William Brown (sailor)

William Brown (birth name unknown) was reputed to be a Black woman who joined the Royal Navy disguised as a man. The story goes that she was born in Edinburgh, joined in 1804 and served until 1816, even after her birth-sex was discovered in 1815.

The 1815 'Annual Register' reporting the story stated:

“Amongst the crew of the Queen Charlotte, 110 guns, recently paid off, is now discovered to be a female African who served as a seaman in the Royal Navy for upwards of eleven years, several of which she rates able on the books of the above ship by the name of William Brown. She served for some time as Captain of the foretop, highly to the satisfaction of the officers.”

This is not borne out by the Queen Charlotte's muster lists. When the crew were paid off in August 1815, the only William Brown on the list was a 32 year old Scot who had transferred from the 'Cumberland' a month earlier. The list does show though that a 21-year old William Brown had joined the crew from Grenada on 23rd May 1815 as a 'landsman' (the least experienced rating), and was discharged a month later for 'being a woman'. There is no record of any William Brown being appointed Captain of the foretop for the Queen Charlotte.

This still makes her, however, the first known black woman to serve in the Royal Navy.

References

• "Jane Tars:The Women of the Royal Navy" by Susan Lucas from Aboutnelson.co.uk, last accessed 2006 February 12

• "Black Presence - William Brown, a 'female African'", from the UK National Archives, last accessed 2006 May 31

This article is based on a GNU FDL LGBT Wikia article: Brown (sailor) William Brown (sailor)

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