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As the only surviving Union Jack from Nelson's epic battle is sold we retell the tale of the last flag of Trafalgar

As the only surviving Union Jack from Nelson's epic battle is sold we retell the tale of the last flag of Trafalgar

The historic flag made & presented by a grateful ship's company to one of the only 'pressed' men to become a Captain in Nelson's navy is coming up for auction

By Richard Pendlebury 

The enemy had closed on HMS Spartiate and chainshot shrieked just feet over Clephan's head. Muskets crackled from the tops of the Spanish 80-gun Neptuno, whose own decks were running with blood.

The Spartiate's gun crews were battering her mercilessly, their steady broadsides helping to drown the howls of the British injured and dying. Around Lt Clephan and his shipmates, the seascape off Cape Trafalgar offered any number of hellish scenes.

A single shot had raked the entire interior of the French battleship Bucentaure, killing or maiming 40 of its crew. Aboard the nearby British flagship Victory, Admiral Lord Nelson's secretary had been cut in half by a cannon ball. Eight marines on board were also butchered by a single Spanish barshot.

Some 4,000 sailors would be dead by the evening. William Beattie, the surgeon who treated the dying Nelson, had another 145 casualties to attend during the day.

Throughout the action, the tablecloth-size sewn patchwork of 31 red, white and blue strips, which had begun life as naval bunting, had fluttered at the bow of HMS Spartiate.

Musketry and shrapnel had rent it - but 204 years later it survives as an unique and enduring relic; not only of the greatest battle in the Royal Navy's history but also of one of its most remarkable sailors.

And now, later this month, it is to be sold at auction by Clephan's descendants as the only surviving Union Jack from that historic day. So how did it end up in Clephan's possession? And what is the extraordinary story behind it?

 

Clephan was a poor man who never intended to go to sea. But fate, economic circumstance and his own personal courage conspired to place him on the quarterdeck of one of Admiral Lord Nelson's men o' war, off Cape Trafalgar in the autumn of 1805.

His life had begun 37 years earlier amid far less distinguished circumstances, in Fife. As a boy, Clephan was apprenticed to a weaver in the cottage industry which flourished in that part of Scotland in the mid-18th century.

But domestic looms were soon to be overtaken by the Industrial Revolution. Factories replaced cottages and the American Revolution of 1776 then took away one of the weavers' major export markets.

Clephan was not alone in seeking alternative work. Coastal Fife has a rich tradition of producing sailors and it was to the sea that the young man turned. Initially, he joined the merchant fleet, but the Royal Navy soon sequestered his skills. Press gangs roamed Britain's ports looking for men to put before

the mast. Records show that on July 23, 1794, the 'Impress Service' caught up with Clephan, then 26.

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With two States waiting weeks for election results, the political culture of Australia seems decidedly messy and confused.

In Tasmania, a large vocal minority of Greens will have the balance of power in a hung parliament, there will be infighting and bickering until the Liberal Opposition claims a minor majority and thrusts forward its impotent Premier into the melee.

In South Australia, Rann will win, but his bravado and virility will be curbed as his ability to nonchalantly wave around his policy penis becomes hampered.

What all this seems to show is that Labor is slipping, the Greens and the environment movement are gaining a lot of traction and Australia is divided.

Hopefully not to the point where Red and Blue States form which look at each other with systemic suspicion, but it does seem that these divides are becoming increasingly irreconcilable.  

Bet Labor wishes they could turn back the clock two years when they controlled every government at State and Federal level and do things a bit differently.

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I just wonder who decides if what ever you chose to do in life, is mediocre or not. Sounds like with standards like yours, this article with its poor structure and soap box appeal may also be considered by many as, in-fact, mediocre. - Khedra

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A hero's welcome for the famous Iraqi shoe thrower

Terrorist! Please do your research first before writing such dangerous things, we was insulting Bush by throwing the shoe as he was disgraced with him, not trying to topple the largest super power in the world by throwing a shoe. I cant believe you have put those words up. Ashamed

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Re: How to Report the News

Having worked as a TV news reporter I found Charlie's piece very amusing - some of us have long believed reporting like this is a rubbish way to do things! But even if a journalist wants to tell stories in a more authentic and engaging way, the constraints of the so-called "house style" in many news organisations make it difficult to achieve. What's needed is a massive culture shift and a complete re-think of what we understand quality broadcast news reporting is. And guess what? That's exactly what's happening, though you'd never believe it from what we're still mostly seeing on TV. Anyway, the new digital technologies, and shake up of "old school/old mainstream" journalism means new platforms and styles of "news" storytelling can now emerge. Let's hope fresh and appropriate ways of funding appear too, so we can kill off this dreadful formulaic reporting and delivery, and clear the way for more natural and interesting ways to treat stories and content.

Much love, Ian Aspin.
www.twitter.com/ianaspin

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You're pushing 60, well I'm pushing 70 and still having to scrounge around for my pot. It's tragic that when I first came to Australia it was $30 an ounce, and now I have to pay nearly $350 - Peter

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Re: Killing Indian Students: Australia's Favourite New Sport!- by Sean Maguire

How about the indian guy who slashed his wife's throat, is still australia to blame for?..may be , for accenpting them to move over!I am an immigrant myself but I love this country, there is no perfect place on Earth but australia is one of the best! - Michael

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This entire fiasco is an incredible over reaction. Australia is an easy target. Why? because we are honest, transperant and we talk about our failings. Is there aggression and iolence in Australia? Sure, like any country. But we face it head on and we work to eliminate it. What about the stories of the 100’s of thousands of Indian workers who are treated as slaves in the middle east and nobody says anything? What about the fact that India still has entrenched pedophilia in terms of child brides? What about the crushing poverty embraced by more than 60% of the Indian people while this nation runs around building nuclear warheads? A storm in a teacup, an over reaction, and a diversion from some the really bad issues facing India. What is really happening here is that students are being unnecessarily frightened. meaning they will miss out on what could be the opportunity of their lifetime. - Daryl
 
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I couldn't agree with Sean Maguire's article more on the recent Indian attacks. For all those who like the pretend the attacks are merely based on coincidence, try to imagine how we would react if the boot were on the other foot and an uncharacteristic number of Australia's had been murdered in India. Would you push for a travel ban? Would you be scared for your children in a seemingly hostile environment so many miles away?  - Kara Jensen-Mackinnon

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