William Falconer (1732-1770), born in Edinburgh, Scotland, was a seaman who became a writer and poet.
His fate as a merchant seaman was described in his poem The Shipwreck (1762) which earned him the patronage of the Duke of York. This helped him obtain appointments as purser on various warships. For a brief time he was a midshipman on HMS Royal George, following which he had purser appointments on HMS Glory and HMS Swiftsure. He died whilst a passenger aboard HMS Aurora which was lost on passage to India.
AOS Naval Non-Fiction |
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| Series: n/a | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| Falconer's Universal Dictionary of the Marine | First published in 1769 and reprinted on numerous occasions | |