Nelson And His World

One of the great things about blogging on a specialty topic is running into lots of people with similar interests. In the past I’ve introduced you to Old Grey Pony’s chronicles of life in Georgian England as drawn from contemporaneous literature, romance novelist Sophia Nash’s lexicon of period slang, and scaryfangirl’s Hornblower fansite.

Just a few days ago I found this gem. If you are interested in high quality conversation on Nelson, his contemporaries, and his navy, Nelson and His World is the place for you. Please register and join the discussion.

Panton, Leslie & Company

In the third of Dewey Lambdin’s Alan Lewrie novels, The King’s Commission, freshly commissioned Lieutenant Alan Lewrie finds himself assigned the mission of escorting a covert British mission to arm Indians in North Florida and encourage them to raid into Georgia. The trade network of a company called Panton, Leslie & Company is used to contact the Indians and facilitate the transfer of arms and trade goods.

In The Captain’s Vengeance, Lewrie is again detached to undertake a covert mission against pirates based in Spanish New Orleans. Again, Panton, Leslie & Company is the front used for the operation.

As with most of the side trips Lambdin takes us on, Panton, Leslie & Company was real and it did work hand in glove with the British government.