I have compiled a set of notes for Napoleon on St Helena. This list comprises historical figures, subjects and events that I found useful in developing my understanding of The Atlantic World of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Click on the relevant letter of the Alphabet or Search for a specific name. For information on the regiments search under ‘R’.
There are currently 4 names in this directory beginning with the letter F.
Fielding
Henry. 1707-1754. Author of Tom Jones and violent anti-Jacobite. Attacked bribery and corruption in government and was appointed London’s magistrate and set up the Bos Street Runners with his brother John who succeeded him when he died.
Foliejon Park
Built 1302 by John de Drockensford. Taken by the Crown in 1313 (Edward II). Attached to Windsor Forest. Sold in 1630 to Henry Henne Esq and in 1800 to a Mr. Thomas Bingley. Purchased by Dr. William Blane at auction in 1804.
Fort McHenry
Built in 1798 outside Baltimore. Withstood a bombardment by the British fleet in 1814. The Stars and Stripes were flown from its battlement and led to the composure of the Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States of America.
Fulton
Robert. 1765-1815. Born in Pennsylvania, Fulton was first apprenticed to a jeweller before moving to England and taking up landscape and minitiare painting. He began to study engineering and became involved in canal building with Lord Bridgewater. He also worked with James Watt and patented a design for canal lock gates. In 1796 Fulton moved to France attracted by its revolutionary government and proposed the building of a submarine to be called the Nautilus that would be used to attack and sink British warships. The French navy appointed a commission to examine the idea but turned it down on the grounds of viability and cost. This decision was later reversed and Fulton was able to demonstrate his invention on the Seine in Paris and corresponded with Napoleon about it. A protoype was built and further trials were conducted at Rouen. Whilst Napoleon, encouraged by his Ministers, maintained some interest in the project, he saw Fulton as a charlatan and money-grabbing American. Fulton left France and approached Prime Minister Pitt and the British Government who decided to buy him off to keep his secrets to himself. He returned to America where he built America’s first steam boat, the Clermont, and the first steam warship, the Demologos, later renamed the Robert Fulton in his honour and used in the war of 1812. He also designed the first steamboat that was sturdy enough to be used on the Mississippi river providing ferry services between Pittsburgh and New Orleans.
