Maritime historian Andrew Lyter to sign books Nov. 9

Author Andrew Lyter will sign copies of "Going Among English Sailors: American Tars Aboard HMS Belvidera, 1809-1814” from 1 to 3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 9. at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach. 

Arriving at Portsmouth, England, the Belvidera paid off her crew and discharged the last members of the ship’s company. It was Aug. 24, 1814. Four years, six months and five days had passed since the crew first mustered at the Nore under Capt. Richard Byron before sailing for the North Sea and later North America. Over the course of the ship’s tenure on active duty, 22 American tars called its lower deck home as they served under the British ensign.

Their time in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, War of 1812 and Bombardment of Lewes coincided with an era of fluid nationalities on the waterfront and ambiguity for laborers at sea when it came to defining what it meant to be an American. As a result, these sailors often weighed national loyalties against a greater devotion to the seafaring livelihood. Through their collective service aboard the Belvidera, they would greatly influence the socio-cultural seascape of the trans-Atlantic world.

Lyter is executive director and curator for the Lewes Historical Society and is pursuing a doctoral degree in maritime history. He specializes in the social history of the Revolutionary Atlantic, focusing on American sailors serving in the Royal Navy. Lyter is an avid sailor, regularly crewing aboard tall ships in both the United States and United Kingdom.