Jack Aubrey

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John Aubrey[1][2] is usually known as Jack Aubrey in the Aubrey-Maturin series. One of two primary protagonists of the series, Aubrey begins the series as a Royal Navy lieutenant in Port Mahon, Minorca, in Master and Commander.

In the opening scene, Aubrey is at a concert at Governor's House in Port Mahon. He is described as "Between twenty and thirty whose big form overflowed his seat...with the silver medal of the Nile in his buttonhole...while his bright blue eyes, staring from what would have been a pink-a-white face if it had not been so deeply tanned gazed fixedly at the bow of the first violin." (Norton pg 7) Early in his career, "he was familiarly known as Goldilocks" because of the brightness of his long yellow hair.[3]

Contents

Family background and childhood

Jack Aubrey is the oldest son of General Aubrey of Woolcombe in the County of Dorset. His family has been lords of the manor for generations. When introduced in Master and Commander, he is "between twenty and thirty" as of March 31, 1800.[4] In The Surgeon's Mate he is said to have been 'a seventeen-year-old master's mate' on board HMS Resolution at the time of an action near Brest, and this would imply that he was born in 1774 or 1775, since such an action could only have taken place after the declaration of war against France in 1793; however, elsewhere he is said to have already gained his commission as lieutenant in 1792, and this suggests that he was born soon after 1770. His mother died when he was a small child and he was cared for by his cousin Queenie Keith. His education was intermittent, although a few Latin tags remained with him into maturity. Philip Broke, afterwards captain of HMS Shannon, was a childhood friend.

Early career

Aubrey's name was first put into a ship's books when he was nine years old, though he did not actually go to sea until three years later.[5] He first served "under a nephew of the amiable Admiral Boscawen".[6] This may have been aboard HMS Sylph, on which he served as a boy.[7]

He was a midshipman aboard HMS Bellerophon, serving with Heneage Dundas in the West Indies, where they engaged in a sword duel over a disputed game of backgammon, a duel in which Aubrey received a scar but which ended with the two friends reunited for life.[8] He almost drowned in the Bay of Biscay off Cape Ortegal while a midshipman in the 38-gun frigate Latona.[9] Still a midshipman but now aboard HMS Resolution, Aubrey was disrated by Captain Douglas and turned before the mast where he spent some months as a foremast-hand. He originally tells Maturin that the cause of his disrating was that he kept a girl[10] in the cable tier. In The Reverse of the Medal, however, Captain Goole, who was himself a midshipman on Resolution at the time, tells his wife that it was due to another liberty Aubrey took with the rule. "He stole most of the captain's dish of tripe by means of a system of hooks and tackles."[11] Aubrey would later serve under Captain Richardson as master's mate in the Sybille. [12]

Besides Resolution, Jack served on HMS Colossus[13] and as midshipman on HMS Namur.[14] At a unknown time he served on board HMS Surprise as a midshipmen. He spent some time in HMS Minerva, sailing to England from the Cape of Good Hope under Captain Soules.[15] As lieutenant, he took part in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797) on board the Orion and in the Battle of the Nile (1798) on the Leander; it was this occasion which brought him into contact with Nelson.

He also served as a lieutenant aboard HMS Arethusa.[16] He messed in the gun-room of HMS Agamemnon and served aboard HMS Thunderer.[17]

Aubrey received his step to Master and Commander after getting "knocked on the head, once at the Nile and then again when the Genereux took the old Leander: rewards were obliged to be handed out, so I being the only surviving lieutenant, one came my way at last."[18]

In the Canon

SPOILER WARNING:  Plot or ending details for "the whole series"  follow.

Highlights of his life and career as presented in the Canon:

References

  1. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. Master and Commander. (c) 1969 by Patrick O'Brian. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, First Edition: p. 17
  2. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. Treason's Harbor.(c)1983. W.W. Norton and Company, New York, NY; p. 173: Aubrey signs his letter home "your most affectionate husband, Jno Aubrey." Jno was the common abbreviation for John at the time. See also, O'Brian, Patrick. The Thirteen-Gun Salute. (c)1989 William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd., Glasgow: p. 88
  3. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. The Nutmeg of Consolation. (c) 1991 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, NY: p. 133
  4. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. Master and Commander. (c) 1969 by Patrick O'Brian. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, First Edition: pp. 11 and 17
  5. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. Master and Commander. (c) 1969 by Patrick O'Brian. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, First Edition: p. 32
  6. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. The Truelove. (c)1992 by Patrick O'Brian. First American Edition, 1992. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, NY: p. 191
  7. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. The Nutmeg of Consolation. (c) 1991 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, NY: p. 221
  8. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. The Commodore. (c)1994 by Patrick O'Brian. First American Edition, 1995. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, NY: pp. 117, 4-5
  9. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. Blue at the Mizzen. (c) 1999 W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY 10110. p. 88
  10. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. The Reverse of the Medal. (c)1986 First published as a Norton Paperback 1992. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, NY: p. 36
  11. ↑ Ibid.: p. 13, see also, O'Brian, Patrick. The Nutmeg of Consolation. (c) 1991 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, NY: pp. 97-98
  12. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. The Hundred Days. (c) 1998 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, NY: p. 238
  13. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. The Thirteen-Gun Salute.(c) 1989 William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd., Glasgow: p. 88
  14. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. The Far Side of the World. (c)1984 by William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd. Published as a Norton Paperback 1992: p. 373
  15. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. The Wine-Dark Sea. (c) 1993 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110: p. 17
  16. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. The Commodore. (c)1994 by Patrick O'Brian. First American Edition, 1995. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, NY.
  17. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. Master and Commander. (c) 1969 by Patrick O'Brian. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, First Edition: p. 14
  18. ↑ O'Brian, Patrick. Master and Commander. (c) 1969 by Patrick O'Brian. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, First Edition: p. 41
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