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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Aug 12, 2021
Joseph Deane c1731-80. He was baptised on 22 December 1730 and appears to have originated from Whitehaven in Cumbria. His younger brother, Charles, served in the East India Company. On 29 April 1755 Deane was commissioned lieutenant, and on 23 February 1758 he was...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 8, 2021
see Thomas Davy Spry
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 31, 2020
Charles Sydney Davers c1770-1804. He was baptised on 20 April 1770, the eldest son of Sir Charles Davers of Rushbrooke Hall near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, the M.P for Bury St Edmunds from 1774-1802. His father was regarded as neither a supporter of the government...
by Richard Hiscocks | Aug 24, 2019
George Duff 1764-1805. He was born on or about 1 February 1764 in Banff, Scotland, the younger son of a solicitor, James Duff, who was related to the Earl of Fife. His mother, Helen Skene, died six weeks after his birth. He was a great nephew of Vice-Admiral Robert...
by Richard Hiscocks | Aug 5, 2019
John Drew Died 1798. He came from Stockaton near Saltash, and his twin brother was Commander James Drew. Another brother who took holy orders became the mayor of Saltash, and he was the uncle of Lieutenant John Drew. Drew was commissioned lieutenant on 19 September...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 5, 2019
Charles Dilkes 1779-1846. He was born on 25 April 1779 at Warden in Bedfordshire, the son of Major Thomas Dilkes of the 49th Regiment and the brother of General William Thomas Dilkes. He was the nephew of Admiral John Dilkes, one of his grandfathers was General...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 14, 2019
John Doling Died 1795.Doling was commissioned lieutenant on 24 November 1778.During 1786 he was the first lieutenant aboard the Portsmouth guardship Hector 74, Captain Sir John Collins, and in the course of the Dutch Armament he commissioned the Victory 100 for...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 10, 2019
John Dilkes c1745-1827. He was the third son of General Michael O Brien Dilkes and of his wife Anne Cummin. His grandfather was Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Dilkes, and he was the uncle of Captain Charles Dilkes. Dilkes was commissioned lieutenant on 31 July 1762. During...
by Richard Hiscocks | Sep 12, 2018
Hugh Downman 1765-1858. He was born of humble origins at Plympton, Devon on 29 October 1765. With the influence of his uncle, the poet and physician Dr Hugh Downman, he entered the navy on 10 October 1776 aboard the Thetis 32, Captain Mitchell Graham, who was...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 7, 2018
William Daniel Died 1800 He was commissioned lieutenant on 27 October 1758 and promoted commander on 14 July 1779, having captained the depot ship Greenwich 26 at the Nore. This vessel was eventually paid off in March 1783, although Daniel had been posted captain on...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 5, 2018
Hon. Michael de Courcy Died 1824. He was the third son of John De Courcy, 18th Lord Kingsale, and of his wife, Martha Heron. On 20 November 1776 de Courcy was commissioned lieutenant of the Preston 50, Captain Samuel Uppleby, flying the broad pennant of Commodore...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 20, 2018
Sir William Domett c1752-1828. He was born to an undistinguished family from Hawkchurch, Devon. Domett entered the service in 1769 under the patronage of Captain Alexander Hood, and he served for the next three years in the Leeward Islands aboard the Quebec 32,...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 3, 2017
Sir Philip Charles Calderwood Henderson Durham 1763-1845. Baptised on 29 July 1763, he was the third of four sons of a wealthy landowner and laird, James Durham of Largo, Fife, and his second wife Ann Calderwood. An elder brother was Lieutenant-General James Durham....
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 18, 2017
Sir Henry d’Esterre Darby 1749-1823. He was the fourth born but second surviving of eight sons to a barrister, Jonathon Darby, who owned Leap Castle, fifty miles west of Dublin, and his wife, Susannah Lovett. His uncle was Vice-Admiral George Darby. Darby joined...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 23, 2017
Thomas Dumaresq 1729-1802. He was born in Jersey to a long-established family, being the son of John Greffier Dumaresq, and of his wife, Anne Bockham. Dumaresq was commissioned lieutenant on 16 October 1755, and in April 1763 joined the new cutter Esther 6, serving...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 3, 2017
Stair Douglas (1) Died 1789. He was the third of four sons of Sir John Douglas of Kilhead, Scotland, and of his wife Christian, the daughter of Sir William Cunningham. He was the uncle of Rear-Admiral Stair Douglas.Douglas? early service included a spell in the...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 13, 2017
Sir Andrew Snape Douglas 1761-97. He was born on 8 October 1761 in Edinburgh, the son of a doctor of medicine, William Douglas, and his wife Lydia Hamond, the eldest sister of Captain Sir Andrew Snape Hamond. Following the death of his father in 1770, and after a...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 17, 2017
John Leigh Douglas 1741-1810. He was the son of the Reverend Alexander Douglas of Baads in Midlothian, and of his wife, Isabel Houston. Douglas was commissioned lieutenant on 17 June 1760, and after being promoted commander of the Camelon 14 on 19 September 1777 went...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 26, 2016
Francis William Drake 1724-89. Born in Buckland Monachorum, Devon, and baptised on 22 August 1724, he was the third born but second surviving of Sir Francis Henry Drake, the 4th baronet in the line of succession from the conqueror of the Spanish Armada, Sir Francis...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 7, 2016
John Dalrymple c1722-1798. He was descended from a noble Scottish family, being related to the Earl of Stair, and the only son of Robert Dalrymple who inherited the Kinloch estate. Dalrymple was commissioned lieutenant on 1 February 1756, and having commanded the...
by Richard Hiscocks | Sep 10, 2016
Thomas Drury 1750-1832. He was the fourth child but the eldest son of the Reverend George Drury, the rector of Claydon in Suffolk, and of his wife, Elizabeth Cavell. Drury was commissioned lieutenant on 18 March 1773 and joined the Alarm, 32 Captain John Stott,...
by Richard Hiscocks | Aug 1, 2016
Edmund Dod 1734-1815. Dod was commissioned lieutenant on 26 February 1760, and whilst in this rank he commanded the schooner Diligent 10 at Halifax in 1776 before she was wrecked on the Gannet Rocks in the Bay of Fundy whilst escorting transports with forage for the...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 29, 2016
Billy Douglas 1749-1817. He was born on 30 April 1749 at Turnham Green, Chiswick, London. Douglas was commissioned lieutenant on 10 August 1776, and by July 1777 he was in command of the brig Antigua 12 at Jamaica, with which he captured the rebel privateer Blacksnake...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 20, 2016
Hugh Dalrymple Died 1779. He was of Scottish descent, one of fifteen children of Sir James Dalrymple M.P and of his wife Lady Christian Hamilton, the daughter of the Earl of Haddington. He was the older brother of the first hydrographer of the Admiralty, Alexander...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 18, 2016
George Dawson Of his origins nothing is known, other than that he resided during the early 1780?s at Holgate, York. Dawson was commissioned lieutenant on 9 August 1762, and from 1768 held the command of the schooner Hope 6, taking her out to Boston, returning to...
