Madden entered the Navy in 1875 and served as a midshipman on the Mediterranean Station from 1877 to 1880. He then went to the East Indies, being promoted to a sub-lieutenant in 1881. After becoming a lieutenant in 1884 he specialized in torpedoes. He was made a commander in 1896 and a captain in 1901, after which he was senior officer in destroyers in the Mediterranean and then in a cruiser on the Cape Station. From 1904 to 1905 Madden served at the Admiralty under Fisher and was Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty, 1906 to 1910. In 1911 he became a rear-admiral. He was Chief-of-Staff to his brother-in-law, Admiral Jellicoe, 1914 to 1916, and was promoted to vice-admiral immediately after the battle of Jutland. From 1916 to 1919 be was second-in-command of the Grand Fleet, with the acting rank of admiral. He was promoted to admiral and created a baronet in 1919. From 1919 to 1922 he commanded the newly-constituted Atlantic Fleet. He became Admiral of the Fleet in 1924 and succeeded Earl Beatty as First Sea Lord in 1927. He retired in 1930.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Charles Malcolm, younger brother of Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, entered the Navy in 1795 and served under his brother's command in the East EURYDICE, in which ship he sailed home in 1803. He was promoted to captain in the same year. In 1804 Malcolm was in command of the RAISONNABLE in the North Sea and two years later was appointed to the NARCISSUS serving off the coasts of France and Portugal. Early in 1809 he was ordered to the West Indies where to took part in the capture of the Iles des Saintes. Later in 1809 he was appointed to the RHIN and from 1810 to 1812 was engaged in supporting Spanish guerrillas on the north coast of Spain. From 1812 to 1814 he was in the West Indies. Following his return and during the 'Hundred Days' he carried out a raid on the coast of Brittany in July 1815. After two years without employment Malcolm was appointed Flag-Captain to Sir Home Popham (1762-1820) in the SYBILLE on the West Indies Station in 1817. He was invalided home in 1819. His next commission, 1822 to 1827, was the command of the Royal Yachts WILLIAM AND MARY and ROYAL CHARLOTTE, which were at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was appointed Commissioner of Dublin Harbour in 1823. In 1827 Malcolm became Superintendent of the Bombay Marine, renamed the Indian Navy in 1830. He built up the surveying side of the work of the service and introduced steamships to the Red Sea. In 1837 he was promoted to rear-admiral and retired from his post the following year. He became a vice-admiral in 1847.
Pulteney Malcolm, elder brother of Charles Malcolm, entered the Navy in 1778, became a lieutenant in 1783, a commander in 1794 and a captain later in the same year. From 1795 to 1803 he was in the East Indies. In 1804 he went out to the Mediterranean in the ROYAL SOVEREIGN and, after brief commands in the KENT and RENOWN, was appointed to the DONEGAL in 1805. In this ship he sailed with NELSON during the pursuit of the French Fleet to the West Indies and then joined the blockade of Cadiz. The DONEGAL was at Gibraltar when the battle of Trafalgar was fought and Malcolm hastened to the scene, arriving in time to capture the Spanish ship RAYO and assist with the prizes. He then went to the West Indies with Sir John Duckworth and took part in the battle of San Domingo, 1806. The DONEGAL was subsequently attached to the Channel Fleet and in 1808 convoyed troops to Portugal. In 1811 Malcolm was appointed to the ROYAL OAK, off Cherbourg. From 1812 to 1814 he was Captain of the Fleet Lord Keith, his uncle by marriage, being promoted to rear-admiral in 1813. In 1814 he took a squadron to America and served under Sir Alexander Cochrane (1758-1832) during the operations in the Chesapeake and New Orleans. During the 'Hundred Days' in 1815 he commanded a squadron in the North Sea and was then Commander-in-Chief at St. Helena from 1816 to 1817. He became a vice-admiral in 1821 and later held commands in the Mediterranean and the North Sea. He was promoted to admiral in 1838.
Massie entered the Navy in 1818 and was in the ASIA, flagship of Sir Edward Codrington, at Navarino in 1827, the year he was promoted to lieutenant. Between 1831 and 1832 he was First Lieutenant of the CARYSFORT in the Mediterranean and was then in the SATELLITE, 1833 to 1836, on the South American Station. In 1838 he was made commander and the next year was sent to assist in organizing the Turkish Navy. He was appointed to the THUNDERER in 1840, took part in the capture of ACRE and was promoted to captain in 1841. In 1849 he was given the command of the CLEOPATRA, East Indies and China Station, and took part in the Second Burma War (1852-1853). He commissioned in 1854 the POWERFUL, which was on the North American and West Indies Station in the latter part of 1855 and during 1856. Massie saw no further service, was promoted to rear-admiral in 1860 and was placed on the retired list in 1866 as a vice-admiral, becoming an admiral in 1872.
Robert Marsham was the second son of Charles, 2nd Earl of Romney in direct descent of Sir Cloudesley Shovell through his elder daughter Elizabeth. He assumed the second name of Townshend by Royal Licence in 1893. Marsham-Townshend was educated first at Eton and then at Christ Church, Oxford.
William Henry Maxwell entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 12 January 1854. He served in HMS EURYALUS in the Baltic during the war with Russia, January 1854-April 1856, and was appointed Midshipman on 12 January 1856. He was promoted to Mate on 11 January 1860 whilst serving in HMS BOSCAWEN at Cape Station, May 1856-March 1860. After rising to the rank of Lieutenant on 13 January 1860, he served in HMS LYRA on the east coast of Africa, March 1860-January 1862, taking as prize a Spanish slaving barque and 18-20 Arab slave dhows, and freeing and landing 200 slaves on the Seychelles. He was made Commander on 6 July 1866 whilst serving in HMS SUTLEJ in the Pacific, May 1863-September 1866. During 1868 and 1869, he was on board HMS OCTAVIA and HMS DRYAD, when he participated in the Abyssinian Expedition, voyaged to the East Indies, and took an Arab slave dhow as a prize on the coast of Madagascar, again freeing and landing 200 slaves on the Seychelles.
Maxwell served at HMS EXCELLENT, the School of Gunnery, Portsmouth, from November 1869 to November 1872, receiving a promotion to the rank of Captain on 29 November 1872. He then served as Captain in HMS EMERALD at the Australian Station, July 1878-August 1882, and from March 1883 to early 1885 he was in HMS NEPTUNE as part of the Channel Fleet. He acted as Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria in Hong Kong, 1887-1888, and after his return to Britain, was appointed Rear-Admiral on 1 January 1889 and Vice-Admiral on 9 December 1894, before retiring from the Navy on 25 June 1895. He subsequently acted as Conservator of the Thames, 1896-1906, during which time he was promoted to the rank of Admiral, Retired on 21 March 1900. Maxwell died on 1 July 1920.
May joined the Navy in 1863 and in the following year went to the VICTORIA, flagship in the Mediterranean, until 1867. From that year until 1870 he served in the LIFFEY in the Pacific, being promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1869. He then joined the HERCULES in the Channel between 1873 and 1874, after which he took the course at the gunnery school in HMS EXCELLENT. He next served during the British Arctic Expedition, 1875 to 1876, under Sir George Nares in the ALERT. Becoming a captain in 1888, he held a series of important posts, including Flag-Captain in the IMPERIEUSE on the China Station; Naval Attachee, in Europe; Assistant Director, Torpedoes; Chief of Staff, Mediterranean and then at Portsmouth; Captain of EXCELLENT and finally Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes. Having reached flag-rank, he spent four years as Third Sea Lord from 1901 to 1905. This was followed by a period as Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, 1905 to 1907, Second Sea Lord, 1907 to 1909, Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, 1909 to 1911 and finally at Devonport, 1911 to 1913. In retirement, he was appointed to the Dardanelles Commission, 1916 to 1917. He wrote his autobiography, Life of a sailor (London, 1934).
Chief Inspectorate General of the Chinses Imperial Maritime Customs, 1929- 43. Maze joined the Chinese Customs Service in the closing period of Sir Robert Hart's tenure. He also served on the Chinese Government's Monetary Advisory Commitee in 1935. Maze became interested in Chinese vessels, especially Junks and in particular the 'crooked stern' junks of Fou Chou. He also maintained an interest in light houses, especially the Amherst Rocks. Maze was awarded various Chinese honours, as well as 'Knight Commander of the Order of Pope Pius IX'. Maze also published The Chinese Maritime Customs Service: A Brief Synopsis of its Genesis and Development.
McClure entered the Navy in 1824. He was made a lieutenant in 1837 and had already taken part in two Arctic expeditions when, in 1850, he was appointed to command the INVESTIGATOR in the search expedition for Sir John Franklin via the Bering Strait, led by Captain Richard Collinson. McClure and the men of the INVESTIGATOR were the first to make the traverse of the North-West Passage, though they were forced to abandon their ship which was beset in the ice off Banks Island, arriving back home in 1854. They were awarded £10,000 by Parliament in 1855 and McClure was knighted. In 1856 he was appointed to command the ESK on the Pacific Station and the following year was ordered to China. In December 1857 he commanded a battalion of the Naval Brigade at the capture of Canton. He was then appointed Senior Officer in the Straits of Malacca. He returned home in 1861 and had no further service, being promoted to rear-admiral in 1867 and vice-admiral in 1873 on the retired list.
As an infant, MacGregor was saved from the Indiaman, KENT, which caught fire in the Bay of Biscay in 1825. He was well known as Rob Roy MacGregor because of his pioneering zeal while travelling in his canoe, the Rob Roy. This was first launched in 1865 and he navigated a network of rivers, canals and lakes, including the Rhine, Danube and Seine and Lakes Constance, Zurich and Lucerne. His most demanding voyage was in 1868 when he went through the Suez Canal down to the Red Sea and from thence to Palestine, navigating the Jordan and Lake Gennesareth. He published ' A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe' (London, 1866), 'A voyage alone in the Yawl Rob Roy' (London, 1867), 'The Rob Roy on the Baltic' (London, 1867) and 'The Rob Roy on the Jordan Red Sea and Gennesareth' (London, 1869). See also Edwin Hodder, 'John MacGregor ('Rob Roy')' (London, 1894).
McKinley entered the Navy in 1773, served in the West Indies during the campaign of 1778 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1782. He took part in the battle of the Saints and continued to serve during much of the peace. In 1798 he was promoted commander into the OTTER fireship, in which vessel he was present at the North Holland landing of 1799, when Enkhuisen was taken, and was also present at the battle of Copenhagen in 1801, the year he became a captain. He then commanded a succession of ships in the West Indies, including the GANGES, 1802 to 1803, in which he returned home. As Senior Officer at Lisbon in 1806, he was given command of the LIVELY until her wreck in 1810, off Malta. During this time she took part in the capture of Vigo Bay and Santiago, 1809, and in the evacuation of part of Sir John Moore's army. From 1811 to 1815 McKinley served in the Mediterranean and then in the North Sea. In 1818 he was appointed Third Captain of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich and in 1821 Governor of the Royal Naval Asylum; this appointment was combined with that of Captain Superintendent of Greenwich Hospital School in 1828. He was made rear-admiral in 1830 and vice-admiral in 1841.
McClintock entered the Navy in 1831. He served as a midshipman in the SAMARANG, South America, 1831 to 1835, then in the survey ship CARRON in the Irish Sea, 1835, and the HERCULES in the Channel, 1836 to 1837. From 1838 to 1841 he was in the CROCODILE on the North American Station. Between 1841 and 1842 he took courses in the EXCELLENT and at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth. McClintock next served as mate of the GORGON, on the South American Station, 1843 to 1845. He received his promotion to lieutenant in 1845 and was appointed to the FROLIC, Pacific Station, where he remained until 1847. For the next twelve years he was almost continually in the Arctic regions, serving on expeditions searching for Sir John Franklin and his men. During 1848 and 1849 McClintock was in the ENTERPRISE. From 1850 to 1851 he was Lieutenant of the ASSISTANCE on the expedition led by Captain Horatio T. Austin (1801-1865). During the expedition of 1852 to 1854 he commanded the INTREPID, steam tender to the RESOLUTE, Captain Henry Kellett (1806-1875). On his return he was promoted to captain. Lady Franklin chose McClintock to command her private search expedition in the yacht FOX, from 1857 to 1859. This effort was at last successful in solving the mystery and many relics of the lost expedition and Franklin's final message were recovered from King William Island. McClintock was knighted on his return. He published an account of his expedition, The Voyage of the Fox in 1859.
In 1860 McClintock commanded the BULLDOG making soundings between Britain, Iceland, Greenland and Labrador, over the route of a proposed submarine telegraph cable. From 1861 to 1862 he commanded the DORIS in the Mediterranean, acting as escort to the Prince of Wales on his tour of the Near East, and from 1863 to 1865 commanded the AURORA, in the Channel and the North Sea during the Prusso-Danish War and later in the West Indies. Be was Commodore-in-Charge at Jamaica from 1865 to 1868, was promoted to rear-admiral in 1871 and from 1872 to 1879 was Admiral Superintendent of Portsmouth Dockyard, being appointed to vice-admiral in 1877. He sat on the organizing committee for the British Arctic Expedition of 1875 to 1876 led by Captain G S Nares. From 1879 to 1883 he was Commander-in-Chief on the North American and West Indies Station. He was promoted to admiral and retired in 1884. See Sir Clements Markham, Life of Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock (London, 1909).
Madden entered the Navy in 1919 and after training at Osborne and at Dartmouth served in the THUNDERER training ship in 1923, then in the WARWICK, Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, in the Atlantic, and in the REPULSE in the Atlantic Fleet. He served in the VICTORIA AND ALBERT in 1927, after which he trained as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm. In 1934 he qualified at the Navigation School, HMS DRYAD, serving subsequently as navigator for a short period in the MALAYA, Atlantic Fleet, in the SANDWICH, on the China Station, 1934 to 1936, and the ORION in North America, 1939. During the Second World War he served in Naval Intelligence and with the Fleet Air Arm. He retired in 1950.
The Middletons had been married for three years when they left Portsmouth on the ATLANTA to travel to Gibraltar, where Capt Middleton had been appointed to run the Navy Yard. Susannah Middleton's father John Martin Leake was Comptroller of Army Accounts and her brother William had been posted in 1805 from the Artillery to the Eastern Mediterranean. Robert Gambier Middleton was the son of George Middleton, former Comptroller of Customs for the port of Leith and elder brother of Sir Charles Middleton, Lord Barham and First Lord of the Admiralty. Robert Middleton had been taken under the wing of his uncle and entered the navy at the age of 12 seeing action with the Mediterranean fleet under Lord Hood. He was made post-Captain in 1794 and in 1803 he was placed in charge of the North Foreland District of the Sea Fencibles. In 1805 he was posted to Gibraltar as Superintendent of the Navy Yard. The Middletons remained in Gibraltar for three years before returning home in 1808. Susannah travelled home on the ILLUSTRIOUS in May 1808 prior to Capt Middleton who returned to England shortly after to take up a position in the Navy Board in London. In 1830 he was appointed Storekeeper-General to the Navy and retired in 1832 with the rank of Rear-admiral. Following their return to England, Susannah had the first of 10 children, 7 of whom reached adulthood.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Dundas was admitted to the Scottish Bar in 1763, was appointed Solicitor-General for Scotland in 1766 and Lord Advocate in 1775. He represented Edinburghshire, 1774 to 1782, Newtown, Isle of Wight, 1782, Edinburghshire, 1783 to 1790 and Edinburgh, 1790 to 1802. He first held office in 1782 when he was appointed Treasurer of the Navy for a short time under Shelburne and resumed office under Pitt in December, 1783, holding it continuously until June 1800. He was also Home Secretary, 1791 to 1794, and Secretary of War, 1794 to 1801. In 1804 he was made First Lord of the Admiralty. When the Commission of Naval Enquiry published its tenth report dealing with the office of Treasurer of the Navy, Dundas resigned from office. He was impeached in 1806 and, although acquitted, it was clear that he was guilty of negligent supervision during his term of office. He held no further appointment.
Robert Dundas, only son of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (q.v.), entered Parliament as representative for Hastings, 1794 to 1796, Rye, 1796 to 1801 and Edinburghshire, 1801 to 1811. He first came into prominence when he defended his father against impeachment in 1806. In 1807 he was made President of the Board of Control. In 1809 he was briefly Irish Secretary before resuming his former office. From 1812 to 1827 he was First Lord of the Admiralty, resigning because he refused to serve under Canning. He held the office again from 1828 to 1830.
The Naval Signal School, known as HMS Mercury since 1941, was founded at Portsmouth in 1901. In 1942 the school was moved to East Meon, near Petersfield, Hampshire.
Lieutenant Merry (1922-1986) joined the Royal Navy on his 18th birthday in August 1940 for war service. He was appointed Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser and saw service in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean theatres. He was on the bridge of the battleship HMS DUKE OF YORK during the Battle of the North Cape in 1943 and witnessed the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst on 25 December 1943. He remained as Flag Lieutenant when Admiral Fraser was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Pacific Fleet. He was present on the deck of the USS MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945 and witnessed Admiral Fraser signing the Japanese surrender document on behalf of Britain. Lieutenant Merry was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and after the War he elected to remain in the Royal Navy and served in a variety of appointments at sea and ashore in the UK and around the world, including Australia and the USA. In the early 1960s he attended the Allied Forces' Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, and then served in a NATO appointment on the staff of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic. He retired from the Royal Navy in the rank of Commodore in 1977. Lieutenant Merry died in January 1986 at the age of 63.
In 1834 Meynell entered Henry Burney's Academy at Gosport and in 1836 joined the PARTRIDGE, home waters. From 1837 to 1839 he was in Australian waters in the ALLIGATOR and then took part in the China War, 1840 to 1843, in the CALLIOPE. Between 1844 and 1845 he was a mate in the PENELOPE during the anti-slavery operations off the west coast of Africa. In 1846 he was presented with a commission and re-appointed as additional lieutenant to the PENELOPE. He was unemployed from 1847 until 1853, when he joined the ROYAL GEORGE in the Baltic during the Crimean War. After 1855 he saw no further service.
Rhoderick Robert McGrigor spent his early childhood in South Africa, before studying at Osborne and Dartmouth Royal Naval Colleges, passing out as top of his form. During the First World War, McGrigor served in destroyers during the Dardenelles campaign and saw action at the Battle of Jutland in HMS MALAYA. He then served as part of the Nyon non-intervention patrol during the Spanish Civil War on HMS KEMPENFELT, taking part in the rescue of crew from the sinking Spanish government cruiser BALEARES. At the outbreak of the Second World War, McGrigor was Chief-of-Staff to the C-in-C, China Station, after which he returned home in late 1940 to become the commanding officer of HMS RENOWN, taking part in the BISMARCK action and the bombardment of the coast of Genoa. He then joined the Board of Admiralty as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Weapons), following an early promotion to Rear-Admiral. Shortly after, McGrigor returned to an active post as a Naval Force Commander during the capture of Pantellaria and the invasion of Sicily. In March 1944, he returned home to take command of the First Cruiser Squadron and aircraft carriers of the Home Fleet. For the last year of the war, McGrigor carried out several attacks on the coast of enemy-occupied Norway and took several convoys to and from north Russia. Promoted to Admiral in 1948, McGrigor held several positions post-war, including C-in-C, Home Fleet from 1948 to 1950 and C-in-C, Plymouth from 1950-1951, before being made First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, eventually retiring in 1955.
John Harold McGivering joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1941 as an Ordinary Seaman, recieving training at HMS RALIEGH and HMS WHADDON, before attending Cypher School at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Promoted to Temporary Midshipman in 1942, McGivering was posted to the Cypher Office in Portsmouth, before going overseas to Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1943. Promoted to Temporary Sub-Lieutenant in 1943, he was then stationed at the Coastal Forces base at Pembroke, after which he was posted Ceylon as a Transport Officer in 1946. After returning to England in 1947, McGivering pursued a career as an estate agent whilst on reserve, until he was posted to Falmouth from 1958 to 1962. He recieved two further promotions, being made Lieutenant in 1962, then Lieutenant Commander in 1970. McGivering then took up a position in the Civil Service, retiring in 1979.
Michell attended the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth between 1800 and 1803. He served in various ships in the Mediterranean from 1803 to 1809, becoming a lieutenant in 1807. He spent six years in the RHIN, 1809 to 1815, in horne waters, off Brazil and in the West Indies. In 1816 he was made a commander and led the battering flotilla attached to the squadron of Admiral Edward Pellew at the battle of Algiers. He subsequently commanded the Rifleman in the Mediterranean, 1826 to 1830, when he was promoted to captain; and the MAGICIENNE and the INCONSTANT, also in the Mediterranean, 1840 to 1843. In the MAGICIENNE he was engaged in the Syrian operations of 1840. His last service, 1852 to 1855, was the command of the QUEEN, flagship in the Mediterranean; in her he distinguished himself at the bombardment of Sebastopol and was Senior Officer when Lord Lyons (1790-1858) took his force to Kerch, 1855. He was promoted to rear-admiral in July of the same year, finally becoming an admiral in 1866.
Charles Middleton entered the navy as a captain's servant in 1741, was promoted a lieutenant in 1745 and post captain in 1758. In 1778 he became Comptroller of the Navy, a position he held until 1790. He was created a baronet in 1781 and, though holding a civil post, a rear-admiral in 1787, being made a vice-admiral in 1793 and admiral in 1795. In 1794-5 he was senior sea lord to Lord Spencer and in 1805-6, First Lord of the Admiralty. Between 1804 and 1807 he headed the Commission for revising and digesting the civil affairs of the navy, being made a peer in May 1805 on accepting the appointment as First Lord.
Miller entered the Navy in 1880 and after service during the Egyptian campaign of 1882 went to the AUDACIOUS on the China Station until 1884. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1890 and then served successively in the PARTRIDGE in the West Indies, 1890 to 1892, the SPEEDWELL in the Channel, 1892, and the HOWE in the Mediterranean, 1893 to 1894. From 1894 until 1897 he was in the East Indies in the BONAVENTURE, from 1897 to 1900 on the North America and West Indies Station in the PEARL and from 1901 to 1903 on the China Station in the Talbot. He was promoted to commander in 1903 and to captain in 1908, serving subsequently on the Australian Station and in home waters. During the First World War he commanded ships in the Grand Fleet. He became a rear-admiral in 1920 and vice-admiral in 1922. He retired the same year and died in a motoring accident four years later.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Alexander Hood, elder brother of Sir Samuel Hood and cousin of Viscount Bridport and Viscount Hood, entered the Navy in 1767. In 1772 he joined the RESOLUTION for Cook's second voyage. He became a lieutenant in 1777 and a commander in 1781. In the same year be was made Flag-Captain to Rear-Admiral Samuel (later Viscount) Hood in the BARFLEUR in the West Indies, and was later given command of the AIMABLE, a French prize, which he took to England in 1783. In 1793 he commanded the HEBE and in 1794 the AUDACIOUS but was compelled in the same year to retire from active service through ill-health until 1797. In this year he was appointed to the MARS and was put ashore at the mutiny at Spithead. He was killed soon afterwards in action.
Samuel Hood, younger brother of Captain Alexander Hood, entered the Navy in 1776 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1780. For most of the American War he served in the West Indies and afterwards was employed in North America. He was promoted to captain in 1788. In 1793 he went in the JUNO to the Mediterranean where he was present at the occupation of Toulon. In 1798 he commanded the ZEALOUS, and after the battle of the Nile was left by Nelson to command the force blockading the French army in Egypt. The next year he was at the defence of Salerno and in 1800 in the Atlantic in the COURAGEUX. In 1801 he was again in the Mediterranean, and during the peace was sent out as a Commissioner for the government of Trinidad. On the death of the Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands, he succeeded to the position in the CONTOUR. Returning to England in 1805, he served in the Channel and lost an arm in a successful squadron action off Rochefort. From 1806 to 1807 he was Member of Parliament for Westminster and from 1807 to 1812 for Bridport. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1807, and in the same year was at Copenhagen, still in the CONTOUR; he was then second-in-command to Admiral Saumarez (1757-1836) in the Baltic when he played an important part in assisting the Swedes against the Russians. He next covered the re-embarkation of the army at Corunna in 1809, after which he returned to the Mediterranean. He was appointed vice-admiral and Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, in 1811, and after a comparatively uneventful command died of fever in Madras.
Alexander Hood, younger brother of Samuel, Viscount Hood, entered the Navy in 1741 and was made lieutenant in 1746. During the Seven Year War he served in the Mediterranean and under Hawke in the Channel. He was made captain in 1756 and, after further service in the Channel and in the Mediterranean, was promoted to rear-admiral in 1780. From 1784 to 1790 he was a Member of Parliament for Bridgwater, after which he sat for Buckingham until 1796. In 1787 he was promoted to vice-admiral and in 1794 to admiral. In that year he was appointed second-in-command of the Channel Fleet, under Lord Howe, and took part in the battle of the First of June, after which he was given an Irish peerage. In the following year when Howe was ashore because of ill-health, he won a partial victory over the French Fleet. For this action, he was raised to the peerage of Great Britain. When Howe finally retired in 1797, Hood was made Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet. In 1800 he was relieved by St. Vincent and accepted no further active command. He was created a viscount in the same year.
Mackay was in charge of the astronomical observatory at Aberdeen from 1781 to 1795. In 1793 he published The theory and practice of finding the longitude at sea or land (London, 2 vols). When the chair of Natural Philosophy at Aberdeen fell vacant in 1800, MacKay was proposed but the election was contested. In 1802, Nevil Maskelyne (1730-1811), the Astronomer Royal, suggested that he should go to Australia to join the expedition led by Matthew Flinders, as their astronomer had returned home early in the voyage. Mackay, however, still hoped that he might win the Aberdeen election and, in addition, felt the pay offered by the Board of Longitude was too small. In 1804, his hopes having failed, he came to London. He was appointed mathematical examiner to Trinity House in 1805 and to similar posts with the East India Company and Christ's Hospital during the year following. As well as teaching and examining, he published further works on astronomy, navigation and mathematics.
Mellersh entered the Navy in 1825, was promoted to lieutenant in 1837 and to commander in 1849. He was appointed to the RATTLER in 1851 and served in her during the Burmese War, 1852. He pursued and destroyed a large force of pirate junks off Ping-hoey on the Fukien Coast, for which he received his promotion to captain. His last service was on the South American Station from 1862 to 1864. Mellersh eventually became an admiral on the retired list.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Milne entered the Navy in 1779 and served in the Canada until the end of the American War in the Channel and the West Indies. During the peace he was employed in merchant ships, among them the East Indiaman, General Eliott, 1788 to 1790. At the out-break of war, 1793, he went in the Boyne to the West Indies and subsequently joined the BLANCHE, in which ship he earned promotion to lieutenant for capturing La Pique in 1794. He became commander and captain in 1795 and was appointed to the command of LA PIQUE in 1796. After two years service in the West Indies and the Channel, Milne, whilst taking La Seine, lost LA PIQUE in action off Brittany and returned to the West Indies in LA SEINE. On renewal of the war in 1803, he was Commander-in-Chief at Leith until 1808, after which he had a period ashore in command of the SEA FENCIBLES. He was then appointed to the Channel Fleet in the IMPETUEUX, 1811 to 1812, and to the VENERABLE, 1812 to 1813. From 1813 to 1814, when he became a rear-admiral, he was in North America in the Bulwark. Milne was Commander-in-Chief of the Halifax Station, 1816 to 1819, but before he departed, served as second-in-command to Lord Exmouth (q.v.) at the battle of Algiers, 1816. He was made a vice-admiral in 1825 and an admiral in 1841. His only further service was as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, 1842 to 1845, and he died during his journey home to Scotland.
Milne, son of Admiral Sir David Milne, was entered on the books of the Leander in 1817 but probably did not go to sea until 1820, when he joined the Conway on the South American Station. Again on this station between 1824 and 1830, he served in the ALBION, 1824 to 1825, the GANGES, 1825 to 1827, and the CADMUS, 1827 to 1830. He became a lieutenant in 1827. In 1837 he was promoted to commander into the SNAKE, North America and West Indies Station, where he operated against slavers, and in 1839 was appointed Captain of the CROCODILE on the same station. He transferred to the CLEOPATRA for a brief period in 1841 and then returned home. Milne was Flag-Captain to his father from 1842 to 1845 in the CALEDONIA, Devonport, and from 1845 to 1847 was in the St. Vincent at Portsmouth. He was on the Board of Admiralty until 1859, having become a rear-admiral in 1858. During the American Civil War Milne was Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies. On his return, he again joined the Board of Admiralty until 1869 when he commanded the Mediterranean Station for a year. In 1872 he was appointed Senior Naval Lord and after his retirement in 1876 he continued to be called upon for important tasks, including membership of the Carnarvon Commission on Colonial Defence, 1879 to 1882.
Miles entered Britannia as a cadet in 1905. He went to sea the following year, as a midshipman, and by 1911 was a lieutenant. Miles served with submarines and destroyers during World War One, 1914-1918. His later appointments include Captain of HMS NELSON 1939-1941, which was one of the first ships to strike a magnetic mine; Head of the Military Mission to Moscow 1941-1943; Flag Officer Commanding Western Mediterranean 1944-1945; Commander-in-Chief Royal Indian Navy 1946-1947. He was made Rear-Admiral in 1941, Vice-Admiral in 1944 and Admiral in 1948. Miles was placed on the retired list in April 1948.
Granville Murray-Browne became a midshipman in March 1902, serving first in the HOGUE and from 1904 in the KENT. He became a sub-lieutenant in 1905 and, after studying at Portsmouth joined the DRAGON in 1906. He was made a lieutenant in 1907 and joined the VICTORIOUS in 1908. From 1909 he commanded TB106 (Tender to VIVID at Devonport) and, from December 1909, TB055 (Tender to HOOD at Queenstown). The ACHILLES was his next ship, in 1911, and two years later he joined the INDEFATIGABLE. In 1915 he was promoted to lieutenant-commander. He was killed in action at the Battle of Jutland when the INDEFATIGABLE was sunk on 31 May 1916.
Copies of Volumes and Documents - Microfilms
The Marine Insurance Company is an insurance company dealing in marine, aviation and transit insurance, based in Leadenhall Street, London. It was established in 1836 and became a limited liability company in 1881. In 1917 it became part of the London and Lancashire Insurance Group and since 1961 it has been a member of the Royal Group of insurance companies.
Markham entered the Navy in 1856 and served for eight years on the China Station in the CAMILLA, NIGER, RETRIBUTION, IMPERIEUSE, COROMANDEL and CENTAUR.He was promoted to lieutenant in 1862 and served in the VICTORIA in the Mediterranean from 1864 to 1867 and in the BLANCHE on the Australian Station from 1868 to 1871. He was then acting commander of the ROSARIO, 1871 to 1872, during a voyage to the New Hebrides in connection with the suppression of the South Seas labour trade. He became a commander in 1872 and, while on leave in 1873, sailed in the whaler ARCTIC to Davis Strait and Baffin Bay. From 1873 to 1874 he served in the SULTAN, Channel Squadron. Markham was commander of the ALERT under Sir George Nares during the British Arctic expedition of 1875 to 1876. His sledging party reached remained a record until 1895. 1879 he accompanied Sir Henry Gore-Booth (1800-1881) on a cruise to Novaya Zemlya. He was Captain of the TRIUMPH, flagship on the Pacific Station, 1879 to 1882, and Captain of VERNON, 1883 to 1886. In 1885 he was senior officer on board the HECLA torpedo depot ship, when she collided with the schooner CHEERFUL. Whilst on leave in 1886 Markham made a survey of Hudson Bay and Strait for the proposed Hudson Bay Railway Company. From 1886 to 1889 he was Commodore of the Training Squadron. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1891 and from 1892 to 1894 was second-in-command in the Mediterranean. In 1893, off the Syrian coast, Markham's flagship the CAMPERDOWN collided with the fleet flagship, the VICTORIA, which sank with great loss of life. The courts-martial exonerated Markham but he was later censured in an Admiralty minute. He became vice-admiral in 1897 and served on the Joint Antarctic Committee and on the Executive Committee for Scott's first Antarctic expedition of 1901 to 1904 in the DISCOVERY. He was Commander-in-Chief at the NORE, 1901 to 1904, knighted in 1903 and retired in 1906. Markham combined his naval career with a considerable literary output, which included The cruise of the Rosario (London, 1873), The great frozen sea (London, 1878) (on the British Arctic expedition), a Life of Sir John Franklin, (London, 1889) and a Life of Sir Clements R. Markham (London, 1917). See M.E. and F.A. Markham, The Life of Sir Albert Hastings Markham (Cambridge, 1927).
Marryat entered the Navy in 1806 and served under Lord Cochrane (1775-1860), whose career was the model for many of Marryat's heroes in his novels. In 1810 he served in the CONTOUR under Sir Samuel Hood in the West Indies and North America, was made a lieutenant in 1812 and went again to the West Indies in the ESPIEGLE; he was forced to return in 1815 because of ill-health. He was appointed commander into the BEAVER in 1820, at St. Helena, and remained there until the death of Napoleon. He then went in the LARNE to the East Indies, 1823, where he played a distinguished part in the First Burmese War, 1824. In 1825 he was promoted to Captain of the Tees and returned to England in 1826. He resigned from the service in 1830. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1819 for his work on Sir Home Popham's system of signalling. Biographies of Marryat include Florence Marryat, The life and letters of Captain Marryat (London, 1872), C.C. Lloyd, Captain Marryat and the old navy (London, 1939), and Maurice-Paul Gautier, Captain Frederick Marryat l'homme et l'oeuvre (Paris, 1972).
The moves which led to the formation of the Manchester Ship Canal Company and to the construction of the ship canal itself began to take practical shape in 1882, at a time when the commercial supremacy of Manchester appeared to be declining. It was thought that this decline was due in large part to the heavy cost of transit within the region, which led to the agitation for the building of a ship canal. The proposal encountered opposition from the railways and from powerful corporate interests in Liverpool and it was 1887 before work could begin. The task occupied six years and might never have been completed had not the city fathers come to the financial rescue of the promoters, lending them £3 millions in 1891 and a further £2 millions in 1893. The canal was opened to traffic in 1894.
Mason entered the Navy in 1803 and served on the Channel Station and then in the AMPHION, Mediterranean. He was captured by the French in 1809, escaped the following year and was made a lieutenant in 1811. His subsequent service was off Lisbon and in the Mediterranean. He was promoted to commander in 1815, after which he saw no further active service.
The Marine Society was founded in 1756 by Jonas Hanway (1712-1786) and others to provide men for the Navy. While men going to sea were fitted out with clothing, boys were invited to attend the Society's office where they could obtain some basic education and wait until they were applied for by captains or masters. In its first year of activity the Society supplied the Navy with 1,961 men and 1,580 boys. In 1763 the Society almost ceased operation, though boys were still assisted in finding work ashore, such as ropemaking and boatbuilding. However from 1769 the income from a bequest was used by the Society to continue its work and in 1772 the Society was strengthened by an act of Parliament for incorporation. From 1786 boys were prepared for sea aboard a training ship; in 1862 the Warspite, a third rate built in 1807, was obtained from the Admiralty and, though other vessels succeeded it, the name of this ship was preserved. The Society continues to function and has recently absorbed a number of other marine charities that are concerned with serving seafarers. See J Hanway, 'The origin, progress and present state of the Marine Society' (London, 1770). There are also other books and pamphlets by Hanway on the Marine Society and related subjects.
Martin served in the Mediterranean in the steam frigate CURACOA from 1854 to 1857 and on the west coast of Africa in the SPITFIRE from the end of 1857 to 1860, when he became acting mate. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1861 and appointed to the SURPRISE, gun vessel, in the Mediterranean, until 1866. In 1869 he became a commander.
Murray served as Base Intelligence Officer in the Iolaire, Stornoway, from 1914 to 1918, when he was given the rank of temporary sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
George Prideaux Brabant Naish was the son of a keen amateur maritime archaeologist, the Reverent Francis Clement Prideaux Naish (fl 1890-1960). He was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, and at Southampton University and joined the National Maritime Museum in 1935, soon after it was established. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteer in 1940 transferring on demobilisation to the Royal Naval Reserve, in which he became a lieutenant-commander. On his return to the Museum in 1947, Naish became Honorary Secretary to the Society for Nautical Research, a post he held for thirty years. He attained the rank of Keeper in 1969, and in 1971 became Historical Consultant to the Director shortly before retiring from the Museum.