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Captain Beatty died in Tenby in 1856 but in the Probate Register he is described as “formerly a Captain in the 24th Light Dragoons afterwards of the City of Bath then of Budleigh Salterton”.  Census returns show his widow Frances lodging in Cliff Terrace from 1861 till 1881, and she died in the town in December 1884.  I suspect she had returned to the town after her husband’s death.  The couple had married at East Budleigh Church in June 1846 and, as a single woman, she was living in Fore Street at the time of the 1841 census, so she in particular had a long association with the town.  This was not Vincent’s first marriage (see below). 

Vincent Beatty was born in Ireland the son of James Beatty a Surveyor in the Revenue (1).  His elder brother was (Sir) William Beatty who was the surgeon on HMS Victory who attended Nelson at his death.  

Vincent came to England and joined the 27th Light Dragoons.  The London Gazette in April 1802 records “Adjutant Vincent Beatty to become Cornet”.  The term “Adjutant” however is strange because in today’s army more senior officers hold that post but possibly at that time it was a totally clerical job and it was his way of getting into the regiment.  

In 1803 the regiment was re-numbered as the 24th Light Dragoons.  He rapidly rose to the rank of Captain by November 1807.  During this period the regiment had been in India involved in the second Mahratta War and was in battles in September 1803 at Ally Ghur and Delhi, and a small number of them were later in action at Leswaree.  In November 1804 they were at Farakhabad and in the early part of 1805 were at Combir and at Afzaghar (2).  The regiment was definitely in India in 1806 doing general service duties, and Vincent was still in the regiment in 1810.  According to P. Crossle (3) he married Belinda Butler in Waterville, County Kerry, in October 1812.  

The Dragoons were disbanded in 1819 but by 1814 Vincent had volunteered to join the 1st Provisional Battalion of Militia commanded by the Marquis of Buckingham in England.  This probably means either that he had been put on half pay from the dragoons or wanted to get involved in the war against Napoleon.  His new battalion joined the British Army in France under the Marquis (later Duke) of Wellington but was not apparently at Waterloo. He is listed in the same battalion until 1827 but does not appear in the 1831 list.  

There is no evidence that Vincent had any children although it is interesting that a Vincent Beatty, gent, joined the 24th Light Dragoons in 1817 but was immediately put on half pay; he rejoined in 1839 but only in order to sell his commission (4).  Beatty had a slightly older Irish cousin also called Vincent so this man might have been his son. 

Captain Vincent Beatty and Frances Blaydes married in East Budleigh on 11th June 1846, he was described as “a widower”.  She had been born in Hull in 1802 the daughter of Benjamin Blaydes, a scion of the last generation of several who had been important merchants and ship builders in the town (5,6); one of their small ships was the 400 ton Beithia which was later bought by the Admiralty and became HMS Bounty.  

Frances’ mother Elizabeth (née Knowlesley) died in Budleigh Salterton in August 1826 and Frances was undoubtedly with her at the time and is likely to have generated friendships locally.  Frances’ father retired to Cheltenham and it is reasonable to assume that Frances lived with him; he died in 1840 and I suspect Frances then returned to Budleigh and thus appears in the 1841 census.  It is likely a single lady would have preferred to come to live in a town where she had friends or a family connection.  

How Vincent and Frances met is unknown but Emily Ross, daughter of Charlotte Ross (7) who lived at Abele Tree House in Fore Street, married an Edward Beatty which is a possible clue.  This connection is further supported by the fact that, Dr Bedcott Adams was a witness at Frances’ wedding (probably acting in loco parentis for her dead father)and he was the uncle of Charlotte Ross (née Winbolt); Jemima Winbolt (Charlotte’s sister) was a resident of Cliff Terrace where Frances lodged as a widow. 

Captain Beatty, with his brother General George Beatty, was an executor of Sir William Beatty’s will in 1842.  He did not attend the funeral as he was living in Tralee but one of the things he inherited was the musket ball that killed Nelson.  Beatty’s nephew, the Revd Baker, temporarily took custody of the musket ball and some articles of plate, which were returned to Vincent on 10 July 1844, who was then staying at 94 Sydney Place, Bath.    

Vincent gave the musket ball to the Earl of Haddington to be presented to Queen Victoria. A description of the gift is given in the following newspaper account. “The ball, with the particles of the coat and epaulette that were forced into the body by the stroke, is neatly and elegantly set within a crystal case, which is appropriately mounted with a double cable of gold around its circumference, and opens like a watch” (8). 

Compiled and researched by Roger Lendon 2011 © 2011 

(1)“Nelson’s Surgeon, William Beatty, Naval Medicine, and the Battle of Trafalgar” L. Brockliss, J Cardwell & M Moss (2005) Oxford Univ. Press.

(2)Families in British India: www.Fibis.org

(3)http://www.natural-software.com/bp2000/crossle/pages.php?page=254

(4)London Gazette 1817 & 1839

(5)In Visitation of England and Wales Notes,1897 Vol 2 1897 Edits J J Howard & F A Crisp

(6)Maritime Historical Studies Centre University of Hull: Blaydes House – a brief history. http://www.hull.ac.uk/mhsc/BlaydesHouse2008/BlaydesHouse-history.pdf 

(7)See OVApedia entry for the Ross Families.

(8)Daily Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 92, 18 January 1845, Page 3

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