Coincidences Are Spiritual Puns – Part Four
The Mignonette Affair, 1884
What’s in a name? Well, quite a lot it would seem if you are called Richard Parker and you are out to sea.
An Australian bought an English yacht, the Mignonette, in early 1884. He wanted it delivered back to his homeland and so engaged a chap called Dudley to undertake the long journey. Dudley recruited a crew of three others, comprising of Stephens, Brooks and Richard Parker.
The foursome set off from Southampton on 19th May but tragedy struck on 3rd July somewhere off the coast of Africa when a powerful storm capsized the yacht, leaving the crew only enough time to scramble on to a dinghy. In their hurry they didn’t take any food or water. Inevitably, after a few days they were in desperate straits.
It was at this point that an old naval tradition known as the Custom of the Sea came into play. For the good of the many, one would have to be sacrificed. Under the rules of engagement, all members of should have an equal chance of surviving the selection process and the drawing of straws, or similar, was the accepted way of determining their fate.
But Dudley had other ideas. Parker was the weakest of the four, having made himself ill by drinking contaminated water. Poor Richard’s case wasn’t helped by the fact that he had no family and so Dudley with the help of Stephens killed the unfortunate Parker. The gruesome threesome feasted on Parker’s body until four days later a German barque, the Montezuma, appeared on the horizon and rescued them. The crew insisted on taking Parker’s body back to Blighty to give what was left of him a Christian burial.
The Montezuma landed at Falmouth on 6th September 1884 and Dudley and his cohort gave an explanation of their predicament and the grisly choices they had to make to ensure the survival of the majority. Instead of finding a sympathetic hearing from the maritime authorities, a policeman employed by the Harbour Commissioners, Sgt Laverty, overheard the account, took legal opinion and arrested Dudley and Stephens on a charge of murder. While they were held in Falmouth, they were the talk of the town – after all, it was a saucy tale of murder and cannibalism.
Dudley and Stephens were tried In mid-November in Exeter and found guilty, although sentence was deferred until further legal advice obtained and they were released on bail. The case then moved to London and the duo was found guilty again and sentenced to death. However, because of the interest that the case generated Dudley and Stephens were spared from dancing the hemp jig, receiving a six month prison sentence instead.
Edgar Allan Poe only wrote one full-length novel, the Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, published in 1837. During the course of the story a Richard Parker leads a mutiny on a ship called the Grampus which is subsequently wrecked and only four members of the crew, including Parker, manage to scramble on to a dinghy. They soon find themselves in straitened circumstances and Parker suggests that they follow the Custom of the Sea.
This time lots were drawn.
Parker drew the short straw, was killed and eaten by his fellow crew members, foreshadowing the events on the Mignonette. And Poe drew his inspiration for the Parker character form another real-life Richard Parker,who was one of the ringleaders of a naval mutiny at the Nore in 1797 and was subsequently hung from the yardarm of the HMS Sandwich.
