Quilliam and HMS Victory
- Item sets
- Military
- Name
- Quilliam and HMS Victory
- Description
- John Quilliam was born in Castletown — the old capital where Castle Rushen stood with its lead roof stripped and its barracks crumbling. He grew up in the post-Revestment economy of sixpence-a-day wages and collapsed commerce. He was pressed into the Royal Navy. He rose through the ranks until by 1805 he was First Lieutenant of HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship. When the wheel was shot away during the battle, Quilliam organised the tiller ropes that steered the ship through the engagement — skills learned on the Irish Sea saving Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar. He came home to Mann. He sat in the House of Keys. The pressed fisherman from a ruined harbour became one of the most distinguished naval officers of his age, and then returned to serve the island that had formed him.
- Active Period
- 1805
- Place
- Castle Rushen
- Period
- Crown Administration
- Related To
- Captain John Quilliam
- Type
- Naval Service
- Source
- Naval records; Moore