Nancy Perriam
Nancy Perriam, one of the few navy women to have left a written record, gives a rare glimpse into women's activity while the ship was under fire. Powder Monkey Ann (Nancy) Perriam born in Littleham Exmouth fought in the battles of L'Orient 1795, Cape St. Vincent 1795, the Nile 1798 under Rear Admiral Sir James Saumarez and Admirals Bridport, Lord Jarvis and Lord Nelson. She served with her husband aboard HMS. Orion, and her function was "to make and mend the captain's clothes." On February 14, 1797, she recalled, she had begun work on a flannel shirt when she heard the rumble of guns. Battle had been joined with a French ship off Cape St. Vincent. She immediately put down her sewing and began carrying gunpowder instead. When she was no longer needed at that post, she went down to the cockpit to help the surgeon. A year later, she followed the same pattern at the Battle of the Nile. A seaman at that battle who was assigned to a station below decks later stated, "I saw little of this action. Any information we got was from the boys and women who carried the powder . . . I was much indebted to the Gunner's wife, who gave her husband and me a drink of wine now and then, which lessened our fatigue much." Nancy Perriam is one of only four woman awarded a pension, by the Navy, of £10 a year. Nancy died in Exmouth aged 93 years.
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