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'''Shelmerston''' is a small port located in South Devon,somewhere in the Torbay area. [[Jack Aubrey]] bases ''[[HMS Surprise (ship)|Surprise]]'' there after she has been sold to [[Stephen Maturin]] to be operated as a [[privateer]]. Shelmerston has good anchorage, probably in an estuary with a bar that can only be crossed safely at high tide. The residents are mainly [[smuggler]]s and excellent seamen. There are also a high proportion who belong to unusual [[nonconformist]] sects such as the [[Sethians]] and [[Knipperdollings]]. ''Surprise's'' success as a privateer brings considerable wealth to the community.

[[Nikolai Tolstoy]], O'Brian's wife's son and biographer, suggests that Shelmerston is based on the North Devon port of Appledore where [[Mary O'Brian]]'s parents lived.

[[Category:Fictional location]]