The Trafalgar Roll

The Trafalgar Roll lists a quite extraordinary seventy-six Robinsons who were engaged in the battle. Working through this list, the involvement of either Charles senior or junior can be discounted. The most likely candidate for a relative involved in the battle is a James Robinson, since:

• A son of William and Eleanor Robinson (note that Charles senior and Mary named one of their children, Eleanor) named James was born in Shadwell in 1788. 
• A boatswain named James Robinson was on HMS Minotaur aged sixteen during the battle.
• The same James Robinson is listed as one of the wounded on the front page of the Times Newspaper that was kept by the family.


If this is correct, the reason for the family so carefully archiving the newspaper would be explained, and James - son of William Robinson and Eleanor - would probably be a close Shadwell cousin of Charles John Robinson.

The Minotaur

The Minotaur was captained in the Trafalgar engagement by a Captain Mansfield and along with the Spartiate helped defend the badly damaged HMS Victory, and fend off the enemy counter-attack, capturing in the process the Spanish ship Neptuno. Twenty of the Minotaur crew were wounded, including James Robinson, and three others lost their lives. 

There was also a Richard Robinson on the very same ship, aged thirty-one and also from London. It is not inconceivable that James and Richard might also have been related, and that there were therefore, not one, but actually two members of the Robinson family fending off Napoleonic attentions during the course of that famous battle.