Entering the Navy in 1799, Napier became a lieutenant in 1805, commander in 1807 and captain in 1809. Between 1811 and 1812 he served on the West coast of Italy and later in American waters. In 1833 he took service in the Portuguese navy and was victorious over the forces of Dom Miguel, who had seized the throne of Portugal from his niece, Maria, in 1828. As he had not sought permission to enter foreign service, Napier's name was removed from the Navy List hut was restored in 1836. In 1837 he was appointed second-in-command of the Mediterranean Fleet, taking a leading part in the Syrian campaign, 1839 to 1841, particularly at the bombardment of Acre and in the subsequent negotiations with Mehemet Ali. In 1846 he was promoted to rear-admiral and he took command of the Channel Squadron until 1849. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1853 and commanded the Baltic Fleet in the 1854 campaign. In 1858 he was advanced to admiral. Napier was Member of Parliament for Marylebone, 1841 to 1847, and for Southwark, 1855 to 1860. There are two biographies: Major-General E. Napier, 'Memoirs and correspondence of Admiral Sir Charles Napier, K. C. B.' (London, 1862) and H. Noel Williams, 'The life and letters of Admiral Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B. (1736-1860)' (London, 1917).
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
G.S. Nares entered the Navy in 1845 and served as a midshipman in the Havannah, flagship on the Australian Station, and in her tender, the Bramble. He specialized in surveying, becoming a lieutenant in 1854 and a captain in 1869. In 1872 he was chosen to command the Challenger on her voyage round the world, the first major oceanographic expedition. He then led the Arctic Expedition of 1875 to 1876. He became a rear-admiral in 1887 and a vice-admiral in 1892. See M.B. Deacon, Ann Savours and Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith, 'Sir George Strong Nares 1831-1915' (Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, 1976).
George Nares, son of Sir George Strong Nares, was a midshipman in the CURACOA on the Australian Station from 1892 to 1893. He specialized in surveying and became a lieutenant in 1896.
J.D. Nares, son of Sir George Strong Nares, was a midshipman in the CRESCENT, RAPID and ORLANDO, Australian Station, between 1894 and 1897. He became a lieutenant in 1900, commander in 1913 and captain in 1919, serving in numerous survey ships including the IROQUOIS, which he commanded in 1928 on the China Station. From 1924 to 1928, 1930 to 1931 and 1940 to 1945, he was Assistant Hydrographer and Naval Assistant to the Hydrographer. In 1952 he was made Director of the International Hydrographic Bureau at Monaco.
Nepean entered the Navy as a clerk and, after serving in several ships, became secretary to Sir John Jervis (later Earl St. Vincent) in 1780. He then turned to politics and held various government appointments, becoming Secretary to the Admiralty in 1795. He was created a baronet in 1802. In 1804 he was Chief Secretary for Ireland for some months before joining the Board of Admiralty. He went out of office in 1806. Nepean was Member of Parliament for Queenborough 1796 to 1802, and Bridport, 1802 to 1812. Between 1812 and 1819 he was Governor of Bombay.
Noel entered the Navy in 1859. He served as a midshipman in the Hannibal, Mediterranean, from 1859 to 1861 and in the SHANNON in the Mediterranean and West Indies from 1862 to 1865. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1866 and served in the RATTLER, on the China Station, until 1869. Following this he took courses in the Excellent and at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth. He was appointed Gunnery Lieutenant of the MINOTAUR, Channel Squadron, in 1871. In 1873 he went in the Active to the West Coast of Africa, where he commanded the seamen landed with the force under Sir Garnet Wolseley (1833-1913). He was promoted to commander in 1874 and appointed to the Immortalite, Detached Squadron. From 1878 to 1881 he served in the Royal Yacht, VICTORIA and ALBERT, and was promoted to captain in 1881, but then had several years on half-pay. In 1884 he served on the Admiralty Torpedo Committee and in 1885 was appointed Captain of the ROVER, Training Squadron, until 1888. The following year he became Captain of the TEMERAIRE, on the Mediterranean Station. In 1891, on the same station, he commissioned the NILE, which ship was the next astern when the VICTORIA and CAMPERDOWN collided. He was appointed a junior Sea Lord in 1893 and was promoted to rear-admiral in 1896. In 1898 he was appointed second-in-command, Mediterranean, and was involved in settling the disturbances in Crete. Noel was made Superintendent of Naval Reserves and commanded the Home Fleet from 1900 to 1903. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1901 and was Commander-in-Chief, China, 1904 to 1906, and at the Nore from 1907 to 1908. He was promoted to admiral in 1905 and Admiral of the Fleet in 1908, retiring in 1915.
North entered the Navy as an assistant clerk in 1854 and served in the Crimean War. He was promoted to Assistant Paymaster in 1860 and Paymaster in 1870. In 1878 he was appointed to the survey ship ALERT, under Captain Sir George Nares. The first season was spent surveying in the Magellan Strait and the surrounding area. In the spring of 1879 Nares was recalled and succeeded by Captain J.F.L.P. Maclear. The ALERT carried out survey work in the Pacific, the Torres Strait (Prince of Wales Channel) and the Indian Ocean (Amirante Islands) before arriving home in 1882. North was promoted to Fleet Paymaster in 1886 and he retired in 1895 as Paymaster-in-Chief.
Norris entered the Navy in 1889. In 1893 as a midshipman in the Nile, Mediterranean, he was an eye-witness of the collision between the VICTORIA and CAMPERDOWN. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1896, commander in 1907 and captain in 1914. During the First World War he commanded the ARLANZA , 1915, and then served at the Admiralty. In 1918 he was appointed Commodore of the Persian Gulf Squadron. He subsequently commanded British naval forces in the Caspian Sea and, in May 1919, with six armed merchant vessels, some coastal motor boats and an air unit, attacked thirty Bolshevik ships, fourteen of which were destroyed. He headed a naval mission to Persia, 1920 to 1921. During the next eight years Norris held several appointments afloat and ashore. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1924 and retired on his promotion to vice-admiral in 1929. He was promoted to admiral on the retired list in 1933.
After serving as master in a number of ships in the East Indies and Australia trade, James Nourse (d.1897) had his own ship built in 1861. In 1865 he settled on shore to own and operate more ships. He built up a fleet of sailing vessels with which he specialized in carrying contract labour between India and Guiana, the West Indies, Natal and Fiji. This trade was carefully regulated by the British and colonial governments. The ships were well-found with a reputation for healthy voyages, and sailing ships were employed at a time when many other trades had turned to steam. Cargo was a secondary consideration, but iron rails and salt were carried from England to India, rice and gunny bags from Calcutta and rice from Rangoon, sugar from the West Indies and Cuba and general cargo from the United States to Europe. After Nourse's death, the fleet was operated by his executors until 1903 when a limited liability company was formed under the title of James Nourse Limited. The sailing ships were gradually disposed of and replaced by six steamships. In 1917 the shares of the Company were acquired by P&O. During the inter-war years the older ships were replaced by new larger steamers, but the carriage of Indian labour to the West Indies was not resumed despite the demand there in the early 1920s for extra labour. There were, however, return voyages for those people who wished to be repatriated to India. Cargo became more important and regular monthly sailings were maintained from Calcutta and Rangoon to the West Indies and Cuba via the Cape. The India-Caribbean trade was discontinued in 1959 and the company engaged in world-wide tramping. In 1964 the management merged with that of the Ham Steamship Co Ltd and traded as Hain-Nourse Ltd until the reorganization of the P&0 Group in 1971.
The Navy Records Society was founded in 1893 for the purpose of making documents or unpublished works of naval interest available in print. Since that time it has issued over a hundred and twenty volumes connected with naval history and still continues to function.
Olive North (later Olive Hanson), was one of the 764 people who survived the sinking of the RMS LUSITANIA, 7 May 1915. The Lusitania, travelling from New York to LIverpool, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. Olive arrived in Montreal on RMS Megantic, 16 June 1914, accompanied by her brother Frank, in order to visit her elder sister and family. Frank, a former soldier, was recalled at the out-break of war in 1914. Olive was returning to England aboard the Lusitania in 1915, ostensibly to marry her fiance, Percy Hanson, when the Lusitania was sunk. The wedding was postponed until August 1918. Olive, a non-swimmer was given a life-jacket by a steward. After several hours in the water, Olive was rescued from an upturned life boat by Captain John Sandham, the captain of the BROCK.
The New Zealand Shipping Company Limited was incorporated in 1873 in Christchurch, New Zealand, by a group of local farmers and merchants, who were dissatisfied with the existing shipping facilities and their ability to cope with the country's rapidly expanding trade. It was at first administered from New Zealand, with a London 'Board of Advice' in the City. The company began by purchasing four second-hand iron sailing ships. Competition from the existing shipping companies, particularly Shaw Savill and the Albion Line was keen, and there was initially a brief rate war which led to an agreement ensuring uniform and viable rates of freight. Within four years of its inception the company was operating seventeen ships under its own flag as well as a large number of chartered vessels. In 1879 a joint charter, by Shaw Savill and the company, of a steamship demonstrated that, at the outset at least, a regular steamship service would have to be subsidized. Accepting this, the Colonial Government provided for a subsidy of £30,000 on its joint contract with Shaw Savill and Albion and the company in 1884: this contract ran for five years and was not renewed. Refrigeration was introduced and the second cargo of frozen meat from New Zealand was carried in 1882 in one of the company's sailing ships, the Mataura, fitted with Haslam's cold-air refrigerating machinery. In 1880 financial control of the company was transferred to London, and the business was reorganized. When in 1889 Edwyn Sandys Dawes (later Sir Edwyn, 1838-1903) acquired the controlling interest, it was the start of a connection between the company and the Dawes family which was to last until 1970. The company absorbed the Federal Steam Navigation Co in 1912 and the amalgamation secured for the company a firm foothold in the Australian trade. The Federal Steam Navigation Company Ltd was founded in 1892 after Allan Hughes (d 1928) had acquired the remaining assets of Money Wigram and Sons Ltd, owners of the Blackwall Line; the Federal Line ships flew the same house-flag and used the same English county names as Money Wigram's. Allan Hughes became chairman of the New Zealand Shipping Company in 1920.
In 1916 the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company acquired a controlling interest in the company. Both the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Federal Line, however, enjoyed considerable autonomy. Parallel to, but less important than the United Kingdom trade, was the affiliation of New Zealand Shipping and the Federal Line with other shipping companies, either as shareholders in a company or partners in a consortium. An early exampleof this was the New Zealand and African Steamship Company, 1902 to 1911, to take care of trade with South Africa. The Canadian connection, the Canadian-Australian Royal Mail Line, 1901 to 1910, was a joint venture between New Zealand Shipping and the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand. A later development was the Montreal, Australia and New Zealand Line, 1941 to 1971, a partnership between New Zealand Shipping, Ellerman's and the Port Line. M.A.N.Z., as it was called, took in the East Coast United States, which trade was also served by the American and Australian Steamship Line, 1956 to 1971. In 1954 the Avenue Shipping Company Ltd was founded to augment the New Zealand and Federal fleets when needed; otherwise its ships were put into tramping. The Crusader Line (1957-1967) a joint service from New Zealand to the West Coast of the United States and to Japan, with Shaw Savill, Port Line, Blue Star and New Zealand Shipping as partners, was another Pacific venture. Finally the Dolphin Line (1967-1971) was a joint service of conventional ships to supplement the Overseas Containers Ltd operation; the partners were New Zealand Shipping Company, Scottish Shire and Clan Lines, Shaw Savill and Ocean Steam Navigation Company.
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Ogle entered the Navy in 1697. He became a lieutenant in 1702 and a commander in 1703. He was posted in 1708 and served for the remainder of the war, mostly in the Mediterranean. He commanded the PLYMOUTH in the Baltic in 1716 and the WORCESTER in 1717. After service on the coast of Africa, for which he was knighted, in the Mediterranean and in the West Indies, he was promoted to rear-admiral in 1739. In 1740 he was sent out to join Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon with reinforcements and took part in the attack on Cartagena 1741. He took over the command when Vernon left in 1742 and returned to England in 1745, having been promoted to vice-admiral in 1743 and admiral in 1744.
Ogle was most probably a cousin of Admiral-of-the-Fleet Sir Chaloner Ogle (although the relationship is variously given as son, nephew or cousin). He became a lieutenant in 1745 and a captain in 1756. He saw active service during the Seven Years War and commanded a ship during the Falkland Islands crisis of 1770. In 1774 he was appointed to the RESOLUTION, guardship at Portsmouth. He sailed under Rodney to the relief of Gibraltar in 1779 and then went to America, being recalled on his promotion to rear-admiral in 1780. He became a vice-admiral in 1787 and admiral in 1794.
Ogle was the eldest son of Admiral Sir Chaloner. He entered the Navy in 1787 and became a lieutenant in 1793, commander in 1795, and captain in 1796. He served mainly in the Mediterranean, being Captain of the UNITE 1805 to 1806. From 1806 to 1815 he commanded one of the royal yachts. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1816 and was promoted to rear-admiral in 1819. He was commander-in-chief, North America 1827 to 1830 and became a vice-admiral in 1830 and an admiral in 1841. He was commander-in-chief at Portsmouth 1845 to 1848.
Oliver was educated at Osborne and Dartmouth Royal Naval Colleges. He served as Midshipman on HMS GOOD HOPE, Flag ship of the Mediterranean Fleet, in 1912 and HMS INFLEXIBLE from January 1913. Oliver was promoted to Acting Sub-Lieutenant in 1914, then lent to HMS ALBION as Acting Lieutenant in March 1915, when he volunteered in command of a pair of Trawlers sweeping Minefields off Chanak. In April 1915, he was appointed to HMS PRINCE OF WALES, which landed five hundred Australian troops at ANZAC beach and supported their operations with gun fire. Oliver joined HMS MURRAY in September 1915, and was promoted to Lieutenant and became Second in Command in April 1916: he was subsequently awarded the Swedish Gold Medal 5th Class for life saving. In 1917, Oliver transferred to HMS TELEMACHUS, Destroyer, which lay mines for the most part in the German Swept channels in the Heligoland Bight, sinking numerous U Boats and Sweepers: he was awarded the D.S.C. in 1918. He was on HMS RENOWN during H.R.H. the Prince of Wales' tours to North America from May to December 1919, and to Australia and New Zealand from March to November 1920. From April 1921 to May 1922, Oliver was at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, for a preliminary gunnery course and from May 1922 to Feb 1923, he attended the Long (G) Course at HMS EXCELLENT (The Gunnery School at Whale Island, Portsmouth). In April 1924, Oliver was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and was on the Senior Staff of HMS EXCELLENT from 1925 to 1927. In November, he was appointed First Lieutenant and HMS WARSRITE, Mediterranean Fleet. Oliver was promoted to Commander on 31 December 1929 and was on the staff at HMS EXCELLENT until November 1930. From April 1931, he was Squadron Gunnery Officer in the Battle Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet, until he was commissioned HMS RESOLUTION as Executive Officer Second in Command in September 1933. Oliver was promoted to Captain in 1936, and attended various courses at Greenwich and Portsmouth before moving to Wellington in order to take up an appointment as Second Member of the New Zealand Navy Board. He returned to the U.K. at the end of 1938 and took command of HMS IRON DUKE, proceeding to his War Station at Scapa Flow in August 1939. In 1940, Oliver joined HMS DEVONSHIRE, which was involved with Convoy work in the South Atlantic and convoying troops in the Indian Ocean: he was awarded the C.B.E. in 1942. From January 1943 to February 1944, Oliver was in Command of HMS EXCELLENT, Gunnery School, Portsmouth. From March 1944, he was in command of HMS SWIFTSURE building at Vickers, Newcastle, and subsequently proceeding to join the Pacific Fleet at Sydney, N.S.W. Oliver became Rear-Admiral in 1945 and was Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Weapons) at the Admiralty from March to September, when he was appointed Deputy Chief of Naval Staff with a Seat on the Board of Admiralty. In August 1947, he hoisted his Flag in HMS SUSSEX as Flag Officer Commanding 5th Cruiser Squadron. Oliver was promoted to Vice Admiral retired list in 1948 and was made Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Roxburghshire in 1962.
Oliver entered the Navy in 1878 and passed for lieutenant in 1884. In 1903 he was promoted to captain and founded the navigation school in the Mercury. This school was later given the name HMS Dryad. Oliver became Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord in 1908, and after a seagoing appointment became Director of Naval Intelligence in 1913. He was promoted to rear-admiral in the same year. In 1914 Oliver became Naval Secretary to the First Sea Lord. At the end of the war he commanded the First Battle Cruiser Squadron in the Grand Fleet, hoisting his flag in the REPULSE. In 1919 he was promoted to vice-admiral and in 1921 he was appointed Second Sea Lord. In 1923 he was made admiral. His last active employment was as Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, in which post he remained until 1927. He was made Admiral of the Fleet in 1928 and retired in the same year. See Sir William James, A great seaman. The life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry F. Oliver (London, 1956).
As a sub-lieutenant Ommaney served in the TOPAZE, 1873 to 1874, in home waters, and in the BARRACOUTA, 1874 to 1877, on the Australian Station. In 1877 he became a lieutenant and from 1878 to 1881 was in the PENGUIN in the Pacific. He then served in the ALGERINE between 1881 and 1886 on the Cape and West Africa Station and in the CRUISER, 1886 to 1889, in the Mediterranean. In 1890 he was promoted to commander and served in the AURORA, Channel Squadron, from 1890 to 1891 and in the BOUDICEA, East Indies, from 1891 to 1894. He was promoted to captain in 1897 and commanded the CALLIOPE, tender to the training ship Northampton, from 1901 to 1903, when he retired. He became a rear-admiral in 1907.
Joseph Osborn traded from Liverpool to Cape Town, Calcutta, Amoy, Singapore, Hong Kong, Foochow, Demerara, Bombay, Madras, Sydney, etc. For one period of eight months he was on Government Service, carrying supplies from Bombay to Abyssinia for the punitive war that Britain had declared on the "King-of-Kings" Theodore, who had deposed Ras Ali in 1855. Osborn was at sea for over 35 years, his longest period of service being 12 years on the barque RECORDER. He retired from the sea in 1875 and spent the next eight years overseeing the building and fitting of Liverpool ships.
The Orient Steam Navigation Company was established in 1878 and jointly managed by the London shipowning firms of Anderson, Anderson and Company and F. Green and Company until 1919, when the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company acquired a controlling interest in its shareholding capital; at approximately the same time the dual management of the undertaking by the Anderson and Green companies came to an end and the two businesses were merged into a private limited company formed for the purpose, Anderson, Green and Company Limited. The Orient company was a small enterprise operating a handful of very large ships in virtually one trade, the mail and passenger service to Australia and New Zealand. In due course it provided a co-ordinated service in this region with ships of the P&O fleet; in later years, similarly in collaboration with P&O, a passenger service between North American ports and Australia and New Zealand was instituted, and in attempts to promote passenger traffic in the Pacific, a series of voyages between North America, the Far East and Australia were inaugurated. The company's ships were also extensively employed in ocean cruising. Anderson, Green and Company Limited, the managers, were brought under the P and O umbrella in 1949, but the P and O and Orient companies maintained separate identities and independent shore organizations until 1960 when the services were run together and the balance of the ordinary share-holdings of the Orient company was bought up by P and O. A new company, P and O/Orient Lines Passenger Services Limited, better known under its trading name, Orient and Pacific Lines, was set up to run the services of the two companies, an arrangement which ceased to exist in 1966. In the following years the former Orient company vessels gradually came into P and O ownership and their livery was likewise altered. See 'Steam to Australia', Syren and Shipping, July 1938; Stephen Rabson, 'Orient -- a mark of quality', Wavelength, June 1977.
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Pakenham joined the DUNKIRK, which was attached to the Western Squadron, in 1758. He took part in the Goree expedition, remaining in the DUNKIRK until 1761, when he joined the NEPTUNE at Gibraltar. There he was promoted to lieutenant, and appointed to the TERROR but was taken prisoner by the Spanish. On his release in 1762 he went to the BLENHEIM, Mediterranean. From 1763 to 1765 he served in the ROMNEY, Halifax; there, in 1765, he purchased the command of the CROWN. He was promoted to captain the following year but had no further service until 1777, when he was appointed to command the AMERICA, 1777 to 1779, and then the ALEXANDER, 1779 to 1783, both in the Channel.
Parker was a nephew of Sir John Jervis (later Earl St. Vincent. He entered the Navy in 1793 as a captain's servant in the ORION and, as a midshipman, was present at the battle of the Glorious First of June 1794. He was then transferred with Captain (later Admiral) J.T. Duckworth to the LEVIATHAN and he went out to the West Indies in 1795. From 1796 to 1798 he was acting lieutenant of the MAGICIENNE and from 1798 to 1799 of the QUEEN, being promoted to lieutenant in 1799. He was appointed to command the VOLAGE and then the STORK, in which ship he returned home in 1800 and served for a year in the North Sea. He was promoted to captain in 1801 and during the following year commanded L'OISEAU, the HELDIN and the ALARM in home waters. Between 1802 and 1812 Parker was Captain of the AMAZON. He served in the Mediterranean under Nelson and sailed with him to the West Indies in 1805. From 1806 to 1810 he was employed mainly on the coasts of Spain and Portugal and from 1811 to 1812 in the Channel.
Parker was then on half-pay until 1827 when he was sent to the Mediterranean in the WARSPITE, being Senior Officer in the Aegean in 1828. On his return home he was appointed Captain of the Royal Yacht Prince Regent until his promotion to rear-admiral in 1830. He was second-in-command, Channel Squadron, in 1831 and commanded a squadron on the coast of Portugal during the Carlist War, 1831 to 1834. He was knighted in 1834 and was a Lord of the Admiralty between August and December of the same year. From 1835 he again had a seat at the Board of the Admiralty until 1841, when he was promoted to vice-admiral and appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, where he brought the First Chinese War to a successful conclusion. In 1845 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, a post he held until 1852 and which, from 1846 to 1847, was combined with a command in the Channel during the Portuguese Civil War. In 1851 he was promoted to admiral. He was Commander-in-Chief at Devonport from 1853 to 1857 and was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet in 1863. See Admiral Sir Augustus Phillimore, The life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker (3 vols, London, 1876-1880).
Peachey entered the Navy in 1914. He became a midshipman in the KING GEORGE V in 1915 and was present at Jutland. He joined the PRINCESS ROYAL in 1917 and in 1918 became acting Flag-Lieutenant to Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck (1862-1928). He became a lieutenant in 1918 and spent several years in China and the Mediterranean before becoming a lieutenant-commander in 1927. After serving in several ships he was promoted to commander in 1933 and then spent some time at the Admiralty. From 1936 to 1938 he was in the ROYAL OAK, Home Fleet, and on the staff of Rear-Admiral L.D.I. Mackinnon (1882-1948). In 1938 he was appointed Operations Officer, Coast of Scotland. He was promoted to captain in 1940 and commanded the DELHI, Mediterranean, from 1941 to 1944. From 1947 to 1948 he was Commodore, Palestine and Levant. He retired in 1950.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Whitshed, who until 1791 had the name Hawkins, entered the Navy in 1773 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1778. Becoming both commander and captain in 1780, he was appointed to the ROSE in home waters from 1784 to 1786. In 1799, having been promoted to rear-admiral, he was sent to join Earl St Vincent in the Mediterranean, serving subsequently in the Channel from 1800 to 1801. Whitshed became a vice-admiral in 1804, was Commander-in-Chief at Cork between 1807 and 1810, when he was promoted to admiral, and was later Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, 1821 to 1824. He became Admiral of the Fleet in 1844.
Pollard entered the Navy in 1846 and served in the Black Sea from 1854 to 1855, when he became a lieutenant. He was present at the capture of Canton in 1857 and in the later operations in the north of China, including the attack on the Peiho forts, 1859, when he commanded the STAUNCH; in the next year he was in the Gulf of Pechili and was at the capture of Tientsin. He was promoted to commander into the SIMOOM in 1861 and in 1863 was appointed to the ROYALIST on the North American Station where, during 1864, he was engaged in the suppression of slaving off the south coast of Cuba. He was promoted to captain in 1868. From 1878 to 1881 be was in the Mediterranean in command of the RUPERT and was then in the DEFENCE, coast guard service, between 1882 and 1884. He retired with the rank of rear-admiral in 1855.
Pellew entered the Navy in 1770. He became a lieutenant in 1778, a commander in 1780, a captain in 1782. In 1795 commanded a frigate squadron in the INDEFATIGABLE in the Channel. From 1802 to 1804 he was Member of Parliament for Barnstaple. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1804, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, with his flag in the CULLODEN and remained there for five years. In 1808 he became a Vice-Admiral and held the North Sea command from 1810 until 1811, when he was appointed to the Mediterranean with the CALEDONIA as his flagship. He was promoted to Admiral in 1814 and went again to the Mediterranean in 1815. In the next year he was ordered to suppress the Moorish pirates who operated from Tripoli, Tunis and Algiers. Pellew negociated teaties with Tunis and Tripoli but the Dey of Algiers refused to comply with Pellew's demands. Pellew then combined with a Dutch squadron at Gibraltar in August 1816 and together they bombarded Algiers, forcing the Dey to release prisoners and sgree to the treaty. His final command was at Devonport from 1817 to 1820. See Edward Osler, The life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth (2 vols, London, 1835, 1841) and C Northcote Parkinson Edward Pellew Viscount Exmouth Admiral of the Red (London, 1934).
Having attended Stubbington House School, Fareham, Peters trained as a cadet on HMS BRITANNIA, at Dartmouth. He went to sea in 1904 and served in the North Sea throughout the First World War, in HMS SOUTHAMPTON and ORION, being present at the Battle of Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank and Jutland. He was then appointed 1st Lieutenant of the Signal School at Portsmouth. From 1925 to 1927, Peters was executive officer and second in command of a cruiser at the New Zealand station. He was then appointed Commander of the EREBUS, a training ship for direct entry cadets, at Portsmouth. Peters' later appointments include Senior Naval Officer, West Coast of Africa, Commander of HMS SOUTHAMPTON (1936-1938), Commodore in charge of Naval Establishments, Hong Kong (1939-1940), Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty (1941-1942) and Flag Officer Commanding West Africa (1943-1945). Peters was promoted to rear-admiral in 1940, vice-admiral in 1943 and admiral in 1946. He retired in 1946 and received a KCB n that year.
Page entered the Navy as a First Class Volunteer in the SUPERB in 1778. By 1782 he had been involved in four engagements and was wounded in one leg. At this time he was promoted acting Lieutenant and was involved in a further action in 1783. His rank was confirmed in 1784. For the next ten years he filled a series of appointments and was promoted commander of the HOBART by Captain Peter Rainier in 1794. Page was in the East Indies in 1796 using his experience gained whilst on station in the SUPERB to guide convoys through those difficult waters. In that year he achieved Post-rank. From 1800 he spent two years in the Mediterranean in command of the INFLEXIBLE and in 1804 returned to the East Indies in command of the CAROLINE. Whilst in the East Indies in 1804 he made the captures of two well armed French privateers. In 1805 he becam Rainier's flag captain in the TRIDENT and in October of that year returned to England. In 1809 Page assumed command of the Sea Fencibles at Harwich until they were disbanded in 1810. From 1812 to 1815 he commanded the PUISSANT a guardship at Portsmouth. Page attained the rank of admiral. He died in retirement in 1845.
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Hornby entered the Navy in 1797, was promoted to lieutenant in 1804 and to captain in 1810. He was in command of the VOLAGE in the Mediterranean, 1810 to 1811, and took part in the action off Lissa in March 1811. From 1812 to 1814 he commanded the STAG at the Cape of Good Hope and from 1814 to 1816 the SPARTAN in the Mediterranean. Between 1816 and 1832 he was on ashore on half-pay. He then held several posts ashore until his promotion to rear-admiral in 1846. From 1847 to 1850 he was Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station. On his return he served briefly as a Lord of the Admiralty. He became a vice-admiral in 1854 and an admiral in 1858.
Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, son of Sir Phipps Hornby, entered the Navy in 1837 and became a lieutenant in 1844. In 1852 he was promoted to captain but remained on half-pay until 1858, after which he commanded the TRIBUNE, China, 1858 to 1860, NEPTUNE, flagship, Mediterranean, 1861 to 1862, and EDGAR, flagship, Channel, 1863 to 1865. In 1865 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief on the west coast of Africa. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1869 and commanded the Flying Squadron in the LIVERPOOL on its voyage round the world, 1869 to 1871, and then the Channel Squadron from 1871 to 1874. Hornby was one of the Lords of the Admiralty from 1875 to 1877. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1875. From 1877 to 1880 he was Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean. He played an important part in the Balkan crisis of 1878, for which he was knighted and was promoted to admiral in 1879. He was President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 1881 to 1882, and Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, 1882 to 1885. In 1885 he commanded an Evolutionary Squadron and became Admiral of the Fleet in 1888. See Mrs Frederick Egerton, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, G.C.B., a biography (London, 1896).
R.S. Phipps Hornby, son of Sir Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, entered the Navy in 1879. He became a lieutenant in 1886. From 1901 to 1903 he commanded the PYLADES on the Australian Station and was promoted to captain in 1903. While commanding the DIANA in the Mediterranean, 1904 to 1906, he was involved in the Akbar boundary dispute. After commanding the GLORY in home waters from 1907 to 1908, he was appointed Captain of the Vernon (the naval torpedo school) where he remained until 1911. He then commanded the SWIFTSURE, INFLEXIBLE and MONARCH before being promoted to rear-admiral in 1913. Re was Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, 1914 to 1915, when he went in the GLORY to reinforce the Allied Fleet at the Dardanelles. He was invalided during this voyage for the rest of the war and was engaged in torpedo work. He was involved between 1917 and 1920 in the work of several Admiralty committees, including the Submarine Committee, the Armament Personnel Committee and the Post-War Reconstruction Committee. He was promoted to admiral in 1922 on the retired list.
Son of Admiral R.S. Phipps Hornby (q.v.), W.M. Phipps Hornby entered the Navy in 1909. After his time at the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth and in the training ship Cumberland, he was appointed midshipman in 1914 in the Hampshire, moving to the Warspite in 1915. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1916, joined the Ramillies in 1917, was promoted to lieutenant in 1918, to lieutenant-commander in 1925 and retired in 1932
Sir Phipps Hornby (1785-1867) began his naval career in 1797, being promoted to Lieutenant in 1804 and to Captain in 1810. He was on half-pay between 1816 and 1832, and then held several posts ashore until his promotion to Rear Admiral in 1846. From 1847 to 1850 he was Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Squadron, with his base at Valparaiso, where he established his wife and family. He served briefly as a Lord of the Admiralty, was promoted on retirement in 1854, and became Admiral in 1858.
Sir Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby (1825-1895), son of Sir Phipps Hornby, entered the Navy in 1837, being appointed to the PRINCESS CHARLOTTE, flagship of Admiral Stopford. He was promoted to Captain in 1852 and commanded several vessels, including the EDGAR, flagship, Channel, 1863-1865. He was given command of the Channel Squadron from 1871 to 1874, and was Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean from 1877 to 1880. He became Admiral of the Fleet in 1888.
Robert Stewart Phipps Hornby (1866-1956), younger son of Sir Geoffrey, entered the Navy in 1879, served in the Egyptian War in 1882 and became a Lieutenant in 1886. He was promoted to Captain in 1903 and commanded the DIANA in the Mediterranean, 1904 to 1906. From 1914 to 1915, he was Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, and he was promoted to Admiral in 1922 on the retired list.
Windham Mark Phipps Hornby (1896-1987), son of Admiral R S Phipps Hornby, entered the Navy in 1909 and was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in 1916. He joined the RAMILLIES in 1917, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1918, to Lieutenant-Commander in 1925 and retired in 1932.
Phillimore entered the Navy in 1835 and studied at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, until 1837. From 1837 to 1840 he served as a first-class volunteer and midshipman in the NORTH STAR and TWEED on the coast of Spain during the Carlist War. He was in the ENDYMION from 1840 to 1843 on the East Indies Station and during the First Chinese War, returning home in 1844 in the CORNWALLIS, flagship of Sir William Parker. He had been promoted to mate in 1842. In 1845 he was appointed to the HIBERNIA, Parker's flagship in the Mediterranean, and promoted to lieutenant in the same year. In 1847 he became Parker's Flag-Lieutenant. In 1849 he transferred with him to the QUEEN, on the same station. Phillimore later wrote a biography of Parker, The life of Sir William Parker (3 vols. London, 1876-1880). In 1852, he was promoted to commander and attended a course at the Royal Naval College, before sailing as Admiralty agent in the first mail steamer to Australia. From 1853 to 1855 he commanded the MEDEA in the West Indies and was promoted to captain in 1855. He was appointed to command the CURACOA on the south-east coast of South America in 1859 and was Senior Officer on the Station. He commanded the DEFENCE in the Channel from 1862 to 1866. Phillimore was Senior Officer at Jamaica from 1868 to 1869 and at Gibraltar from 1869 to 1873, becoming a rear-admiral in 1874. In 1876 he was second-in-command, Channel Squadron, and from 1876 to 1879 Admiral Superintendent of the Royal Naval Reserve. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1879 and to admiral in 1884 and was Commander-in-Chief, Devonport, from 1884 to 1887, when he retired.
Pakenham was born in 1861 into a titled and naval family. He entered the navy in 1874 and spent two years training on HMS BRITANNIA. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1880 and lieutenant in 1883. At these ranks he served on ships including HMS ALEXANDRA and a series of cruisers in the Pacific and the Mediterranean, mainly with responsibility for gunnery. He was promoted commander in 1896 and served in naval intelligence for 18 months to August 1901. He became a captain in 1903 and was naval attache in Japan, 1904-1905. While there he spent much of his time on board HMIS ASAHI, including its periods engaged in battle in the Russo-Japanese war. Between 1906-1910 he served in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and was made Fourth Sea Lord in 1911. He was present at the Battle of Jutland where he commanded a battle cruiser squadron from HMS NEW ZEALAND. In 1916 he was appointed as commander in chief of a battle cruiser force. After World War I he served briefly at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and then as commander in chief of the North America and West Indies station. His visit to the west coast of the United States on HMS RALEIGH in 1922 was a diplomatic success. He was appointed admiral in that year. He retired in 1926 and died at San Sebastian, Spain in 1933.
Murray Thomas Parks joined the Navy in 1842. He was appointed to HMS COLUMBIA as a volunteer and was employed for five years in survey work in North America. He returned to England and was in the VICTORY and EXCELLENT and served on the coast of Africa for about a year as midshipman and acting mate. He passed his lieutenant's examination and was appointed to the ENTERPRISE under Captain Collinson (q.v.) on a Franklin search expedition. He returned to England in 1855 and was appointed Marine Surveyor at Liverpool. He served at Liverpool for twelve years before retiring due to ill health. He became a retired commander in 1870 and died in 1877.
Murray Thomas Parks, son of Commander Murray Thomas Parks, entered the Navy as a naval cadet in 1876. He served as midshipman in the RALEIGH under Captain Trewlawny Jago. He was midshipman in the INVINCIBLE and CRUISER 1881 to 1882. He was appointed to WATCHFUL, a gunboat, in 1884 and a commission lieutenant in 1885. In 1888 he was appointed to the COCATRICE in the Mediterranean. In 1892 he became lieutenant in the MEDEA and in 1893 transferred to the PHOEBE on the Cape Station. He was promoted commander in 1896 and in the same year appointed to the UNDAUNTED on the China Station. He was appointed commander of the BLANCHE on the Cape Station in 1900 and in 1903 joined the Coast Guard Service. He was promoted captain and retired in 1908.
Abraham Parks entered the Navy in 1806 as clerk on board the SANDWICH where he was promoted to midshipman in 1808 and later that year he was transferred to the prison ship IRRESTIBLE. In 1809 he was appointed to the SIRIUS. Until 1815 he served in the CHESAPEAKE where he was severly wounded in an explosion. In 1815 he was nominated acting lieutenant of the PORTIA. His commission as lieutenant is dated 15 March 1815. He was appointed to the Coast Guard in 1835 and to the VICTORY in 1839. Between 1839 and 1849 he commanded various steam packets, and in 1851 he was appointed to the BOSCAWEN, 1853 to the NEPTUNE, and finally 1855 to the SATURN. In 1857 he retired and was awarded a Greenwich Hospital pension. he died in 1863.
Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) devoted his life to building up his library at his house, Middle Hill, in Gloucestershire. Although Phillipps never managed to catalogue his collection, it was estimated that he owned 60,000 manuscripts at his death, and it became the most famous private library in Europe. The library was left to his grandson, who had still not completed its dispersal at his death in 1938. In 1946 the residue was finally purchased by Messrs Robinson who sold the naval manuscripts, describer here, to Sir James Caird for the Museum. (See A.N.L. Munby, Phillipps Studies, vols I-V, Cambridge, 1951-60). Because of the importance and diversity of this collection, it has been split into six entries. Those of no obvious provenance are given in this entry. The collections of Robert Cole (entry no.96), George Jackson (97), the Southwells (98), and William Upcott (99) are described separately below. The collection of John Wilson Croker, consisting of the correspondence received by Lord Nelson, has been described in Volume I of this Guide, entry no. 207.
Pell entered the Navy in 1799 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1806. He then served in the MERCURY on the Newfoundland and Mediterranean Stations until 1809. He was promoted to commander in 1810 into the THUNDER at Cadiz. He was promoted to captain in 1813 and given command of the MENAI on the North American Station until 1816. After a period on half-pay, Pell was appointed Commodore in command of the Jamaica Division of the North America and West Indies Station, 1833 to 1837. He commanded the HOWE in the Mediterranean, 1840 to 1841, and was Superintendent of Pembroke Dockyard, 1842 to 1845. From 1846 to 1863 he was a Commissioner of Greenwich Hospital. Pell was knighted in 1837 and promoted to rear-admiral in 1848, vice-admiral in 1855 and admiral in 1861.
Palmer received his first commision on 20th May 1848 as acting assistant surgeon on HMS VICTORY. Later that year he served on HM Sloop DWARF from 19th September 1848 until late March 1850. His next commission was on 12th April 1850 as assistant surgeon on HMS ASIA in the Pacific under Captain Robert Fanshawe Stopford. He transferred on 17th February 1851 to the flagship in the Pacific, HMS PORTLAND, under Rear Admiral Fairfax Moresby. He later served on HMS JACKAL, under Lieutenant Commander William T. F. Jackson, from 3rd July 1854 until a brief term on HMS IMPREGNABLE under Vice Admiral Sir Barrington Reynolds in Devonport from 17th December 1858 until he transferred back to the JACKAL on 12th April 1859 under Lieutenant and Commander James Simpson at Sheerness. On 14th April 1860, he served on the flagship in the East Indies and China, HMS CHESAPEAKE, under Rear Admiral Sir James Hope. He produced many sketches on various subjects in China. On 16th May 1861, he spent two days on the new flagship, HMS IMPERIEUSE, before transferring to HMS PRINCESS CHARLOTTE, a receiving ship at Hong Kong under Captain Matthew S. Nolloth, where he was listed as surgeon (additional for service in Melville Hospital Ship). On 24th January 1866, he was commissioned as surgeon on HMS TOPAZE under Commodore 2nd Class Richard A. Powell. The TOPAZE voyaged to Easter Island among other destinations and it is here that he painted many watercolours and produced sketches of the topography of the island, the stone statues and some of the chiefs resident on the island at the time. His final commission was on HMS RESISTANCE from 11th September 1870 as staff surgeon under Captain William H. Haswell. This ship was on coast guard duty from Rockferry and Birkenhead from 1872 onwards. He is listed as retired in 1874.
The Prince Steam Shipping Company Ltd was formed in 1883 with a nominal capitol of £250,000. Further steamships were ordered and the first of these commenced trading in 1884. By 1886 the company's fleet comprised twenty sailing ships and seventeen ocean-going steamships. A year later the sailing vessels were sold and Knott applied himself to the development of a fleet of steamships engaged in world-wide trade. Among the earliest services advertised were those between the UK and Tripoli, Malta, Tunis, Egypt, Cyprus, Palestine and Syria. By 1888 the company was firmly established on routes from Europe and New York to Brazil and the River Plate and in the years leading up to the First World War, it had a large share in the coffee trade between Brazil and the USA.
With the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894, a service was instituted between Manchester and Alexandria for the importation of Egyptian cotton. Manufactured goods and machinery were exported through Manchester.
In 1895 a new company was formed, the Prince Line (1895) Ltd. Three years later the date was dropped from the title and the Prince Line Ltd absorbed the entire range of Knott's shipping interests, principally the Prince Steam Shipping Company Ltd and the Prince Steam shipping Insurance Association, founded in 1887. As older ships were replaced by new and larger tonnage a regular line was built on the carriage of Italian emigrants to New York. However , in 1917 the Italian Government restricted this trade to national flag carriers and the Prince Line's part in it came to an end.
In the early years of the twentieth century a service from New York to South Africa, India and the Far East was inaugurated. Later, in 1917, twelve steamers and the interests of James Gardiner and Company, Glasgow, were acquired to become the subsidiary company Rio Cape Line. The combination of these undertakings led to the development of a round the world service.
During the First World War nineteen ships were lost to enemy action. Following the death of two of his sons at Ypres and the Somme and the capture of a third at Gallipoli, James Knott, the founder of the company, sold his interests to Furness, Withy and Company Ltd in August 1916. He was created a baronet the following year. In 1919 the Furness family relinquished their interests in Furness, Withy and Company Ltd. and as result the offices of the company were moved from Newcastle to London.
The fleet and services were rebuilt between the wars despite the economic depression of the decades. The company's first motor ship, built in 1924 as the TRAMORE, was taken over from the associated Johnston Line in 1925 and renamed BRAZILIAN PRINCE. In 1929 four fast passenger-cargo motor ships of 10, 920 tons gross, carrying 101 passengers, were completed and named NORTHERN PRINCE, SOUTHERN PRINCE, EASTERN PRINCE and WESTERN PRINCE. These were employed on the well established New York- South American routes.
At the outbreak of war in 1939 the Prince Line and Rio Cape Line fleets together comprised twenty vessels, maintaining the four regular services- the Mediterranean, USA- South Africa, New York - South America and the Far East round the world service. Losses during the war totalled fourteen.
While the fleet was again rebuilt in the years after 1945 and the citrus trade with Israel continued to flourish, the entire operations of the company gradually contracted as a result of foreign competition and later, containerisation. Only a reduced Mediterranean service survived, and this was combined with Furness, Withy's other Mediterranean interest, the Manchester Liners service, as a joint operation.
The papers start with Platt serving aboard HMS PORTO (c 1780-1782). After PORTO, Platt served on various ships, including HMS ISIS, HMS EAGLE, and HMS CENTURION, mainly in the East and West Indies. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 7 November 1793 and then served on a number of ships, such as HMS ALLIGATOR and HMS ROYAL SOVEREIGN. During his career, Platt appears to have also served in the merchant navy, notably on the KATHARINE, COUNTESS OF EFFINGHAM, which carried Thomas, Earl of Effingham, governor of Jamaica, and his wife to Jamaica (1789-1790). Platt did not enjoy his time in merchant service and the collection includes an example of a reply from the Admiralty to Platt's letter, requesting employment. He also appears to have been involved with the Folkstone Sea Fencibles, with the collection including several documents relating to impressment. Platt was superannuated commander 2 December 1828 and can be found in the retired section of the Navy Lists for the years 1828-1832.