by Richard Hiscocks | May 11, 2024
Joshua Rowley Watson 1772-1818. Born on 17 April 1772 at Topsham, Devon, he was the son of Captain Thomas Watson, who died in action in the Leeward Islands in May 1780 whilst commanding the Conqueror 74, and of his wife Mary Burges, who died in 1774. Following his...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 14, 2023
Frederick Watkins 1770- 1856. He was born on 14 October 1770. Watkins was one of the many officers commissioned lieutenant on 20 November 1790 at the conclusion of the Spanish Armament, and he was appointed to the Vigilant 64 for apparent purposes of rank only. On 7...
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 | Aug 1, 2021
Sir John Borlase Warren 1753-1822. He was born on 2 September 1753 at Stapleford in Nottinghamshire, the fourth son of a wealthy gentleman, John Borlase Warren, and of his wife, Bridget Rosell of Radcliffe-on-Trent. Warren received an education at Bicester and...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 22, 2021
William Henry Webley (Parry) 1764-1837. He was born on 3 March 1764, the youngest of seven children, many of whom died early, of a leading lawyer, William Webley. Webley entered the Navy in 1779 aboard the Britannia 100, Captain Charles Morice Pole, the flagship of...
by Richard Hiscocks | Sep 14, 2020
Thomas Wolley 1759-1826. He was the second son of the Rev. Godfrey Wolley, rector of Thurnscoe and of Warmsworth in the county of Yorkshire, and of his wife, Katherine Lamplugh. A younger brother was Captain Isaac Wolley. Thomas Wolley was commissioned lieutenant on...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 28, 2020
William Wolseley 1756-1842. He was born on 15 March 1756 at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, the second son of Captain William Wolseley of the 47th regiment, and of Anne Cosby of Stradbally Hall in the modern-day County Laois, Ireland, the sister of Admiral Phillips Cosby. In...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 8, 2020
John Woodley Died 1795. Woodley was commissioned lieutenant on 8 July 1785 and promoted commander on 12 November 1790 of the recommissioned schooner Helena 14, in which he returned to Portsmouth from Lisbon at the end of December before leaving her early in the new...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 8, 2020
Robert Winthrop 1764-1832. He was born on 7 December 1764 in New London, Connecticut, the youngest son of John Winthrop and of his wife, Elizabeth Sheriffe, the widow of Captain John Hay of the Army. His ancestors had long been leading members of the colonial...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 26, 2019
Frederick Warren 1775-1848. He was born in London during March 1775, the son of the physician to the King, Richard Warren, and his wife, Elizabeth Shaw. His brother, Pelham Warren, and his maternal grandfather were renowned physicians, and he was the nephew of John...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 22, 2019
George Blagdon Westcott c1753-98. The eldest of seven children of Benjamin Westcott, a Honiton baker, and of his wife Susanna Bampfield, he was baptised in the Devonshire town on 24 April 1753. Westcott entered the Navy in 1768 aboard the Solebay 28, Captain Lucius O...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 5, 2019
Henry Warre 1753-1826. He was born on 13 September 1753 in Portugal, the son of a port merchant, William Warre of Oporto and Bradford, and of his wife Elizabeth Whitehead of Ashton-under-Lyme. Warre entered the service as a prot g of Commodore George Johnstone, being...
by Richard Hiscocks | Dec 18, 2018
Robert Watson c1742-1819.Watson was commissioned lieutenant on 4 October 1780, and in May 1783 recommissioned the cutter Mutine 14, commanding her until she was paid off in 1787. He was promoted commander on 1 December 1787.In May 1790 he recommissioned the fireship...
by Richard Hiscocks | Nov 20, 2018
Daniel Woodriff 1756- 1842. He was born on 17 November 1756, the son of John Woodriff of Deptford, a shipwright and carpenter?s mate, and of his wife Mary. Woodriff first went to sea with his father at the tender age of three, suffering a shipwreck in the West Indies....
by Richard Hiscocks | Sep 6, 2018
John Whitby 1774-1806. Born on 7 October 1774, he was the eldest of seven sons of the Reverend Thomas Whitby of Creswall Hall, Staffordshire, and of his wife, Mabella Turton. The brother of Captain Henry Whitby, he was distantly related to Admiral of the Fleet the...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 12, 2018
James Walker 1764-1831. He was the son of a debt-ridden physician, James Walker of Inverdovat, Fife, whilst his mother, Lady Mary Leslie, was a younger daughter of the 5th Earl Leven and 4th Earl Melville. In the 1770 s Walker s father left the family to become a...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 4, 2018
Henry Whitby 1781-1812. He was born on 21 July 1781, the seventh and youngest son of the Rev Thomas Whitby of Creswall Hall, Staffordshire, and of his wife, Mabella Turton. He was the brother of Captain John Whitby, and was distantly related to Admiral of the Fleet...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 12, 2018
James Wallis Died 1808. Wallis was commissioned lieutenant on 31 March 1779 and became the first lieutenant of the Boreas 28, Captain Horatio Nelson, in May 1784, in which role he was praised for thwarting attempts by disaffected merchants to serve writs upon his...
by Richard Hiscocks | Oct 15, 2017
George Wilson 1756-1826. He was born at Redgrave, Suffolk, on 4 March 1756 to a family that originated from Westmoreland, the third son of Hon. Thomas Wilson who served as chief judge of Dominica, and of his wife, Lucinda Holt. His maternal uncle, Rowland Holt,...
by Richard Hiscocks | Oct 15, 2017
Thomas West West was commissioned lieutenant on 11 April 1769 and promoted commander on 30 May 1777, being appointed to the sloop Zephyr 14. On 23 August 1778 this vessel was captured by the French corvette Gracieuse 26 and carried into Toulon. After being exchanged...
by Richard Hiscocks | Sep 29, 2017
Thomas Wells 1759-1811. Heralding from a family of long-established Thames shipbuilders, he was the eldest of three sons of William Wells, a director of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, and of his wife, Susanna Neave. Having joined the navy in 1774, Wells was...
by Richard Hiscocks | Aug 30, 2017
Martin Waghorn Died 1787. After being promoted lieutenant of the prize ship Manila by Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Cornish following the capture of Manila on 16 December 1762, Waghorn served in the Liverpool 32, Captain Edward Clark, returning to England in August 1763. He...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 18, 2017
Charles Wood 1731-82. He was born on 13 February 1731, the fourth and youngest son of a lord-lieutenant of Yorkshire, Francis Wood and of his wife, Mary Dorothy Palmer. Wood was commissioned lieutenant on 15 October 1756 but had to wait another twenty-three years for...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 6, 2017
Charles Wolseley 1741-1808. He was born on 25 October 1741, the second son of William Wolseley, 5th Baronet, and of his first wife, Anne Fieldhouse. The family emanated from Staffordshire. His elder brother, Charles, succeeded to the baronetcy, whilst the third and...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 27, 2017
James Williams Died 1792. Having been promoted from the lower deck, Williams was commissioned lieutenant on 22 April 1769. He was serving aboard Rear-Admiral Hon. Robert Digby?s flagship Prince George 98, Captain Philip Patton, at the Moonlight Battle on 16 January...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 28, 2017
George Wilkinson Died 1782. He came from a Cumbrian family. Wilkinson was commissioned lieutenant on 9 January 1760, and he was to remain in this rank for a long twenty years. He was promoted commander with effect from 27 May 1780, and he commanded the Spanish prize...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 27, 2017
Samuel Hood Walker Died 1780. He was the second son of Alderman Edward Walker, a mayor of Exeter, and his second wife, Elizabeth Hood, the daughter of the Reverend Samuel Hood, vicar of Butleigh in Somerset. He was thus the nephew of Admiral Viscount Hood and Admiral...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 14, 2017
Thomas Wilkinson Died 1777. He was the father of Admiral Philip Wilkinson-Stephens. Wilkinson was commissioned lieutenant on 22 August 1759. He was promoted commander on 4 September 1766 of the Hound 10, although she was paid off that month, and in early 1768...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 25, 2017
Sir James-Hawkins-Whitshed 1762-1849. He was born in County Louth, Ireland, the third son of Rev. Dr. James Hawkins, the Protestant Bishop of Raphoe in County Donegal, and of his wife, Catherine Keene. In 1773 Hawkins was entered onto the books of the sloop Ranger,...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 29, 2017
Thomas Watson 1737-80. He was the great nephew of Admiral of the Fleet William Rowley, nephew of Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley, the brother-in law of Richard Rundle Burges, and the father of Captain Joshua Rowley Watson. Watson was commissioned lieutenant on 6 September...
