He was either murdered by a jealous lover in a tragic case of mistaken identity or died of Yellow Fever in a Royal Navy hospital in 1815.

Whatever the true story, the grave of the 16-year-old sailor who is buried at Admiralty Park is now in a shoddy state of disrepair and conservationists and local MP Erwin Adderley want it tidied up.

It is thought cars, which are allowed into the park near Spanish Point, or vandals are responsible for knocking down some of the stone corner pillars on the grave.

Most of the writing on the grave is worn away but Bermuda National Trust, which looks after other historic graves on the Island, has contacted the Parks Department and offered to tidy up the site.

United Bermuda Party MP Erwin Adderley said yesterday the grave should be spruced up and fenced off, and a plaque should be erected in the park, the former residence of the commander of the British Navy, explaining the history of the area.

Mr. Adderley said: "It's in a terrible condition. I don't know whether it is deliberate vandalism or cars being allowed to drive over the area or trucks reversing, but it has caused damage.

"It should be fixed up and maintained. At one point in time there was an Admiralty House Park committee which kept it in pretty good nick and I would have thought the Parks Department would have maintained consecrated ground in better condition.

"There should also be some kind of plaque here to explain to people the history of the place."

The Bermuda Government purchased the former Dunscombe estate in St. John's Hill for 3,000 in 1816 to provide a residence for the Admiral in charge of the British fleet covering America and West Indies.

Before that, Admiralty Park was the site of a naval hospital treating fever victims.

National Trust director Amanda Outerbridge said yesterday: "We take care of other cemeteries as part of our mandate and we have been contacted and asked to take a look at it.

"I've spoke to Parks Director Candy Foggo offering our expertise and recommendations to tidy it up and she said that would be very helpful."

Although most of the writing on the stone has worn away, the grave appears to belong to a Charles Francillon and the Spartan, probably the name of his ship, is mentioned.

The historian W.E.S. Zuill writes in his 1946 book Bermuda Journey: "The story goes that a jealous lover seeking revenge hid himself in the undergrowth near the supposed trysting place of his rival, and sure enough soon saw a figure approaching smoking a cigar, the glowing tobacco coming nearer until a shadowy form stood close to the bushes behind which he was hidden.

"A frenzy seized him, and springing out of his ambush, he fell upon his victim and stabbed him to death. Only then did he pause. Looking intently at the dead man, he saw that he had killed a midshipman whom hitherto he had never seen.

"Others more realistic than romantic, disregard this story and point out that in 1815, the house at St John's Hill was not the Admiral's residence, but a fever hospital and they say it is more than likely that the grave is that of a victim of the epidemic."