Wolfgang William Romer - Return Home and Later Life

Return Home and Later Life

On his homeward voyage he was captured by the French and carried to St. Malo, where he was liberated on parole. The usual offer of twenty seamen in exchange for a colonel was refused by the French, and Romer returned to England to negotiate for an exchange. The Board of Ordnance suggested that the French might accept the Marquis de Levy, taken in the HMS Salisbury, or Chevalier Nangis.

In September 1707 Romer visited Düsseldorf, carrying a letter of recommendation from Queen Anne to the Elector Palatine. In 1708, his exchange having been effected, he was employed in designing defences for Portsmouth, which were submitted to the Board of Ordnance in the following year, and in the construction of Blockhouse Fort at the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour. He continued in charge of the Portsmouth defences, occasionally visiting other fortified towns, such as Harwich, which he reported on in 1710, and places in Flanders, until his death in 1713. He was buried at Düsseldorf, where he had some property. His son John Lambertus Romer (1680–1754) followed him into a career as a military engineer, and served in Scotland.