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.
Hawke entered the Navy in 1720 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1729. He served in the Mediterranean, West Indies and off the West African coast between periods on half pay and became a captain in 1734. At the outbreak of war in 1739 he blockaded Barbados for four years until his appointment to the Berwick, in which he took a noteworthy part in the battle of Toulon and remained in the Mediterranean for the next eighteen months. After a brief period at home he was appointed, in 1747, vice-admiral and second-in-command of the Channel Fleet under Sir Peter Warren (1703-1752), and he succeeded to the command when Warren fell ill. His decisive victory off Finisterre in 1747 won him a knighthood and, in December of that year, he was elected a Member of Parliament for Portsmouth, a seat he held for thirty years. When peace came he commanded the Channel Fleet until 1752. In 1755 he again hoisted his flag, in the ST GEORGE, and was appointed to the Western Squadron. He was sent to the Mediterranean in June 1756 but was too late to prevent Minorca falling to the French. Having been promoted to admiral in 1757 and appointed to command the Channel Fleet, he took part in the Rochefort expedition. He held this command again in 1759 in the ROYAL GEORGE, enforced the blockade of Brest and won a decisive victory at Quiberon Bay. From 1766 to 1771 Hawke was First Lord of the Admiralty and was raised to the peerage in 1776. See Montagu Burrows, The Life of Edward, Lord Hawke (London, 1883) and Ruddock F. Mackay, Admiral Hawke (Oxford, 1965).
Sir Bruce Stirling Ingram (1877-1963) was editor of the Illustrated London News and for a time was an Honorary Vice-President of the Society for Nautical Research.
The India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ceylon Conferences (IPBCC) were the oldest of the conferences involved in the mangement and development of trade in the Far East. They had an international scope and strong links with several shipping companies. Membership of the Conferences was made up of associations of owners of both 'short sea' and 'deep sea' freight lines. These owners acted together to set common prices for the carriage of goods over designated routes, forming policies over discounts and rate rebates with the 'tied-in' companies, with tariffs to combat competition from non-members. They also had the power to admit or exclude shore trade.
Margaret Bruce married Thomas Henry Ismay (1837-1899) in 1859. At this time Ismay was running a fleet of sailing ships to the west coast of South America. In 1864 he became director of a steamship line trading between Liverpool and New York and in 1867 purchased the White Star Line, which ran fast sailing ships to Australia and New Zealand and which found itself in difficulties through lack of capital. Soon afterwards he set up the firm of Ismay, Imrie and Company and the partners and he established the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company (generally known as the White Star Line). In 1902 the Company was taken over by the new American Combine, the International Mercantile Marine Co., but their ships still sailed under the British flag.
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.
A naval officer was stationed at Port Royal, Jamaica, from at least 1675, from which time ships were careened there. In the reign of Queen Anne a hulk was established there to facilitate operations and between 1735 and 1744 two careening wharves, capstan houses, storehouses and accommodation for officers and workmen were built. Thereafter the yard's wharf age and storage capacity were increased; coaling sheds and wharves were added in the mid-nineteenth century and a torpedo-boat slip installed in 1900. The yard was closed in 1905 See M. Pawson and D. Buisseret, Port Royal, Jamaica (London,1975).
Jenkinson entered the Navy in 1806. In 1808 he was appointed to the DECADE and was in the VENERABLE in 1809 during the Walcheren expedition. In 1810 he was promoted to lieutenant. He next served in the CLYDE in the Channel and then in the INCONSTANT, 1811 to 1812, at Vera Cruz and in the Channel. He was promoted to commander in 1812 and from this time until 1814 commanded the JASPER in home waters. He was promoted to captain in 1814. Between 1816 and 1817 he was in Russia, apparently on a private visit. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1850.
Jervis, son of Swynfen Jervis, Counsel to the Admiralty between 1747 and 1757, entered the Navy against his father's wishes in 1749. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1755, served with distinction in the Seven Years War and reached captain's rank in 1760. He served in the Channel during the American War of Independence. After the war he became a Member of Parliament, representing Launceston, Yarmouth and Wycombe successively. In 1787 Jervis became a rear-admiral and in 1793 a vice-admiral. He was Commander-in-chief of the West Indies Expedition, 1793 to 1794, capturing Martinique and Guadeloupe. He returned home in 1795 and in the same year was promoted to admiral and appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean. In February 1797 he defeated the Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent, for which victory he was created an earl. He gave up his command in 1799. After a brief period in command of the Channel Fleet he served as First Lord of the Admiralty, 1801 to 1804. His term of office aroused considerable controversy and he refused further service afloat until after the death of Pitt, but took the Channel command in 1806. He resigned after a further change of ministry in 1807. In 1821 he was made Admiral of the Fleet. Among a number of biographies is Jedediah Tucker, Memoirs of Admiral the Rt. Hon.The Earl of St. Vincent G.C.B.. (London, 1844), while some correspondence has been published by David Bonner-Smith, ed., 'Letters of Admiral of the Fleet the Earl of St. Vincent whilst First Lord of the Admiralty 1801 to 1804' (Navy Records Society, 1922, 1927, 2 vols).
Johnstone entered the Navy in 1858 and served on the Mediterranean Station and then in the ST GEORGE between 1860 and 1864. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1865. From this time until 1873 he served on the China Station in the SERPENT, PERSEUS and JUNO, was then appointed to the command of the training brig LIBERTY. He was made a commander in 1877. Afterwards he commanded the EGERIA in China and the DRYAD in the East Indies; in both ships he was involved in diplomatic affairs in Borneo and then in Madagascar, for which service he was promoted to captain in 1883. He attended the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and subsequently served on a committee inquiring into the education of naval officers. From 1885 to 1889 he commanded the VOLAGE in the Training Squadron. In 1891 he took command of the AGAMEMNON and turned over with his crew to the CAMPERDOWN the following year; he was still in command when the CAMPERDOWN collided with the VICTORIA, for which incident he was held partly to blame by the Admiralty. His only service after this was as Flag-Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, Devonport, 1896 to 1898. He retired as rear-admiral in 1899 and became a vice-admiral in 1903.
Jenkins Jones became a lieutenant in 1813 and a commander in 1816, being appointed to the JULIA. She was wrecked on the island of Tristan da Cunha in 1817 but Jones was acquitted at the subsequent court martial. From 1822 to 1824 he commanded the SAPPHO on the Cork Station and in 1828 the GLOUCESTER. Soon after, however, he was promoted captain into the ROYAL ADELAIDE but remained on half-pay until he took command of the CURACOA in 1839, on the South American Station, remaining there until 1842.
William Henry Jones-Byrom, son of Captain Jenkin Jones, took the name of Byrom under terms of inheritance which stipulated that his wife's name should be added to his own. He entered the Navy in 1844 in the COLLINGWOOD, which was stationed at Portsmouth, became a lieutenant in 1850 and was in the Baltic and Black Sea during the Crimean War. In 1857 he sailed to China in a fleet of fifteen gunboats under Captain Sherard Osborn (1822-1875), sent to reinforce the China Squadron. The LEO, commanded by Jones, accompanied the FURIOUS in 1858, when Lord Elgin was escorted up the Yangtse river to Hankow. In 1859 Jones was promoted to commander. The LEO was lost in the attack on the Taku forts and the consequent courts martial ended in honourable acquittal for Jones. On his return home the early symptoms of tuberculosis were beginning to appear and he only served at sea again for one year, 1861 to 1862.
Martyn Jerram entered the Navy as a navigating cadet in 1871. He served in home waters in the VALOUROUS, 1873, and the HERCULES, 1873 to 1874, and was then in the MONARCH, 1874 to 1877, Mediterranean, with two short periods spent in the CRUISER in 1876 and the SWIFTSURE in 1877. In 1881 he became a lieutenant and was on the China Station from 1882 to 1883 in the IRON DUKE. He took out the new torpedo boat CHILDERS, built for the government of Victoria, Australia, in 1884 and was then appointed to the REINDEER, East Indies Station, and in 1889 to the CONQUEST. In 1891 Jerram was called upon to act as vice-consul in Mpanda, Tanganyka, until the British South Africa Company's expedition to Mashonaland had disembarked. He became a commander in 1894, a captain in 1899, a rear-admiral in 1908 and was appointed second-in-command in the Mediterranean, 1910 to 1912. From 1913 to 1915 he was Commander-in-Chief, China, and had to counter Von Spee's powerful squadron. To make best use of his ships, Jerram shifted his flag on shore at Singapore. From 1915 to 1916 he commanded the Second Battle Squadron, Grand Fleet, and led the line at Jutland, handing over his command when Beatty became Commander-in-Chief. When the Naval Welfare Committee was established, Jerram became its President.
Rowland Christopher Jerram joined the Royal Navy in 1907 and was transported at once to join HMS KING ALFRED at the China Station. He was promoted to Clerk, then joined HMS INVINCIBLE as part of the Home Fleet in 1910. In 1911, he was promoted to Assistant Paymaster and joined HMS NEPTUNE, later making Paymaster Lieutenant in 1913. During the First World War, Jerram served aboard HMS IRON DUKE with the Grand Fleet, before joining HMS LION and taking part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915. In 1917 he joined HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, which took part in the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet in November 1918. After the war, Jerram was appointed Secretary to Admiral Sir Ernie Chatfield, (later Lord Chatfield), 4th Sea Lord. Jerram remained as Chatfield's secretary until 1940, during which time the Admiral had been appointed 3rd Sea Lord, C-in-C Home Fleet, C-in-C Mediterranean Fleet, 1st Sea Lord, Chairman of the Commission on the Defence of India and Minister for co-ordination of Defences. During this time Jerram also took promotions, being made Paymaster Lieutenant-Commander in 1921, Paymaster Commander in 1929 and Paymaster Captain in 1938. From 1942-43, Jerram served on HMS CLEOPATRA, which took part in the raising of the siege of Malta in 1942. In 1943 he was appointed Secretary to Combined Operations HQ under Earl Mountbatten, who he subsequently followed to the South-East Asian theatre as Comptroller HQ SACSEA from 1943-45. After one further appointment as the head of the Admiralty Mission to the Mediterranean in 1945, Jerram retired as Rear-Admiral in December the same year.
Daniel Tonge (1788-1848), the son of Captain Daniel Tonge, RN (d 1800) was a master mariner and shipowner in Liverpool. In 1820 he established himself as a merchant and agent for the sale of ships. By 1846 he had been joined by his son Percival (fl 1840-1870) to form Daniel Tonge and Son. Two years later, Henry Curry (d 1865) was taken into the partnership which was renamed Tonge, Curry and Co. Henry Curry had begun business in Liverpool in the early 1840s and by 1843 was operating as a commission merchant under the name of Henry Curry and Co. In 1846 he became a broker for Lloyds. By 1850 Charles Walford Kellock (d 1897), the son of Henry Gray Kellock (fl 1820-1850), a lieutenant in the Navy, who had established himself in Liverpool in the early 1840s as an agent for Lloyds, joined the company. In this year the three partners in the company were Charles W Kellock, Henry Curry and Percival Tonge. In 1855, the partnership was dissolved. Percival Tonge continued on his own under the name of Tonge and Co, and this company remained in business until 1877. Charles W. Kellock remained with Henry Curry to form Curry and Co and two years later the name was changed to Curry, Kellock and Co. In October 1864 this partnership was dissolved and two companies emerged, H.F. Curry and Co and C.W. Kellock and Co. H.F. Curry and Co closed in 1866, the year after Henry Curry's death. C.W. Kellock greatly expanded his business and in 1867 opened an office in London under the management of his brother W.B. Kellock (fl 1867-85). Auction sales were conducted at the Royal Exchange in the Lloyd's Captains Room. In 1885 the management of the London office was taken over by George Kay, a partner of C.W. Kellock. In the mid-1880s, Kellock's two eldest sons, William Walter Kellock (d 1929) and Henry Gray Kellock (d 1926) joined the company and later became partners. In 1894 Nelson Cameron (d 1905) of the firm of Taylor Cameron and Co joined the firm. On his death in 1905 Henry Gray Kellock, who had retired from the company in 1893 to join the firm of Pim, Forwood & Kellock in New York, returned. Charles W. Kellock retired from the company and died in 1897. His two sons remained as partners until their deaths. The management of the company was then taken over by various senior partners within the firm. The Liverpool office was closed in 1972 and the London office is still active. By the middle of the nineteenth century this company had become one of the leading ship brokers of Liverpool. By the end of the century, probably every major vessel trading regularly in and out of Liverpool and London had appeared on the Company books at one time or another. An unprecedented sale occurred in December 1854 when a fleet of 78 vessels was sold at public auction at the Cotton Sale Room, Liverpool. The sale lasted three days and realized a total of over half a million pounds. During the Crimean War the company acted as brokers and appraisers to the Admiralty and sold a number of Russian prizes. During the First World War, numerous German steamships were auctioned by Kellock for the Admiralty. In addition to ship brokerage, during the nineteenth century Kellock's owned and operated their own fleet of sailing vessels and steamships.
Keats entered the Navy in 1770 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1777. He was made a captain in 1789. After service in the SOUTHAMPTON and NIGER, he was appointed in 1794 to the GALATEA and during his service in her was put ashore by the mutineers of 1797. He was appointed to the SUPERB in 1801 under Sir James, later Lord, Saumarez (1757-1836). After the resumption of hostilities with France, he served in the Mediterranean under Nelson, and took part in the chase to the West Indies; the SUPERB, however, was refitting when Trafalgar was fought. Until 1807 Keats took part in the blockade of Brest, being promoted to rear-admiral also in that year. He was with Saumarez again during the blockade of the Baltic. In 1811 Keats became a vice-admiral and while again in the Mediterranean in 1812, was forced to resign his command through ill-health. He was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland, in 1813, returning to England at the peace in 1815. In 1821 he was appointed Governor of Greenwich Hospital and given the rank of admiral in 1825.
Elphinstone entered the Navy in 1761, became a lieutenant in 1770 and in 1772, having been promoted to commander, went to the Mediterranean in the SCORPION, where he remained until 1775. As a captain he then went to North America and commanded, in succession, the ROMNEY, 1775 to 1776, the PERSEUS, 1776 to 1780, and the WARWICK, 1780 to 1782, being present at the reduction of Charleston in 1780. Between 1782 and 1793 Elphinstone was unemployed until he took command of the ROBUST during the occupation and evacuation of Toulon. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1794 and served in the Channel Fleet until, in 1795, he was appointed to command the expedition against the Cape of Good Hope. After the successful capture of the Cape he returned home, to encounter a French invasion force in Bantry Bay. He also received a peerage as Baron Keith, 1797. His next task was to assist in suppressing the mutinies at the Nore and Plymouth. In 1799 he was second-in-command to Earl St. Vincent, Mediterranean Fleet, succeeding to the command in the same year and holding it until 1802. When war broke out again, in 1803, Lord Keith became Commander-in-Chief of the North Sea Station where, until 1807, his prime concern was the protection of the English coasts against invasion. From 1812 to 1814 he commanded the Channel Fleet and again took this office during the Hundred Days. Finally, he was responsible for organizing the safe passage of Napoleon to St Helena He was made Viscount Keith in 1814 The only biography is by Alexander Allardyce, Admiral Lord Keith (London, 1882). The Navy Records Society published 'The Keith Papers' in 1926 (ed W.G. Perrin), 1950 and 1955 (ed C C Lloyd).
See the subfonds for biographical histories.
Howard Kelly, brother of Sir John Kelly, served in the TEMERAIRE and CRUISER in the Mediterranean between 1889 and 1892 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1894. From 1902 to 1904 he served in Somaliland, returning from the East Indies Station in 1906. He was in naval intelligence from 1907, promoted to captain in 1911 and was then naval attachee; in Paris for three years. In 1914 he was given command of the GLOUCESTER and won distinction by his determined chase of the GOEBEN. He was Commodore of the Light Cruiser Squadron, 1917, and, in 1918, of the British Adriatic Force. Between 1919 and 1921 he was head of the Naval Mission to Greece and was promoted to rear-admiral in 1922. In the next year he commanded the First Battle Squadron and in 1925 the Second Cruiser Squadron. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1927 and for the next two years he commanded the First Battle Squadron. After this he was second-in-command, Mediterranean Fleet, until 1930. In 1931 he became an admiral and went out to China until 1933, as Commander-in-Chief of the station. Kelly retired in 1936. He visited Australia in 1938 and then went to lecture in Canada in 1940. From that year until 1944 he was naval representative in Turkey.
John (known as 'Joe') Kelly, brother of Sir (William) Howard Kelly (q.v.), entered the Navy in 1884, became a lieutenant in 1893, commander in 1904 and captain in 1911, serving on the Australian, Cape and China Stations. In 1914 he was captain of the light cruiser DUBLIN in the Mediterranean and attempted to locate and attack the GOEBEN. The DUBLIN later went to the Dardanelles and was for a short time in the Adriatic. Subsequently Kelly commanded the DEVONSHIRE and WEYMOUTH on the South American Station and the PRINCESS ROYAL in the Grand Fleet. After the war he became Director of the Operations Division in the Admiralty and was made rear-admiral in 1921. As such he commanded a force in the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmora before going back to the Admiralty as Fourth Sea Lord. Two years as second-in-command, Mediterranean, followed this appointment and then a similar period as Admiral Commanding Reserves. After this Kelly expected to retire but in 1932 he was called upon to take over the command of the Atlantic Fleet (which was renamed the Home Fleet during this time) after the mutiny at Invergordon. His final command was as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, from 1934 to 1936.
Kennedy was first mate of the TIGRIS from 1845 to 1849 on three voyages from England to India and was also first mate of the MEDWAY from 1849 to 1852 during three voyages to Australia, taking emigrants to Port Phillip. He commanded the ARIES, going again to Australia, 1853 to 1854, the RACER, 1862 to 1863, London to Melbourne, to Calcutta and back and then home, the CANOPUS from England to India, 1864 to 4866 and the HORNET, 1866 to 1867 to India, Trinidad, home and back to India. The HORNET was burnt in 1868. Between 1868 and 1870 Kennedy carried mules and horses for the Abyssinian campaign in the Tynemouth and from 1871 to 1873 made five voyages to India in the Yorkshire. He gained his master's certificate in 1849 and an endorsement in steam in 1870.
Keppel entered the Navy in 1735 and served off the coast of Guinea and then in the Mediterranean. In 1740 he accompanied Anson on his voyage round the world. Anson promoted him to acting lieutenant, which rank was confirmed on Keppel's return to England in 1744. In 1745 his ship ran aground off Belle Isle and he and his crew were taken prisoner by the French; later Keppel was released on parole. After peace was made, in 1748, he was made a captain and sent out in the CENTURION to the Mediterranean as Commander-in-Chief and Ambassador to the States of Barbary to treat with the Dey of Algiers. In 1754 he was appointed to take command of the North American Station and returned home when Boscawen relieved him. In 1755 he was Member of Parliament for Chichester and represented two other constituencies until 1782. He sat as a member of the court martial on Admiral John Byng (1704-1757). In 1758 he was put in command of a squadron which captured Goree, and in 1759 joined Hawke's squadron and fought at Quiberon Bay. He was the naval commander of the force which reduced Belle Isle in 1761 and in 1762 went as second-in-command of the naval forces in the Havana Expedition. when the Commander-in-Chief, Sir George Pocock (1706-1792), returned to England, Keppel was left in command, appointed rear-admiral and remained for a time at Jamaica until the peace. In 1765 and 1766 he was on the Admiralty Board, was promoted to vice-admiral in 1770 and to admiral in 1778. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet in 1778, when the French entered the American War of Independence. After the inconclusive battle off Ushant, Keppel and his deputy, Palliser (1723-1796), blamed each other. At the subsequent court martial requested by Keppel, he was acquitted but soon afterwards struck his flag; this ended his active service. He was briefly First Lord of the Admiralty, for two short periods in 1782 and 1783, and was created Viscount Keppel in 1782. See Thomas Robert Keppel, The Life of Augustus Viscount Keppel (London, 1842).
Brice was made lieutenant in 1756, commander in 1761, captain in 1762 and served in the West Indies until 1764. In 1766 he changed his name to Kingsmill when his wife received an inheritance. In 1778 he took part in the action off Ushant but declined to serve again until the fall of Lord Sandwich's administration at the Admiralty. He sat for Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, 1779 to 1780. He was appointed in 1783 to the ELIZABETH which served as a guardship until 1786. From 1784 until 1790 he was Member of Parliament for Tregony, Cornwall. Kingsmill was promoted to rear-admiral in 1793 and was appointed Commander-in-Chief on the Cork Station in the SWIFTSURE and POLYPHEMUS, during which time he had to contend with the French invasion of Ireland, 1797. He held this post until 1800 and was promoted to admiral in 1799.
Knowles entered the Navy in July 1824 joining the BLONDE under Admiral George Anson, Lord Byron (178901868) on Particular Service. In December 1826 he joined the FORTE on the South American Station. The FORTE returned to England in July 1830 and was paid off. Knowles joined the PRINCE REGENT with the flag of Rear-Admiral Sir William Parker (1781-1866) in the Channel. He acted as Mate of the Lower Deck. He next joined the SPEEDY cutter of which he became acting commander. Knowles efforts to gain promotion were unsuccessful. A note by his sister suggests that he may have died in 1834.
Royal Navy: Administration - volumes relating to local administration
A M D Lampen was a cadet at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, c 1923.
Larking entered the Navy in 1889, served on the Mediterranean, West Indian and China Stations and became a lieutenant in 1898. He retired from active service in 1906. On the retired list he was promoted to commander in 1916 and to captain in 1918. He was Naval Attachee in Rome from 1915 to 1919 and in the Balkans from 1939 to 1941. He was then recalled to the Admiralty until 1945.
Leonard G Carr Laughton, son of Professor Sir John Knox Laughton by his first wife, shared his father's passion for maritime history. Little is known of his early life including his date of birth or details of his education. He seems to have worked alongside his father, collecting many notes and references on a vast variety of naval subjects from documents kept at the Public Record Office, British Museum, Pepysian Library and many other repositories. He also studied archaeology and etymology. He made a study of ship decoration and published Old Ship Figureheads and Sterns in 1925. He was involved in the restoration of HMS VICTORY and wrote a 'Report to the Victory Technical Committee', 1927-32, giving information that would help in restoring her to her condition at the time of Trafalgar. He was the prime mover, alongside others such a Harold H Brindley, Cdr C N Robinson, Sir Alan Moore, William Wyllie and Harold Wyllie, in the formation of The Society of Nautical Research in 1928. He had always wanted to produce a 'Nautical Encyclopaedia or Dictionary', and was one of the Society's main objectives, but L G Carr Laughton was never satisfied he had found out enough to justify publication. He died in 1956.
Lillicrap became a shipwright apprentice at Devonport in 1902. After a time at Keyham and Greenwich he was appointed Assistant Constructor at Devonport in 1910. He then joined the Director of Naval Construction's department at the Admiralty, where he was made Acting Constructor in 1917. Lillicrap was appointed Lecturer in Naval Architecture to Probationary Assistant Constructors at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in 1921 and became Constructor, Director of Naval Construction Department, in 1922. He was Acting Assistant Director of Naval Construction, in charge of submarines from 1936, and Assistant Director of Naval Construction in charge of cruisers from 1938. In 1941 he was appointed Deputy Director, and in 1944, Director, of Naval Construction, a post he held until his retirement in 1951.
Michael Arthur Lewis was a prominent naval historian, educator, and writer. In 1913, he joined the staff of the Royal Naval School at Osborne, and transferred to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in 1922. From 1934 to his retirement in 1955, he was Professor of Naval History and English at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. He died in 1970. He was, as some items of correspondence he received shows, an active member of the Society for Nautical Research. He was also heavily involved in the Navy Records Society, for whom he edited a manuscript written by Admiral William Henry Dillon which is listed here as LES/6/7. He had close professional ties to many other naval historians, including Sir Geoffrey Callender (1875-1946), the first chair of Naval History at Greenwich and the founding director of the National Maritime Museum; Sir Julian Corbett (1854-1922), lecturer at the Royal Naval War College, Greenwich; Lieutenant Commander George Prideaux Brabant Naish (1909-1977), Keeper and Historical Consultant to the Director at the National Maritime Museum; Roger Charles Anderson (1883-1976), Trustee of the National Maritime Museum and Chairman of Trustees 1959-1962; Leonard Carr-Laughton, Admiralty Librarian; and David Bonner-Smith, one of Carr-Laughton's successors as Admiralty Librarian.
Lewis was made a lieutenant in 1761 and, unusually, went to Germany on a diplomatic mission as a private secretary between 1776 and 1778. He was then recommended to Lord Carlisle (1748-1825) as a secretary and in April 1778 sailed in the TRIDENT, Captain John Elliot, with the unsuccessful Peace Commission to America. In 1781 Lewis was First Lieutenant of the SAMPSON and then Commander of the PLUTO in 1782. He was promoted to captain in the same year when he commanded the Romney but had no naval service after 1783. In 1779 his brother died and he succeeded to the family property of Gellidywyll, Cenarth, Carmarthen.
Liddon entered the Navy in 1804 and after service in the West Indies, South America and the Mediterranean, was promoted to lieutenant in 1811. In January 1819 he commanded the GRIPER, which accompanied an expedition to the Arctic under Lieutenant (later Rear-Admiral Sir William Edward) Parry (1790-1855), the object of which was to discover the North-West Passage. He paid off the GRIPER in December 1820 and saw no further active service, although he was promoted to captain on the retired list.
Limpus entered the Navy in 1876. He served in the ALEXANDRA, in the Mediterranean, 1878 to 1879, in the BACCHANTE, Detached Squadron, 1880 to 1882, and the ALBACORE, again in the Mediterranean, 1884 to 1885. He was made a lieutenant in 1885 and a commander in 1898. He took a prominent part in the relief of LADYSMITH when he was second-in-command of the Naval Brigade during the Boer War. He was specially promoted to captain in 1900 for his efforts. In 1910 he was made rear-admiral, hoisting his flag in the JUPITER, Home Fleet. Between 1912 and 1914 he was Naval Adviser to Turkey and was made vice-admiral in the Turkish Navy. Between 1914 and 1916 he was Admiral Superintendent at Malta and was much concerned with the organization of supplies to the Dardanelles. He was President of the Shell Committee at the Admiralty in 1917 and retired in 1919.
Lister entered the Navy in 1916. He qualified in engineering as a lieutenant in 1924, was Commander (E) in the Newcastle, 1943 to 1945, and served in the Engineer-in-Chief's department, 1946 to 1949. Lister had become Captain (E) in 1946 and in 1950 joined the Mechanical Training and Repair Establishment at Portsmouth where he remained until his retirement in 1953.
As early as 1688 information of interest to all persons connected with shipping had been available from Mr Edward Lloyd of Lloyd's Coffee House in London. From September 1696 to February 1697 Lloyd published a small shipping and commercial chronicle called Lloyd's News. Gradually Lloyd's Coffee House became the centre for people interested in shipping especially underwriters. The first issue of Lloyd's List appeared in 1734. In 1760 the Society for the Registry of Shipping was founded. Copies of the register from 1764 have survived and after 1775 the register, known as the Green Hook or Underwriters Register, was published annually. By 1775 the classification of vessels was standardized. Roman capitals were used for the classification of the hull and numbers were used for the classification of the equipment. This was the first appearance of the 'A 1', the highest classification given to a vessel by Lloyd's. A new method of classification, introduced in 1797, gave a higher classification to London-built vessels and caused much dissatisfaction among shipowners. In 1799 a rival book, called The New Registry Book of Shipping was published by a Society of Merchants, Shipowners and Underwriters instituted in 1797. This book, also published annually, became known as the 'Red Book' or 'Shipowners Register'. The failure of either register, however, to gain sufficient support through subscription led to their amalgamation in 1834 and the foundation of 'Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping'. Rules for the classification of vessels and the names of recognized surveyors were printed in the register. Special rules for the classification of iron ships were introduced in 1855. By the middle of the nineteenth century provision had been made for the appointment of surveyors at foreign ports. The North American ports were the first to be given a full-time surveyor: Quebec in 1852; Saint John, New Brunswick in 1853 and Prince Edward Island and Miramichi, New Brunswick, in 1856. In the same year a surveyor was appointed at Antwerp for Holland and Belgium. In 1869 Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Veerdam were included and Italian, French, German, Danish and Australian ports were added from 1871. When the Register celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1884 the number of surveyors had risen to sixty-six and was increasing steadily. Today it is still a world-wide organization with the majority of its surveyors abroad.
Walter Lord (8 Oct 1917-19 May 2002) published his most famous work, A Night to Remember, in 1955. A journalistic narrative history of the TITANIC, the book became a British film (in 1958) and Lord was asked to be a consultant on James Cameron's film 'Titanic'. (1998). He is credited with having revived the memory of the ship, about which not a single book was published between 1913 and 1955. His book has been a bestseller ever since.
His life-long fascination stemmed from his mother's tales of her voyages on the OLYMPIC, one of TITANIC's two sister ships, which she used to tell him as bedtime stories. By the age of nine, the story of the TITANIC had become his greatest interest and he persuaded his mother to take him across the Atlantic on the OLYMPIC, so that he could learn more about the lost liner.
Through the years he talked to and corresponded with scores of survivors, rescuers and others intimately connected with the disaster. He tracked down nearly 60 TITANIC survivors to get their stories for 'A Night To Remember', and collected much commemorative memorabilia, donated over many years by his friends and admirers.
William MacQuitty (15 May 1905 - 5 Feb. 2004) was born in Belfast. He was six when he watched the launch of the TITANIC on 30 May 1911, and saw her set sail on her fateful maiden voyage a year later. During the Second World War he worked in film production for the Ministry of Information but it was only in the 1950s that his interest in the TITANIC was rekindled. His wife had been reading Lord's 'A Night to Remember' and he realised that this was the film he had been waiting for. He took an option on the film rights, met Walter Lord, and together they developed a screenplay based on the book.
MacQuitty then produced the film, also called 'A Night to Remember' (directed by Roy Ward Baker) and following its success won a contract for the Independent Television Authority's franchise for Ulster.
WS Lindsay began his career in the merchant navy in which he served from 1831-40, becoming master in 1836. From 1841-45 Lindsay was an agent of Castle Eden colliery in nearby Hartlepool and also acted as representative for the sale of iron in Newcastle-upon-Tyne for his brother-in-law, a Glasgow ironmaster. He moved to London in 1845 to act as Castle Eden colliery agent there. Using his knowledge of ships he set himself up as a shipbroker, and within a few years his firm was a leading concern with agencies in Sunderland and Liverpool and contacts with American trade. He then became a ship owner and his willingness to experiment with different types of ship enabled him to overcome a depression in shipping and WS Lindsay and Co became one of the world's major ship-owners.
Lindsay took a close interest in public affairs. In Hartlepool he was active in reform measures, and in London concentrated on maritime and commercial reform. He became an expert on shipping issues and entered national politics through his interest in the repeal of the Navigation Acts. Having failed to gain a seat in the House of Commons in 1852, he was elected for Tynemouth and North Shields in 1854. In 1859 he left this seat and was elected for Sunderland, where he sat until 1865. Though a Liberal he was highly critical of the Aberdeen and the Palmerston ministries, considering that they lacked energy for reform and the business and technical knowledge required to advance British commerce. Throughout his parliamentary career, he strongly advocated maritime reform, both mercantile and naval, and the removal of restrictions on free trade. He became involved with the Administrative Reform Association in 1855, being particularly concerned with what he regarded as the government's inept handling of the Crimean War. He made many enemies, and won some respect, because of his outspoken manner and his severe criticism of others' incompetence. During the American Civil War Lindsay supported the Confederate cause in Britain, trying to win recognition of the Confederate states in Parliament, arranging a loan to the Confederacy and sheltering the families of the Confederate commissioners involved in the 'TRENT affair' in his own home at Shepperton.
In 1864 Lindsay suffered a stroke and withdrew from public life. Thereafter he devoted himself to writing. His great work was the History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce (London 1874-1876), but he wrote several other books including Our Navigation and Mercantile Marine Laws (London 1852), Our Merchant Shipping: its present state considered (London 1860) and Manning the Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine (London 1877). He also took an interest in planning and developing his estates which included the manor of Halliford, the Donny House at Weybridge, the estate at Woodham, lands and farms in Hailsham and Chertsey and his residence, the manor at Shepperton in Middlesex, the Lordship of which he acquired. Here he was visited by government ministers and other public figures, who sought his advice on shipping matters and he continued a voluminous correspondence with such men until his death in 1877.
Merchant Shipping: Logs - East India Company
Merchant Shipping: Logs
Thomas Louis entered the Navy in 1770, was promoted to lieutenant in 1777 and to captain in 1783. In 1794 he took command of the MINOTAUR, one of the ships in Nelson's squadron during the battle of the Nile, 1798; he continued under Nelson's orders in 1799, off the coast of Italy. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1804, Louis commanded the blockade off Boulogne, after which he hoisted his flag in the CANOPUS, off Toulon, in 1805. Still in the CANOPUS, Louis was second-in-command of the squadron which destroyed the French fleet at the battle of San Domingo, 1806; for this he was rewarded with a baronetcy. Later in 1806 he took charge of a small squadron in the Eastern Mediterranean and remained there until his death. See H.B. Louis, 'One of Nelson's Band of Brothers: Admiral Sir Thomas Louis, bart' (Malta, 1951). John Louis, son of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Louis (q.v.), entered the Navy in 1795, was promoted to lieutenant in 1801, to commander in 1805 and to captain in 1806. He served during 1810 off the coast of Ireland and off Cadiz, was in the Mediterranean in 1811 and then went out to the West Indies. After several years on half-pay, he served again in the West Indies, 1826 to 1830. In 1837 he was appointed Captain Superintendent of Woolwich Dockyard and also to the command of the WILLIAM AND MARY yacht. He was Superintendent of Malta Dockyard, 1838 to 1843, and of Devonport, 1846 to 1850. Louis became Rear-Admiral in 1838, Vice-Admiral in 1849 and Admiral in 1851.
Thomas Louis entered the Navy in 1770, was promoted to lieutenant in 1777 and to captain in 1783. In 1794 he took command of the MINOTAUR, one of the ships in Nelson's squadron during the battle of the Nile, 1798; he continued under Nelson's orders in 1799, off the coast of Italy. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1804, Louis commanded the blockade off Boulogne, after which he hoisted his flag in the CANOPUS, off Toulon, in 1805. Still in the CANOPUS, Louis was second-in-command of the squadron which destroyed the French fleet at the battle of San Domingo, 1806; for this he was rewarded with a baronetcy. Later in 1806 he took charge of a small squadron in the Eastern Mediterranean and remained there until his death. See H.B. Louis, 'One of Nelson's Band of Brothers: Admiral Sir Thomas Louis, bart' (Malta, 1951).
George William Gill, a ship surveyor, founded the Chatham Shipbuilding Business of Gill and sons in 1858. This business built sailing craft, barges and paddle steamers and had its own fleet of barges. On the 1st April 1900 the company joined with Stewart Brothers and Spencer of Strood, it owned a seed crushing mill and operated barges. The resulting London and Rochester Barge Company Ltd. started with a fleet of 25 sailing barges of 22 lighters. In 1907 the company bought its first motor barge. By 1924 the sail barge fleet had expanded to 60; in that year the present name of the company was adopted. The company built sail barges for its own use until 1928. In 1929, Albert Hutson of Maidstone was made Managing Director of the Maidstone Office. Hutson owned 20 sailing barges and 50 lighters. Transshipment of wood pulp from Rochester to Aylesford began that year. The company placed a prominent role in barge racing. In 1960 the company began 'Crescent Line' services between Whitstable, Kent and Esbjerg, Denmark. Services from Rainham to Dieppe, Rotherham and Ostend began in 1965, 1966 and 1968 respectively. In 1951 Francis Gilders Ltd. of Colchester merged with the firm. In 1964 London and Rochester merged with the Hay's Group. The London & Rochester Company's first bulk starch carrier was delivered in 1969. The company also carried beer in casks, coal and dry cargoes. In 1969 the fleet consisted of 30 motor ships, 13 coastwise barges, 14 estuary barges, 7 river barges, 96 lighters, 6 tugs and 19 motor craft, which were merged from other owners.
Basil Lubbock (1876-1944) was educated at Eton and in 1897 went to Canada and on to the KLONDYKE in the second year of the gold rush. He shipped home in 1899 from the West Coast round the Horn as an ordinary seaman on the four-masted barque ROYALSHIRE, a voyage recorded in his Round the Horn Before the Mast (London, 1902). After the First World War Lubbock devoted himself to recording the history of sailing ships between 1850 and 1930 in a series of over fifteen volumes, most of which are still in print as standard reference works. These include The China Clippers (1914), The Colonial Clippers (1921), The Blackwall Frigates (1922), The Last of the Windjammers (2 vols, 1927-8) and his last book The Arctic Whalers (1937).
Leveson-Gower entered the Navy as a cadet in the BRITANNIA from 1903 until 1905, when he joined the ISIS; in August of the same year he went to the COMMONWEALTH and, apart from a short period in the MARS in 1907, stayed in her until 1908, when he joined the AFRICA; all these ships were based in home waters. As a sub-lieutenant he was on the Mediterranean Station in the DIANA, 1909 to 1910, becoming a lieutenant in 1911. During the First World War he served again in the Mediterranean in the RACOON, 1913 to 1915, the SAPPHO, 1916 to 1917, and the MINERVA, 1918 to 1919, when he became a lieutenant-commander. Between 1920 and 1921 he was in the DAUNTLESS and from 1922 to 1924 was in the COLOMBO, both in home waters. He went out to Hong Kong in 1926 and served in the dockyard there until 1928, retiring as a commander in 1929.
Terence Lewin was born in Dover in 1923. Educated at the Judd School in Tonbridge, he joined HMS BELFAST as a naval cadet shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939. After serving aboard the battleship HMS VALIANT, Lewin joined the destroyer HMS ASHANTI. In ASHANTI, he took part in convoys to Murmansk and later to the Mediterranean as part of Operation Pedestal, the vital convoys keeping Malta supplied. Lewin distinguished himself in action, being mentioned in dispatches 3 times and was awarded the DSC. After the war he rose to post rank and commanded the destroyer CORUNNA, before the Dartmouth Training Sqaudron, and then in the Indian Ocean in 1967, the aircraft carrier HMS HERMES in the lead up to the Arab-Israeli war. Lewin was made Rear Admiral in 1968 and by 1977 had become First Sea Lord. As Chief of Defence Staff, he played a prominent role in the decision to replace the Polaris missile system with the Trident system. Also as Chief of Defence Staff, he was Mrs Thatcher's main military adviser during the Falklands conflict (1982), for which, on his retirement, he was made a life peer (1982) and KG in 1983. In retirement he was as active as ever, patron of many societies and much in demand as a public speaker on naval and maritime subjects. He was Chairman of the National Maritime Museum between 1983 and 1995. He was also President of the George Cross Island Association and played a leading role in planning the 50th Anniversary of the siege of Malta and the giant memorial bell erected in its memory. He also became very interested in the explorations of Captain Cook and contributed to the foundation of a Cook museum in Middlesbrough. Lewin died in 1999, aged 78. See also Richard Hill's biography of the Admiral, Lewin of Greenwich (2000).
Commander W E May was a leading authority on the history and use of the compass. He was a founder member of the Royal Institute of Navigation and one of its first fellows. He joined the Royal Navy in 1912, being second in command of one of the gun turrets of HMS TEMERAIRE at the battle of Jutland. In 1923, he qualified as a navigating officer. He left the active list of the Royal Navy in 1927 and thereafter was engaged in various duties concerning compasses. During the latter part of World War Two he was responsible for all repairs to gyrocompasses throughout the Royal Navy. In 1951 Commander May was appointed Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum and held the post until his retirement in 1968.
Maclear entered the Navy in 1851, became a lieutenant in 1859 and a commander in 1868. He sailed with Captain G.S. Nares in 1872 during the CHALLENGER expedition. When Nares left the ship at Hong Kong, Maclear was the most senior officer to complete the voyage which lasted until 1876, the year he was promoted to captain. In 1879 he succeeded Nares in command of the ALERT and completed his survey of the Magellan Straits before moving to the Indian Ocean and Australian waters. From 1883 to 1887 he commanded the survey ship FLYING FISH charting the Korean and China coasts. In 1891 he became a rear-admiral and retired. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1897, to admiral in 1903 and continued working at the Hydrographic Department compiling Admiralty sailing directions. See: Sir Archibald Day, The Admiralty Hydrographic Service (London, 1967).