Character Encounters

John Simmonds (1783–1858) was a black sailor who served with Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805. Developed with John’s descendants and using over 40 years of family research, the performance will take you on a journey through the museum, from Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare CBE to the Nelson, Navy, Nation gallery.

John Simmonds plays an important part in bringing hidden black British histories into the mainstream, and exploring the histories of the culturally diverse crews that the British navy relied upon.

Meeting point: Nelson, Navy, Nation gallery (on Level 2 of the Museum)

Explore Traders: the East India Company and Asia gallery with James Robson, a Chinese sailor who served on the fastest and greatest of the tea clippers, Cutty Sark. Find out about the struggles of the tea trade between Britain and China on your journey, and the impact of the 19th-century Opium Wars on both countries.

James Robson is an important character in revealing hidden British Chinese histories, and his story relates to Traders, our permanent gallery on the British East India Company.

Meeting point: The North end of the Traders gallery (on Level 1 of the Museum)

Meet Alice and find out about life at sea during the Golden Age of Piracy. Alice has found her way on board a pirate ship dressed as a man and will tell you what life is like as a woman disguised as a man at sea.

Meeting point: All Hands gallery (on Level 2 of the Museum)

Join Tamera as she travels through time and place exploring stories of encounter, exploration and endeavour across the Tudor and Stuart Seafarers, Polar Worlds, Pacific Encounters and Sea Things galleries.

Meeting point: Sea Things gallery (on Level 1 of the Museum)