The above are photographs of the figurehead of the &'Asia&', taken on different days which explains the colour difference, and it's what William would have seen each time he embarked and disembarked from the ship. Strangely enough, when I first saw it, in the Royal Naval Museum, in Portsmouth, I had no idea that William had been a Royal Marine or had any connection with the &'Asia&' but, for some reason, it stuck in my mind - so much so that when, a year later, I did find the connection, I remembered where the figurehead was, that it was on the second floor and in the far left hand corner.

I had to wait some months before we could visit the Museum again but when we did, with great excitement, I was able to go straight to the figurehead and take my photograph!

I found out that, normally, figureheads were made of pine but as the ship was built in India, the Asia's figurehead was carved from teak, which was a much easier wood to obtain out there.

As can be seen from the photograph the turban is a reddish brown (more red than brown) the earrings are gold, the moustache and eyebrows black. What looks like a scarf or a singlet, is coloured white, and, from memory, the eyes were a dark brown. His skin was a beautiful was a beautiful, varnished light brown to honey-colour.

I can't remember, unfortunately, how large it was in comparison with me or anything else but it was smaller than I expected a figurehead to be - though still very impressive. I was thrilled to think that I was looking at something that my great-great uncle would have seen, in 1824, when he was seventeen - and it was new!