Lapenotiere
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John Richards Lapenotiere RN was descended from Huguenot refugees, who came to England with William of Orange in 1688 and were settled in Ireland. His great grandfather, Frederick La Penotiere, served in the Royal Irish Regiment in the campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession and received a bounty for his service at the Battle of Blenheim, in 1704. His father, also Frederick, served in the Royal Navy.
John Richards Lapenotiere was born in Ilfracombe, Devon in1770. He served in a wide range of merchant and Royal Navy ships and, by the time he was 18, had circumnavigated the world. He served two years accompanying Captain Bligh on his second expedition to the Pacific, returning to England in 1793. After serving in the Caribbean and home waters, he was given the command of HMS Pickle in May 1802, eventually being ordered to join the British Fleet under Lord Nelson off Cadiz in September 1805. His ship was too small to take an active role in the Battle of Trafalgar but it was close by.
Lapenotiere was charged with taking the message about Lord Nelson's death and the victory off Cape Trafalgar, to William Marsden, Secretary of the Navy, at Admiralty House in London, which he did with great tenacity. The ship almost foundered in the Bay of Biscay but was saved by jettisoning cannons to lighten the load. He arrived in Falmouth on 4th November, landing at Fishstrand Quay about midday. He set off by post-chaise shortly after and delivered the Dispatch to William Marsden thirty-six hours later, on 6th November, after a journey of about 271 miles and involving twenty-one changes of horses. This it was more than two weeks after the battle that the news finally reached England.
After delivering the momentous news, Lapenotiere was promoted to Commander and continued to serve in the Royal Navy, retiring as a Post Captain. He died in 1834 and was buried at Menheniot, Cornwall. Two of his sons followed him into the Royal Navy.
The bicentenary of the historic journey from Falmouth to London was commemorated by the New Trafalgar Dispatch and Trafalgar Way celebrations, from July to September 2005.
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