On April 6th,1839. Captain Nicholas Pentreath, a Penzance man who was the first Harbour Master at Port Talbot, was drowned when his boat capsized in the entrance channel.
He was buried at Holy Cross Taibach, as shown-:
MI.C 261. Chest tomb.
This tomb is erected to the memory of Nicholas Pentreath formerly of Penzance,Cornwall and the first harbour master of Port Talbot who was drowned in the upsetting of a boat in the above named port April 1839.

Following the death of the above Nicholas Pentreath,

Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Sr. 1788-1849.

It is believed that he was born in Portsmouth in 1788,as records at Winchester indicate that he was baptized on 10 Oct 1788 and was the son of Lewis and Elizabeth Fitzmaurice.
He joined the Royal Navy at age 11, as a boy 2nd Class, in Oct 1799.

According to oral family history, he served as a mid-shipman on HMS Victory (the flagship of Adm. Nelson) at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 and was badly wounded.  However,  there is no listing of his name in the "Trafalgar Roll"

He went on to serve on various ships and was promoted to Master on 19 Nov 1811.Then on 25 Jun 1815, he married  Mary Ann Morss in the Parish Church at Greenwich in the County of Kent by the Rev. I. P. George, Curate.  They had at least three children:

Lewis Roper Jr. was born on 29 April 1816 and was christened in the Parish Church of St. Paul, Deptford, in April 1817.
Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Snr.was away on board ship,as part of a Congo expedition.  

George Toomer, born 17 May 1818.  Christened 25 Dec 1818 at Parish Church of St. Paul in Deptford.

Mary Ann, born 24 Apr 1827.  In 1850, she married J. C. W. Bowman. She died in Brisbane at age 81 and was survived by three daughters and one son (C. E. Bowman of Charters Towers).

From Oct 1815 to Dec 1817, Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Snr. was in command of a small transport called the “Dorothy” as part of a Congo expedition.  He corrected charts of the west coast of Africa and part of the Congo River — covering in all 300 miles.  His commander, Capt. Tuckey, and five of his officers died of fever due to a lack of understanding of sanitary precautions.  When he returned to England, he became commander firstly of ‘Congo’ and secondly of ‘The Hasty’ and was engaged in surveys in coastal waters.  Navel records show that a Lewis Fitzmaurice Snr., became master of the HASTY in 1820, and on  the19th of April 1820, the HASTY was a surveying vessel in Deptford. In 1822, the ship was in Milford and, in 1824, at Downs.

We may come back later to tell more about the exploring of the river Congo,but for now,we must move on with our story to South Wales.

On 12 Aug 1833, Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice  Snr. was appointed harbour master to Porthcawl,and on the 4th of Aug 1835,he was appointed clerk pro temp in addition to harbour master.

In December 1839 L.R.Fitzmaurice made a list of Masters ande Vessels affected by the gales at Porthcawl.

In 1841, he resided at Newton Nottage, Glamorgan, Wales,where the Census record read as -:
Newton Nottage,Portcawl.
Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice 50. Harbour Master. I.[ "I" which indecates Ireland]
Mary Fitzmaurice            40.                                    N.
Maria Butler                    15.                                    Y.
George Morrs                 45.  agent                        N.
It looks as if the above George Morrs the agent may be related to Mary Fitzmaurice.

A dinner for L.R.Fitzmaurice was held by the Porthcawl and  Duffryn Llinfi Railway, in April 1842

By 1839 the niebouring Port Talbot had been developed,and Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice was made Harbour Master there,but to gain more details about his time at Port Talbot I will have to glean the records at Swansea Archives,especially the Log Book of C.R.M.Talbots Galatea Yacht.
I already know that Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Snr.was her captain by August 1845,when she layed at anchor in Oxwich Bay,preparing to sail for Southampton and Cowes.

In December 1842 L.R.Fitzmaurice wrote a letter to the Cambrian at Swansea regarding the Schooner Law Ogilby.

He then appeared giving court evidence at Swansea July 1845 in the law case Taylor -v- Clay.

Cambrian News.12.June.1846.
Mr.Thomas Lewis appointed Harbour Master at Port Talbot.
Mr. Fitzmaurice resigned.

Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice, Snr.,made his will on the Ninth day of July 1849,and died later in that same year at Llanelly,late of Dan y Graig,Pembrey,Carmarthenshire.

------------------------------
Son.

On April 6th,1839. Captain Nicholas Pentreath, a Penzance man who was the first Harbour Master at Port Talbot, was drowned when his boat capsized in the entrance channel.
He was buried at Holy Cross Taibach, as shown-:
MI.C 261. Chest tomb.
This tomb is erected to the memory of Nicholas Pentreath formerly of Penzance,Cornwall and the first harbour master of Port Talbot who was drowned in the upsetting of a boat in the above named port April 1839.

Following the death of the above Nicholas Pentreath,

Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Sr. 1788-1849.

It is believed that he was born in Portsmouth in 1788,as records at Winchester indicate that he was baptized on 10 Oct 1788 and was the son of Lewis and Elizabeth Fitzmaurice.
He joined the Royal Navy at age 11, as a boy 2nd Class, in Oct 1799.

According to oral family history, he served as a mid-shipman on HMS Victory (the flagship of Adm. Nelson) at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 and was badly wounded.  However,  there is no listing of his name in the "Trafalgar Roll"

He went on to serve on various ships and was promoted to Master on 19 Nov 1811.Then on 25 Jun 1815, he married  Mary Ann Morss in the Parish Church at Greenwich in the County of Kent by the Rev. I. P. George, Curate.  They had at least three children:

Lewis Roper Jr. was born on 29 April 1816 and was christened in the Parish Church of St. Paul, Deptford, in April 1817.
Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Snr.was away on board ship,as part of a Congo expedition.  

George Toomer, born 17 May 1818.  Christened 25 Dec 1818 at Parish Church of St. Paul in Deptford.

Mary Ann, born 24 Apr 1827.  In 1850, she married J. C. W. Bowman. She died in Brisbane at age 81 and was survived by three daughters and one son (C. E. Bowman of Charters Towers).

From Oct 1815 to Dec 1817, Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Snr. was in command of a small transport called the “Dorothy” as part of a Congo expedition.  He corrected charts of the west coast of Africa and part of the Congo River — covering in all 300 miles.  His commander, Capt. Tuckey, and five of his officers died of fever due to a lack of understanding of sanitary precautions.  When he returned to England, he became commander firstly of ‘Congo’ and secondly of ‘The Hasty’ and was engaged in surveys in coastal waters.  Navel records show that a Lewis Fitzmaurice Snr., became master of the HASTY in 1820, and on  the19th of April 1820, the HASTY was a surveying vessel in Deptford. In 1822, the ship was in Milford and, in 1824, at Downs.

We may come back later to tell more about the exploring of the river Congo,but for now,we must move on with our story to South Wales.

On 12 Aug 1833, Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice  Snr. was appointed harbour master to Porthcawl,and on the 4th of Aug 1835,he was appointed clerk pro temp in addition to harbour master.

In December 1839 L.R.Fitzmaurice made a list of Masters ande Vessels affected by the gales at Porthcawl.

In 1841, he resided at Newton Nottage, Glamorgan, Wales,where the Census record read as -:
Newton Nottage,Portcawl.
Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice 50. Harbour Master. I.[ "I" which indecates Ireland]
Mary Fitzmaurice            40.                                    N.
Maria Butler                    15.                                    Y.
George Morrs                 45.  agent                        N.
It looks as if the above George Morrs the agent may be related to Mary Fitzmaurice.

A dinner for L.R.Fitzmaurice was held by the Porthcawl and  Duffryn Llinfi Railway, in April 1842

By 1839 the niebouring Port Talbot had been developed,and Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice was made Harbour Master there,but to gain more details about his time at Port Talbot I will have to glean the records at Swansea Archives,especially the Log Book of C.R.M.Talbots Galatea Yacht.
I already know that Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Snr.was her captain by August 1845,when she layed at anchor in Oxwich Bay,preparing to sail for Southampton and Cowes.

In December 1842 L.R.Fitzmaurice wrote a letter to the Cambrian at Swansea regarding the Schooner Law Ogilby.

He then appeared giving court evidence at Swansea July 1845 in the law case Taylor -v- Clay.

Cambrian News.12.June.1846.
Mr.Thomas Lewis appointed Harbour Master at Port Talbot.
Mr. Fitzmaurice resigned.

Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice, Snr.,made his will on the Ninth day of July 1849,and died later in that same year at Llanelly,late of Dan y Graig,Pembrey,Carmarthenshire.

His Son.

Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Jnr. was born on the 29th of April 1816,and was christened at the parish church of St.Paul,Deptford,in April 1817.On the 12th of January 1831,as a young lad aged just 14 years and 8 months,he joined the Royal Navy.
He went to Australia as a mate on H.M.S.Beagle in 1837-1843 on a voyage of survey and exploration.This was the third major voyage of H.M.S.Beagle.
John Clements Wickham was the Commander of the Beagle until the 24th of March 1841 when he was invalided,then John Lort Stokes,who had been the Assistant Surveyor was made the Commander for the remainder of the voyage,Stokes then appointed Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Jnr., to the position of Assistant Surveyor.

Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Jnr. was best remembered by his descendants as a naturalist and a painter.He was said to have brought back to England the first Kangaroo skin,and helped to set it up for an unidentified museum in London.Many of the illustrations in the book "Discovery in Australia" by Captain John Lort Stokes,were drawn by Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Jnr,including the image of the steel engraving frontispiece,this has the caption "Messrs.Fitzmaurice & Keys dancing for their lives"
It was early in the  August of 1839,that Fitzmaurice went with Keys to check the compasses on the beach below some red cliffs in the vicinity of present day Darwin.Everything seemed normal and peaceful,until suddenly they heard load shouting.On the cliff above them a crowd of aborignes appeared,they were shouting loadly and wildly waving their spears.Their leader was a formidable figure of a man of massive size with a large square shaped head,who was stamping his feet,eating his beard and spitting in out again,in a violent fury.
Fitzmaurice reacted quickly, the spearmen were above him and he was unarmed.He answered them in teir own fashion,raising his arms,he began to dance,shouting and leaping wildly.His move paid off,the aborigines poised on the cliff lowered their spears to watch.
Soon Fitzmaurice was joined by Keys,who had been some distance away,and could have escaped along the shore towards a boat approaching from the ship.Instead he ran towards the cliff and partnered Fitzmaurice in a pas de deux.They continued to dance frantically,for a moment they paused to reach for the muskets lying at their feet but the fury on the cliffs broke out again.When at last the Beagle`s boat heaved into view,the native Australians withdrew.
When Fitzmaurice and Keys were safely back on board the Beagle,the dancers were teased about their seriocomic preformance.
Later the place was named "Escape Cliffs"

There are several geographical features in Australia and Tasmania named after Lewis Roper Fitzmaurce,a few examples being,
Lewis River,on the southwest coast of Tasmania,this comes from oral family history,but it must be noted that Seaman Nicholas Lewis from the Beagle was buried at sea in Oct.1840.
Roper River,in the Northen Territory,which flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Roper Creek in north central Queensland.
Also,Fitzmaurice River near Port Keats.

Point Fitzmaurice,on the Gulf of Carpentaria being of special interest,as it was named so by John Lort Stokes to record the location of the accidental shooting of Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice in that area,during August 1841,he survived and continued active service with the Beagle but was lamed for life.
Also Fitzmaurce Bay in Tasmania.

When H.M.S.Beagle finally headed for home in 1845,Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Jnr. was offered a position as a draughtsman in the Surveyors Generals office in Western Australia.
He declined the offer and returned home with the ship to England where as  a Lieutenent he had a pension of 2s 6d a day.

On the 5th.of March 1851 at St.Alfege parish church Greenwich in the County of Kent,Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice a bachelor of full age,a Mariner of Greenwich Road,who`s father was also Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice a Mariner.
Married Mary Butler a spinster of full age of Grenwich Road,her father being John Butler a Mason.
Within months the newly married couple had move to the Fitzmaurice family home at Pembrey near Llanelly,as we can see in the 1851 Census there,--:
Dan y Graig, Pembrey,Carmarthenshire.
Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice head.M. 34. Lieutenant,Royal Navy.St.Paul,Depford,Kent.
Mary Fitzmauric wife.25. St.Brides,Glamorganshire.
Margaret John svt.u/m 23. cook.Pembrey Carmarthenshire
Catherine John svt.u/m.16.housemaid.Pembrey Carmarthenshire.

To date I have failed to find Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Jnr,and his wife Mary in the 1861 Census.
But I have found some details of his children,which I am still working on.

In the Cambrian News dated 19.Dec.1862.tells us that a  Lieut. Fitzmaurice,Capt. was a candidate for Harbour Master at Neath and Briton Ferry.
Then in the Cambrian News of 26.Feb.1869  L.R.Fitzmaurice,Capt.R.N. Port Talbot,Nautical Assessor,mentioned in a Swansea Court case.

At last on the 18th.of Nov.1870 Captain Fitzmaurice Port Talbot Harbour Master is mentioned as being unable to attend the wedding dinner for Mr.Pritchard.

By 1871 we find  in the Census-:
In the Port Talbot Docks.
At Port Talbot House.
Lewis R.Fitzmaurice head.mar.  aged 54. Retired Comander Royal Navy,Harbour Master.born Depford,Kent.
Mary Fitzmaurice wife Mar. aged 45. St.Brides Glamorgan.
Alaudica   ===        dau.        aged 19. London.
Lewis G.   ===        son         aged 17. London.
Naia         ===         dau.       aged 14. Lougher.
Olivia       ===         dau.        aged 12.Lougher.
Sidney     ===         son.        aged 4. Llanelly.

March 1874 a London diver reported on a leaking lock gate at Port Talbot to Capt.Fitzmaurice,Harbour Master.

1881.
Margam.
Port Talbot.Harbour House,
Lewis R.Fitzmaurice. head. mar. 64.Commander Royal Navy .Harbour Master.dock service. Deptford.Kent.
Mary Fitzmaurice wife. 54.                St.Brides Major.
Muleacent Evans sevt.s.23.gen svnt. Haverfordwest.

Mr.C.R.M.Talbot of Margam Park who died on the 17th.of Jan.1890, left in his will £150 to Captain Fitzmaurice.Also worth noting here,he also left £200 to Captain William Smith.

1891.Margam.
Port Talbot.Harbour House.
Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice head.mar. 74.Harbour Master.

Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice Jnr. died at Harbour House,Port Talbot on the 22nd.of April.1893.
I have coming next week a full copy of his Will,but can tell you today that he left £9921-13s-9d.
Probate being granted 3.Aug.1893 to
Percy Carlyle Gilchrist  and Lewis Gwyn Lewis Harbour Master.

MI.C.143. Margam  Abbey. GFHS. Booklet.
White Sandstone Cross on Plinth.

Sacred to the memory of
Blanche Mary Lewis
widow of
Lewis Gwyn Lewis R.N.of Baglan
and Gwynfe,Carmarthenshire
and daughter of
Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice
Commander,R.N.
died June 25th 1937 R.I.P.

Sacred to the memory of
Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice
Commander,R.N.
born April 29th 1816
died April 22nd 1893

Margam Burial Index.GFHS.Booklet.
Charles Herbert Fitzmaurice buried 16.Mar.1877.Port Talbot.aged 16.
Lewis Rosser Fitzmaurce Harbour Master buried 26.Apr1893.
Harbour House aged 76.
Mary Fitzmaurice buried 19.Jan.1897 Greetwill Rd.Lincoln aged 70*
===========================

And so you may ask,what about the writing on the bedroom Window Pane?.Showing the initals-:
B.M.F. SEE BMD DEC.1851 LAMBETH.MARY BLANCH FITZMAURICE.

L.G.L. SEE GRAVE ABOVE.Lewis Gwyn Lewis R.N.of Baglan
and Gwynfe,Carmarthenshire

1872.

THAT IS ANOTHER STORY.