Robert Bastin (or Bastone) had the distinction of serving under Lord Nelson and of fighting at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.  He was born in Ottery St. Mary on 30th September 1780 (1) and was the fourth son of John Bastone and his wife Mary.  The family name seems to have been Bastone originally but was changed to Bastin around the turn of that century (Robert’s naval record gives Bastone as his alternative name). 

The family must have moved shortly after his birth to become the occupiers of Tidwell Barton in East Budleigh Parish.  Tidwell at that time was owned by a barrister, Mr Walrond.  John Bastone paid the land tax for Tidwell in 1786 and continued in occupation until his death in 1801 when his wife Mary and three other sons, John, James and William took over the lease (2).  

Robert must have had his early education locally and then entered the navy in May 1796 as a first class volunteer on HMS Nymphe, a 36 gun frigate.  He worked his way up gradually becoming an Able Seaman in January 1797 and was then taken on as a midshipman in July of that year.  The Nymphe was in action in March 1797 and was involved with another ship in the capture of two French frigates.  He briefly served as a midshipman on HMS Cambridge which was guard ship at Plymouth but then returned to Nymphe where he was later appointed Master’s Mate.  He transferred as Master’s Mate onto the larger HMS Donegal (74 guns) in May 1802 before the important and fateful move to become a junior Lieutenant on HMS Belleisle in June 1803. 

The Belleisle was a captured French Ship built in 1793 and it had 88 heavy guns and carronades and was a particularly fast sailer.  After Robert joined her she was involved in the blockade of Toulon (1803-4) which was commanded by Lord Nelson.  One of Napoleon’s strategies was for the French Mediterranean fleet to join up with the Spanish fleet from Cadiz and sail to the West Indies to join his ships there and then for this much enlarged fleet to return to clear Cornwallis’ blockade of the French fleet at Brest and destroy the British fleet in the English Channel thus allowing his invasion barges to carry troops to England unopposed.  

The French fleet managed to leave Toulon when Nelson’s ships were scattered by storms and after a fruitless search of the Mediterranean for them Nelson pursued them to the West Indies and Belleisle went with him.  Both fleets returned without making contact and Belleisle went on other duties but, after Nelson requested re-enforcements, the ship rejoined him on the 10th October.  

Their captain, William Hargood, was a good friend of Nelson’s, and had been at his wedding, and as his ship had been part of Nelson’s Mediterranean squadron the crew was well trained. On 21st October 1805 the two fleets finally met up at Cape Trafalgar and joined battle.  Nelson’s plan was for the British fleet to split into two columns and to attack the single French/Spanish line of ships at right angles thus splitting their line in two.  This inevitably resulted in the British ships taking a pounding before they could return fire.  Nelson led one column in Victory and Admiral Collingwood led the second (lee) column in Royal Sovereign.  Belleisle was the second ship behind Royal Sovereign and thus was heavily involved in the battle.  

As an example of what Bastin endured I include some passages from one of several good books about the battle (3): 

In Belleisle thirty marines were stationed on the poop with three marine officers in front of them...the sixteen year old marine lieutenant Paul Nicolas was reassured for a moment by the sight of the crew, tanned, determined, some grinning... to Nicolas, who had never experienced combat, they all seemed eager for action...then he heard the whistle of incoming fire and realised what they were about to suffer.  

Hargood ordered all the men on the ship to lie down, except for the officers who were expected to remain upright in the face of the enemy. As the hits became more frequent Hargood was knocked over by a large piece of splintered wood. He got up again and climbed back on to the carronade (the starboard one on the quarter deck).  

The ship endured a severe battering for about twenty minutes before Hargood ordered the crew to open fire. She exchanged fire with the Spanish Santa Ana and then the French Indomptable but the major battle was had at around 1 pm with the French Fourgueux which had a very skilful captain.  At the same time Belleisle was also under attack from the Spanish ship Monarca.

From a further account (4) we read:  

The Belleisle, though by this time a wreck, was further attacked until she was completely dismasted and shattered.  But she remained unconquered, and suspended a Union Jack at the end of a pike and held it up to view, while an ensign was made fast to the stump of the mainmast ... and although unable to take further active part in the fighting she sent her last remaining boat to take possession of the Spanish Argonauta, which had hauled down her colours. The losses of the Belleisle amounted to 127 killed and wounded. Her hull was knocked to pieces, while her three masts, bowsprit and figurehead were shot away, together with her boats and anchors.  

Bastin was the 5th Lieutenant of the ship and his juniors the 6th & 7th Lieutenants were both killed and the 4th Lieutenant was wounded.  The Belleisle was taken in tow by the frigate Naiad, and though leaking badly, the tow rope breaking on several occasions and almost being driven on shore in the terrible gale that followed the battle, they finally reached Gibraltar. 

Another interesting local connection was made after the Battle of Trafalgar when John Carslake, who had been a midshipman in HMS Victory, joined Belleisle as a Lieutenant to take the place of one of those killed during the battle.  Carslake (later Commander Carslake) was the founder of the Sid Vale Association in 1846. 

In February 1806 Bastin was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in HMS Blanche.  In July 1806 the ship was involved in an action resulting in the capture of the French ship La Guerriere during which he was shot through the thigh by a musket ball and was mentioned in dispatches.  In consequence of this action, his wound, and other exploits, when the ship returned to Sheerness he was awarded £200 by the Patriotic Society.   

He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant but the ship was unfortunately wrecked off Ushant in March 1807 and he remained a prisoner of war until 1814.  The court martial in June 1814 honourably acquitted the captain and officers and concluded that iron stanchions and other iron components had affected the compasses causing the wreck (5). 

Like many sailors, after the end of the Napoleonic War Robert was unable to get further employment, he therefore eventually retired on pension in May 1836 as a Commander.  In 1847 he was awarded the Naval General Service Medal with three clasps for his earlier exploits (HMS Nymphe 8 March 1797 - capture of three French frigates; HMS Belleisle 21 October 1805 - Battle of Trafalgar; HMS Blanche 19 July 1806 - capture of La Guerriere) (6).  

Robert had married Sarah Boucart on 7th October 1818 and they had one daughter.  Sarah was born in Guernsey and in the 1841 & 1851 censuses the couple were living at 39 Hauteville, St. Peter Port, Guernsey.  He seems to have died in Dorset Place North, Clapham Road, Surrey in September 1854 and his wife died there in 1856 (6,7). 

Compiled and Researched by Roger Lendon, © 2011. 

(1)Parish Records for Ottery St. Marys

(2)Information from Gerald Millington 

(3)Trafalgar, the men, the battle, the storm. Tim Clayton & Phil Craig 2004. Hodder & Stoughton

(4)The Trafalgar Roll. Colonel R H Mackenzie 2004. Chatham Publishing

(5)Wikipedia entry for HMS Blanche

(6)Trafalgar Ancestors on the National Archives website.

(7)www.freebmd.org.uk.

116 EB-B-00004  Biography any