Daniel Roberts (Royal Navy officer)
Roberts is best known for having designed and supervised the construction of Shelley's schooner, Don Juan, and Lord Byron's yacht, Bolivar.
Daniel Roberts was born on 18 February 1789 in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England; he died on his 80th birthday at three in the afternoon on the Island of La Maddalena off the northern coast of Sardinia.
Nothing has been written about Daniel Roberts' childhood until, at the age of 10, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Volunteer 1st Class.
On enlisting (at the age of 10) in July 1799, he was assigned to the 64-gun HMS Overyssel (a ship captured from the Dutch, on 22 October 1795), stationed at the Nore (where the River Thames meets the North Sea).
Since the Navy preferred new enlistees be at least 13 years old, the most probable scenario is Roberts spent the next 20 months in a private school, which specialized in teaching navigation and preparing boys for sea.
On the night of 11 April 1809, a British fleet of 25 ships attacked a powerful squadron of French ships anchored in the Basque Roads, a sheltered bay on the Biscay shore of France, bounded by the Ile d'Oléron to the west and Île de Ré to the north.
On 10 January 1810, Roberts' ship chased the 14-gun French privateer Charles, but her prey was lost in a thick fog.
The attack succeeded, and on board the prize they found two English masters and 13 seamen who had been taken out of vessels a few days previously.
His conduct during the battle was criticized by a marine officer of Phoenix, Lieutenant William Murray, who wrote a letter of accusation to the captain of the ship.
He returned to England from Canada between 3 September 1817, when the following article was published in ‘'The Edinburgh Observer'’ and 12 November 1817, when he was discharged from the Hydra.
The funds he accumulated from his eighteen years in service plus his retirement pension was enough for him not to feel the need to find employment.
It was common for military officers with small incomes to retire to the continent where the cost of living was much lower than in England.
[4] They cover a span of 20 years, from 18 May 1820 to 3 August 1840, with the exception of the time Roberts was with Byron, Shelley and the other members of their Pisan Circle.
Daniel Roberts was responsible for the design and construction of Shelley's schooner, Don Juan, and Lord Byron's yacht, Bolivar.
A week before Shelley and Williams were drowned in a storm off of the coast of Italy (8 July 1822), Roberts had sailed with them in the Don Juan on the exact reverse course they were taking when the tragedy occurred.
After losing the Don Juan Roberts purchased the Bolivar, which Byron had sold prior to going to Greece.
His last years are covered by Authors Giovanna Sotgiu and Alberto Sega in their book describing a group of English citizens who lived in La Maddalena during the 19th century.
His life at this point seems to be finally stable - he did not live on his boat any more although he would still dedicate a lot of his time in working on it so that he could move freely – and he lets the elegant building [Palazzo Roberts] located east of the port of Cala Gavetta, owned by the Zicavo family.In 1857, when Edward Trelawny was preparing to publish his Recollections of the last days of Shelley and Byron, he asked Roberts to make a sketch of Casa Magni, where Shelley had been living at the time of his drowning.
25 August 1796 Henry Roberts, Captain of the UNDAUNTED, died in the West Indies, where he caught yellow fever.
[9] 17 May 1810 Court Martial accusations discharged, his behavior was considered worthy and honorable[10] 1 April 1811 Returns to the ILLUSTRIOUS 74, bearing the broad pendant of his former Cap.
[9] 15 September 1815 His last appointment was to HMS HYDRA, a troopship in which he served on the Baltic, Newfoundland, Halifax, and West India stations.
"[15] 15 January 1822 From Williams' Journal: "Trelawny called, and brought with him the model of an American schooner on which it is settled with S[helley] & myself to build a boat 30 feet long, and T[relawny] writes to Roberts in Genoa to commence on it directly.
[18] 12 February 1822 From Williams' Journal: "Trelawny called and brought with him Roberts' drawing of Lord B's boat.
"[20] 27 March 1822 From Williams' Journal: "A letter from Roberts to T[relawny] informs us that the boat will not be finished in less than 12 or 14 days.
"[23] 5 April 1822 From Williams' Journal: "Called on Trelawny with a letter from Roberts – S[helley’s] boat to be finished in 10 days.
"[23] 8 April 1822 From Williams' Journal: "Heard from Roberts at Genoa---no Houses to be had in an eligible situation nearer than Villa Francha near Nice.
"[25] 13 June 1822 From Williams' Journal: "The Bolivar with Roberts and Trelawny on board are taking her round to Livorno.
"[26] 1 July 1822 From Williams' Journal: "At 2 stretched across to Lerici to pick up Roberts and ½ past found ourselves in the offering with a side wind.
21 September 1822 Byron writes to Trelawny: " Thank you, I was just going to send you down some books, and the compass of the Don Juan, which I believe belongs to Captain Roberts."
'"[29] 1 June 1823 Count Alfred D’Orsay produces a sketch of Roberts during a visit to Lady and Lord Blessingtion's residence in Genoa.
