Overview of the data

The new century saw significant changes in the social ‘quality’ of officer aspirants. Most striking in the 1801 data was the sharp decline in the relative importance of naval influence and the general rise in the importance of elite social influence within both groups of young gentlemen. Among quarterdeck boys, naval influence fell from 64 per cent of those with traceable backgrounds in 1791 to 38 per cent in 1801. Proportional to this decline was the increase in the appearance of gentry connections, which jumped from 18 per cent in 1791 to 34 per cent of traceable quarterdeck boys in 1801. A resurgence of the ‘All Other’ category, a group dominated by boys with links to trade/merchant and professional backgrounds, was also visible in the entry-level samples. Among traceable junior officers the decline in naval influence was also clear, falling from 39 per cent in 1791 to 28 per cent in 1801; however, the opposing increase in social influence was more evenly split between gentry and peerage connections, with shallow increases registering in each. Offsetting the rise in the importance of social influence was a distinct increase in the proportion of junior officers from the ‘all other’ category, which, in this instance, was dominated by midshipmen and masters' mates with professional connections.

In 1811 the trends for quarterdeck boys continued, although a much shallower decrease in naval influence accompanied a similarly shallow increase in gentry influence so that both groups were equally represented at 37 per cent.