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William Brown (birth name unknown) was a Black woman who joined the Royal Navy under a man's name in the early nineteenth century. It is undisputed that she was a sailor of HMS ''Queen Charlotte'', but historians have reached varying conclusions about her service record. ==Two contrasting sources== The muster list of HMS ''Queen Charlotte'' shows that William Brown joined the crew on 23 May 1815, and was discharged on 19 June that year for "being a female". The record gives her place of origin as the Caribbean island of Grenada, states her age as 21 years old, and rates her as a "landsman", the lowest grade of adult crew member in the Royal Navy at the time, intended for personnel who were not fully trained seamen. A more detailed narrative appeared in ''The Times'' on 2 September 1815 (swiftly reprinted in ''The Annual Register''), claiming that her service aboard the ''Queen Charlotte'' was more extensive and more prestigious: :“Amongst the crew of the Queen Charlotte, 110 guns, recently paid off, is now discovered, was a female African, who served as a seaman in the Royal Navy for upwards of eleven years, several of which she has been rated able on the books of the above ship by the name of William Brown, and has served for some time as the captain of the fore-top, highly to the satisfaction of the officers. She is a smart well formed-figure, about five feet four inches in height, possessed of considerable strength and great activity; her features are rather handsome for a black, and she appears to be about 26 years of age. Her share of prize money is said to be considerable, respecting which she has been several times within the last few days at Somerset-place. In her manner she exhibits all the traits of a British tar, and takes her grog with her late mess-mates with the greatest gaiety. She says she is a married woman; and went to sea in consequence of a quarrel with her husband, who, it is said, has entered a caveat against her receiving her prize money. She declares her intention of again entering the service as a volunteer."〔("Black Presence - William Brown, a 'female African'" ), from the UK National Archives, last accessed 25 October 2009〕 This report indicates that she had been born around 1789, joined the Royal Navy in her mid-teens about 1804, and served aboard the ''Queen Charlotte'' during its previous commission as flagship of the Channel Fleet in 1813-1814. It also claims that she was a highly capable sailor: an able seaman was a fully qualified member of the crew, who could steer with the ship's wheel, and navigate through shallow waters using a sounding lead as well as going up the rigging and out along the yardarms to adjust the ship's sails, while the "captain of the fore-top" was the leader of one of the elite teams of "topmen" who were the most skilled sailors aboard the ship, working high above the deck to control the upper sails of the foremast. To be captain of the fore-top aboard the flagship of Great Britain's premier battle fleet was to be recognized as one of the most capable sailors in the entire Royal Navy. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Brown (sailor)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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