Richard Cadman Etches

[Dragoman]

Can anybody help me decipher the final three lines of the attached please. I am OK up until
Wine Merchant
At his own expense he
attempted to close
 After this the only words I can see that might be correct are Sherborne and the final word which might be Napoleon.

Many thanks.

M

[arthurk]

I'm seeing it as:
...
attempted to close
___ Harbour
by sinking 2 ___
to ___ Napoleon

I don't know enough about that period to be able to guess at the rest, especially the name of the harbour, but someone else might. (Would the Vintners' Company know anything about him?)

[ShaunJ]

This may be a reference to his plan to close Boulogne harbour, in 1804, using fireships loaded with cement and masonry.

[Dragoman]

This may be a reference to his plan to close Boulogne harbour, in 1804, using fireships loaded with cement and masonry.

I think now that the word is Cherbourg Harbour. Cherbourg was a very important military port in Napoleon 's time and it would have been the base for his attack on Britain. I was aware of RCE's involvement with Boulogne but Cherbourg is something new to me.

[arthurk]

This may be a reference to his plan to close Boulogne harbour, in 1804, using fireships loaded with cement and masonry.

I think now that the word is Cherbourg Harbour. Cherbourg was a very important military port in Napoleon 's time and it would have been the base for his attack on Britain. I was aware of RCE's involvement with Boulogne but Cherbourg is something new to me.

Looking at the name again in the light of these comments, I'm fairly sure that it ends in -logne, so it must be Boulogne, though possibly spelled Bologne.

[Treetotal]

I see sinking 2 ships.
Carol

[Zefiro]

I agree with arthurk

attempted to close
Bologne Harbour
by sinking 2 ___
to ___ Napoleon

The first missing word could be ships, although I'm not entirely convinced it says so.
What's written before Napoleon eludes me.

[Dragoman]

I agree with arthurk

attempted to close
Bologne Harbour
by sinking 2 ___
to ___ Napoleon

The first missing word could be ships, although I'm not entirely convinced it says so.
What's written before Napoleon eludes me.

Yes, I think that this is the most likely version. Perhaps it reads "he attempted to close Boulogne Harbour by sinking two ships to thwart Napoleon", the two ships being the fireships referred to in an earlier post. I'm happy with this interpretation. Thanks everyone for all your help.

[hanes teulu]

There's a lengthy item in Derbyshire Advertiser & Journal, 13 Jun 1930 about Richard Cadman Etches which refers to "a project for destroying the harbour of Boulogne" - an interesting character!.