Corporal George Thompson: Character updates

OOC Info
Username/Nickname: Sharpiefan/Sharpie
How did you find out about StC? I run the board
Have you read our rules, and do you agree to abide by them? Yes

Character Info:
Canon/Original: Original
First Name(s): George
Surname: Thompson
Nicknames: N/A
Age:  26 (approximately)
Sex: Male
Place of Birth: Chatham, Kent, England
Occupation: Marine private
Family: Born the son of a Chatham prostitute, Bessie, he has a sister, Annie, who is four years younger than him.

Description: He is about five feet seven inches (it's only a guess; he's never actually measured himself!) with blue eyes and brown hair. Most of his height comes from having long legs. He has a tanned face and hands, though the tan stops where his jacket starts, leaving his neck, wrists, arms and torso pale. The contrast is stark when he takes his shirt off. He has a friendly, open expression on his face, and is quite thin, due to being undernourished as a child.

The Marines are there to keep order and discourage mutiny, so there is a natural separation between them and the sailors, which is all the more visible because of the Marines' uniform.

He wears the blue-faced red coat, white trousers and white-trimmed black round hat of the Royal Marines, with  a leather stock.  He takes care over his appearance, though most of his attention is spent on his musket.  He wears his hair in a neat queue, though he knows it is only a matter of time before the Marines are ordered to wear their hair short, as the army already does.

He has the scars of a flogging on his back, due to a run-in with an officer when drunk, and thinner scars from a cane across the back of his legs, received during training from a particularly sadistic Sergeant.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
~ He is optimistic, always trying to look on the bright side of things.  
~ He tries to see the good in other people, even if it is not obvious to those around them, which has led to his getting hurt before now.
~ He is patient, but can snap without warning when he is pushed too far, which he deals with by getting away from situations where he has to deal with people if possible as it is either that or hit someone.  
~ He has a good head for heights, and is a sharpshooter, going up into the fighting tops in battle, using the futtock shrouds as the sailors do, even when hampered by a musket slung across his back.  
~Although clever, he is untaught and illiterate, signing his name on his attestation form with an X.  
~ His childhood and training have taught him to bear pain uncomplainingly, and he will keep going even when wounded, almost until he drops.  Even if ordered to desist, he will keep fighting despite his wounds if his friends or fellow Marines are in trouble.
~He is superstitious, but no more than many Marines or sailors. He prefers touching iron to ward off bad luck, rather than wood.
~ he has recently been promoted and lacks experience in his new rank

Background:
Thompson is, like all Marines, something of a misfit aboard ship. He is not a sailor, yet he's not a soldier in the strict sense, not having to do all 'that marching around nonsense'. He has been a Royal Marine since he was very young, about fourteen. As he is now 26, he has quite a bit of experience, as well as some prize money - he served aboard HMS Surprise under 'Lucky Jack' Aubrey.

Thompson was born and brought up in the Naval town of Chatham, in a brothel catering to the soldiers and sailors who passed through the town.  As a young boy, he used to wander down to the riverside to watch the ships passing up and down the Medway, wondering where they had come from or where they were going.  

His life as a street urchin meant that he learned to fend for himself from a young age. He acquired the ability to pick pockets, although it was not something that he found himself doing very often, and although he can still do it, he is reluctant to admit to having such a disreputable skill, especially in the close-knit community of the lower deck.  More often, he was to be found loitering outside one or other of the several inns along the High Street frequented by Army and Navy officers, in the hope of earning a penny or two running errands or doing some small service for one of the officers.

His childhood was tough, but generally happy, although he dreaded Saturdays when Punchy Wright used to visit the brothel, after drinking heavily.  He came in one day to find Punchy threatening one of the younger children for not doing something, and stepped in to take the blame.  The blow he took knocked him off his feet into the wall, but the other boy got away.  He avoided Punchy after that, and dislikes drunken fights, a feeling exacerbated later when he was part of a squad of soldiers sent to break up a bar brawl and he got hit in the face by one of the fighters and had to be helped back to barracks afterwards.  He will defend his friends though, even in situations like that, as he shows great loyalty to his friends and expects the same in return.

Despite knowing the alleys and backstreets of Chatham intimately, by the age of fourteen he was finding it increasingly harder to avoid the pressgangs sent to press men and boys into the Navy.  Fascinated by the uniforms of the marines, and the mystery of the ships, he eventually found himself outside the local marine barracks, where he took the King's shilling, in 1797.  He found training to be absolute hell, as he ended up training for six months with a sadistic sergeant who preferred recruits to be scared stiff rather than thinking for themselves, and wielded his cane with deadly effect. Thompson still bears the scars on the backs of his thighs from his days in training.  He also has a deep and lasting hatred of people who use their rank to bully those who are not so well off as themselves or who can't defend themselves.

He eventually finished training after six months, and joined a small group of Marines aboard His Majesty's Sloop Vixen.  It was here that he really learned what it was to be a Marine, under the tutelage of Corporal Davis, who encouraged and persuaded every new Marine aboard to go aloft to the fighting top at least three times, on the basis that it might only be volunteers who went up, but you never knew if you could volunteer till you tried it. Thompson found that he had a good head for heights and volunteered to be one of the sharpshooters, firing from the tops when in action.

He has served both ashore and at sea. His first posting was the 12-gun sloop Vixen, where he served for eighteen months, from late 1797 till early 1799. He spent a short period standing guard at the Admiralty, before being posted to HMS Téméraire, a second-rate of 98 guns, in June 1799, serving aboard her from until the Peace of Amiens was signed in 1802. In 1802, he was put on the list of Marines to be discharged, though his discharge didn't come through before war was declared again in 1803. He spent some months in Chatham and at the Nore, serving aboard the guardship Sandwich as part of the Marine detachment standing guard over the newly-pressed men. This was a duty he hated, and he was thankful to be sent to Calypso, 36, under the command of Captain Ramage. He served aboard her until he was transferred to HMS Surprise, 28, in late 1804, where he served until 1807, when he was posted back to Chatham before being transferred to Terpsichore, 32.

He has now served for twelve years, most of the time at sea.  He has most recently spent three months back at the Chatham depot, of which he divided his time between standing guard in the Dockyard or on the Dockyard gate, and being posted as a sentry on the receiving ship, standing guard over the newly pressed men.

When not on duty, he can usually be found in the Marines' part of the mess deck or (in fine weather) on deck with the other Marines. He is one of those Marines who have volunteered to go aloft if needed (unlike sailors, Marines do not have to go aloft if they don't wish to) and is proud of the fact that he can use the futtock shrouds like any sailor, even when hampered with a musket slung across his shoulders.

He isn't particularly superstitious - no more than many sailors, and less than some - and has the habit of touching iron, rather than wood, to ward off bad luck.

Anything Else: Icon:
Service History:
Enlisted 1797, in training when Camperdown was fought, first posted to Vixen, 12-gun sloop, in the western Mediterranean. (late 1797-1799)

Spent a few months at the Admiralty, then posted to Téméraire, 98, 1799-1802.

Posted to Chatham, then put on list to be discharged during the Peace of Amiens (1802-1803)

Posted to Calypso, 36 (1803-1804), then Surprise, 28 (1804-1808), then Terpsichore, 32 (1808-1809)

Promoted Corporal 3rd June 1809

Habits, skills and pastimes

• touches iron, not wood, to ward off bad luck
  
• Always has a clean rag in his pocket
  
• Can pick pockets, a skill learned in childhood
  
• A sharpshooter. Until recently, his station in battle was the foretop
  
• Will keep fighting even when wounded
  
• Smokes a clay pipe, a habit picked up in childhood
  
• Likes carving in his free time - he makes copies in miniature of the figureheads of the ships he's served in
  

Signatures: