[Untitled], the 22d of December, 1863

[Untitled]

I, George Bailey, of Sheemess, do hereby solemnly and truly swear that on Monday, the 30th November, I, with Thomas Gifford, William Barber, William Mitchell, James Morley, Joseph Govel, William Ellis, and Joseph Williams, arranged with Mr. Bagshaw, the leading hand of the boiler-makers afloat, to go to Calais and work on board the screw steamer Rappahannock, late her Majesty’s screw steamer Victor. We went with him to Mr. Rumble’s house. He went in, and we waited outside. He brought out with him three five-pound notes to pay our expenses to Calais. We thought that not enough, but Mr. Bagshaw said he had asked Mr. Rumble for more, but could not obtain it. He said, however, that those who wished to leave a note of hand for their wives to receive might do so, and that Mr. Greathead, a chief engineer in the royal navy, would pay them £2 each on the following Friday. Gifford, Mitchell, and myself left orders for our wives. We were told that the job would take from ten to twelve days to complete. We applied for leave of absence for fourteen days to Mr. Baffey, the leading man in the boiler-shops, who inquired where we were going, and was told we were going to Calais to repair the boilers of the Rappahannock. He said. “I cannot let eight of the best men in the shop go away on leave for so long a time, as I have so much work on hand here, which I must get done before a certain day;” but that he would see Captain Wise, the superintendent of the dockyard about it. Captain Wise said, If they go, they must go on their own account. No objection was made to our going, and we received no advice to stay away. We thought as Mr. Rumble and Mr. Bagshaw had the job in hand it would be all right when we got back, as they had promised to get us leave of absence. If I had thought that my leaving for Calais would have endangered my place in the dockyard, I should not have gone.

We went the next day, the 1st of December, to Calais, accompanied by Mr. Rumble. Upon arrival, we went on board, the Rappahannock, and Mr. Ferguson, the chief engineer, showed us our work. There were no tools to work with on board, but we were informed that some would come. The next day a gentleman brought some steel drifts on board. That is all the tools I saw. I found that there were at least 1,400 tubes to be put in, the old ones were not drawn from the boilers. We began to draw them at once, and I knew that it would take at least two months to fit the tubes as they were fitted before, or not less than six weeks, in the quickest and least expensive manner, so that they would answer, provided all the boilers were new tubed, as the chief engineer had desired; but she could be got to sea in a less time if only a part of the boilers were new tubed. Not feeling sure or comfortable after staying four days, I left Calais for Sheerness, as I thought it better to return to my former work. When I arrived at Dover, I found Mr. Rumble had returned by the same boat. He sent for me and asked my reason for leaving Calais, and wished me to return, offering me £10 to do so. I asked him what he had done about our leave. He said he knew nothing about that, but that it would be all right. I refused his offer, and said I would not go back until I had first been home. On arriving at Sheerness, I applied to our leading man, Mr. Baffey, to return to work. He informed me that I and the seven men that went with me to Calais were all discharged, by order from the admiralty, as we had been away without leave, and that we could not be readmitted. I found that Mr. Greathead had sent my wife the £2, as promised.

Mr. Henry Elmer, the third engineer, returned on Friday, the 11th of December, and he has since told me that he had left the Rappahannock because they wanted to humbug him respecting the pay. Mr. Carr, the second engineer, has also left. I have seen him since his return.

It would have taken the eight men at least two months to complete the repairs on the Rappahannock, if they had been provided with the best tools. As it was, they could not have done it at all. Other men came from Mr. Rennie’s yard, London, and took the job out of the hands of the dockyard men.

GEORGE BAILEY.