Coxswain aged 15 in 1810 - Is this possible?

[Sara2212]

I was very excited when I found an ancestor, Joseph Vear b. approx. 1795, in the UK, Naval Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1972 aboard HMS Weazel in July 1810 as a Coxswain - then realised he would only be 15 years old. 

Also his subsequent occupations are rather haphazard - a mill wright in 1831, a police constable in 1845, a seaman/mariner (that fits!) in 1851/2.

Joseph Vear is not a common name, so I hoped I'd found a record relating to my Joseph - maybe it's his father. 

Any views?

[Billyblue]

Why not?

Not sure what a coxswain does on sailing ships, but in those days they started very young.

Example:
My OH used to know an old Swedish guy who went to work in his father's shipyard when he was seven and then became a ship's carpenter.  He was very proud of a cutting from a newspaper which said something like "The crew of the barque Rosa owe their lives to Harry Dunker, ship's carpenter, aged 15, who cut the mast and released the rigging so the ship would not capsize when in a storm around Cape Horn"  I think this was about 1895 or so.

Dawn M

[Sara2212]

Thank you Dawn - your question as to what a coxswain does made me look it up (I had relied on my OH's statement that a cox is in charge of steering the ship) and he's an officer in charge of one of the smaller boats on board which are used for going to and from shore and taking the Captain on and off the ship.  So, quite an important role, but not as important as I had originally thought - so as you say, it is possible at 15 to carry out this job.

[Billyblue]

Well, the only other application I knew for the title was in competitive rowing.
the coxswain 'steers the boat' I believe by facing the rowers and yelling instructions to them, to keep them on course.  At least that's what it's always looked like, to me, in the regattas I've watched.
  
Dawn M

[Sara2212]

Just done a little more research (which I should have done before posting! ) and came up with this nugget:

Nelson who was a midshipman at 12 and was "Captain's Coxswain" on the Carcass by the age of 14.

So - Yes - it is possible.

Thank you for the nudge, Dawn.