Talk:Walter Burke (purser)

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Biography: Military

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Military history: Biography / Maritime / British / European / Early Modern / American Revolution / Napoleonic era

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Burke's age

There seems to be some discrepancy regarding Burke's age. None of the sources mention a birth year of 1736. The Daily Mail article is not perhaps the most reliable of sources, though it states it's drawing its information from Pam & Derek Ayshford's Trafalgar Roll, which may be a little better, though I'm not sure how reliable that as a source is in itself. Mackenzie's Trafalgar Roll uses 75 for Burke's age at his death. The Gentleman's Magazine state's Burke was 76 when he died. Adkin's The Trafalgar Companion states Burke was 67 at Trafalgar, and 77 at his death. The Wouldham burial register states he was 70 at his death, as does Burke's own tombstone inscription. So 70, 76, 77 or 79? Benea (talk) 19:53, 15 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Will need to do some more investigating then to find out the truest age ! Wouldam Parish has more stuff and will need to go through it to find some more details. DavidAnstiss (talk) 16:52, 18 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Very probably. A comment on a few of my other changes, Henry Burke's rank was commander (to which he was promoted on 4 October 1800), which ranks below that of captain. In the Navy of the time an officer with the rank of post captain could not have commanded an unrated ship (i.e. a ship below the classification of sixth rate. Burke would have been addressed as a courtesy as 'Captain Burke', or as 'the captain of the Seagull', while holding the rank of 'commander'. The brother presumably had a name, even though he might not be named in a specific source, so calling him 'an unnamed son' is not technically correct. Also, when referring to ships in text, the launch year is not put in parenthesis as you did with Seagull. Benea (talk) 18:36, 18 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]