Hello all,
I have a record for a John Read who joined the Royal Navy in 1861 as a Boy 2 Class on the HMS Pembroke. His 10 year continuous service started in 1865, at which time he was still on the Pembroke and still a Boy 2 Class. On the front page of his record is the reference "R.q. Forte 24 Sep 68". Could this mean that he deserted the HMS Forte? It sailed for India in the October of that year and John Read is not on the Forte in the 1871 census. Unfortunately his service history pages are blank.
If it does mean that he deserted, I imagine it would have been quite easy to hide in London (he came from the Lambeth/Southwark area). Would he have been able to just go about his life as normal amongst the crowds of London until he was forgotten? Or would he most likely have been captured? If he were, what then? Would he have done penal service or would he have ended up back on a ship? If so for how long?
He was witness at his brother's (James Read) wedding in 1873 but then fathered children with his brother's wife in 1876 and 1881 (John's name is on the birth certificates). In the 1881 census, James Read appears as the head of the family but with John's birth date and occupation. When the wife died in 1881, John Read is given as the widower.
Any help would be much appreciated!
