King's Letter Boys

A 17th-century scheme for entering officer aspirants into the Royal Navy by royal letter rather than through the ranks. From about 1661 under Charles II, selected gentlemen’s sons carried a King’s letter directing a captain to take them aboard as Volunteers-per-Order and train them for a commission, an early formal route to the quarterdeck. The system, also called the Volunteer-per-Order entry, ran alongside captain’s-servant and midshipman entry until the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth opened in 1733; it remained the principal letter-route for would-be officers.