The Society was founded in 1910 to encourage research into subjects of naval and maritime interest. It led the campaign to preserve the Victory in dry dock at Portsmouth in 1922 and similar projects, including the unsuccessful attempt to save the Implacable which was scuttled at sea in 1949. It played an important part in the foundation of the National Maritime Museum and of the Victory Museum, now the Portsmouth Royal Naval Museum. It publishes quarterly The Mariner's Mirror, an historical journal of nautical interest.
Sir Robert Southwell (1635-1702), who was appointed Clerk to the Commission of Prizes in 1664 and, as well as holding diplomatic posts, became Principal Secretary of State for Ireland in 1690. His son Edward Southwell (1671-1730) succeeded him in the latter post. There are also papers of William Blathwayt, Secretary at War (1649?-1717), whose daughter married Edward Southwell in 1717. Since the Southwells and Blathwayt were often abroad, many of these letters are from the Secretary of State at home, who was for the greater part of the time Daniel Finch, Earl of Nottingham (1647-1730), giving news of decisions reached by the Queen, and after her death in 1694, by the Lords Justices.
Francis Shipton was promoted to lieutenant in 1884. He held the rank of lieutenant-commander during World War One, having previously retired from the Navy.
James Shipton entered the Navy in 1803. He served in HMS THUNDERER 1803 to1805, HIBERNIA 1805 to 1806, PRINCE OF WALES and PENELOPE 1806 to 1809, as midshipman and mate. He reached the rank and lieutenant in 1810, invalied early in 1812, and was on half pay from 1815.
James Shipton entered the Navy in 1803. He served in HMS THUNDERER 1803 to1805, HIBERNIA 1805 to 1806, PRINCE OF WALES and PENELOPE 1806 to 1809, as midshipman and mate. He reached the rank and lieutenant in 1810, invalided early in 1812, and was on half pay from 1815.
Francis Shipton was promoted to lieutenant in 1884. He held the rank of lieutenant-commander during World War One, having previously retired from the Navy.
Spratt entered the Navy in 1827, was made a lieutenant in 1841 and a commander in 1849, his ship then being the SPITFIRE, a survey vessel in the Mediterranean; he continued in command of her until the end of the Crimean War, becoming a captain in 1855. In 1856 he was appointed to the MEDINA and remained surveying in the Mediterranean until 1863. He was a Commissioner of Fisheries from 1866 to 1873 and was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1872. In 1878 he became a Vice-Admiral and from 1879 was Acting Conservator of the Mersey Conservancy Board. Spratt published books and articles on the Mediterranean, chiefly on the history and antiquities of Crete.
The Thames Sailing Barge Trust Exploratory Committee was formed in 1952 by a small group of enthusiasts who realized that sailing craft were disappearing from the trading life of Britain. Plans were made to raise public subscriptions to purchase a barge to be maintained perpetually in working condition under sail alone. The Trust was formed in 1954 and in 1956 acquired the sailing barge, MEMORY. At the same time the name of the Society was changed to the Sailing Barge Preservation Society to avoid confusion with other organizations. Trading proved difficult in 1959 because of lack of cargoes and also because the MEMORY sustained damage when run down in fog. In 1960 the Society decided to wind up its affairs and its assets were given to the Foudroyant Trust.
Frank Clarke Strick (1849-1943) set himself up in business in 1885 in London as a shipbroker and coal exporter; two years later he purchased a small vessel and to raise additional capital he founded, with others, the London and Paris Steamship Company Limited. A new company was formed to operate the vessel called the Anglo-Algerian Steamship Company Limited. This was the first strand in a pattern of Strick trading which was to last for many years -- coal from South Wales or North East Coast ports to West Italian ports, loading iron ore homewards from Benisaf in North Africa for the United Kingdom or the Continent, under contract, using owned or chartered vessels. A successful voyage to the Persian Gulf in 1892 with coal and general cargo induced Strick to build ships for the Gulf trade, within the framework of a new company, the Anglo-Arabian and Persian Steamship Company Limited. By the beginning of the century, Frank Strick had fifteen ships sailing under his flag, serving the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf trades; less regularly, his ships were also to be found in the Indian Ocean or the United States. La Tunisienne Steam Navigation Company Limited was formed by Strick in 1909; this company operated vessels in the North African trade, where Strick's interests were important. In addition Strick's controlled coal bunkering depots in Port Said, Algiers and Oran. In 1919 Strick sold the remaining Strick Line fleet and business to Lord Inchcape and it was absorbed into P and O in 1923. The company went into voluntary liquidation, but Strick had no intention of retiring, forming a new company under the name of London, Paris and Marseilles Steamship Company (later London and Paris Steamship Co Ltd) and continuing to operate La Tunisienne. The Persian Gulf trade was carried on under the joint management of Frank C. Strick and Company Ltd and Cray, Dawes and Company. At first the ships were owned by single-ship companies, but later Strick Line (1923) Limited was formed to own and operate the fleet. Ships of Anglo-American Steamship Company (1896) Limited, in a joint service with Ellerman's Bucknall Steamship Lines, carried large quantities of the prospectors'equipment, stores and personnel to the Gulf. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company Limited (later Anglo-Iranian, later British Petroleum) was formed in 1909 and its Managing Director was appointed a director of Anglo-Algerian. Strick opened his own offices in the Gulf through a partnership with Lloyd, Scott and Company; the firm was known as Strick, Scott and Company. In 1913 Anglo-Algerian became the Strick Line Ltd. By 1928 Strick wished to re-acquire an interest in the Persian Gulf and in the company which bore his name. He succeeded in negotiating with P&O the purchase by his London and Paris Company of a 49% minority interest in Strick Line (1923) Ltd and the Shahristan Steamship Company Ltd. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War the Strick ownership of twenty-five ships was divided into three fleets -- Strick Line, La Tunisienne and Cory and Strick. During the war Strick Line built eight vessels and Frank C. Strick managed twelve; but twenty vessels were lost. In 1960 Strick Line acquired Frank C Strick and Co Ltd. In 1972 P and O completed its acquisition of all the Strick interests and absorbed them into the and O Group.
The Shipbuilders and Repairers National Association was formed in 1967 by the integration of the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation (founded in 1899), the Dry Dock Owners' and Repairers' Central Council (founded in 1910) and the Shipbuilding Conference (founded in 1928). Before the formation of the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation, a 'Federation of Shipbuilders and Engineers of England, Scotland and Ireland' had been constituted. As early as 1890 there was a feeling that it would be advantageous if the association were to be confined to shipbuilding members only, but it was 1897 -- the same year as the engineers strike for a forty-eight hour week --before the engineering firms withdrew. They then formed their own body, the Engineering Employers' Federation. The National Federation of Shipbuilders, as the old association was briefly known, was dissolved in 1899 with the formation of the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation. Most of the local Shipbuilders' Associations then in existence were represented, including those of Aberdeen, Clyde, Barrow, Hull, Tyne, Tees and Wear. Responsibility for negotiation with the shipyard trade unions was undertaken by the central body on behalf of the membership; in this period several important national agreements were concluded, notably that of 1909, which laid down procedures to be followed in future negotiations and established a framework for conciliation and arbitration. This, with a review in 1913, was maintained until the beginning of the war when the shipyards came within the provisions of the legislation for the compulsory settlement of disputes. There was also a comprehensive review of labour relations by a joint Committee of management and labour which led in 1928 to an agreement with the S.E.F. and the shipbuilding trade unions on the procedures to be followed in future disputes, which, with some modifications, lasted to the present day.
The Dry Dock Owners' and Repairers' Central Council was formed in 1910 by members of several local ship-repairing associations to ensure greater uniformity of schedules and rates and to contain the extreme competition which was then taking place. The Shipbuilding Conference, a national commercial organization representative of the whole industry, was set up in 1928 at a time when the industry was experiencing severe difficulties. In an attempt to solve the problem of economically unsound competition between firms in the 1930s, one of the Conference's first actions was to produce a 'tendering expenses scheme', whereby one per cent of the contract price was intended for tendering expenses to be divided among the tenderers in accordance with an agreed scale. Another system which it- instituted was notification to the Conference of enquiries received by builders which led to the introduction of 'Job Conferences', an arrangement for establishing co-operation between firms and maintaining reasonable price levels. There was a general recognition during this period that the major task of the industry was to reduce building capacity which led to the formation in 1920 of National Shipbuilders Security Ltd. The main object of this organization was the purchase by voluntary negotiation of redundant shipyards. By 1938 it had reduced building capacity by purchase by 1.3 million tons. National Shipbuilders Security Ltd went into voluntary liquidation in 1958.
The National Association of Marine Enginebuilders, formed in 1939, operated as an affiliate of the Conference, since many of its members were neither shipbuilders nor ship-repairers. Its members' workforces negotiated with the Engineering Employers' Federation rather than the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation, and this relationship continued after the formation of the Shipbuilders and Repairers National Association in 1967. In this year the three organizations joined to become the Shipbuilders and Repairers National Association. Within the new body separate boards were set up.
From their first venture in 1858, Shaw and Savill specialized in the New Zealand trade. When they gained a share of the New Zealand Government contract for a regular mail, passenger and cargo service between the United Kingdom and New Zealand, they began operating a joint service with the White Star Line. In 1899 the White Star Line began a steamship service from Liverpool to Australia via the Cape and in 1905 Shaw Savill and the White Star Line acquired a further interest in the Australian trade when they became the major shareholders in the Aberdeen Line. The Royal Mail Group purchased the White Star Line in 1926 and in 1928 the Australian Government's Commonwealth Line which was then amalgamated with the Aberdeen Line to provide a fortnightly service from London to Australia via Suez and Colombo. The group also acquired the major shareholding in Shaw Savill in 1928, but after the group's collapse and the reorganization which followed this, Shaw Savill became part of the Furness Withy Group (q.v.) in 1933. In 1939 a new fast passenger and cargo service to New Zealand via the Cape and Australia was inaugurated. In the postwar period many of the new vessels were designed without accommodation for passengers, but in 1955 the SOUTHERN CROSS was built solely for passengers and with one-class accommodation to operate on a new round-the-world route. When she was joined by her sister ship the NORTHERN STAR they maintained eight round-the-world sailings a year until the decline in the passenger trade in the early 1970s.
Stephenson entered the Navy as a first class volunteer and was promoted to lieutenant in 1778. He left the Navy in 1785 and became a 'free mariner' in India. He commanded, among other ships, the MARY, her last voyage being from Bengal to England, 1795 to 1796. Stephenson then returned to the Navy after an absence of twelve years. He was promoted to commander and to captain in 1798, when he went to the Defence in the Channel. In 1800 he was given command of the PRINCESS CHARLOTTE, but appears to have had no further command after 1802.
Stokes entered the Navy in 1824 and joined the BEAGLE the following year. He served in her for eighteen years, surveying first in South American and then in Australian waters. He was Assistant Surveyor under Robert Fitzroy (1805-1865) during the voyage of 1831 to 1836 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1837. When, in 1841, John Clements Wickham (1798-1864) was invalided during the Australian survey, Stokes took command of the BEAGLE and completed the commission, returning to England in 1843. He was promoted to captain in 1846. From 1847 to 1851 he commanded the ACHERON on the survey of New Zealand. His last employment was in the English Channel survey, 1859 to 1863. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1864, vice-admiral in 1871 and admiral in 1877.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Stopford entered the Navy in 1780, passed as lieutenant in 1784 and was promoted to captain in 1790. He served in the Channel and the West Indies until 1802 but on the resumption of hostilities was appointed to the SPENCER in the Channel Fleet until 1805. Between 1806 and 1807 he was Member of Parliament for Ipswich. After further service in the West Indies, he was promoted to rear-admiral in 1808 and went to the East Indies as Commander-in-Chief until 1813. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1812 and admiral in 1825. In 1827 Stopford was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, and after holding office for the usual term of three years, was on half-pay until 1837 when he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean. His period of command included the Syrian campaign and the bombardment of Acre, 1840. In 1841 be was appointed Governor of Greenwich Hospital.
Robert Stopford, son of the Hon. Sir Robert Stopford, entered the Navy in 1825 and was promoted lieutenant in 1831. He was present at the siege of Acre, 1840, and was sent home with his father's despatches after the action. In 1841 he was promoted to captain and commanded the TALBOT in the Mediterranean for one year, employed for some of the time in surveying the Skerki Channel off Sardinia. He commanded the ASIA, 1848 to 1851, in the Pacific Squadron under Rear-Admiral (later Admiral) Sir Phipps Hornby. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1860, Vice-Admiral in 1866 and Admiral in 1871.
Montagu Stopford, nephew of Admiral the Hon Sir Robert Stopford, entered the Navy in 1810. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1819 and to captain in 1825. After intermittent service on various stations he was promoted to rear-admiral in 1853. He was Captain of the Fleet during the Crimean War and between 1855 and 1858 was Superintendent of Malta Dockyard. He became a vice-admiral in 1858.
Stephenson entered the Navy in 1855. He served in the Crimea, India and Canada, being promoted to lieutenant in 1861 and to commander in 1868. He was in command of the RATTLER when she was lost in La Perouse Strait in 1868. He became a captain in 1875. From 1875 to 1876 Stephenson commanded the DISCOVERY in the British Arctic Expedition led by Captain C.S. Nares. He commanded the CARYSFORT, Mediterranean, 1880 to 1883, and took part in operations in Egypt in 1882. During the 1890s he was Commander-in-Chief both in the Pacific and the Channel, being appointed rear-admiral in 1890, vice-admiral in 1896 and admiral in 1901.
William Stokes Rees entered the Navy in 1866 and served on the Mediterranean Station in the ROYAL OAK from 1868 to 1870. In 1872 he was in home waters in the PEMBROKE and the BELLEROPHON and then went out to the Pacific in the REPULSE until 1873. He became a lieutenant in 1877 and specialized in gunnery. Promoted to Commander in 1891, he went, in 1894, to the ST GEORGE, flagship at the Cape of Good Hope, and took part in the Brass River (1895), M'Wele (1896), Ashanti (1896), Zanzibar (1896) and Benin (1897), expeditions. Having become a captain in 1897, Rees took command of the THETIS in the Mediterranean, 1898 to 1900, and then on the Cape Station until 1901. After some short commands followed by two years as senior officer in Australia (1904 to 1906), he retired as a Rear-Admiral in 1910 and rose to Admiral on the retired list.
Stewart entered the Navy in 1890 and joined the BOADICEA, flagship of the East Indies Station, in 1892. He transferred to the BONAVENTURE in 1894 and in the following year to the ACTIVE, training squadron. For the remainder of his career he served mainly in the Mediterranean, retiring with the rank of Commander in 1920.
Charles Steevens entered the Navy in about 1720, was promoted to lieutenant in 1729, to commander in 1744 ELIZABETH; he was also promoted to rear-admiral in that year. In 1760 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the station, moved to the Norfolk and undertook the blockade of Pondicherry, which surrendered in 1761.
See Nathaniel Steevens, 'The naval career Of Rear-Admiral Charles Steevens from 1720 to 1761' (published privately, 1874).
The South Western Steam Packet Company was incorporated in 1843 'to convey Passengers, Merchandize and Goods by means of Steam Packets between the Port of Southampton and the Port of Havre in the Kingdom of France and any other Ports in any of the Islands in the British Channel'. The Company had in 1842 purchased seven ships from the defunct Commercial Steam Packet Company, a competitor on the same service. In late 1846 a new company, the New South Western Navigation Company, was formed with the object of co-operating with the London and South Western Railway; it took over the South Western fleet. Development of the sea link continued to be bound up with the railway services; the London and South Western Railway Company became the dominant partner and in 1862 took possession of the New South Western's fleet under the terms of mortgage entered into in 1848 and 1849.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
William Stewart, eldest son of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Houston Stewart (1791-1875), entered the Navy in 1835. He became a lieutenant in 1842, a commander in 1848 and a captain in 1854. In 1860 he joined the MARLBOROUGH as Flag-Captain to Sir William Fanshawe Martin (1801-1895), in the Mediterranean, where he remained for three years. The rest of his service was in administrative appointments. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1870 and from July of that year was Admiral Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard until the end of 1871, when he was appointed in the same capacity to Portsmouth. From 1872 to 1881 he was Controller of the Navy, although without a seat on the Board of Admiralty. He became a vice-admiral in 1876 and admiral in 1881, when he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Devonport. Here he remained for the full period of three years and retired in 1885.
Tait entered the Navy in 1902 and served in the Pacific from 1903 to February, 1905, in the GRAFTON, and then in the Mediterranean, in the DRAKE. He went to the FLORA, China, in 1908 and became a lieutenant in 1909. In 1910 he joined the Home Fleet, serving in a number of ships, including the HINDUSTAN and the COLLINGWOOD until 1912. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander in 1917, commander in 1921 and captain in 1926. After a course at Greenwich, Tait returned to sea in 1928 and took command of four cruisers; these included the CAPETOWN in 1929 and the DELHI in 1930, on the America and West Indies Station. He was appointed Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence in 1932 and in 1933 went out to the Far East to report on the possibility of an outbreak of hostilities with Japan. In 1938 he became a rear-admiral and in 1941 was appointed vice-admiral and Commander-in-Chief, African Station. On his appointment as Governor of Southern Rhodesia in 1944, he retired and was promoted to admiral in 1945.
Trinder Anderson and Co. Ltd began in the 1870s. In 1886 Trinder Anderson & Co. acquired the business of Messrs Oliver and Wilson of Fremantle and entered trade in Western Australia. In 1886, Trinder Anderson and Co Ltd set up a steamer service called the Western Australia Steam Navigation Co. In 1892, Trinder Anderson and Co reorganized with Charles Bethell and Co when Walter J Gwyn was taken into partnership becoming known as Bethell, Gwyn and Co. In the same year Trinder Anderson and Co. and Bethell, Gwyn and Co enters the emigrant trade. In 1904, Trinder Anderson and Co. and Bethell, Gwyn and Co founded the Australind Steam Navigation Co. The first steam vessel registered was the AUSTRALIND, a 5,568 ton cargo vessel built by Charles Connell and Co of Glasgow. In later years the Australind Steam Navigation Company became associated with the New Zealand Shipping Company which registered in 1872 and changed in 1966 to become asscociated with the Federal Steam Navigation Co Australind Steam Navigation Co together with its parent company forms part of the P and O organisation. In 1967, the Australind Steam Navigation Co ran services in association with Avenue Shipping. In this collection, Trinder Anderson and Co. Ltd. acted as agents to the Australind Steam Navigation Company Ltd from 1897 to 1964, New Zealand Shipping Company Ltd from 1937 to 1959 and Avenue Shipping Co Ltd. from 1954 to 1969. Trinder Anderson and Co. Ltds own company records in this collection cover the period 1914 to 1974.
Tennant joined the BRITANNIA in 1905, from 1906 to 1909 was in the Channel in the PRINCE OF WALES, VENERABLE, IMPLACABLE and QUEEN and was promoted to lieutenant in 1912. After specialising in navigation he served from 1914 to 1916 in the LIZARD and FERRET, Harwich Force, and in the Grand Fleet in the CHATHAM and NOTTINGHAM. Still in 1916, he returned to the Harwich Force in the CONCORD and remained in her as navigator until 1919. He was navigator during the two Royal tours around the world in the RENOWN, 1921 and the REPULSE, 1925, the year he was promoted to commander. He was made Captain in 1932. From 1935 to 1937 he was on the Mediterranean Station in the ARETHUSA followed by two years (1937 to 1939), as naval instructor at Imperial Defence College. At the beginning of the Second World War, Tennant organized the embarkation of the allied armies at Dunkirk. He next commanded the REPULSE and survived her sinking off Singapore by Japanese air attack at the end of 1941. In 1942 he was promoted to rear-admiral and commanded a cruiser squadron of the Eastern Fleet. He joined the staff for 'Overlord' , the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied Europe, in 1943 and was responsible for the 'Mulberry' harbours. In 1945 he went as Flag-Officer, Levant and Eastern Mediterranean, was promoted to vice-admiral in that year and to admiral in 1949 at the end of his term as Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies, 1946 to 1949.
Edward Thompson, Commodore ([1738]-1786);Thompson, son of a merchant, appears to have gone to sea at the age of 12. He is said to have made a voyage to Greenland in 1750. He served on board the STIRLING CASTLE, Hon East India Company, in 1755 and in 1757 was promoted as Lieutenant of the JASON. In 1758, he was moved to the DORSETSHIRE in which he took part in the blockade of Brest and the Battle of Quiberon Bay. He was on board the BELLONA from 1760 to 1763 and then on half pay. In 1771, he was promoted to Commander and served in the North Sea on preventive service. He moved to the RAVEN later that year. He was again on half-pay from 1772 until 1778, when he was appointed to the HYENA and went out to the West Indies, accompanied by his nephew, Thomas Boulden Thompson.
In 1783 he was appointed to the GRAMPUS in which he went to the west coast of Africa as Commodore of a small squadron there. He died there of a fever on board the GRAMPUS in 1786. Edward Thompson was a master of poetry and verse, which later earned him the nickname 'Poet Thompson'. He was a friend of David Garrick and John Wilkes. There is a detailed biography entitled 'Poet Thompson' in the papers of Lady Ellinor Thompson, written by her.
Thomas Boulden Thompson, Vice-Adm, 1st Bt (1766-1828). Thomas Boulden took the surname Thompson from his uncle, Edward Thompson, when he came under his guardianship at an early age. He went to sea with his uncle in 1778. In 1783 he was appointed, again with his uncle, to the GRAMPUS and, on his uncle's death, was promoted by a senior officer to Commander, which was later confirmed. In 1787 he went on half-pay. He was advanced to post rank in 1790 but had no employment until 1796, when he was appointed to the LEANDER, and in 1798 was sent as part of a squadron to the Mediterranean to reinforce Nelson. He took part in the Battle of the Nile and later, on board the LEANDER, fell in with the GENEREUX when he was wounded and then captured. He was acquitted at a court-martial and praised for his defence of the ship. He was knighted and awarded a pension. In 1799 he was appointed to the BELLONA and stayed in her until 1801 at Copenhagen when the ship stuck fast on a shoal within range of the Danish guns. Thompson was amongst the wounded and lost his leg. In 1806 he was created a baronet and was appointed Comptroller of the Navy, apost he held until 1816. He was then appointed Treasurer of Greenwich Hospital and Director of the Chest. He became a Rear-Admiral in 1809, and Vice-Admiral in 1814. He was Member of Parliament for Rochester, 1807-1818. He died at his home at Hartsbourne, Hertfordshire in 1828.
Thomas Raikes Trigge Thompson, Vice-Adm, 2nd Bt (1804-1865) Thompson was the son of Vice-Adm Thomas Boulden Thompson, and entered the Navy in 1818 after going to the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth in 1816. He became Lieutenant in 1825 and promoted in 1828 to the command of the CADMUS along the coast of Brazil and Patagonia, 1828-1830. He became a Captain in 1837.
See subfonds level for individual biographies.
Thursfield joined the Times as a leader writer in 1877 and by about 1880 he had begun to specialize in naval affairs. He represented the Times in the naval manoeuvres of 1887 and in every subsequent year when correspondents were admitted. When Mahan's book The influence of sea power upon history appeared in 1890, Thursfield's review was the first that adequately recognized its importance. He lectured at the invitation of the Staff College, Camberley, in 1902 on the 'Higher policy of defence' and at this time became closely associated with Sir John (later Lord) Fisher (1841-1920). After the war he wrote the four naval volumes of the Times documentary history of the war. Thursfield was knighted in 1920.
Thursby entered the Royal Navy in 1874, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1883 and to Commander in 1895. Made up to Captain in 1901, he was given command of HMS KING ALFRED and then HMS SWIFTSURE, stationed in Asia-Minor and Crete. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1911, Thursby took part in the Dardenelles campaign and was in charge of landing the ANZAC forces at Gaba Tepe, Gallipoli in 1915. After this he was given command of the British Adriatic Squadron in 1916, then, as Vice-Admiral, was given the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron in 1917. Towards the end of his career, Thursby was commanding Coastguard and Reserves, followed by an appointment to Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, before retiring as Admiral in 1920.
Tiddeman was promoted to lieutenant in 1732. He served successively in the WOLF (West Indies 1732), the RUPERT (West Indies and the Channel, 1733 to 1734), the PRINCESS AMELIA (1734 to 1735), and BUCKINGHAM (1735 to 1736), the last two being off Portugal. He was then sent to North America in the PHEONIX (1737-42). He commanded the DEAL CASTLE and the FAME in the West Indies from 1744, until 1745 when he was promoted to captain. In 1745 he went to the ELTHAM, taking her out to the East Indies in 1747. On his return to England in 1750 he became Captain of the HARWICH. In 1758 he was sent again to the East Indies in the GRAFTON to reinforce Sir George Pocock's (q.v.) squadron. He transferred to the ELIZABETH in 1759 and became second-in-command of the Station in 1761. He was commodore of the expedition against Manila in 1762, but was drowned the morning after the surrender when his barge capsized.
Tizard was educated at the Royal Hospital School, Greenwich, and entered the Navy as a master's assistant in 1854. He served in the DRAGON with the Baltic Fleet during the Crimean War and then in the Mediterranean. In 1857 he was appointed to the INDUS on the North American and West Indies Station. On his return home in 1860 he was promoted to second master and served for just over a year in a cadets' training ship. In 1861 he was appointed to the surveying ship RIFLEMAN on the China Station. Following his promotion in 1864 to master, he commanded the Rifleman's tender SARACEN on surveys in the South China Sea. Between 1868 and 1879 he was first employed in survey ships in the Mediterranean and then on the oceanographic voyage of the CHALLENGER. He was promoted to staff commander in 1874. In 1880 he was appointed to command the KNIGHT ERRANT on the survey of the west coast of Britain. In 1882 he commissioned the TRITON for work on the east coast survey also both in 1880 and 1882 he took scientific expeditions to the Faeroe-Shetland Channel. In 1889 he was promoted to staff captain and in 1891 he was appointed Assistant Hydrographer of the Navy and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He continued to serve at the Admiralty until 1907 but was placed on the retired list, with the rank of captain in 1896. As a Fellow of the Royal Society, Tizard became a member of the Antarctic Executive Committee in 1899. Some details about Tizard are contained in the biography of his son, Sir Henry Tizard, Tizard by Ronald W Clark (London, 1965).
Mr E J Tyler was a professional writer who had been interested in paddle steamers since he was a child. In 1949, he undertook a detailed investigation into those steamers still remaining since the building of the last paddle Cunarders in 1862, which was an area of study that had been ignored by textbooks. He travelled on them extensively, taking copious notes and photographs, forming an extensive collection of material including excursion bills issued by the various companies. Having given a talk to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society in 1962, he decided that there was no public audience for the material that he had collected, and he carried on collecting without publishing it.
Copies of Volumes and Documents - Transcripts
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Entered the army as ensign in the 73rd foot on 24 January 1834. Promoted to Lieutenant on 30 December 1836 and exchanged into the 7th Royal Fusiliers; serving with the regiment at Gibraltar, the West Indies, and Canada, becoming captain on 14 December 1841 and major on 9 August 1850. Troubridge served with the 7th Royal Fusiliers in the Crimea, 1854. He was in the forefront of the battle at the Alma. On 5 November, at Inkerman, he was field officer of the day, and was posted with the reserved of the light division in the Lancaster battery. Troubridge lost his right leg and left foot as this battery was attacked by Russian guns. He remained with the battery until the battle was over, with his limbs propped up against a gun carriage. Lord Raglan stated that Troubridge, although desperately wounded, acting with the utmost gallantry and composure. Troubridge returned to England in May 1855. He was made CB, aide-de-camp to the queen, and brevet colonel from 18 May 1855. He received the fourth class of the Mejidiye and the Legion d'honneur.
Entered the navy in 1875 at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, as a naval cadet, and promoted to lieutenant in 1884. Later in 1888 he received the silver medal of the Royal Humane Society after saving a persons life at sea. His next promotion was in 1895 to the position of commander and served in the battleship REVENGE (1896-8). He was later promoted to captain (1901) and became naval attache at Vienna and Madrid in 1902. He was naval attache at Tokyo (1902-4) and was present at the battle of Chemulpo and the operations off Port Arthur. Subsequently, Troubridge was awarded the Japanese order of the Rising Sun and on his return to England was made CMG and MVO. In 1907-1908 he was made flag captain in the QUEEN, to Admiral Sir Charles Drury and then commodore at the royal naval barracks, Chatham between 1908-1910. In 1910 Troubridge became private secretary to the first lord, Reginald McKenna, later Winston Churchill. In 1911, Troubridge was promoted to rear-admiral and chief of war staff in 1912. In Janaury 1913 he was given command of the cruiser squadron in the Mediterranean Fleet under Admiral Milne. The squadron comprised the armoured cruisers DEFENCE, BLACK PRINCE, DUKE OF EDINBURGH and WARRIOR. In 1915 Troubridge was appointed head of British naval mission in Serbia and in 1916 promoted to vice-admiral. In 1918 he was appointed admiral commanding on the Danube by the French commander-in-chief in the Balkans, General Franchet d'Esperey. He served as president of a provisional inter-allied Danube commission in 1919 and served as president on the permanent commission until 1924. Troubridge was promoted to Admiral in January 1919 and created a KCMG in the same year.
Entered the navy as a cadet in 1908, passing at Royal Naval College at Osborne and Dartmouth, became midshipman in 1912. He took part in the action off Dogger Bank and at Jutland and became lieutenant in 1916. The following year he was appointed to motor boats in which he remained until the armistice. Troubridge took a course in gunnery and then served as gunnery officer in the QUEEN ELIZABETH between 1922-4. He later took the naval staff course in 1924 after which he served in the Atlantic Fleet as staff officer, operations. Troubridge was appointed to the royal yacht VICTORIA AND ALBERT in 1928 and promoted commander in 1929; later being promoted captain in 1934 at the age of thirty-nine. In that rank he was appointed naval attache in 1936. On 1 January 1940, Troubridge was appointed commander of the aircraft-carrier FURIOUS in the Home Fleet. In June 1941 Troubridge was appointed to command the battleship NELSON at Gibraltar. Troubridge later took command of the aircraft-carrier INDOMITABLE, taking part in the assault and capture of the base of Diego Suarez in Madagascar in 1942. Troubridge was promoted to rear-admiral in 1943 and in 1944 appointed to command a force of nine British and American escort-carriers to cover forces invading the south of France. For his distinguished service in this operation he was appointed CB. On 1 May 1945 Troubridge was made fifth sea lord on the Board of Admiralty, with special emphasis on the naval air service. Later in that year he was promoted KCB. In 1947 he was promoted vice-admiral.
Benjamin Tucker (18 Jan 1762-11 Dec 1829) acted as Purser on HMS ASSISTANCE in 1792, and then on HMS POMPEE from Apr 1795. From Jan 1798 he served on HMS LONDON, which from the summer of 1798 was stationed with the Mediterranean Fleet off Cadiz under the command of Earl St Vincent. On discharge from HMS LONDON on 11 Jul 1798, Tucker became Secretary to Earl St Vincent and continued with the Earl throughout his service in the Mediterranean. He was appointed Second Secretary to the Admiralty on 21 Jan 1804 and then again on 10 Feb 1806. From 28 Jun 1808-11 Dec 1829, he acted as Surveyor General of the County of Cornwall. Benjamin Tucker was married twice, first to Jane Lyne in c1798, who bore him seven children, and secondly to Anne Williams. He resided at Trematon Castle, Cornwall.
John Jervis Tucker, Admiral (25 Mar 1802-14 Mar 1886) entered the Royal Navy in 1815 as a First Class Volunteer. On 12 Sep 1822 he was promoted to Lieutenant. He served on HMS THETIS from 17 Mar 1823 until the ship was paid off in Nov 1826, sailing to Mexico in 1823 with Commisioners of the Admiralty and participating in the Ashantee War in 1824. On 15 Jun 1827 he was promoted to Commander, serving on HMS ARIEL and HMS SEMIRAMIS (1828-1831), and then to the rank of Captain of HMS ROYAL WILLIAM on 28 Jun 1838. He served as Flag Captain of HMS DUBLIN in the Pacific under Rear-Admiral Richard Thomas from 11 May 1841-26 Mar 1845, dealing with the imposition of French administration on the island of Tahiti. From 29 Apr 1854-10 Sep 1857 he was Captain Superintendent of Sheerness Dockyard. He became Rear-Admiral of the Blue on 10 Sep 1857, was promoted to Rear-Admiral of the White on 2 May 1860, and to Vice-Admiral on 9 Feb 1864. He was pensioned off on 19 Oct 1864 and was appointed as an Admiral on half pay on 10 Sep 1869. On 24 May 1876 he was made Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Cornwall. John Jervis Tucker was the second son of Benjamin Tucker, and owner of Trematon Castle from 1860 until his death in 1886. He married Sabine Ann Young on 16 Oct 1830, who bore him four children.
OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS - The collection also relates to other members of the Tucker family, including: Benjamin Tucker senior, Benjamin Tucker's father; Joseph Tucker (c1760-?), Benjamin Tucker's brother and Foreman of the Shipwrights, Plymouth Dockyard; Anne Tucker (nee Williams) ([1766-]), Benjamin Tucker's second wife and widow; Jedediah Stephens Tucker (17 Jun 1800-Jan 1860), Benjamin Tucker's eldest son who published the Memoirs of Earl St Vincent from his father's papers; Benjamin W Tucker ([1804-]), Benjamin Tucker's third son; Jervis Tucker (1833-?), eldest son of John Jervis Tucker; and the Lyne family, who may be either related to Benjamin Tucker's mother's or first wife's family as they both shared the same surname (the association is not clear).
Tupper joined the RALEIGH, flagship at the Cape of Good Hope, as a midshipman in 1888 and remained in her until 1891. He became a lieutenant in 1892. In 1893 he was on the South American Station in the RACER and died when a powder magazine exploded at Rio de Janeiro.
Tyler entered the Navy in 1771 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1779. During the American War he served chiefly in the Channel and the Mediterranean and in the early part of the Revolutionary war in the Mediterranean. In 1799 he was appointed to the WARRIOR, at first in the Channel and after 1802 in the West Indies, and in 1805 to the TONNANT, with the Mediterranean fleet. He was severely wounded at Trafalgar. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1808 and hoisted his flag as second-in-command at Portsmouth. Between 1812 and 1816 he was Commander-in-Chief at the Cape of Good Hope, after which he had no further service. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1813 and to admiral in 1825.
See W.H. Wyndham-Quin Sir Charles Tyler, G. C. B. Admiral of the White (London, 1912)
Upton entered the East India Company's service as a midshipman in 1788 and served in the ROCKINGHAM during two voyages to China. He was in the GENERAL GODDARD as Fourth Officer on a voyage to Madras and Bengal from 1793 to 1794 and remained in her as part of the Cape Expedition of 1795. Nine Dutch Indiamen were captured during this cruise and Upton was detached in one of them as prize master. He went to China in the TRUE BRITON in 1804 and to Bengal in the WINDHAM in 1809, from which ship he was captured. However, after the taking of the Ile de France (Mauritius), Upton joined the CEYLON, 1810, and brought her home. His next voyage was to China, 1814, in the GLATTON; upon her arrival at St Helena her captain died and Upton was sworn in to command. Nothing further is known about his career.
Phs. van Ommeren N.V., Rotterdam, was founded in 1839 by Philippus van Ommeren, primarily to act as shipbroker and agent to the then Rotterdam/London Line. Other agencies followed. The firm expanded into other trades and developed a variety of services. Gradually related companies were established in other cities and the London company began operations in January 1914. The outbreak of the First World War caused the cancellation of the early contracts, but in 1915 the company was appointed general agent in the United Kingdom for the Holland-America Line. During the Second World War the Netherlands Shipping and Trading Committee took control of the Dutch merchant ships on behalf of the government in exile and these were placed on time charter to the British government. With the end of the war, the company resumed its Dutch connections and agencies; they also became agents for other companies in many parts of the world.
Herbert Stanley Vaughan (d 1935) was Victualling Store Officer at Hong Kong, Malta and Plymouth between 1899 and 1911, and Superintendent of Victualling at Gibraltar, Malta and Plymouth between 1914 and 1923. An enthuiastic historian, he was an active founding member of the Society for Nautical Research. His son, Captain Herbert Reginald Henry Vaughan (d 1978) served in the Royal Navy between 1911 and 1945. He served aboard HMS TRIAD in the Persian Gulf between 1928 and 1930, and during the Second World War took part, as Secretary to Admiral Lord Cork, in the attack in 1940 on Narvik.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.