A. T. L. Covey-Crump

Commander Alwyn Thomas Lavender Covey-Crump (19 February 1907 – 19 May 1991) was a British officer of the Royal Navy. An assistant to the Chief of Naval Information, he was responsible in the mid-1950s for compiling a record of Jack-speak (naval slang) and other historical marine linguistic details. The first edition appeared on 17 May 1955. The compilation, now continually updated, has led to the term Covey-Crump itself entering into Royal Navy slang.

Covey-Crump served in various ships between 1927 and 1945, including HMS Vindictive, HMS Enterprise, HMS Duncan, HMS Faulkner, HMS Boscawen, HMS Ceylon and HMS Liverpool. He was the second son of Reverend Canon Walter William Covey-Crump, and was married with one son.

Background

Covey-Crump was born on 19 February 1907 in Stopsley, Bedfordshire.Template:Refn<ref name="1939 Register" /> He was the second son of Reverend Canon Walter William Covey-Crump;Template:Refn<ref>Template:Cite news (This source confirms that A. T. L. Covey-Crump was the second son of W. W. Covey-Crump.)</ref> his mother was Hilda Sophia (Template:Nee).Template:Refn<ref name="1939 Electoral Register" >Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="1911 England Census" >{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His parents married on 11 June 1903 at Haddenham,Template:Refn when his father was by then using the name Covey as a given name.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The family was using the double-barrelled name, Covey-Crump, by 1911.<ref name="1911 England Census" />

Covey-Crump had two brothers: musician<ref name="Beds and Herts Pic" >Template:Cite news</ref> Lewis Charles Leslie,Template:Refn and Leo William Rolf,Template:Refn<ref name="1911 England Census" /> who served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in World War II.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He attended King's Ely.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1938, Covey-Crump married Joyce BlackstoneTemplate:Refn at St James, Picadilly, London.Template:Refn<ref name="1957 Electoral Register" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} (Note: This document gives an incorrect birth year and age for Joyce Blackstone – she was 35, born in 1904)</ref> the daughter of T. W. Blackstone, former Deputy Inspector General of Police and Police Commissioner in Southern India.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The 1939 England and Wales Register finds him at Flat 5, Nirvana Mansions, Portsmouth.<ref name="1939 Register" >Template:Cite book (Note: this document confirms Covey-Crump's birth date.</ref> The 1957 Electoral Register finds Covey-Crump and his wife Joyce living at 19 Trenham Drive, Warlingham, Surrey.<ref name="1957 Electoral Register" >Template:Cite book</ref> They had one son.Template:Refn He died aged 84 on 19 May 1991 at St Albans,Template:Refn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and was buried on 24 May.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Naval service

Inter-war years

On 1 September 1925, aged 18, Covey-Crump was appointed acting paymaster sub-lieutenant or paymaster midshipman.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In December 1927 he passed his accountant officers' examination, class 2, while serving on HMS Vindictive.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 1 June 1929 he was promoted to paymaster lieutenant.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1931 he was deployed to HMS Enterprise.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> From 14 September 1934 he was deployed to HMS Vernon, a shore establishment in Portsmouth.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was appointed to HMS Duncan from 10 September 1935.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> From 28 September 1936 he was deployed as secretary to Captain Victor Danckwerts of HMS Faulkner, leader of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> From 1 June 1937 he was paymaster lieutenant-commander.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On 16 August 1938 he was sent to HMS Victory shore establishment for an accountant officers' technical course.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 2 January 1939 he was again deployed to HMS Victory for Tactical School.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Second World War

On 11 August 1939, Covey-Crump was appointed to the shore establishment HMS Boscawen.<ref name="1939 Register" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In that year, he was assistant to the Chief of Naval Information.<ref name="Navy List 1939" >Template:Cite book</ref> He was promoted to commander on 1 June 1943.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1944, he was serving on the cruiser HMS Ceylon.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After the war

In 1946, Covey-Crump was serving at HMS St George shore training establishment, finishing in January 1948.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 1948, he was appointed to HMS St Vincent, a shore training establishment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was appointed to HMS Liverpool from 15 March 1948 until at least August 1950.<ref name="Dundee ET 7 August 1950" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 22 January 1950, while Covey-Crump was serving in the Mediterranean under Vice Admiral Louis Mountbatten on HMS Liverpool, King Farouk visited the ship,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and was presented with a special matchbox when lighting his cigar. "From the ship's Father Christmas one of the officers, Commander A. T. L. Covey-Crump, had received the present of six boxes of matches. The specially-printed label bears the legend Commander Covey's Crumptious Matches beneath a horseshoe". Farouk was a collector and belonged to the British Matchbox Labels Society (BMLS); the gift was described as a "great rarity". The president of the BMLS also owned one of the six labels.<ref name="Dundee ET 7 August 1950" >Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1955, Covey-Crump's compilation of Jack-speak was published within the Navy. He was appointed registrar at the Royal Naval Barracks, Devonport the same year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Compilation of naval terms

Alphabetical Glossary of Naval Terms and Abbreviations (1955)

Covey-Crump privately published, within the Royal Navy, his first-edition typescript of Alphabetical Glossary of Naval Terms and Abbreviations on 17 May 1955. It contains "a collection of Naval slang, abbreviations, legends and historical tit-bits", and a list of Naval nicknames. The National Archives website has an online transcription of it, commenting that it "provides a valuable resource for researchers looking for answers to many historical questions about the Royal Navy".<ref name="NA Navy Slang" >{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The historical reenactment company HMS Richmond suggests that the collection of Jack-speak in this compilation is centred on the period around 1775.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is "mainly aimed at those with a background in the senior service",<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and was "the first official collection of naval slang".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} (Note: Collins is a reputable publisher, and Lucy Mangan is a reputable journalist who writes for The Guardian.</ref> The compilation itself became known in the Royal Navy as Covey-Crump and the phrase thus entered the list of naval slang.<ref name="NA Navy Slang" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> One example from the compilation is: "Blazer: The name for this coloured coat comes from HMS Blazer, whose Captain (Captain J. W. Washington) in 1845 had his boat's crew dressed in blue and white-striped jackets. This was, of course, before the days of authorised uniform for Naval ratings".<ref name="Covey-Crump online 2009" >{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Reviews

• "So richly endowed is our language with the patois of the sea that it is surprising that so few glossaries of nautical terms and their origins have found their way into print. One excellent example that never got that far is the one compiled by Cdr. A. T. L. Covey-Crump for the Chief of Naval Information in the 1950s – Navy News still has its own well-thumbed copy of the type-script". [It has an] "idiosyncratic appeal".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Updated and modern versions of the Alphabetical Glossary

Jackspeak continues to evolve: Covey-Crump's 1955 edition marks a moment in time, and there was an updated edition in 1967.<ref name="Covey-Crump glossary online" >Template:Cite book</ref> Surgeon Captain Rick Jolly, who as a surgeon commander with the Commando Logistic Regiment commanded the field hospital at Ajax Bay during the Falklands War produced his own dictionary of "Jackspeak" in aid of the South Atlantic Medal Association, in 2000.<ref>Rick Jolly, Jackspeak: A Guide to British Naval Slang & Usage, FoSAMMA (2000), Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Collections

• Imperial War Museum: Template:Cite book

External links

• RN Life – Navy Slang – Royal Navy website (archived on The National Archives website)