He is noted today as an early pioneer of nautical fiction, particularly for his semi-autobiographical novel Mr Midshipman Easy (1836).

[3] His father was Joseph Marryat, a "merchant prince" and member of Parliament, as well as slave owner and anti-abolitionist, and his mother was Charlotte, née von Geyer.

The Imperieuse shifted to operations in the Scheldt in 1809, where Marryat contracted malaria; he returned to England on the 74-gun HMS Victorious.

A few months later, Marryat earned distinction again by leading the effort to cut away the Aeolus's mainyard to save the ship during a storm.

He developed a practical, widely used system of maritime flag signalling, known as Marryat's Code, based on his experience in the Napoleonic Wars escorting merchant ships in convoys.

By 1826 he was back in England and that year donated two Burmese artifacts to the British Museum, in an unsuccessful effort to be selected as a trustee.

He lived in Brussels for a year, travelled in Canada and the United States, and moved to London in 1839, where he was in the literary circle of Charles Dickens and others.

[citation needed] Marryat was named a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his lifeboat, signals system and other achievements.

[10] Marryat's novels are typical of their time, with concerns of family connections and social status often overshadowing the naval action.

These also were set in the time of Nelson and told of young men rising through the ranks due to their successes as naval officers.

These short stories, plays, pieces of travel journalism, and essays were published in The Metropolitan Magazine, and many were later collected in book form as Olla Podrida.

The works of Marryat are considered by the maritime historians of today to be a reliable source on the operation and characteristics of the sailing vessels of his time.