosport, in preparation for entering the Navy.

In November 1841 aged 17 he started as a midshipman in the Navy (on H.M.S. North Star). He sailed for China (via Madeira, the Cape of God Hope and Singapore) where the Opium war was taking place and was present at the bombardment of Woosung and at the surrender of Shanghai. He was awarded the China medal.

During the next seven years he was involved in suppressing the slave trade in east and west Africa. On two occasions during this time he was responsible for taking captured slave ships to St Helena. For part of the time his ship, the Mutine, was on Mediterranean station in the Ionian Islands, during which time he passed for acting mate. The Mutine was wrecked on the island of Palestrina, off Venice, on 21 December 1848, when Henry was one of those who tried to swim ashore with a rope but was drawn back nearly dead, for which he was mentioned in the Admiralty despatches.

Henry Rogers was appointed to the Arethusa on 9 June 1852, shortly after his promotion to lieutenant. During this period he served in the Black Sea and Crimea and kept a journal from which these extracts are taken.

After the Arethusa left the Crimea, Henry himself had to return to Britain for medical reasons and later joined the Hastings serving in the Baltic. He was awarded the Baltic, Crimean and Turkish medals. with clasps for Sebastopol and Inkerman. Other appointments followed.

On 3 June 1865 Henry was promoted to commander, but shortly afterwards an accident cut short his naval career and he retired and settled down in Plymouth with his family. He died on 26 November 1912.