Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy who commanded a ship at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and was later Captain of Nelson's flagship, the Victory, 1803-5 was born in the neighbouring village of Portesham. An Abbotsbury man, doubtless one of many, known simply as 'Boatswain' served under Admiral Hardy. This gentleman survived the many sea battles with the French to retire back to Abbotsbury where his 'prize' money enabled him to buy a portion of land to the east of the village, which is known to this day as 'Boatswain's Field.'

During the Napoleonic Wars, small warships; sloops & brigs, were built in the harbour at Bridport and doubtless many Abbotsbury men took the King's 'silver' and joined the navy without having to be 'pressed' into service. The promise of free 'grog' would almost certainly have been enough of an incentive!

The threat of invasion by the French during the wars was very real and keenly felt in the villages along the Chesil Bank. Any stranger was viewed with utmost suspicion of being a French spy. Belief at the time was that Napoleon himself had actually landed at Lulworth Cove, along the coast from Weymouth, to investigate the possibility of landing an army on the Dorset coast. If this was so, he may well have been bought across in one of the smuggler's vessels that plied their illicit trade across the channel. Fortunately, however, the cove would have been impossible for a large party of invaders to negotiate, as the Emperor apparently declared, folding his map in disgust! A local farmer's wife had reputedly witnessed this event and reported it to the authorities. Whether true, or a figment of her imagination, all the towns and villages along the coast took the threat very seriously and had various contingency plans in force to thwart invasion attempts. Beacons were kept in readiness, one being at Abbotsbury Castle, the hill fort above the village. These beacons were to be fired immediately if news came of a landing, thus alerting the local population. A popular verse of the times, originating in Burton Bradstock, but also sung in Abbotsbury was:

Lives are lent for laws and King

When that they may need 'em

Let us then in chorus sing

Give us death or freedom

Chorus To the fields of Mars advance

Join the bold alliance

Tell the blood stain'd Sons of France

We bid them all defiance.

During the wars many French prisoners were held at the prison in the nearby town of Dorchester. Chris Wade