Captain Frederick Marryat, a Royal Navy officer, author, and friend of Charles Dickens, lived from 10 July 1792 until 9 August 1848. Because of his semi-autobiographical work Mr. Midshipman Easy, he is regarded as an early pioneer of nautical fiction (1836). His children's book The Children of the New Forest (1847) and the Marryat's Code, a commonly used method of nautical flag signaling, are well remembered. The son of Joseph Marryat, a "commercial prince," a member of Parliament, a slave owner, and an opponent of abolition, and his American wife Charlotte, née von Geyer, Marryat was born in Great George Street, Westminster, London. Captain Frederick Marryat, a Royal Navy officer, author, and friend of Charles Dickens, lived from 10 July 1792 until 9 August 1848. Because of his semi-autobiographical work Mr. Midshipman Easy, he is regarded as an early pioneer of nautical fiction (1836). His children's book The Children of the New Forest (1847) and the Marryat's Code, a commonly used method of nautical flag signaling, are well remembered. The son of Joseph Marryat, a "commercial prince," a member of Parliament, a slave owner, and an opponent of abolition, and his American wife Charlotte, Marryat was born in Great George Street, Westminster, London.