Naval Medal award
John William Trotter was born in September 1770, baptised at St Mary's Church, Gateshead 2nd October 1770, the son of George Trotter, [born 1740, died 4th December 1781], and Dorothy [born 1738, died 27th June 1818]. He was one of four children, the other three died in infancy.
His parents were running the Goat Inn at Bottle Bank, in Gateshead.
John joined the Royal Navy, and was apprenticed to Master Mariner William Usher, [Newcastle born], in 1785. He was Master on the 'Sylph', from the 9th April 1797, to the 13th August 1798, 'Hermes', from the 1st November 1798, to the 2nd August 1799, 'Venus' from the 7th August 1799, to the 31st May 1802, and the 'Magnificent' from the 1st June 1802 until the 31st August 1802, prior to being on board as Master for the 'Leviathan', from the 23rd December 1803, which was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy, launched on 9 October 1790, at the Battle of Trafalgar.
He was paid off for his time from the Sylph to the Magnificent.
(A Master was a Warrant Officer in charge of navigation and handling of the vessel).
John joined the 'Sylph' as master in 1797, he was also admitted as a Freeman of Newcastle.
The captain of 'HMS Leviathan' was a Sir Henry William Bayntun GCB (1766 – 16th December 1840) who was a senior officer in the Royal Navy.
At the Battle of Trafalgar on the 21st October, Bayntun in Leviathan was fifth in Nelson's weather column, after HMS Victory, HMS Temeraire, HMS Neptune and HMS Conqueror. Leviathan raked the French flagship Bucentaure before engaging the massive Santissima Trinidad. Seeing the distant approach of Rear-Admiral Dumanoir's squadron from the north, Captain Thomas Hardy ordered Leviathan and other ships to close with the enemy. Leviathan engaged the Spanish ship San Agustín, which was supported by Intrepide. Conqueror then joined the fight and Bayntun was able to lay his ship alongside the badly damaged San Augustin whilst continuing to fire into Intrepide. As the 74-gun HMS Orion passed, Bayntun shouted at her captain, Edward Codrington, "I hope you will make a better fist of it!" Some time later, with 160 of his crew dead or wounded, Commodore Don Fellipe of the San Augustin surrendered his sword to Bayntun. Of Leviathan's crew, four had been killed and just over 20 wounded during the battle.
At the funeral of Lord Nelson in January 1806 Captain Bayntun bore the guidon in the water procession from Greenwich Hospital.
John was the master on-board HMS Leviathan at the battle of Trafalgar. There were over 500 men from the North East who were at the Battle of Trafalgar.
John was 78 when he received his Naval General Service Medal in 1848. Only those men who served at Trafalgar and were still alive were allowed to receive the medal, about 44 years had passed since Trafalgar, and just 1,710 of these medals were claimed by living participants from the battle.
In 1841, John was residing at Blenheim Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
John William Trotter died 18th February 1850.
John William Trotter is remembered in Gateshead on G39.061
Vice-Admiral Collingwood official despatch 22/10/1805
Plan of HMS Leviathan
Animated map of the Battle of Trafalgar