Based in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the series chronicles the life and adventures of Martin Stockley.

The seventh son and youngest of nine surviving children of a Dorset clay digger he was destined for a short hard life down the ball clay mines of the Isle of Purbeck.

As youngest he is underfed and undersized for his age and when the local school teacher suggests he should join her brother in the Navy as his cabin boy, his parents jump at the chance to sell him. ​

 

What follows charts his progress through the ranks of the Navy and society where he rubs shoulders with Nelson, Sir Sidney Smith and Thomas Cochrane, the Prince of Wales and the love of his life Caroline.