 At age sixteen, he was confronted by a Royal Navy press gang who intended to conscript him into service during the Napoleonic Wars.Instead of allowing his son to be conscripted, James Napier signed a contract of formal indenture with his son, making him immune to conscription.Napier's apprenticeship with his father lasted for five years, after which time he moved to Edinburgh and worked for Robert Stevenson, builder of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.