This is a rags-to-riches story set in the turmoil of the eighteenth century, when the only way for ordinary folk to advance was to fight. It's a socio-economic history of that century through the eyes of a seafaring family. Simon Pearce, born in poverty on the Isles of Scilly in Cornwall, England, takes his family on a swashbuckling journey that begins with the worst peacetime shipwreck in Royal Naval history, on 22nd October 1707, when five ships were lost on the Isles of Scilly. He was brought up into a family of smugglers, but a twist of fate enables him to rise to the captaincy of a privateer. He marries the stunningly beautiful Isabella de Mendoza from the Portuguese island of Madeira. They have four children, and after twenty years trading with America, he moves his family to an estate on the Potomac River near the site of the future capital, Washington DC. Simon finds himself on the side of the American rebels during the American War of Independence, becoming a commander with impeccable credentials, in the fledgling American Revolutionary Navy. After opening up trade links with China, the growing family dynasty founds the first pharmaceuticals company in the United States, and the story culminates with Simon's grandsons fighting at the Battle of the Nile.
About the Author: The Pearce family was but one of many who emigrated from Cornwall out of a desire to improve their lot. My side of the family moved to 148 Winston Road, Stoke Newington, at the turn of the twentieth century. After the Second World War, I was the only child of the family living in London. My four cousins - Rosemary, Alison, Simon and Peter, children of my Uncle Cyril - lived near Birmingham. Sitting in the scullery at '148', Uncle Jack, Auntie Queenie, and Aunts Ruby and Gladys would tell stories of Cornwall. The pirates, the wreckers, the smugglers - all seemed larger than life to me. The hanging of our men and their interment outside St Just's consecrated area is just one example of what I heard. Aged eighteen, I left London bound for the two most enjoyable summers of my life - on the Scilly Isles. I became involved in the search for the wreck of HMS Association - great fun. My part was very small but the lure of sunken treasure was strong. The Scilly Isles are situated at the gateway to the English Channel, just 28 miles off Land's End, the southernmost part of the English mainland. Not many ships survive during bad weather once tangled in their web of rocks, tides and islets. The people of Scilly have a long history of salvaging wreck - some legal, some not - and thus my lust for adventure, so prevalent in my forebears, was indelibly formed.