Commander Edward Little

  In 1843 , Edward Little served on HMS Vindictive under Captain John Toup Nicholas (also spelled Nicolas) as first Lieutenant. The ship was sent to assess the escalating situation of Tahiti which had just fallen under the control of the French. These events would later lead to the Franco-Tahitian war (Apr 1844 - Mar 1847)    In 1836, Queen P ō mare IV of Tahiti, under the influence of George Pritchard (British consul), evicted three French nationals, two of them being Catholic missionaries. As Tahiti had been converted to Protestant Christianity in the early 19th century by the intervention of the London Missionary Society, the eviction became a national and religious issue. In 1838, French naval commander Abel Aubert Dupetit-Thouars arrived in Tahiti and demanded reparations for the expulsion of the French missionaries. He came back four years later, claiming the Tahitian government had violated a treaty of friendship with France and demanding financial compensation. ...

To this day , no letter between the Little family members has been found, either before or after Edward's disappearance in the arctic, but some archives and newspapers give up a glimpse of how the expedition affected the family life   The Relief Expedition meeting In 1857, James Cornelius Little, Edward's eldest brother, took part in a meeting centered around Lady Jane Franklin's effort to send another expedition in search of her husband and his crew. James Cornelius was described as "an esteemed resident" [of Jersey] and the he " had taken a lively interest in the proceedings of this meeting. He had to deplore the loss of a brother in the ill-fated expedition of Sir John Franklin. He was happy to have the opportunity to express his thanks to the gentlemen who had taken the initiative in the proceedings. " James Cornelius also subscribed to the cause by donating 10£   ¹ (which according to the TNA currency converter , would be around 590£ in 2017)

While looking for some correspondence at the National Archive, I stumbled upon two handwritten letters by Edward Little, given the information on them and Edward's service record, we can conclude that it is indeed the same man The first one is from  July 21st 1838, written while Edward was   serving on HMS Donegal, and addressed to Captain Drake ¹  : ADM 1/4866, Letters from Promiscuous , 1834,  The National Archives     It reads :   HMS Donegal, in the Tagus, July 21st 1838 Sir,  Being desirous to join HMS Excellent  for the purpose of becoming more efficient in  the exercice of gunnery, I have to request you  will be pleased to forward this my application  for an appointment to that ship, to Read  Admiral Sir John Ommanney,   I am, Sir, your Obedient humble servant E. Little,  Lieut. To Captain Drake,  HMS Donegal   On the back we can read : Submitted for the consideration of the  Lords Commiss...

When I first came across this article, I couldn't be sure that it mentioned the same Edward Little. But now that we know about his early service record, we know that he was indeed serving aboard HMS Dublin as mate (from Nov 1831 to Oct 1834)  So, he's most certainly the one mentioned here : ¹   Albion and the Star , 26 Sep 1834    " A Mr. Edward Little, mate, was brought forward as witness, to prove Mr. Christie's assaulting him. The manner in which this Gentleman gave his evidence called forth the animadversions of the Court ."  There is more newspapers covering the full trial (but with no other mention of Little) : ² ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶

  Edward Little joined the Royal Navy in 1826 at 14, he was a volunteer first class aboard the HMS Forte, he was promoted Mate in 1831 when he joined the HMS Dublin. The following year, still onboard the ship, he passed his seamanship examination ¹ Back in London in 1834, he passed at the Royal Naval College.  ²  He remained a Mate until 1837, when he was appointed Lieutenant on HMS Donegal. His last appointment was 1st Lieutenant on HMS Terror in 1845 Searching for Edward Little's service record in the Royal Navy, the easiest documents to find about Edward Little's service record are these:  ADM 196/5/124 Officers Time of Service ,  The National Archives     ADM 196/36/2014, Commission and Warrant Branch: Executive Officers A-L ,  The National Archives   These documents give us his service record from his first appointment as Lieutenant on HMS Donegal in 1837 up until his appointment to HMS Terror in 1845. We can also learn...

     Edward's birth and baptism places aren't as easy to pinpoint as we could think, so here is everything I gathered on the subject :  (With some speculations on my part because some documents contradict each other )   Edward Little was born on 14 December 1911 from Sarah Little (née Hayter) and Simon Little, he was baptised in St Mary's church, Hornsey, on Jan 12th 1812  ¹ St Mary's Church Tower, Hornsey, Februrary 2025, taken by the author   The old medieval church was first mentioned in a papal taxation list of 1291, but by the 1820s the building was dilapidated and it was knocked down in 1832. After that, two new churches were built on these grounds, but none of them remains today, the third church was demolished in 1969, the churchyard was closed in 1892. Today, only the bell tower from the first church still stands, surrounded by a park and a Primary school playground ²