Chambers entered the Navy in 1823 and served in the West Indies from 1824 until 1829, the year in which he became a lieutenant. He went again to the West Indies in 1833 when he was appointed First Lieutenant of the RACER and in 1836 was given charge of the Portuguese prize brigantine VIGILANTI. In 1837 he transferred to the WELLESLEY, flagship in the East Indies, and in 1840 was acting captain firstly of the ALLIGATOR, then of the PELORUS which was stationed at Port Essington, Australia. When the PELORUS was sold at Singapore in 1841, Chambers returned to the WELLESLEY as her First Lieutenant and took part in the latter stages of the First China War, 1839 to 1842. For this service he was promoted to commander and became captain in 1846.
Captain John Christopher joined the Royal Navy in June 1839 and served as a seaman on board HMS CAMBRIDGE until November 1841. In March 1842 he commenced a career of over thirty years in the Merchant Service. In 1850 he made a successful claim for a Master's Certificate of Service (his application form is among the papers of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen at the Museum). He served in a number merchant ships including the barque MINMANUETH of Scilly 1865 to1872 in the American trade. In 1872 he left the sea due to ill health although he served as Mate in the REAPER in 1876. He then turned his attentions to shipowning. In 1875 he purchased shares of the schooner LIZZIE MORTON of St Ives in 1879. He also became involved in the foundation of the Hain Steamship Company of St Ives in 1879. The Christopher family continued to play a leading part in the Hain Steamship Company; John Christopher's grandson Sir George P Christopher becoming Chairman and Managing Director and his grandson Captain J Christopher becoming the Company's Marine Superintendant.
Thomas Clifford was born at Chudleigh, near Exeter, Devon on 1 August 1630. He matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford in 1647 and then entered the Middle Temple in the following year to complete his education. In November 1664, on the eve of the Second Dutch War, Clifford was made a Commissioner for Sick and Wounded Seamen and Prisoners of War. On 14 January 1665, he was appointed as Sub-Commissioner for Prizes for the Port of London, rising to the position of General Commissioner on 24 March. In the same year, Clifford also received a knighthood and joined the English Fleet at sea participating, with the Duke of York, in the Battle of Lowestoft on 3 June. On 28 June, Charles II granted him the prize ship the PATRIARCH ISSACK, captured from the Dutch, for attention to his duties as Sub-Commissioner for Prizes for the Port of London. In August of that year he was again at sea as Captain of the REVENGE, serving under the Earl of Sandwich at the Battle of Bergen. On 29 August 1665, Clifford was appointed, with Sir Henry Coventry, as Extraordinary Envoy to Sweden and, with Sir Gilbert Talbot, as Extraordinary Envoy to Denmark, to settle questions of commerce and navigation. Sir Clifford was to see direct action again in the Second Dutch War, between 1 and 4 June 1666, when he participated in the Four Days' Battle, and on 25 July 1666 at the St James Day Battle. On 8 November that year, he was appointed Comptroller of the Household and on 5 December he was placed on Charles II's Privy Council. As one of the King's most trusted advisors, he subsequently received a number of high profile appointments, the first in 1667, when he was asked to serve on the Commission of the Treasury. In October 1667, he was requested to assist in the preparation of a report on the English Fleet at war. He was made Treasurer of the Household on 14 June 1668. In 1670, Sir Clifford was responsible, with other ministers including the Earl of Arlington, for the negotiation of the Secret Treaty of Dover of June 1670 with Louis XIV of France, urging Charles II to go to war with the United Provinces. Two years later, during the absence of Coventry and Arlington in Sweden and Holland, Clifford was appointed as Principal Secretary of State. In April 1672, he was created 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh and on 28 November was appointed as Lord High Treasurer. The same year he was also made Treasurer of the Exchequer, and was a principal promoter of the Declaration of Indulgence of 1672, suspending penal laws against dissenters and Catholic recusants. Clifford was a member of the Cabal, a group of inner advisers to Charles II, which included Clifford, Ashley (Lord Shaftesbury), Buckingham (George Villiers), Arlington (Henry Bennett) and Lauderdale (John Maitland). Their initials form the word, although the origin of the term is much earlier. Although never a working ministry, one or more of this group was to dominate Court policy from 1667-1673. After the Test Act of 1673, Clifford as a Roman Catholic was forced to resign his role as Treasurer and in June he left the Privy Council. He died, possibly by his own hand, in September of the same year
The Chine Shipping Company of Cardiff was incorporated as a public company in 1934 with a capital of £20,000. Until the Second World War the Company operated in a modest way with second-hand ships. During the war, and after the loss of its last ship, the Company operated various vessels on behalf of the Ministry of War Transport. In 1944 it was taken over by the Anglo-Danubian Transport Company, which had its headquarters in London. This company, founded in 1928 by George Bischoff (d 1963), had operated a fleet of tugs and barges in the Danube before the war. Bischoff decided to go into deep sea shipowning with the purchase of the Chine Shipping Company. In 1945 he also purchased the Gryfevale Steamship Company and the Rodney Steamship Company. In addition, he owned the Anglo-Continental Inland Waterways Ltd operating barges on the Rhine. From this time the Chine Shipping Company became the most active interest in the group, operating a small number of bulk carriers mainly engaged in the transport of phosphate rock from Spain to Billingham. The depressed state of the tramp freight market, however, led to the liquidation of the Company in 1968.
Cunningham entered the Navy in 1898. He became a lieutenant in 1904, a commander in 1915, captain in 1919, rear-admiral in 1934, vice-admiral in 1936, admiral in 1941 and Admiral of the Fleet in 1943. He was Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, 1938 to 1939, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, 1939 to 1942 and 1943, naval Commander-in-Chief, Expeditionary Force, North Africa, 1942, and First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, 1943 to 1946. He was created a viscount in 1946. See Cunningham's autobiography, A Sailor's Odyssey, (London, 1951) and Oliver Warner, Cunningham of Hyndhope, Admiral of the Fleet, (London, 1967).
Younger son of Commander William Owen, W F Owen entered the Navy in 1788 and served on the Home and West Indies Stations. He was in the Culloden at the battle of the First of June 1794 and became a lieutenant in 1797. In 1803 he went to the East Indies where he surveyed the Maldive Islands and assisted at the capture of Batavia in 1806. He was a captive of the French in Mauritius from 1808 to 1810 during which time, in 1809, he was promoted to commander. In 1811 he commanded the BARRACOUTA at the capture of Java. He became a captain and was posted to the CORNELIA, East Indies Station, in 1812. From 1815 to 1816 Owen was engaged in a survey of the Great Lakes and from 1821 to 1826 in the LEVEN, with the BARRACOUTA, conducted the first survey of the coasts of Africa. In the Eden he founded a colony on Fernando Po in 1827 and then served on the coast of South America until 1831. His only other command was the COLUMBIA, North America, in 1847. He returned to England at the end of the year on his promotion to rear-admiral. Owen became a vice-admiral in 1854 and retired in 1855.
Cowan entered the BRITANNIA as a naval cadet in 1884. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1892 and commanded the REDBREAST between 1893 and 1895 in the Red Sea. In 1895 he was appointed to the BARROSA, Cape Station. He saw active service during the Brass River and Benin expeditions in 1897 and in 1898 commanded the gunboat flotilla on the Nile during the operations in the Sudan. Cowan was promoted to commander in 1901 and to captain in 1906. After almost two years in the post of Assistant to the Admiral of Patrols, Cowan was sent in 1914 to the Zealandia, Grand Fleet. He joined the PRINCESS ROYAL in 1915 and in her was present at Jutland, 1916. He was appointed Commodore commanding the First Light Cruiser Squadron, Grand Fleet, in 1917 and reappointed after his promotion to rear-admiral in 1918. He continued to command it as well as the naval force in the Baltic during the anti-Bolshevik operations in 1920, for which he became well-known. In 1921 he took command of the Baltic Cruiser Squadron. After a year as Commanding Officer on the coast of Scotland, Cowan became, in 1926, Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies, and it was during his two years there that his Station was extended to include South America. Cowan was promoted to admiral in 1927, was appointed First and Principal Aide-de-Camp to the King in 1929 and retired in 1930. At the age of sixty-eight, he persuaded the Admiralty to employ him for the duration of the war in the rank of commander. He served as liaison officer with a commando brigade in the eastern Mediterranean during 1941 and was then attached to an Indian regiment in the Western Desert. He was captured at Bir Hakeim in 1942 and repatriated the following year. After further active service he retired in 1945. See Lionel Dawson, Sound of the guns (Oxford, 1949) and Geoffrey Bennett, Cowan's war (London, 1964).
Dr Edward Hodges Cree was born on January 14th 1814, Devonport. He studied medicine at Dublin and Edinburgh Universities, graduating from the latter in 1837, receiving his M.R.C.S and M.D ten years after. Cree entered the Navy in 1837 where the journals begin, which subsequently continue until 1861. Cree's first appointment began in 1837 as assistant surgeon to the ROYAL ADELAIDE, ordered to do duty at the Naval Hospital, Stonehouse. He then establishes his career as a surgeon on board His Majesties vessels VOLCANO, CEYLON, FIREFLY, RATTLESNAKE, VIXEN, FURY, SPARTAN, EAGLE, RUSSELL, ORION and SATURN. Throughout his career he visited many parts of the world, including the Far East, where he witnessed actions in the First Opium War of 1839-42. His service led him to take action against piratical Chinese fleets, engagements and actions against the Russians in the Baltic; and was involved in the final stages of the Crimean War, being present at the Capture of Sebastopol and Kinburn. The water-colour illustrations and sketches contained within his journals create and rich and colourful depiction of the period whilst serving in the Navy. In addition, the book entitled The Cree Journals: The Voyages of Edward H Cree, Surgeon R.N., as related in his private journals, 1837-1856, edited by Michael Levien; is a useful supplement to the collection.
Thomas Cairns was born in Sunderland in 1854. In 1876, while employed a as a clerk with the Newcastle firm of Davidson and Charlton he was offered a partnership by Captain B B Starks who had just commenced business as a shipbroker and merchant. The new firm was styled Starks and Cairns. On the retirement of Captain Starks in 1883 Cairns formed a new partnership with his brother-in-law, William Joseph Noble, and Lindsay Young as Cairns, Young and Noble. Their first ship, the CAIRNGOWAN 1, was launched in June 1883.
In 1891 the Cairnglen Steamship Company was formed as the owner of the first vessel of that name. The formation of further single ship companies followed. In 1892 the Cairn Line of Steam ships was founded with Cairns, Young and Noble as the management company and these single ship companies were gradually merged with the Cairn Line, along with the Gaelic Steamship Company Limited, another associated company. By 1911 this process was complete.
With the retirement of Lindsay Young in 1903 the management company had become known as Cairn, Noble and Company. Thomas Cairns died in 1908. In that same year the company purchased the Thomson line of Dundee, a cargo concern specialising in services to Canada. Thomson entered the passenger trade in 1909 with two vessels, the CAIRNRONA and the TORTONA on the Newcastle-London-Canada route. A licence was acquired from the Italian Government for the conveyance of emigrants from Italy to Canada. In March 1911 as the third vessel intended for service, the GERONA, was nearing completion the goodwill of the passenger services and all there vessels were sold to the Cunard Steamship Company.
The company suffered heavy losses during the 1914-18 war- eight vessels were lost to enemy action. William Black Noble, son of William Joseph Noble, died on service in France.
In the post war period, William Joseph Noble and Russell Cairns, son of the founder continued as directors of Cairns, Noble and Company and the Cairn Line. Noble was created a baronet in recognition of his services to shipping. He retired in 1928 when Furness Withy and Company acquired the management company. The Cairn Line retained its separate identity and services.
The fleet numbered five at the outbreak of war in 1939. Of these vessels, only two the CAIRNESK III and the CAIRNVALONA, remained in 1945. Additions to this number in the following years were the CAIRNAVON IV, the CAIRNGOWAN IV and the CAIRNDHU IV.
In February 1967 agreement was a reached with Furness Withy and Company for the purchase of ordinary stock units of the Cairn Line not already beneficially owned by them. These amounted to approximately 85% of the total. The company thus became a wholly owned subsidiary of Furness Withy and Company.
Joined RN 1876; R Adm, Home Fleet, Portsmouth and President of Submarine Committee 1913; served World War One, 1914-1918; Commanding 5 Battle Sqn, Channel Fleet 1914-1915; Senior Naval Officer in charge of Gibraltar 1915; retired 1919.
Curzon-Howe entered the Navy in 1863. From 1868 to 1871 he went round the world in the frigate GALATEA. He was made lieutenant in 1872 while serving in the HERCULES. It was not until 1888 that he was on active service again, when he was promoted to captain and appointed to the BOADICEA, which became the flagship of Sir Edmund Fremantle on the East Indies Station. Here, as Flag-Captain and Chief of Staff, Curzon-Howe took part in the operations against the Sultanate of Vitu. In the CLEOPATRA, in 1892, he spent a period as Senior Officer, Newfoundland, reporting on the fishing question. In 1894 he was called south to Bluefields to protect the Mosquito Indians, whose reservation had been invaded by the Nicaraguans. He subsequently returned to Newfoundland and remained there until 1895, when he went to the Mediterranean in the REVENGE, staying on the Station until 1900. In 1901 he was promoted to rear-admiral and became second-in-command of the Channel Fleet in the MAGNIFICENT until, in 1903, he went out to the East in the ALBION to become second-in-command of the China Fleet. Curzon-Howe returned to the Channel in 1905 and in 1907 was given command of the Atlantic Fleet. From 1908 to 1910 he was Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, and then Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, until his death.
Hubert Harold Dannreuther, the son of Rear-Admiral Harold Edward Dannreuther and the brother of Captain Raymond Portal Dannreuther, entered the Navy as a cadet in 1934, training on HMS FROBISHER. He then served as a midshipman on HMS AJAX on the American and West Indies Station. He was appointed Sub-Lieutenant on HMS KENT, China Station, in January 1938. On the eve of the Second World War, in June 1939, he was promoted to lieutenant and during the war he served on HMS COSSACK before becoming an assistant gunnery officer on HMS HOWE. After attending the gunnery school at HMS EXCELLENT in Portsmouth in 1943, Hubert Harold Dannreuther was posted to HMS QULLIAM followed by HMS EURYALUS. On 30 Jun 1957 Hubert Harold Dannreuther was appointed a captain, having been a Commander since December 1951 in charge of HMS STRIKER, HMS DIAMOND AND HMS EXCELLENT. Hubert Harold Dannreuther retired from The Royal Navy in 1966. Hubert Harold Dannreuther married Oriole Angela Burdett-Coutts and they had two daughters and one son.
Raymond Portal Dannreuther, the son of Rear-Admiral Harold Edward Dannreuther and the brother of Captain Hubert Harold Dannreuther, entered the Royal Navy as a cadet attending the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. He then served as a midshipman on the cruiser HMS KENYA, Home Fleet from September 1940, the destroyer HMS LAFOREY, Home Fleet and then on the battleship HMS MALAYA from June 1942. After attending gunnery school on HMS EXCELLENT in 1942 he was promoted to Sun-Lieutenant and posted to the destroyer HMS RELENTLESS, South Africa, Eastern Fleet. After being promoted to Lieutenant in 1944 he served consecutively on HMS LEWES, HMS PYTCHLEY, HMS CAMPERDOWN. Raymond Portal Dannreuther then attended the gunnery school at HMS EXCELLENT in Portsmouth and was then posted to HMS DRAKE, HMS CUMBERLAND and HMS PRESIDENT, being promoted to Commander in 1954. In 1960 he joined the staff of the Surface Division in the Weapons Department of the Admiralty. On 31 Dec 1962 Raymond Portal Dannreuther became a captain and was posted to HMS UNDAUNTED. From 1968 to 1969 he was the Director of Naval Operational Requirements, Ministry of Defence in the Navy Department. He became a Naval ADC to the Queen from 1971 to 1972 and retired from The Royal Navy in 1973. In 1961 Raymond Portal Dannreuther married Elizabeth Bourne and they had 2 sons.
HMS DAUNTLESS, a naval shore establishment at Burghfield in Berkshire, has been used by the Women's Royal Naval Service since 1946 as a training and drafting centre.
Born at Whitchurch, Hampshire, on 19 November 1904, Sir Norman Egbert Denning joined the navy as a special entry cadet in 1921, leaving Andover grammar school. He joined the paymaster branch instead of becoming an executive officer due to his eyesight. He excelled in this branch and was quickly rewarded for his competency, appointed secretary to senior executive officers. In 1937, paymaster lieutenant-commander Denning was appointed to the Admiralty's intelligence division. He then became chief adviser to the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty. Denning acted as the link between the operational intelligence centre (OIC) and components of the naval intelligence division including the Ministry of Economic Warfare, the army, the Secret Intelligence, the Special Operations Executive and Bomber commands of the RAF. Denning was later promoted paymaster-commander, 1941 and then paymaster-captain, 1951. After World War Two, Denning was appointed director of administrative planning in the Admiralty, later becoming director of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1956. In 1958 Denning was promoted to rear-admiral on the general list. In 1958, he became deputy chief of naval personnel and director of manpower in the Admiralty, 1959. From 1964 to 1965 Denning acted as deputy chief of defence staff. Denning was appointed OBE in 1945, CB in 1961, and KBE in 1963. Retiring in 1967 he was secretary of the services, press and broadcasting committee, otherwise known as the 'D Notice Committee'. He died at Micheldever, Hampshire, on 27 December 1979.
De Vitre, a naval chaplain who joined the service in 1898, served in the Mediterranean before the First World War and in the Canopus in the Dardanelles. He later retired to a parish in Berkshire.
Born James Whitley Deans, he took the name of Dundas on marrying his cousin in 1808. He entered the Navy in 1799, served in the Mediterranean and Channel fleets and was made lieutenant in 1805. For the rest of the Napoleonic War he served in the Baltic or the North Sea. After a succession of peacetime commands, he was made rear-admiral in 1841, and briefly, a member of the Board of the Admiralty. From 1846 to 1847 he was Second Naval Lord and was First Naval Lord from 1847 to 1852. He was Member of Parliament for Greenwich, 1832 to 1834 and 1841 to 1852 and for Devizes, 1836 to 1838. In 1852 he was made Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, and a vice-admiral. He was in command when the Crimean War started and his responsibilities included the transport of the army to the Crimea and support of the allies in the battle of Alma and at Sebastopol. Having completed the usual term of command he was relieved in January 1855. He was promoted to admiral in 1857 but saw no further service.
Bethune was the son of the army officer and historian Colonel John Drinkwater (d 1844) and it was not until 1837 that he took the name Bethune. He entered the Navy in 1815 as a first-class volunteer in the NORTHUMBERLAND and sailed in her from 1815 to 1816 on the voyage taking Napoleon to exile in St Helena. In 1817 he joined the LEANDER in North America; he then went to South America, where he served in the SUPERB and the CREOLE from 1819 until 1823. Still on this station, he was promoted to lieutenant, 1823, and joined the DORIS and then the BARHAM until promoted to commander in 1828. From 1828 to 1829 he commanded the ESPIEGLE, Jamaica Station. He was promoted to captain in 1830. At Palmerston's request, in 1835, he joined the Embassy of the Earl of Durham (1792-1840) to Russia to report on the naval installations in the Black Sea. Later he served in the East Indies and in the China War. He was made rear-admiral in 1855, vice-admiral in 1862, admiral in 1866 and retired in 1870.
Anne Dixon was the sister of Admiral Lord Gardner.
Edgell was promoted to lieutenant in 1828, to commander in 1837 and to captain in 1846. He was appointed to command the TRIBUNE in 1855 when she was in the Crimea. During this commission she went to the Pacific and finally to China. In 1857 Edgell was the Senior Naval Officer at Hong Kong and he transferred into the BITTERN tender commanding the gun boats on the Canton River during the hostilities with the Chinese. In 1858 be was given command of the squadron in Indian waters, during which time he commanded the CHESAPEAKE and later the RETRIBUTION. The latter returned to England and was paid off in 1860. Edgell had no further active employment and was promoted on the retired list, reaching the rank of vice-admiral in 1871.
Born in Bristol, Eggins spent several years at sea and in 1922 gained a master's ticket. In that year he became a Falmouth pilot, retiring in 1958.
Copies of Volumes and Documents - Facsimiles
Foley entered the Navy in 1770 and after early service in Newfoundland and the West Indies was promoted to lieutenant in 1778. During the American War he saw service in the Channel, North America and the West Indies. In 1782 he was promoted to commander and in 1790 to captain. After a period on the Home Station, he was Flag-Captain in the BRITANNIA at the battle of Cape St Vincent, 1797, and in the GOLIATH he led the Fleet into action at the Nile, 1798. In 1800, Foley was appointed to the ELEPHANT in the Channel Fleet, going later to the Baltic, where he served at the battle of Copenhagen, 1801. Foley 'was then ill and unfit for service for several years until his appointment as Commander-in-Chief in the Downs from 1811 to the peace, 1815. He had been promoted to rear-admiral in 1808, became a vice-admiral in 1812 and in 1825 an admiral. In 1830 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, where he served until his death. There is a privately printed biography by John Beresford Herbert, The life and services of Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, G.C.B., Rear-Admiral of Great Britain (Cardiff, 1884).
Fraser was a marine painter who collaborated extensively with the Commendatore Eduardo de Martino (1838-1912), Marine Painter-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria. Martino also enjoyed special favour with Edward VII, who never went to sea without him, but although Fraser hoped to succeed to this position at Martino's death, he was disappointed.
Fullerton entered the Navy in 1895, became a lieutenant in 1900 and a commander in 1910. In 1908 he married Dorothy Fisher, daughter of Admiral Sir John (later Lord) Fisher (1841-1920). At the beginning of the First World War he commanded monitors off the Belgian coast; for this he was specially commended and promoted to captain in 1914. As Senior Officer of the Monitor Squadron in 1915 he commanded the inshore operations in East Africa and took part in the destruction of the German cruiser KONIGSBERG. From 1916 to 1918 he commanded the ORION in the Grand Fleet as Flag Captain to Rear-Admiral Goodenough (1867-1945). Between 1921 and 1923 he was Captain of the Fleet on the staff of Admiral Sir Charles Madden in the Home Fleet, was then Commodore commanding the Royal Naval Barracks at Chatham and, for a few months in 1925, was aide-de-camp to King George V. Having been promoted to rear-admiral the previous year, in 1927 Fullerton was appointed Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Rt. Hon (later Viscount) W.C. Bridgeman (1864-1935), and in 1929 went out to the East Indies Station as Commander-in-Chief. On his return he was Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth, 1932 to 1935, was promoted to admiral in 1935 and retired the following year. During the Second World War Fullerton served in the Royal Naval Reserve between 1940 and 1942.
Furness Withy was incorporated as a company in 1891 upon the amalgamation of Christopher Furness' business in West Hartlepool and London with Edward Withy's shipbuilding yard in Hartlepool. By 1914 the company had acquired interests all over the world in liner and tramp shipping and in shipbuilding, but from 1920 they concentrated on liner services. In addition to the North Atlantic service, they developed other American routes based principally on New York and including Bermuda and the West Indies. The Furness Line to the Pacific coast of North America via Panama was started in 1921. An interest in the refrigerated meat trade with South America had begun before the First World War. The Argentine Cargo Line was formed in 1908 to acquire the freight contracts of the Anglo-Argentine Shipping Co. Two ships were managed by Birt, Potter and Hughes in agreement with Furness Withy and Manchester Liners, another subsidiary. The Line was amalgamated in 1912 with the newly formed British and Argentine Steam Navigation Co Ltd. In 1911 Furness Withy acquired a large holding in Houlder Brothers and the British and Argentine's vessels were operated in association with those of the Houlder Line. In 1914 the Furness-Houlder Argentine Lines was incorporated for the purpose of building a fleet of large, fast twin-screw steamers for the conveyance of chilled and frozen meat from the River Plate to London in conjunction with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co, Furness Withy and Houlder Brothers. There were other additions to the company. The Prince Line was purchased in 1916 and with this services were developed to the Mediterranean and from New York to the Far East and the River Plate. The River Syndicate was incorporated in 1920 to acquire a controlling interest in the Danube shipping which had formerly belonged to South German, Austrian and Hungarian companies. The Syndicate (which formed the Danube Navigation Co Ltd in July 1920) went into voluntary liquidation in 1968. The break-up of the Royal Mail group in 1931 and 1932 led to the formation of a new company, Royal Mail Lines Ltd which became part of the Furness Withy Group. Later this was closely integrated with Furness Lines. In 1933 a substantial holding in the Shaw Savill Line was also acquired.
After serving an apprenticeship of seven years to William Brown of Gillingham, William Godden of Chatham became a Fisherman and Dredgerman of the City of Rochester in 1821.
Griffin served in the Baltic Fleet, 1716 to 1717, in the WEYMOUTH and then in the PANTHER. He became a lieutenant in 1718 and was in the BARLEUR and ORFORD, Mediterranean Station, until 1720; from 1727 to 1730 he served in the GIBRALTER, the PRINCESS LOUISA and the FALMOUTH on the same station. He was promoted to captain in 1731, served in the West Indies in the Shoreham from 1731 to 1733 and on the Channel Station under Sir John Norris (c 1670-1749) from 1735 until 1740 in the Blenheim, Oxford and Princess Caroline It was in the latter ship that he sailed to join Admiral Vernon's fleet in the West Indies in October 1740. During the abortive attack on Cartagena in 1741 he commanded the BURFORD. Griffin was then at Portsmouth until 1743 in the ST GEORGE. It was during his service in the Captain, 1744 to 1745, that he was accused of an error of judgement, court-martialled but acquitted. He was made rear-admiral, in 1747, when he hoisted his flag in the PRINCESS MARY and went to the East Indies. In the following year he was promoted to vice-admiral and, on his arrival back in England, found himself the object of criticism over an alleged failure to attack eight French ships: he requested a court martial, was found guilty of negligence and suspended from his rank. Although reinstated in 1752, he had no further active employment.
Baillie Grohman joined the Navy in 1903, becoming a lieutenant in 1909. He served in the Mediterranean and on the China station, and during the First World War on the east coast, in the Dover Patrol and in minesweepers In 1922 and 1923 he served in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, and was made commander in the latter year He then became Senior Officer, First Minesweeping Flotilla, 1923 to 1924. He was promoted to captain in 1930 and between 1931 and 1933 was Senior Officer of a British Naval Mission to China. He then served in the Mediterranean, commanded a training establishment and at the beginning of the Second World War was again in the Mediterranean. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1941 and in the same year was attached to the staff of the General Officer Commanding, Middle East. In 1942 he was nominated as Naval Force Commander for the Dieppe Raid, but, although he took part in the planning of the raid, he did not command it. Afterwards he became Flag Officer, Harwich, and in 1943 was promoted to vice-admiral, retiring in 1946.
Graves was promoted to commander in 1709 and captain in 1713 In the summer of 1711 he was in command of the WINCHESTER for a few months. From 1711 to 1714 he commanded the DUNWICH, stationed mainly in home waters but was sent in 1713 to take news of the conclusion of the Treaty of Utrecht to Bermuda and the American colonies He was unemployed from 1714 to 1728, in which year be took command of the ASSISTANCE, guardship, at Plymouth In 1733 he was appointed to command the SWALLOW and the next year was with Sir John Norris (c 1670-1749) at the Tagus. In 1738 he was Captain of the PRINCESS LOUISA and in November of the same year commissioned the NORFOLK. In 1740 he was sent to the West Indies and took part in the attack on Cartagena. Still in the NORFOLK, he was ordered to the Mediterranean in 1742 where he transferred to the MARLBOROUGH. After 1743 he had no further service and became a rear-admiral in 1747.
Gretton joined the Royal Navy as a cadet at Dartmouth Naval College in 1926. His early service career included acting as a Midshipman on the battle cruiser RENOWN in the Mediterranean, 1930, as Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Yacht VICTORIA AND ALBERT, summer 1934, in the aircraft carrier COURAGEOUS, and then in the cruiser DURBAN during the Abyssinian crisis and the Spanish Civil War. During the 1936 Arab Rebellion in Palestine, Gretton assisted the Army in protecting truck convoys and later aided police to contol the souk in Haifa, for which he was awarded the DSC. He was subsequently appointed Seamanship and Sports Officer at the boys' training establishment, HMS IMPREGNABLE, at Devonport, and then spent two years as a House Officer at Dartmouth. During Easter 1939, Gretton undertook an anti-submarine course at the Portland A/S HMS OSPREY, which was to have a profound effect on his later life. At the beginning of World War Two, Gretton was appointed 1st Lieutenant of the destroyer VEGA, escorting East Coast convoys. During the Norwegian campaign of 1940, he served as 1st Lieutenant of the destroyer COSSACK, which participated in the second battle of Narvick on 13 April. His first command was the destroyer SABRE, in which he escorted Atlantic convoys. After his promotion to Lieutenant-Commander in 1942, Gretton took command of the destroyer WOLVERINE. The ship rammed and sank the Italian U-boat DAGABUR during the PEDESTAL Convoy to Malta in August, for which Gretton was awarded the DSO. In December 1942, he was appointed to lead B7 Escort group in the destroyer DUNCAN, and in April 1943 they were involved in the battle surrounding Convoy ONS5. The actions of B7 led to extensive U-boat losses, forcing Admiral Doenitz to withdraw from the North Atlantic. In recognition, Gretton was awarded the first Bar to his DSO. After U-boats returned to the North Atlantic in the summer of 1943, Gretton's further actions led him to attain a second Bar to his DSO. From 1944-1946 Gretton served in the Admiralty Plans Division, he was promoted to Captain in 1948 and in the early 1950s he acted as Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord, commanding the cruiser GAMBIA. He then became Chief of Staff to Admiral, the Joint Services Mission, Washington. From 1956-1957 he was Commodore in command of the Naval task group for 'Operation Grapple', the British atomic bomb tests at Christmas Island. In 1958 he was promoted to Rear-Admiral, served as Senior Naval Member of Directing Staff of Imperial Defence College, 1958-1960, and was Flag Officer, Sea Training, from 1960-1961. As Vice-Admiral, he acted as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff and Fifth Sea Lord from 1962-1963. He retired through ill-health in 1963. He subsequently became Domestic Bursar (1965-1971) and then Senior Research Fellow (1971-1979) of University College, Oxford. Gretton also acted as the Vice-President of the Royal Humane Society (Testimonial, 1940). He was awarded the OBE in 1941, CB in 1960 and KCB in 1963. His published works include: Convoy Escort Commander (1964); Maritime Strategy (1965); Former Naval Person - Churchill and the Navy (1968); and Crisis Convoy - The Story of HX231 (1974).
Fiott joined the Navy as a volunteer in 1798 and was present at the battle of Copenhagen, 1801. He took part in the Walcheren expedition of 1809 and in 1810 was made a lieutenant but court-martialled in the same year for using seditious language, dismissed his ship and put to the bottom of the Lieutenants' List. Soon afterwards, however, he was appointed to the MARLBOROUGH and served in the West Indies. After two years on half-pay he bought the QUEEN, a trading vessel, which was lost in 1818. From then until 1827 he owned the RETRENCH, sailing as master while still on half-pay until 1823. In this year the RETRENCH was attacked by Spanish pirates off Cuba. When he received a commission In 1823 to command HMS RENEGADE in the West Indies, he employed another half-pay naval captain on the Retrench, which was wrecked in 1824 but salvaged and, in 1827, sold In 1824 he was court-martialled again on various charges including that of mistreating his crew but was acquitted. From 1827 Fiott lived on the continent and remained there until his death.
Born John Fiott, brother of William Edward Fiott, Lee changed his name on inheriting property from his mother's family. In 1827 he also inherited the estate of Hartwell in Buckinghamshire. Lee was keenly interested in science and antiquities and was an active member of the Temperance Movement. The collection was used by E S Dodge, The Polar Roses (London, 1973).
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Hawker, son of Captain James Hawker (c 1731-1787), went to sea in 1793. He joined the SWIFTSURE, home waters, in 1794, commanded by his brother-in-law, Captain Charles Boyles (q.v.), and was also with him in the West Indies when he was promoted to lieutenant in the RAISONNABLE. Again in the West Indies, 1803, Hawker commanded the prize brig, LA MIGNONNE, and in 1804, having been promoted to captain, was appointed to the THESEUS, flagship of the station. He then commanded the TARTAR, 1805 to 1806, and the MELAMPUS, 1806 to 1811, on the North America and West Indies Stations, engaged against the enemy's privateers. From 1813 to 1815, in the BELLEROPHON and then in the SALISBURY, he was Flag-Captain to Sir Richard Goodwin Keats (q.v.), Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland. His last appointments were to the BRITANNIA, 1828 to 1829, and ST VINCENT, 1829 to 1830, flagships at Plymouth to the Earl of Northesk (1758-1831). He became rear-admiral in 1837, vice-admiral in 1847 and admiral in 1853.
Boyles became a lieutenant in 1777 and a captain in 1790. During the French wars he served in the West Indies, the Channel and the Mediterranean. He became a rear-admiral in 1809 and from 1810 to 1812 served in the Mediterranean, in the TRIDENT and the CANOPUS. He became a vice-admiral in 1814.
Henderson entered the Navy in 1859, served on the North America and West Indies Station, 1860 to 1864, in the NILE and the STYX and then joined the Channel Squadron in the PRINCE CONSORT. He became a lieutenant in 1866 and was at Portsmouth in the CROCODILE from 1867 until he took part in the voyage round the world of the Flying Squadron in the LIVERPOOL, flagship of Sir Geoffrey Phipps Hornby. From 1872 to 1875 he was in the PETEREL, Pacific Station, in the ECLIPSE in 1877 on the North America and West Indies Station, and was on 'particular service' in the HYDRA, 1878. He was promoted to commander in 1879 and to captain in 1886, after having been in Australia for four years, 1881 to 1885. Going to the East Indies in command of the CONQUEST, 1889 to 1892, Henderson was in the Naval Brigade under Sir Edmund Fremantle in the punitive expedition against the Sultan of Vitu, 1890. He then went out to the Mediterranean and later to China in the Edgar, 1894 to 1896, when he returned to Devonport to command the Fleet Reserve. From 1898 to 1900 he was Commodore and Naval Officer in command at Jamaica and was Admiral Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard, 1902 to 1906. At the end of this appointment he retired and occupied himself with voluntary work such as his service for the Metropolitan Asylums Board, 1909 to 1921. Always much interested in the professional education of naval officers, in 1913 he was one of those who founded the Naval Review, which he edited for several years.
James Martin Hilhouse took over the then almost new Hotwells dock on the banks of the Avon in 1772, following a transaction with the Merchant Venturers of Bristol. By the time members of the Hill family became employees of the company in 1810, it was a successful shipbuilders. Mr Hilhouse, having no sons with whom to leave his company, allowed the Hills to take more control of the firm, first changing its name to Hilhouse & Hill, then finally to Charles Hill & Sons, Ltd when full control was assumed in 1845. As the company grew, the Albion dockyard was opened for shipbuilding and company activities were also expanded to Cardiff in 1879. This same year, the Bristol City Line was established and became closely identified with the North Atlantic cargo trade for the next hundred years. The company was eventually sold in the 1970's, with the shipyard finally closing in 1979.
Hamilton spent some years in the army before marrying an heiress. From 1764 to 1800 he was Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Naples. His first wife died in 1782 and in 1791 he married Emma Hart, formerly his nephew's mistress, who had been living with him since 1786. The Hamiltons enjoyed considerable influence with the Neapolitan royal family and succeeded in persuading them to ally Naples with Britain against the French, although this led to the flight of the government to Sicily in 1798 and 1799. In 1800 Hamilton was recalled. He travelled home across Europe with Lady Hamilton and Nelson and eventually settled with them at Merton, where he died.
Samuel Hood, elder brother of Viscount Bridport (q.v.) entered the Navy in 1741 and was made a lieutenant in 1746. His first command was in the Mediterranean in 1754. In 1757 he was at the blockade of Brest and was successful in a noteworthy single-ship action. Between 1760 and 1763 he served in the Mediterranean. He was employed during the peace and in 1767 was appointed Commander-in-Chief, North America, in the ROMNEY. From 1771 to 1776 he commanded the ROYAL WILLIAM, guardship at Portsmouth, and in 1778 was appointed Resident Commissioner at Portsmouth Dockyard. In the following year he was created a baronet and in 1780 promoted to rear-admiral, when he went in the BARFLEUR, with reinforcements to Rodney in the West Indies. Here he too part in the taking of St. Eustatius and the manoeuvering off Martinique. When Rodney sailed for England, Hood went to North America to reinforce Admiral Graves (q.v.) and commanded the rear squadron at the battle of Chesapeake in 1781. Early in 1782 Hood worsted De Grasse at Frigate Bay at St. Kitts, and soon afterwards took an important part in the battle of the Saints, the Ville de Paris surrendering to the BARFLEUR. As a result in 1782 Hood was raised to the Irish Peerage and was Member of Parliament for Westminster, 1785 to 1788 and 1790 to 1796 and for Reigate, 1789 to 1790. Between 1787 and 1788 he was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, having been promoted to vice-admiral, and from 1788 to 1795 he served at the Board of Admiralty. At the beginning of the Revolutionary Wars, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, where he commanded the forces which took Toulon In August 1793. However, he had to withdraw to Corsica in December. In late 1794 he returned to England. He was promoted to admiral and in 1796 was appointed Governor of Greenwich Hospital, which post he held until his death. He was raised to the British peerage in 1796. See David Hanoi ed. , 'Letters of Lord Hood, 1781-82' (Navy Records Society, 1895).
Howe entered the Navy in 1740, was made a lieutenant in 1744 and a captain in 1746. After service on the Guinea coast, the West Indies, the Mediterranean and on the North American Station, he served in the Channel during the Seven Years War. He was elected Member of Parliament for Dartmouth in 1757, and succeeded his brother to the Irish peerage in the following year. He held his parliamentary seat until raised to the British peerage in 1782. In 1763 he was a Lord of the Admiralty and from 1765 to 1770 was Treasurer of the Navy. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1770 and to vice-admiral in 1775. He was then appointed Commander-in-Chief, North America, but came home in 1778 and did not serve again until 1782. Howe became First Lord of the Admiralty in 1783, which position, apart from the period between April and December 1783, he held until 1788. He was created Earl Howe in this year. In 1790 he took command of the Channel Fleet during the Nootka Sound mobilization as he did later at the outbreak of war in 1793. During this time Howe continued reforms in signalling. In 1794 he commanded the fleet which brought the French to action at the battle of the First of June. He finally gave up the command after a long period of ill-health, in 1797. See George Mason, The life of Richard Earl Howe (London, 1803) and Sir John Harrow, The life of Richard Earl Howe E.G. Admiral of the Fleet and General of Marines (London, 1838).
Hope entered the Navy in 1811. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1817 and to commander in 1822 and commanded the BRISK, Nore, 1824 to 1826. He was promoted to captain in 1826. Between 1830 and 1834 he commanded the TYNE, South America. From January to July 1835 he commanded the DUBLIN, fitting out at Plymouth. Between 1841 and 1845 he was Senior Officer at Chusan during the First China War. He was made Superintendant of Sheerness Dockyard and captain of the MONARCH, guardship of the ordinary at Sheerness, 1851 to 1854. He was promoted to Rear Admiral and died in 1854.
Entered the navy in 1851 and later employed as Midshipman to the 120 gun vessel, TRAFALGAR, taking part in the bombardment of Sevastopol, October 1854. Served in China during 1857-8 in various parts of the Canton River at the action of Falshan and landed with the Naval Brigade at the taking of the Canton. Hereford was appointed Acting Lieutenant of the NANKIN on 22 August 1858 at Hong Kong, later being appointed Lieutenant of the VICTORIOUS on 26 April 1859 and the EXCELLENT on 5 May 1859. Appointed to the ARROGANT for gunnery duties, Hereford was actively employed in the suppression of the slave trade on the West Coast of Africa, on various expeditions up the Rivers Gambia and Congo and near Lagos. He was then appointed commander of the BRITANNIA on 4 August 1868 and her tender the DAPPER for the instruction of Cadets from 1863-8, at which point Hereford was promoted to Commander. Served in the East Indies from November 1872 until May 1874 when he retired.
Hulbert acted as an admiral's secretary and prize agent early in the nineteenth century. He served on the North American Station in 1804 as secretary to Sir John Borlase Warren (1753-1852) and between 1808 and 1809 exchanged with the secretary of Admiral Rowley (1765-1842) on the Jamaica Station. He served again with Warren, 1810 to 1814, on the North American Station, 1813 to 1814, when a large number of prizes were taken.
Lieutenant-Colonel John Huskisson was the youngest son of Captain Thomas Huskisson (q.v.). He was appointed a second lieutenant in the Royal Marines in 1833 and served in the CAMBRIDGE, Mediterranean Station, from 1840 to 1842, being promoted to first lieutenant in 1842. He served in HMS OCEAN from 1844 to 1847 and then became Quartermaster of the Chatham Division, rising to captain in 1852. The outbreak of the Crimean War led to his appointment to the NANKIN, East Indies in 1854. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, 1879, on the retired list and died ca.1889.
Thomas Huskinsson was a younger brother of William Huskinsson (1770-1830) the statesman. He entered the Navy in 1800 and served during the Napoleonic wars, being promoted to lieutenant in 1806 and captain in 1811. In March 1827 his brother appointed him Paymaster of the Navy and when this post was abolished in 1830 he was appointed one of the captains of Greenwich Hospital.
Lady Invernairn, nee Elspeth Tullis, married William (later Sir William) Beardmore (1856-1936), Chairman and Managing Director of William Beardmore and Co., Engineers and Shipbuilders, in 1902. He was created Baron Invernairn of Strathnairn in 1921. They both met Ernest (later Sir Ernest) Shackleton (1874-1922) in Edinburgh in 1905, not long after the latter's return from the Antarctic where he had taken part as a junior officer in the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901 to 1904. In 1906 Shackleton entered Beardmore's employment at Parkhead, Glasgow. With Mrs Beardmore's encouragement, he planned his own British Antarctic Expedition in the NIMROD in 1907. Shackleton went south again in the ENDURANCE as leader of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914 to 1917. See H.R. Mill, The Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton (London, 1923) and Margery and James Fisher, Shackleton(London, 1957).
Sir Henry Bradwardine Jackson entered the Royal Navy through HMS BRITANNIA in 1868, and as a Lieutenant specialised first in navigation and later in torpedoes. Promoted to Commander in January 1890, he began experimenting with radio waves and eventually succeeded in transmitting signal between ships over a distance of several hundred yards. Soon after promotion to Captain in June 1896, Jackson met Marconi and discovered that they had both been working along similar lines. Following Jackson's success in this area of communication, the Royal Navy placed contracts with Marconi in 1900 to supply radios in its ships, and in 1901 Jackson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his work. After serving as Captain of the torpedo school ship HMS VERNON in 1904, Jackson was promoted to Third Sead Lord and Controller in the new Board of Admiralty. He then commanded a cruiser squadron, represented the Admiralty at the 1911 International Conference on Aerial Navigation, and gained a position the newly created War College at Portsmouth, bfore he returned to the Admiralty in February 1913 as Chief of War Staff. On the Resignation of Lord Fisher in May 1915, Jackson took his place as First Sea Lord, but was himself superseded by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe in Decmber 1916, and appointed President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. In July 1919, he was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet and the following year, became Chairman of the Radio Research Board of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.