No ships were mentioned in Campbell's will. His long-term deputy hulks
superintendent Erskine was also ignored in the will. The long wonder of
Erskine's career is that he was never the victim of revenge taken by members of
some alleged organised crime ring. Given his long career, Erskine must have
become some kind of river institution in his own right. It is surprising he
was never murdered by prisoners' friends at some point in his "tour of
duty" on the hulks. That Erskine has never been noticed in London folklore
also seems incredible. Erskine could have been much criticised, say, as an
evil sadist, but he has not been, and if he was a decent man, this might be
why Campbell's obituarist took the view he did. Campbell had never been
popular with journalists and the hulks were always unpopular with London. His
obituarist thought Campbell was not a gentleman, and took an opportunity to
pillory him