Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Basque Roads 1809 (R. Furze, Midshipman.) nearly very fine £2,000-£2,600

Robert Furze is confirmed on the roll as a Midshipman aboard Caesar at Basque Roads. He is also listed in Napoleon and his British Captives by Michael Lewis as a prisoner of war possibly until the end of the war. The Register of British POW’s in France shows that he was born in Plymouth and that he was taken prisoner whilst serving in the frigate Semiramis 36 guns, by the French l’Alert on 10 July 1811. He arrived at the Depot at Verdun on 1 October 1811. A marginal pencil note appears to say ‘Applied at Jo 12 Feby [or July] 1814 with Certif from Clerk of Remand from Bordeaux.’ He does not appear to ever have received a commission.