Whilst it is commendable that more than a few of his mess-mates had, apparently, rallied round to find the money to erect such a monument in his honour, one wonders if they, in turn, were helped by a sponsor? Did this someone, as a possible favour to his parents, also have taken John on board ship as, maybe, an officer’s servant with intentions for him to be trained as an able seaman if not midshipman? – just like Horatio Nelson some 25 years earlier. It is clear that the stone, and the skill required to inscribe it, would not have come cheap. “John Parsons (Pirsins) Sir” Who knows, but the surname stuck!ĭid John Pirsins really come from the lower classes, or did he have connections with a higher status from where favours were often bestowed on family members and friends? Take the the quality of the gravestone as another faint clue. Literacy, at the time, was not a strong point in either area of occupation, so when it came to registering a person’s name, the presence of illiteracy, local dialects and unclear pronunciation came into play:- “Name”. How come is the obvious question? Well – his forenam ‘John’ let’s assume this to be correct, appears to have been a rural lad from the heart of the Norfolk countryside and he left home to join the British Navy. Then there is the surname which is a rare, so rare that one may well construe that it came about in error. In the 18th century, one in four seamen were apparently named ‘John’, this may have been their baptismal name or the one the authorities or mates would bestow in the absence of a known name.
For a start, take his name – John Pirsins. Where does one start in trying to identify this young lad and his circumstances. This stone is erected by his messmates as a tribute due to his early valour. His gravestone states the following: Sacred to the memory of John Pirsins aged 13 years who died the 18th Day of November 1797 in consequence of the wounds he received on board His Majesty’s Ship ‘Triumph’ the 11th of October in the action fought between the British and Bativian fleets off Camperdown.
John Pirsins had survived, and presumably suffered, for five weeks before giving in to the inevitable. It tells us clearly that his name was John Pirsins, he was 13 years old and he had died from wounds received at the Battle of Camperdown which took place on 11th October 1797. In this day and age one can only speculate!Īll we have is the inscription on his headstone. His gravestone, name and inscription raises so many questions but few answers. One may well ask what his qualities might have been in life and what had he done to deserve such a place in the memories of others.
In the graveyard of All Saints Church in Horsford, Norfolk lies a very young person of mystery who clearly had received a heroes burial from those who thought highly of him.