Whereas eighteenth-century sailors were commonly indifferent towards organised religion, their nineteenth-century successors showed more interest. An increasing regard for church-going in society at large was bound to affect the navy through the ordinary process of recruitment, quite apart from the quickening influence of the Thames revival and Bethel movement amongst seamen in general; in the later nineteenth century the Tractarian movement stimulated piety of a somewhat different kind. Through Regulations religious observance became more widespread, and both Admiralty and captains recognised its contribution to morale and discipline. Against that background this chapter will examine the progress of fervent piety, as it deepened the spiritual side of naval religion, adding personal experience and depth of conviction to the officially sanctioned prayers and appointed clergy. This kind of piety took advantage of routine measures and breathed new life into them, and at times created fresh opportunities for its own mission of saving souls (which will be the focus of Chapter 6). Without the chaplains and their ministry this movement would have achieved little; on the other hand, without the fire of enthusiastic devotion, chaplain-directed religion would have been much more formal and out of touch with lower-deck spiritual aspirations.

Organisation and expansion of the chaplains’ branch

The Instructions for the Chaplain in 1806 showed what was expected of him, and the measures of 1812 showed him what he could expect by way of reward, namely increased pay and pension rights. Nonetheless the endemic shortage of chaplains was not ended by these reforms. Only twelve new ones joined in the first five years of peace, and by 1820 there were just twenty-one chaplains for the thirty-five ships entitled to them. In that year, however, a significant change appeared in the Navy List, with all clergy nominated as Active or Retired. Those who had served long enough to earn a pension were kept on the Admiralty pay-roll but were not expected to go to sea again. Those on the Active list would be appointed to ships as soon as a captain asked for their services, but the gatekeepers of embarked religion were as ever the corps of captains.