Mr. Midshipman Glover, R.N.
By Thomas Tendron Jeans
Comrades in every adventure and mess-mates during these four exciting years, they had ultimately drifted together on half-pay and, with their old marine servant Jenkins, a taciturn old man, to look after them, had settled down in this village. Both men were below the age of forty. However, a more accurate estimate would have been difficult, for the shorter of the two bore himself with the vigour and alertness of thirty.
Yet, his face was old with the lines and furrows of care and sadness, whilst the tall, gaunt figure of the second was not held so erect, nor were his actions so vigorous, yet the youthful fire in his eyes gave to his sea-tanned face and his thin, tight-drawn lips and prominent jaw the appearance of a man who had not yet reached the zenith of his manhood. The shorter man was named Fox, a doctor who had left the service when he married, only to lose his wife a year later and, with her, his whole joy of existence.
Settling down in this village, near her grave, he had worked up a small practice, which occupied but little of his time, and lived a life from which his great grief seemed to have removed any trace of his former ambition. Not so the taller man, Helston, a commander, who had been invalided and placed on half-pay, suffering from the effects of fevers, picked up whilst cruising off the West Coast of Africa, in China, and the Mediterranean.
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Thomas Tendron Jeans
Thomas Tendron Jeans used his experience in the Boer War to partially write and edit Naval Brigades in the South African War, 1899 – 1900 (1901) London: Sampson Low & Co.
Biography.
Back in the UK, Jeans was assigned to Pembroke Dockyard on 10 October 1900, where he remained for nearly two years. While there, he did his rounds on horseback. He was promoted to Staff Surgeon on 16 May 1902 and joined H.M.S Ariadne, the North American and West Indies Squadron Flagship. While on the Ariadne, he saw service in the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903. The ship was paid off on 11 August 1905, and Jeans privately printed his Ward-room diary H.M.S. “Ariadne” 1902-1905 in 1905. Jeans attended a hospital training course for the last quarter of 1905. On 12 January 1906, he joined the H. M. S. Europa, a reserved cruiser tied to a buoy, and while there, he wrote Mr. Midshipman Glover, R.N. A tale of the Royal Navy of today published by Blackie and Son, London in 1908.
He wrote this book inspired by a remark in Truth that none of the writers of modern boy’s adventure stories seemed familiar with the navy. The story revolved around the suppression of piracy in Chinese waters, which he was familiar with since his service on the China Station. He was assigned to H.M.S. Albion on 26 March 1907 and served aboard for two years. While this ship was undergoing a five-month refit in Gibraltar, Jeans wrote Ford of H.M.S. Vigilant: a tale of the Chusan Archipelago, published by Blackie and Son, London in 1910. Jeans had visited the Chusan Archipelago while he served on H.M.S. Immortalité. Jeans was posted to Chatham Hospital in August 1909 and served there for two years. While there, he was promoted to Fleet Surgeon on 16 May 1910.[9] While at Chatham, he wrote On Foreign Service or the Santa Cruz Revolution.
Published by Blackie and Son, London in 1911. Jeans had intimate knowledge of revolutions from this time in the Philippines and his term on H.M.S. Ariadne. Jeans was posted to H.M.S. Dartmouth, an overgrown destroyer, from 14 October 1911 to 14 April 1912, and H.M.S. Argyle from then until 1 January 1913, when he was posted to H.M.S. Princess Royal. On 26 March 1913, she was posted to H.M.S. Swiftsure, the Flagship for the East Indies, and served on her with one break until May 1915. On 24 March 1914, Jeans married Irishwoman Emily Jean Gillier Dann (6 April 1878 – 13 November 1965) in St. Peter’s Church, Colombo Fort, Colombo, Sri Lanka. She was a nurse in Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service but had to resign to get married as the marriage bar was in force. Jeans and Emily had been at Chatham Hospital from 1 March 1910 to 6 August 1911.
Thomas Tendron Jeans
