Hannah Snell, Mary Lacy & Mary Anne Talbot

Hannah Snell (1723-1792) was a lady who served in the Royal Navy and left memoirs of her experiences.

She was born in Worcester, England and reportedly loved to play soldier as a child, and when her husband James Summs disappeared after the death of their daughter, she decided to borrow a military outfit, use her brother’s name, James Grey, and seek him out. She joined the Royal Marines and sailed to India aboard HMS Swallow where she fought in mud-filled trenches at the siege of Pondicherry. She claims to have been severely injured in the battle.

She finally found out that her husband had been hanged for murder in 1570 and then revealed her gender. She petitioned the Duke of Cumberland, the head of the army, for her pension and also sold her story to London publisher Robert Walker who published her account, The Female Soldier, in two different editions. She was honorably discharged and the Royal Hospital, Chelsea officially recognized Snell's military service and granted her a pension in 1750, a rare thing in those days.

She travelled around England talking about her exploits, published a book and performed on stage thus becoming a small time celebrity almost overnight. She married twice more and produced at least two sons. Sadly in the last years of her life she supposedly lost her mind and was committed to the insane asylum in Bedlam.

Mary Lacy (1740-1801) was a lady who served in the Royal navy and left memoirs of her experiences.

Lacy ran away from home dressed as a boy at the age of nineteen in 1759, and worked as a servant for a ship's carpenter of the British navy under the name William Chandler until 1763. She then studied as an apprentice to be a shipwright. In 1770, she took her exam as a shipwright, arguably the first of her gender to have done so. In 1771, however, she was forced to stop working because of her rheumatism, and applied for a pension from the admiralty under her legal name, Mary Lacy, which was granted.

In 1772 she married Josias Slade, a shipwright, of Deptford, Kent and in 1773 published her memoirs The Female Shipwright. The couple had six children.

Mary Anne Talbot (1778-1808) was a lady who served in the Royal navy and left memoirs of her experiences.

She was born in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London and later claimed that she was one of the 16 illegitimate children of Lord William Talbot, Baron of Hensol. Her mother died in childbirth so she spent her childhood in the care of different guardians and boarding schools until she fell into the hands of a man she called Mr. Sucker, who was also in charge of her inheritance from her sister.

In 1792 Mary Anne unwillingly became the mistress of Captain Essex Bowen who enlisted her as his footboy, under the name "John Taylor" for a voyage to Santo Domingo. She served as a drummer-boy in the battle for Valenciennes, where Captain Bowen was killed. Mary Anne was also wounded and treated the injury herself.

She deserted and became a cabin boy for a French ship. When the British captured the ship she was transferred to the HMS Brunswick in Portsmouth, England where she served as a powder monkey. In June 1794, she was wounded for the second time when grapeshot almost severed her leg during the battle of the Glorious First against the French fleet. She never recovered the full use of it but later rejoined the crew. She went ashore at St. Katharine’s Dock and, upon being approached by a press gang, revealed herself to be a woman.

Mary Anne went to the Navy to get the money due to her because of her service and wounds and finally found a sympathetic magistrate. At the same time her leg wound got worse and she continued to wear male clothing.

AOS Naval Non-Fiction