,i>Purchase was replaced by patronage as a suitable means of obtaining a commission. On the whole, Marine officers were gentlemen, but there were exceptions. The butler of the retired Commissioner of the Chatham Dockyard was successful in securing a lieutenant’s commission for his son. Another, “of respectable connections, and of the best morals” advertised for a patron in The Times.
Rodger has this to say on patronage:
Admiral Keppel recommended a young man for preferment in the Marines because his father as adjutant during the attack on Belle Isle [in 1761] 'has exerted himself in a particular manner during the whole service and the young lad has shewn spirit'. (NAM Rodger, The Wooden World, p 293) (The notes inform me that Keppel's letter is at TNA, ref ADM1/91 f.279)
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Date: Mar. 11th, 2012 00:51 (UTC)From:Rodger has this to say on patronage:
Admiral Keppel recommended a young man for preferment in the Marines because his father as adjutant during the attack on Belle Isle [in 1761] 'has exerted himself in a particular manner during the whole service and the young lad has shewn spirit'. (NAM Rodger, The Wooden World, p 293) (The notes inform me that Keppel's letter is at TNA, ref ADM1/91 f.279)