by Richard Hiscocks | May 6, 2023
William Duddingston 1740-1817. He was born in November 1740 in Kilconquar, Fifeshire, the third born son of fourteen children of James Duddingston, and of his wife, Margaret Gillespie. After service in the merchant marine on the Fifeshire coast from 1752-5,...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 16, 2023
Robert Dudley Oliver 1766-1850. Born on 31 October 1766 to a prominent Limerick family, he was one of at least nine children of John Oliver and of his wife, Elizabeth Ryder, and was related to Silver Oliver of Castle Oliver, the M.P. for Limerick in the Irish...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 2, 2023
Sir Charles Adam 1780-1853. He was born on 6 October 1780 at Blairadam House, Kelty, Fifeshire, the second but eldest surviving son of the Whig lawyer, Rt. Hon. William Adam of Blair-Adam Kinross, and of Eleanor, a daughter of Lord Elphinstone, who was a sister of...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 4, 2023
Jahleel Brenton (1) 1729-1802. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island on 22 October 1729, the fourth son and one of a dozen children of Jahleel Brenton, who died in 1766, and of his wife, Frances Cranston. He was the father of Vice-Admiral Sir Jahleel Brenton and...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 26, 2023
Lord John Colville 1768-1849. Born on 15 March 1768, he was the second son of the 8th Lord Colville of Culross and of his wife, Amelia Webber. He was the elder brother of General Sir Charles Colville. Colville entered the Navy on 12 December 1775 aboard the Isis 50,...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 21, 2023
John Erskine Douglas 1757 -1847. One of fifteen children of David Douglas and of his wife, whose maiden name was Thompson, he was the grand-nephew of the 2nd Earl of Queensberry, and the brother of Colonel William Douglas. Douglas was commissioned lieutenant on 21...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 10, 2023
Sir George Cockburn 1772-1853. Born on 22 April 1772 in London of Scottish descent, he was the second son of Sir James Cockburn, Bt. of Langton, Berwickshire, the Tory M.P. for Peebles who later suffered financial ruin, and of Augusta Ayscough, a daughter of the Dean...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 8, 2023
Sir James Brisbane 1774-1826. He was the fifth son of Admiral John Brisbane, and of his wife, Mary Young. His elder brother was Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Brisbane, and of his other brothers, Captain John Brisbane drowned in 1782, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Brisbane was...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 3, 2023
Sir George Eyre 1769-1839. He was born on 23 April 1769, the fourth and youngest son of Anthony Eyre, the M.P. for Boroughbridge from 1774-84, and the descendent of an old and prominent Nottinghamshire family which had been supporters of the Stuarts. His mother was...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 18, 2022
Robert Scott Died 1807. He was the son of the Reverend James Scott of Itchen Stoke in Hampshire, and of his wife, Jane Elizabeth Harmood. Amongst several siblings was Jane Elizabeth Harley, the Countess of Oxford, whose liaisons with the reformers and progressives of...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 7, 2022
William O’Brien Drury 1754-1811. Believed to have been born in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, he was the son of Edward Drury of Cloyne, Cork, Ireland, and of his wife, Ann Maule. Having been commissioned lieutenant on 28 November 1778, Drury was promoted commander on...
by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 14, 2022
Sir Richard Hussey Moubray (Hussey) 1776-1842. He was born on 16 March 1776 at Stoke Damarel, Plymouth, the second and youngest son of Robert Moubray of Cockairney, Kinrosshire, Scotland, and of his wife, Arabella Hussey. He was the first cousin of Admiral Sir Richard...
by Richard Hiscocks | Oct 14, 2022
Hugh Pigot 1769-97. Born on 5 September 1769 in Patshull, Staffordshire, he was the younger son of Admiral Hugh Pigot and of his second wife, Frances Wrottesley. In May 1782 Pigot entered the Navy aboard the Jupiter 50, Captain Thomas Pasley, the flagship of his...
by Richard Hiscocks | Oct 7, 2022
Hon. Francis Farrington Gardner 1773-1821. Born on 21 June 1773, he was the second of nine sons of Admiral Lord Gardner and of his wife, Susanna Hyde Gale. He was the brother of Admiral Lord Alan Hyde Gardner and Major-General Hon. William Henry Gardner. On 19 June...
by Richard Hiscocks | Sep 13, 2022
John Mason Lewis c1770-1835. He was the son of Major-General Robert Mason Lewis, who from 1794 until his death in 1800 was the lieutenant-governor of Carisbrook Castle. Lewis was commissioned lieutenant on 2 November 1790 at the end of the Spanish Armament, and he...
by Richard Hiscocks | Aug 29, 2022
John M’Kerlie 1774-1848. He was born on 7 June 1774 at Glenluce, Wigtownshire, to a Scottish family which worked a large farm owned by the Earl of Galloway. His father, John M’Kerlie, was a stonemason. After early service on a Baltic trader that made at least...
by Richard Hiscocks | Aug 3, 2022
Isaac Cotgrave 1747- 1814. He was born in Cheshire, the son of Jonathon Cotgrave, and of his wife, Mary Low. Cotgrave was commissioned lieutenant on 15 May 1780, and in 1791 he recommissioned the cutter Ranger 14 in that rank, largely operating out of Plymouth. This...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jul 19, 2022
George Countess 1743- 1811. He was of Irish extraction. Countess was commissioned lieutenant on 8 August 1774 and was one of a dozen officers promoted commander at the conclusion of the Dutch Armament on 1 December 1787, being appointed to the Atalanta 14 for purposes...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jul 2, 2022
Hon. Sir Arthur Kaye Legge 1766-1835. Born on 25 October 1766, he was the sixth son of the statesman, William Legge, the 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, and of his wife, Frances Catherine Nicoll. He had seven brothers, one of whom became the Bishop of Oxford, whilst his...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 4, 2022
Henry Lloyd Died 1792. Lloyd was commissioned lieutenant on 13 October 1757, and he was promoted commander of the bomb vessel Infernal 8 on 26 May 1768, being one of many officers advanced on that date. On 26 July 1769 he was appointed to the French-built sloop Hawk...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 21, 2022
Sir Ross Donnelly 1761-1840. He was the son of Dr Francis Donnelly of Athlone, County Roscomon, and of his wife, Anne. Donnelly entered the navy in 1776 during the early years of the American Revolutionary War, and he served on a battery at the capture of Charleston...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 10, 2022
Edward Rotheram 1753-1830. Born on 27 December 1753 at Hexham, Northumberland, he was the second son of seven children of Dr John Rotheram and of his wife, Catherine Roberts. His brother was Professor John Rotheram, an esteemed natural philosopher. Rotheram was...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 31, 2022
William Edward Cracraft c1767-1810. He was described in contemporary newspapers as a ‘near relation’ of the 5th Earl of Berkeley, which possibly indicated that he was the peer’s natural son. By 1780 Cracraft was studying at the Royal Naval Academy, he was commissioned...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 26, 2022
Sir Thomas Williams c1762-1841. He appears to have been christened on the Isle of Wight on 20 June 1762, the eldest of three sons of Captain William Williams, who died on Saint-Domingue in 1778, shortly after being wounded in an action that saw his frigate, the Active...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 11, 2022
James Bowen 1751-1835. He was born in Ilfracombe, Devon, the eldest son of Richard Bowen, a merchant captain who traded in Africa and the West Indies. He was the brother of Captain Richard Bowen who was killed in action in 1797, and of Captain George Bowen, who died...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 1, 2022
Sir Charles Dashwood 1765-1847. He was born on 1 September 1765, the second son of Robert Dashwood of Vallon Wood in Somerset, and of his wife, Hon. Mary Sweeting. Dashwood entered the Navy on 9 January 1779, serving in home waters aboard the Courageux 74, Captain...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 9, 2022
James Ross-Farquharson 1771-1809. He was the second son of Vice-Admiral Sir John Lockhart-Ross and of his wife, Elizabeth Dundas, the daughter of the Right Hon. Robert Dundas, the Lord President of the Court of Session in Scotland. Ross was commissioned lieutenant on...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 9, 2022
Sir Robert Waller Otway 1770-1846. He was born on 26 April 1770, reportedly the second of seven sons and one daughter of a wealthy dragoon officer, Cooke Otway, of Castle Otway, County Tipperary, and of his wife, Elizabeth Waller. The Reverend Samuel Otway,...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 24, 2022
John Monkton c1754-1826. Monkton first went to sea in 1766 and saw initial service aboard the Chatham 50, Captain John Falkingham, which sailed for the Leeward Islands in July of that year. He transferred with Falkingham in August to the Lark 32, which was paid off in...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 23, 2022
William Bedford 1764-1827. He was born in March 1764 and was probably a younger son of William Bedford and of his wife, Dorothea Kempe. Bedford was given a lieutenant’s commission on 12 September 1781, and from April 1783 until April 1786 served aboard the Plymouth...
