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Joseph Nourse
Commodore Joseph Nourse (1780 – 1824) was a British naval officer in the early 19th century. His ship the HMS Severn blockaded the American fleet in the Patuxent River in 1814. He directed the flotilla of boats that carried the troops up river to the Battle of Bladensburg and the entry into Washington DC.

Naval career
Born in 1780 in London, Joseph was the second son of Joseph Nourse (wine merchant) and Jane Black of Welbeck Street. Nourse went to sea in 1793 as a midshipman under the command and auspices of Admiral Sir Alexander Hood, afterwards Lord Bridport, in HMS Royal George. In 1794 the Admiral placed him on board HMS Audacious under the command of his nephew, Samuel Hood. In 1795 Nourse returned to the Royal George under Lord Bridport and was in the battle off Port L’Orient. In 1796 or 1797 he was Acting Lieutenant, and was on board the Alcmene under Captain Henry Browne which captured a small prize and Nourse was assigned with a few men to sail the prize home. He found that the captured crew had bored holes in the bottom of ship, necessitating pumping day and night. It was with great difficulty that they reached the port of Lough Swilly after Captain Browne had give up all hope for their safe return.

Before being confirmed as a Lieutenant, he was for a time under the command of Lord St. Vincent, and then with Captain Samuel Hood, in the Zealous, participating in the engagement off Algeziras Bay. He also participated in the battle at Vigo Bay under the command of Sir James Pulteney.

In 1802 he received command of the Advice Brig, one of the tenders to Sir Samuel Hood who was Naval Commissioner at Trinidad, where Nourse also acted on shore as one of Sir Samuel’s Aide-de-Camps. Soon after, he was appointed to command of the Cyane achieving great success in the West Indies against the French privateers. In 1803 during a two month span, the Cyane captured a French privateer, a Guinea trader (slave ship), and a ship laden with tallow. These prizes were taken to Antigua and Barbados to be sold at auction.

The merchants of Barbados acclaimed Nourse. When the captured French privateer La Brave, was reutfitted as an English warship, they solicited Admiral Hood to appoint Captain Nourse to command it. Sir Samuel Hood confirmed his appointment as Post Captain and the ship was named HMS Barbadoes. This ship is commemorated today as the 70c stamp in the Royal Navy Connections series of postage stamps issued by the Barbados Postal Service. 

When Sir Samuel was invested with the Order of the Bath, he invited Captain Nourse to attend him as one of his Esquires. At this time the College of Heralds assigned Captain Nourse his own unique coat of arms, featuring the addition of a warship to the traditional Nourse coat of arms, and adding an anchor to the crest.

In 1808, Nourse was appointed to HMS Fredricstein, sailing in the Mediterranean. It was in 1810 while in port in the Aegean that Captain Nourse met Lord Byron and his companion Hobhouse, and entertained them with dinner on the ship. In 1813 he was appointed to the frigate HMS Severn, taking that ship to the Chesapeake Bay where he blockaded the mouth of the Patuxent River in Chesapeake Bay, bottling up part of the American fleet for months. When General Ross and Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn decided to advance on Washington DC, Nourse directed the flotilla of boats that transported the English troops up the Patuxent River. In appreciation of his service during the War of 1812, Nourse was honoured as a Companion of the Bath. He was then appointed to command the Naval Station at St. John’s, Newfoundland.

In 1821, Captain Nourse was appointed to command HMS Andromache and the Cape of Good Hope naval station at Simonstown. In March 1822, his rank was raised to that of Commodore. It was in August 1824 that he led a squadron to East Africa, visiting Zanzibar, Pemba and Mombasa to negotiate with the Moors and Arabs to end the slave trade. Regrettably, he and a number of his officers contracted fever and he died on board his ship on September 4, 1824. He was buried in Port Louis, Mauritius.