chefs supply

First, the business-man and shop-keeper - later to become responsible for pay as well - the Supply Officer of the British Royal Navy is now known as the Logistics Officer but was known in centuries past as the Clerk, Bursar, Purser and Paymaster.

This officer was first mentioned as a regular member of a ship's company in one of the King's Ships in the fourteenth century. Later known as the Clerk and then Bursar in the Royal Navy, the name of this warrant officer soon changed to Purser.

In the early days, the Purser was really a privileged shop-keeper on board ship and, as such, the profession was guilty of many malpractices. Samuel Pepys said of the Purser "A purser without professed cheating is a professed loser. Professional Cutlery Supplycom. "

By the end of the seventeenth century a new post of Captain's Clerk was ordained and all Pursers had to pass through this office; this resulted in promotion to the post of Purser largely resting with ship's captains.

Gradually, the status of the Purser rose and he received the uniform of a Warrant Officer in 1787. The Purser first received a distinctive uniform in 1805 and by 1808 was officially recognized as a "Warrant Officer of Wardroom rank". The oldest man in the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, was the Purser of Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory.