Posted by 3rdamazon on June 29, 2007 at 10:54:20 from 172.141.113.170 user 3rdamazon.
In Reply to: Re: Ted Walker and Shotley posted by Laurence Monkhouse on June 29, 2007 at 06:37:34:
Indeed he would, sorry I made my point badly. What I meant was that Dartmouth term officer was, at the time, viewed as a good career boosting appointment but in reality wasn't; principally because to favourably distingush himself a term officer was reliant on the performance of a group of teenage boys- hence a lot of the hustling and over-competitiveness at Dartmouth.
Personally i'd say Ted Walker was a good choice as Ganges Commander, the interest he takes in teaching his own sons seamanship and naval lore suggests he'd be a good man for the job. Although possibly a bit too nice to judge by contempoary accounts of boys training?
As for the background to the appointment, I hadn't thought of that at all. Had his ship definitely only just deployed to the Far East? It wasn't that unusual for officers to travel back overland at the end of their appointments. Also, my reading of SW is that his leave is interrupted by a summons from their lordships- which does rather support your hypothesis