Harry Paulet
supposed British seaman and benefactor
Harry Paulet (died 1804) was a British master-mariner.
Biography
Paulet is said to have been the master of a small vessel trading to North America; to have been captured by the enemy in 1758, and taken to Quebec; and, being known as a good pilot for the St. Lawrence, to have been sent a prisoner to Europe. The ship in which he sailed put into Vigo, and Paulet, being allowed access to the cabin, laid hold of a packet of despatches, carelessly left within his reach, and dropped overboard. There were two English men-of-war in the river, and Paulet, with the packet of despatches in his mouth, swam to one of these and was taken on board. The despatches proved to be of great value, and Paulet was sent with a copy of them to Lisbon, and thence in a sloop of war to England. In London he was examined by the authorities, and, on the information which he gave and that which was contained in the despatches, the expedition of 1759 was organised, Paulet being rewarded with ‘the pay of a lieutenant for life.’ This annuity of 90l. a year enabled him, it is said, to purchase a vessel, in which he ran cargoes of brandy from the French coast. On one voyage he fell in with the French fleet which had escaped out of Brest ‘while Edward Hawke lay concealed behind the rocks of Ushant.’ Paulet, risking his brandy for the love of his country, ran to find the English fleet, and demanded to speak with the admiral. He was ordered on board the flagship, and, having told his story, was assured by Hawke that if it was true, he would make his fortune; if false, he would hang him at the yard-arm.
The public source identifies “Harry Paulet” as supposed British seaman and benefactor. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Harry, Paulet and supposed.
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This entry incorporates text from “Harry Paulet” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.