Robert Edward Barker (c 1820-1910) served with the General Steam Navigation Company before becoming a customs official in 1866.
Brown entered the Navy in 1894 as an engineer student at Devonport Dockyard, qualifying in 1899 as a Probationary Assistant Engineer. Be became an engineer lieutenant in 1900, engineer lieutenant-commander in 1912, engineer commander in 1917 and engineer captain in 1924. Between 1921 and 1925 he was Assistant Naval Attache in Washington. In 1930 he became engineer rear-admiral and in 1932 was appointed vice-admiral and Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet, until his retirement in 1936.
When he entered the Navy, in 1747, Philip Carteret joined the Salisbury and then served from 1751 to 1755 under Captain John Byron (1723-1786). Between 1757 and 1758 he was in the Guernsey on the Mediterranean Station. As a lieutenant in the Dolphin he accompanied Byron during his voyage of circumnavigation, 1764 to 1766. On his return Carteret was commissioned for another exploratory voyage, this time commanding the Swallow, which expedition was led by Captain Samuel Wallis (1728-1795) in the Dolphin. The ships separated early in the voyage and Carteret made many independent discoveries. When he returned home he was on half-pay for a time and joined the movement pressing for an increase in the half-pay allowance. In 1779, Carteret was appointed to the Endymion and after a few months in the Channel went to the west coast of Africa before sailing for the West Indies to join Admiral Rodney's (1719-1792) fleet. He returned to England in 1781, had no further employment and was made rear-admiral in 1794.
Sir Philip Carteret Silvester was the son of Rear-Admiral Philip Carteret (q.v.) and adopted the name of Silvester in 1822. He entered the Navy in 1792 and joined the Lion under Captain Sir Erasmus Gower (q.v.) on Lord Macartney's Embassy to China. He continued to serve under Gower in the Triumph in 1795 in the Channel and was promoted to lieutenant in that year. He then served in the Imperieuse, Channel and North Sea, 1795 to 1796, in the Greyhound, 1796 to 1798 in the Channel and the Cambrian, 1801, to St. Helena. His first command was the Bonne Citoyenne in the West Indies in 1802. In 1804 he was appointed to the Scorpion, North Sea, until 1806, after which she went to the West Indies until 1807. In 1809 Carteret commanded the gun boats in the Walcheren Expedition. Carteret was given command of the Naiad for a year in 1811 and then the Pomone, 1813 to 1814, both on the Lisbon Station. After the war he commanded the Active on the Jamaica Station but saw no further service after 1817.
Carteret was the son of Rear-Admiral Philip Carteret and adopted the name of Silvester in 1822. He entered the Navy in 1792 and joined the LION under Captain Sir Erasmus Gower on Lord Macartney's Embassy to China. He continued to serve under Gower in the TRIUMPH in 1795 in the Channel and was promoted to lieutenant in that year. He then served in the IMPERIEUSE, Channel and North Sea, 1795 to 1796, in the GREYHOUND, 1796 to 1798 in the Channel and the CAMBRIAN, 1801, to St. Helena. His first command was the BONNE CITOYENNE in the West Indies in 1802. In 1804 he was appointed to the SCORPION, North Sea, until 1806, after which she went to the West Indies until 1807. In 1809 Carteret commanded the gun boats in the Walcheren Expedition. Carteret was given command of the NAIAD for a year in 1811 and then the POMONE, 1813 to 1814, both on the Lisbon Station. After the war he commanded the ACTIVE on the Jamaica Station but saw no further service after 1817.
Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian, father of Hood Hanway Christian, entered the navy in circa 1761, being promoted to Lieutenant in 1771. Serving mostly in the Channel and Mediterranean, in 1778 he was appointed Captain of HMS SUFFOLK, which carried Commodore Rowley's broad pennant to North America, seeing action of Grenada in 1779 and Martinique in 1780. Moving on to the HMS FORTUNEE he participated in the actions off the Chesapeake, 1781, St Kitts and Dominica in 1782. He returned home during the peace, and did not find employment again until 1790, as second captain on board the HMS QUEEN CHARLOTTE with Lord Howe. In 1795 he was advanced to Rear-Admiral of the Blue, and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the West Indies Station, with his flag in the HMS PRINCE GEORGE, but the fleet was scattered in a storm and limped back to Spithead. He did not arrive in Barbados until April 1796, having been invested with the Order of the Bath, where he undertook the conquest of St. Lucia with Sir Ralph Abercromby. In 1797 he was sent to the Cape of Good Hope as second in command, being promoted to commander-in-chief in 1798, a few months before his death. Hood Hanway Christian was the eldest son of Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian. He joined the navy in 1792 as a volunteer and served on the ships of his father until 1798, serving in both the West Indies and the Cape of Good Hope. He then moved on to HMS GARLAND, HMS BOADICEA (taking part in the attack on the Spanish batteries of the Isle d'Aix) in 1799, and on to HMS QUEEN CHARLOTTE, the flagship of Lord Keith in the Mediterranean. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1800, serving onboard HMS PHEONIX, taking part in the reduction of Genoa. In 1806, after serving with distinction in Rear Admiral Rainier's flag ship HMS TRIDENT, he received a post dated commission, returning home to captain HMS HEROINE, which was part of the Walcheron expeditionary armament. From 1811 to 1814, he was the captain of HMS IRIS, which was based off northern Spain, and from which he actively helped Spanish patriots. This culminated in the capture of the fortress at Castro, of which he was appointed governor. From 1824 to 1828 he served as Commodore on the Cape of Good Hope Station.
Captain John Christopher joined the Royal Navy in June 1839 and served as a seaman on board HMS CAMBRIDGE until November 1841. In March 1842 he commenced a career of over thirty years in the Merchant Service. In 1850 he made a successful claim for a Master's Certificate of Service (his application form is among the papers of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen at the Museum). He served in a number merchant ships including the barque MINMANUETH of Scilly 1865 to1872 in the American trade. In 1872 he left the sea due to ill health although he served as Mate in the REAPER in 1876. He then turned his attentions to shipowning. In 1875 he purchased shares of the schooner LIZZIE MORTON of St Ives in 1879. He also became involved in the foundation of the Hain Steamship Company of St Ives in 1879. The Christopher family continued to play a leading part in the Hain Steamship Company; John Christopher's grandson Sir George P Christopher becoming Chairman and Managing Director and his grandson Captain J Christopher becoming the Company's Marine Superintendant.
Chatfield entered the Navy in 1886, was promoted to lieutenant in 1894 and to captain in 1909. He was captain of the Medina during the Royal Tour of King George V and Queen Mary to India, 1911 to 1912, and later Flag-Captain to Admiral Beatty (1871-1936), 1913 to 1919, combining this duty with responsibility for fleet gunnery in the Queen Elizabeth, 1917 to 1919. He was a delegate to the Washington Naval Conference of 1920, becoming a rear-admiral in that year and he subsequently held a variety of Admiralty and sea-going appointments. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1926. In 1929 he was Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet and of the Mediterranean Fleet from 1930 to 1932. He was First Sea Lord, 1933 to 1938, became Admiral of the Fleet in 1935 and was made a baron in 1937. He was appointed Minister of Co-ordination of Defence, with a seat in the War Cabinet, by Neville Chamberlain in 1939, after serving as chairman of a committee which reported on the defence of India. In April 1940 he resigned as he felt the post was rendered redundant. During the rest of the war he was appointed to various civil defence committees. He wrote two autobiographical works: The navy and defence (London, 1942) and it might happen again (London, 1947).
Thomas Clifford was born at Chudleigh, near Exeter, Devon on 1 August 1630. He matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford in 1647 and then entered the Middle Temple in the following year to complete his education. In November 1664, on the eve of the Second Dutch War, Clifford was made a Commissioner for Sick and Wounded Seamen and Prisoners of War. On 14 January 1665, he was appointed as Sub-Commissioner for Prizes for the Port of London, rising to the position of General Commissioner on 24 March. In the same year, Clifford also received a knighthood and joined the English Fleet at sea participating, with the Duke of York, in the Battle of Lowestoft on 3 June. On 28 June, Charles II granted him the prize ship the PATRIARCH ISSACK, captured from the Dutch, for attention to his duties as Sub-Commissioner for Prizes for the Port of London. In August of that year he was again at sea as Captain of the REVENGE, serving under the Earl of Sandwich at the Battle of Bergen. On 29 August 1665, Clifford was appointed, with Sir Henry Coventry, as Extraordinary Envoy to Sweden and, with Sir Gilbert Talbot, as Extraordinary Envoy to Denmark, to settle questions of commerce and navigation. Sir Clifford was to see direct action again in the Second Dutch War, between 1 and 4 June 1666, when he participated in the Four Days' Battle, and on 25 July 1666 at the St James Day Battle. On 8 November that year, he was appointed Comptroller of the Household and on 5 December he was placed on Charles II's Privy Council. As one of the King's most trusted advisors, he subsequently received a number of high profile appointments, the first in 1667, when he was asked to serve on the Commission of the Treasury. In October 1667, he was requested to assist in the preparation of a report on the English Fleet at war. He was made Treasurer of the Household on 14 June 1668. In 1670, Sir Clifford was responsible, with other ministers including the Earl of Arlington, for the negotiation of the Secret Treaty of Dover of June 1670 with Louis XIV of France, urging Charles II to go to war with the United Provinces. Two years later, during the absence of Coventry and Arlington in Sweden and Holland, Clifford was appointed as Principal Secretary of State. In April 1672, he was created 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh and on 28 November was appointed as Lord High Treasurer. The same year he was also made Treasurer of the Exchequer, and was a principal promoter of the Declaration of Indulgence of 1672, suspending penal laws against dissenters and Catholic recusants. Clifford was a member of the Cabal, a group of inner advisers to Charles II, which included Clifford, Ashley (Lord Shaftesbury), Buckingham (George Villiers), Arlington (Henry Bennett) and Lauderdale (John Maitland). Their initials form the word, although the origin of the term is much earlier. Although never a working ministry, one or more of this group was to dominate Court policy from 1667-1673. After the Test Act of 1673, Clifford as a Roman Catholic was forced to resign his role as Treasurer and in June he left the Privy Council. He died, possibly by his own hand, in September of the same year
Codrington entered the Navy in 1783 and served in the LEANDER, AMBUSCADE and FORMIDABLE in North America and the Mediterranean until 1791. In 1794 he was Earl Howe's (q.v.) Flag Lieutenant in the QUEEN CHARLOTTE and subsequently commanded the fireship COMET and the sloop LA BABET in home waters. In 1796 he was appointed captain of the DRUID, again in home waters, but was unemployed from 1797 until 1805. In this year he commissioned the ORION and was present at Trafalgar. From 1807 he commanded the BLAKE for six years in the Mediterranean, during the Walcheren expedition, 1809, and off the coast of Spain. He was then appointed to the TONNANT, going to the North American Station where he organized the supplies of the army at the capture of Washington. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1814, remaining on the station until 1815. It was not until 1826 that he again saw active service when he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, flying his flag aboard the ASIA, and during this command he undertook operations against the pirates in the Levant. He subsequently took a leading part in the interpretation of allied policy in the Greek War of Independence. These operations culminated in the Battle of Navarino, 1827; this secured Codrington's fame while it also ensured his recall in 1828. After a short period of unemployment, he was appointed to command the Channel Squadron in 1831. He then became Member of Parliament for Devonport, 1832 to 1839, when he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, a post he held until 1842. The papers have been used by Lady Bourchier, Codrington's daughter, in Memoir of the life of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington (London, 1873, 2 vols) and in C.G. Pitcairn Jones, ed. , 'Piracy in the Levant' (Navy Records Society, 1934).
Codrington, third son of Sir Edward Codrington (q.v.), joined the Navy in 1823 and spent the early years of his service in the Mediterranean, being Signal Midshipman in his father's flagship, Asia, at the battle of Navarino, 1827, where he was severely wounded. He was made a lieutenant in 1829 and commander in 1831. His first command was the ORESTES, Mediterranean Station, 1834 to 1836. As Captain of the TALBOT he took a leading part in the operations culminating in the siege of Acre, in 1840. In 1846 he was again sent to the Mediterranean in the THETIS where the circumstances leading to the revolutions of 1848 involved him in various diplomatic missions. At the outbreak of the Crimean War, 1854, Codrington was in the Baltic in the ROYAL GEORGE, moving to the Algiers after the war. He became a rear-admiral in 1857 and was Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard, 1858 to 1863. He was Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth, 1869 to 1872, but never hoisted his flag afloat. He was made Admiral of the Fleet in the year of his death. The papers have been used by Lady Bourchier, Codrington's sister, in Selections from the letters, private end professional, of Sir Henry Codrington Admiral of the Fleet (London, 1880).
Younger son of Commander William Owen, W F Owen entered the Navy in 1788 and served on the Home and West Indies Stations. He was in the Culloden at the battle of the First of June 1794 and became a lieutenant in 1797. In 1803 he went to the East Indies where he surveyed the Maldive Islands and assisted at the capture of Batavia in 1806. He was a captive of the French in Mauritius from 1808 to 1810 during which time, in 1809, he was promoted to commander. In 1811 he commanded the BARRACOUTA at the capture of Java. He became a captain and was posted to the CORNELIA, East Indies Station, in 1812. From 1815 to 1816 Owen was engaged in a survey of the Great Lakes and from 1821 to 1826 in the LEVEN, with the BARRACOUTA, conducted the first survey of the coasts of Africa. In the Eden he founded a colony on Fernando Po in 1827 and then served on the coast of South America until 1831. His only other command was the COLUMBIA, North America, in 1847. He returned to England at the end of the year on his promotion to rear-admiral. Owen became a vice-admiral in 1854 and retired in 1855.
Cochrane entered the Navy in 1888 and first went to sea in the BELLEROPHONE in 1890, going to North America and the West Indies. He then joined the Channel Squadron in the ROYAL SOVEREIGN, 1892 to 1893, and went out again to the West Indies in the VOLAGE until 1894. Later he served in the Mediterranean and the Home Fleet and was on the China Station when war broke Out in 1914. In 1918 he was promoted to captain and retired with the rank of rear-admiral in 1929.
Cornwallis entered the Navy in 1755 and served in the Newark in North America and the Dunkirk in the Channel, 1759 to 1760. He became a lieutenant in 1761 and a commander in 1762, the year he took the SWIFT to the West Indies where he remained until 1765, when he was promoted to captain. His next ship was the GUADELOUPE, Mediterranean, to which he was appointed in 1768, going in her to Newfoundland in 1769 and thence to the West Indies until 1773. From 1774 to 1776 he went on two commissions to West Africa and Jamaica in the Pallas. Between 1777 and 1778 he commanded the Isis in North America and in 1779 was appointed to the LION, remaining in her until 1781, in the West Indies. He was present at the battle of Grenada, 1779, and was at both the battles of St. Kitts, 1782, and the Saints, 1782, in the Canada. In 1788 he became Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, in the Crown and towards the end of his command reduced Pondicherry. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1793 and to vice-admiral in 1794, when he was appointed to the EXCELLENT in the Channel, from which he moved quickly to the CAESAR and then to the ROYAL SOVEREIGN. In 1796 he commanded an expedition to the West Indies but after a collision Cornwallis turned back: he was court-martialled but acquitted. In 1799 he was made an admiral and in 1801 succeeded Earl St. Vincent to the command of the Channel Fleet. With the exception of the period of peace he maintained the blockade of Brest in the Ville de Paris until he was superseded by St Vincent in 1806. He saw no further active service. Cornwallis was Member of Parliament for Eye in Suffolk from 1768 to 1774, 1782 to 1784 and 1790 to 1807 and for Portsmouth from 1784 to 1790. The papers were used by John Leyland ed., Dispatches and letters relating to the blockade of Brest Navy Records Society, 1898, 1901). There is a biography by G Cornwallis-West, The life and letters of Admiral Cornwallis (London, 1927).
Cowan entered the BRITANNIA as a naval cadet in 1884. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1892 and commanded the REDBREAST between 1893 and 1895 in the Red Sea. In 1895 he was appointed to the BARROSA, Cape Station. He saw active service during the Brass River and Benin expeditions in 1897 and in 1898 commanded the gunboat flotilla on the Nile during the operations in the Sudan. Cowan was promoted to commander in 1901 and to captain in 1906. After almost two years in the post of Assistant to the Admiral of Patrols, Cowan was sent in 1914 to the Zealandia, Grand Fleet. He joined the PRINCESS ROYAL in 1915 and in her was present at Jutland, 1916. He was appointed Commodore commanding the First Light Cruiser Squadron, Grand Fleet, in 1917 and reappointed after his promotion to rear-admiral in 1918. He continued to command it as well as the naval force in the Baltic during the anti-Bolshevik operations in 1920, for which he became well-known. In 1921 he took command of the Baltic Cruiser Squadron. After a year as Commanding Officer on the coast of Scotland, Cowan became, in 1926, Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies, and it was during his two years there that his Station was extended to include South America. Cowan was promoted to admiral in 1927, was appointed First and Principal Aide-de-Camp to the King in 1929 and retired in 1930. At the age of sixty-eight, he persuaded the Admiralty to employ him for the duration of the war in the rank of commander. He served as liaison officer with a commando brigade in the eastern Mediterranean during 1941 and was then attached to an Indian regiment in the Western Desert. He was captured at Bir Hakeim in 1942 and repatriated the following year. After further active service he retired in 1945. See Lionel Dawson, Sound of the guns (Oxford, 1949) and Geoffrey Bennett, Cowan's war (London, 1964).
The Canadian Pacific Railway Co was incorporated in 1881. Its prime responsibility was to build a transcontinental railway from Montreal to Vancouver. This was completed in 1885. In the meantime, in 1883, the company built three steamers for use on the Great Lakes and to assist in the construction of the railway. During the latter half of 1886, seven sailing vessels were chartered to bring tea and other goods from China and Japan to Port Moody, near Vancouver. Early in the next year, more vessels were chartered for a regular service and in 1889 orders were placed for three 6,000 ton vessels, the EMPRESS OF INDIA, the EMPRESS OF JAPAN and the EMPRESS OF CHINA. In 1902 C P R bought out the Canadian interest in the Elder Dempster Co, the Beaver Line, and started their first transatlantic service. With the entry of the C P R into the North Atlantic service, competition soon became very keen with the Allan Line. In 1915 the Allan Line was taken over by the C P R and a new company, the Canadian Pacific Ocean Service took over the operation of the two fleets.
Joined RN 1876; R Adm, Home Fleet, Portsmouth and President of Submarine Committee 1913; served World War One, 1914-1918; Commanding 5 Battle Sqn, Channel Fleet 1914-1915; Senior Naval Officer in charge of Gibraltar 1915; retired 1919.
Dannreuther entered the Navy as a cadet in 1885 and trained in HMS BRITANNIA. In 1887 he went to sea as midshipman in HMS GARNET which was posted to the East Indies Station. He was in HMS INFLEXIBLE, Mediterranean, in 1891, after which he specialized in navigation. From 1892 to 1894 he served in HMS IRIS and HMS FOXHOUND in home waters. He was appointed lieutenant of HMS MELITA in 1894, serving in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and took part in the Dongola expedition of 1896. Dannreuther was in HMS LEANDER in the Pacific from 1897 to 1900. He subsequently served in HMS ARIADNE and HMS HOOD, Mediterranean, HMS LEVIATHAN, China Station, and HMS BACHANTE, HMS ROXBOROUGH and HMS VINDICTIVE in home waters. He was promoted to commander in 1905 and served in HMS LEVIATHAN and HMS AMPHITRITE on manoeuvres, 1895-1899 the Home Station from 1906 to 1907 and in HMS KENT on the China Station, 1907 to 1909. In 1911 he was appointed to command HME INTREPID, one of the early minelayers, and from 1914 to 1915 was engaged in the same capacity on HMS MARS. In 1915 he commanded HMS KINFAUNS CASTLE at the Cape of Good Hope and, from 1916 to 1919, HMS PATUCA, on convoy escort duties in northern waters. He was promoted to captain in 1918. Dannreuther's last appointment was as one of the Assistant Directors of Naval Intelligence from 1919 to 1921.
Dick entered the Royal Navy in 1914, following an education at both Osborne and Dartmouth Royal Naval Colleges. As a Midshipman, Dick saw action at the Battle of the Falklands, Jutland and at Archangel in North Russia. Dick was promoted to Lieutenant in 1918, Commander in 1933 and Captain in 1940, serving as Deputy Chief of Staff, Mediterranean Station (Matapan), 1940-42. Then as Commodore, was Chief of Staff to Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, Mediterranean Station, 1942-44. After the war, Dick served as the Captain of HMS Belfast, 1944-46, before taking several land-based positions, including Director, Tactical and Staff duties, Admiralty, 1947-48 and Chief of Staff to Flag Officer, Western Europe, 1948-50, before his promotion to Rear-Admiral. Dick was then Naval ADC to the King for one year, after which he served as Flag Officer, Training Squadron, 1951-52, before being offered the NATO post of Standing Group Liason Officer to North Atlantic Council, which he held for three years, before retiring in 1955.
De Vitre, a naval chaplain who joined the service in 1898, served in the Mediterranean before the First World War and in the Canopus in the Dardanelles. He later retired to a parish in Berkshire.
Duff entered the Navy in 1875, passed as a sub-lieutenant in 1881 and as a lieutenant in 1884, after which he specialized in torpedo duties. He was promoted to commander in 1897 and to captain in 1902. In 1911 he became Director of Naval mobilization and two years later was promoted to rear-admiral. During the first half of the war he was second-in-command of the Fourth Battle Squadron, flying his flag in the EMPEROR OF INDIA in 1914 and in the SUPERB at Jutland, 1916. Duff was then appointed as Director of the Anti-Submarine Division. In 1917 he was made Assistant Chief of Naval Staff. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1918 and from 1919 to 1922 was Commander-in-Chief on the China Station. He retired in 1925.
Dixie entered the Navy in 1795 as a first-class volunteer and was captured by the French in 1797. After ten months in captivity he joined La Pomone, serving in the Mediterranean and then joined the Orion in the West Indies. In 1804 he was with Nelson (q.v.) who confirmed him as a lieutenant; he was present at the battle of Trafalgar, 1805. Until 1814 he was in North America. He retired in 1815 and in 1851 was promoted to captain on the retired list.
John Donaldson was born in Aberdeen, later studying Engineering at Glasgow University. It was here that he met fellow pupil John Isaac Thornycroft, who became a lifelong friend. After graduating, Donaldson worked in Calcutta for the Department of Public Works. It was whilst in India that he married John Thornycroft's sister, Frances. Returning to England in 1873 due to Frances' ill health, Donaldson joined Thornycroft as a partner in his boatyard at Chiswick. It was here that Donaldson's skill as an engineer came into its own, designing and working on various craft, especially fast torpedo boats, for which the company became famous. John Donaldson lived and worked in Chiswick until his relatively early death in 1899, aged 58.
Bethune was the son of the army officer and historian Colonel John Drinkwater (d 1844) and it was not until 1837 that he took the name Bethune. He entered the Navy in 1815 as a first-class volunteer in the NORTHUMBERLAND and sailed in her from 1815 to 1816 on the voyage taking Napoleon to exile in St Helena. In 1817 he joined the LEANDER in North America; he then went to South America, where he served in the SUPERB and the CREOLE from 1819 until 1823. Still on this station, he was promoted to lieutenant, 1823, and joined the DORIS and then the BARHAM until promoted to commander in 1828. From 1828 to 1829 he commanded the ESPIEGLE, Jamaica Station. He was promoted to captain in 1830. At Palmerston's request, in 1835, he joined the Embassy of the Earl of Durham (1792-1840) to Russia to report on the naval installations in the Black Sea. Later he served in the East Indies and in the China War. He was made rear-admiral in 1855, vice-admiral in 1862, admiral in 1866 and retired in 1870.
In the early years of the nineteenth century Zachary MacAulay and William Wilberforce established a fund for the relief of distressed seamen. The committee appointed to manage the fund met for the first time on 8 March 1821 and from this meeting was formed the Seamen's Hospital Society. The purpose of the new society was the establishment of a hospital solely for seamen. The 48 gun GRAMPUS was loaned by the Admiralty for conversion as a hospital ship and she was moored at Greenwich in October 1821.
Within the next ten years it became clear that the accomodation in the GRAMPUS could not meet the demand and in 1831 the Admiralty agreed to replace her with a larger hulk, the DREADNOUGHT, previously used by the Royal Navy as a hospital ship at Milford Haven. In 1833 the hospital was incorporated by Act of Parliament as 'The Seamen's Hospital Society'.
In 1832 the high incidence of cholera prompted the Central Board of Health to convert the DOVER as an isolation hospital and she joined the DREADNOUGHT at Greenwich. The Society took over the maintenance of this ship in 1835, also taking responsibility for other ships as time went on to combat outbreaks of disease. The DREADNOUGHT in turn proved inadequate to cope with the numbers, principally merchant seamen, requiring medical treatment and in 1857 she was replaced by the 120 gun CALEDONIA, renamed DREADNOUGHT by special permission of the Admiralty.
Debate arose in 1860 as to whether the hospital ship should move to a more convenient mooring or whether a new base should be sought ashore. Application was made to the Admiralty for the tenancy of the then little used Greenwich hospital, and in 1867 it was agreed that part, at least, of the building should be made available. After further negotiations, the Admiralty in 1870 leased the Infirmary, together with Somerset Ward to the Society at a nominal rental. The DREADNOUGHT hulk remained in use at Greenwich until 1872 as isolation accomodation.
The Society continued to expand, opening branch hospitals and other establishments including, in 1877, the Dreadnought School for Nurses. With the advent of the National Health Service in 1948 the hospital and its branches were handed over to the Minister for Health, the Dreadnoght Hospital itself surviving as a hospital for seamen, administered by the Seamen's Hospital Management Committee until 1974. This committee was succeeded by the Greenwich and Bexley Area Health Authority and later, in 1982, by the Greenwich Health Authority. The hospital was closed in 1986.
Bibliography:
McBride, A. G, 'The History of the Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital at Greenwich', Seamen's Hospital Management Commitee, Greenwich, 1970.
Plumridge, J. H 'Hospital Ships and Ambulance Trains', London 1975.
(Both of these volumes are available in the Library as PBN7334 and PBB4449 respectively)
The majority of the correspondence and papers is formed of letters addressed to William Dawson (1779-1844), a merchant from Tarbert, Argyllshire, from his two sons, Dugald and William. Dugald Dawson (1805-1841) was an overseer of a sugar plantation in Trinidad, during which time he witnessed poor harvests due to bad weather and changes brought about by the efforts of Missionaries to free the slaves: he died at sea in Mar 1841, aged 36 years. William Dawson Jnr (1810-1858) was an Argyllshire merchant sea captain who sailed all over the world, including California, New Zealand, Africa and Madras, in the barque "Cornwall": he died in Singapore on 27 Jul 1858, aged 48.
In 1873 the Government of Queensland contracted with four British and Australian merchants to carry mail between Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, Queensland and Sydney (later extending at both ends, to Hong Kong and Melbourne respectively). This was the genesis of the Eastern and Australian Mail Steamship Company Ltd. In 1880 the mail contract was not renewed: the original company was wound up and a new company formed, the word 'Mail' being omitted from the title. This company concentrated on the Australia to Hong Kong trade, eventually extending its operations to Shanghai and Japan. A second reconstruction of the company took place in 1894. In 1919 it was taken over by the Australasian United Steam Navigation Ltd, although it continued to operate as a more or less independent entity until the end of the Second World War. Although Lord Inchcape, chairman of P and O, held extensive shareholdings in the Australasian Steam Navigation Company at the time of its takeover of Eastern and Australian, it was only in 1946 that it became directly connected with P and 0. In that year a new company was formed in which P and O, as opposed to Inchcape, held the majority shareholding. Thereafter the fleet, never a large one, numbering six at most, was maintained by the transfer of ships from other P and O group companies, until 1954, when a fast new geared steam turbine vessel, the Arafura, was acquired. Manned at first by British and later by Australian officers and engineers, the Eastern and Australian ships played a significant part in the development of the Australian Merchant Marine. Starting as mail and passenger carriers, they became successively passenger and cargo vessels and finally cargo only, constituting a fast cargo link between Australia and the Far East. With the advent of containerization, Eastern and Australian, with China Navigation, constituted the Overseas Containers' share in the Australia/Japan Container Line. Their last two ships were sold in 1975. See William Olson, Lion of the China Sea (Sydney, 1976); and W.A. Laxon, 'The Eastern Mails: the story of the Eastern and Australian Steamship Co Ltd', Sea Breezes, October 1963.
Engineering - volumes
Robert Fairfax joined the navy in 1687 and participated in the battles of Bantry Bay (1689) and Beachy Head (1690). He captained the BERWICK, one of the 20 ships with which Rear Admiral Byng seized Gibraltar. He played a prominent role in the battle of Malaga (1704), and the reduction of Barcelona (1706). He became Rear Admiral of the Blue following the disasterous death of Sir Cloudsley Shovell (1707), but the promotion was instead given to Lord Dursley, by dint of the former's connections. Fairfax was left without employment, and after unsuccessfully petitioning the Crown to be reinstated, retired altogether from naval life. In 1713 Fairfax was elected to the seat of York but his rival candidate, Mr Tobias Jenkyns, disputed the result and a recount took place. Fairfax was returned, though he lost the seat the following year, when elected Alderman of the city of York. In 1715 he was elected Lord Mayor. Fairfax also purchased his estate of Bilbrough from his extended family. He died in 1725 leaving his wife, a son, and a daughter. His wife out lived him by another 10 years.
Foley entered the Navy in 1770 and after early service in Newfoundland and the West Indies was promoted to lieutenant in 1778. During the American War he saw service in the Channel, North America and the West Indies. In 1782 he was promoted to commander and in 1790 to captain. After a period on the Home Station, he was Flag-Captain in the BRITANNIA at the battle of Cape St Vincent, 1797, and in the GOLIATH he led the Fleet into action at the Nile, 1798. In 1800, Foley was appointed to the ELEPHANT in the Channel Fleet, going later to the Baltic, where he served at the battle of Copenhagen, 1801. Foley 'was then ill and unfit for service for several years until his appointment as Commander-in-Chief in the Downs from 1811 to the peace, 1815. He had been promoted to rear-admiral in 1808, became a vice-admiral in 1812 and in 1825 an admiral. In 1830 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, where he served until his death. There is a privately printed biography by John Beresford Herbert, The life and services of Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, G.C.B., Rear-Admiral of Great Britain (Cardiff, 1884).
Fraser entered the Navy in 1880. As a midshipman he served in the MONARCH and the AGINCOURT, Mediterranean Station, between 1882 and 1885 and then in the ACTIVE between 1885 and 1886 mostly in the East Indies. Having attended the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, he was promoted to lieutenant in 1888. In 1890 he was appointed to the KINGFISHER in the East Indies, after which he specialised in torpedo duties, serving at the torpedo school Vernon in 1894 and again between 1897 and 1900. He organized the illumination of the Fleet at the opening of the Kiel Canal in 1899, probably the first time this had been done by electricity. After promotion to commander in the same year, he joined the VINDICTIVE in the Mediterranean. During this period he became seriously ill and had eventually to be invalided, retiring as captain in 1907. During the First World War he served in the Torpedo and Mining Division of the Admiralty, specialising in defensive mining.
Fuller entered the Navy in 1887 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1893. He specialized in gunnery and served on the staff of the EXCELLENT in 1902. Two years later he was promoted to commander and became a captain in 1910. After service in China, Fuller took command of the CUMBERLAND, 1914, and in the latter part of that year was Senior Naval Officer in the campaign against the German territories in Togoland and the Cameroons. He continued on this service in the CHALLENGER and the ASTREA and saw the successful termination of the operation in 1915. Fuller subsequently had a distinguished career, becoming Director of the Plans Division of the Naval Staff, 1917, Head of the British Naval Section at the Peace Conference in Paris, 1919 to 1920, and Second Sea Lord in 1932. He retired in the same year.
Goodsall entered the merchant service in 1863 and in 1867 joined the Bombay Shipping Company as second mate. His submarine telegraph work began as Third Officer in the cable ship KANGAROO with the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, laying a cable from Singapore to Hong Kong. As Second Officer in the Company's ship VANESSA between 1872 and 1873, he participated in the laying of the duplicate Placentia-St.Pierre-Sydney cable. Late in 1873 he was Third and Navigating Officer in the Great Eastern, working on the cable from Valentia to Newfoundland. He subsequently commanded other cable ships, including the CHILTERN, which was employed in the Red Sea, 1883 to 1884.
Geary entered the Navy in 1727, became a lieutenant in 1734, a captain in 1742 and served through the War of Austrian Succession. During the early part of the Seven Years War he was in North America and then returned, in 1757, to take command at the Nore for a few months, in the PRINCESS ROYAL. In 1758 he moved into the LENOX, Channel Fleet, and in the following year served on the same station in the RESOLUTION and then in the SANDWICH. It was in the latter ship that he hoisted his flag in 1759 as rear-admiral and commanded detached squadrons in the Channel until late in 1760. After this he became Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth until 1762, when he became vice-admiral. His next service was in the same command between 1769 and 1771. Having been promoted to admiral in 1775, in 1780 he took up his last appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet.
The GANGES, launched in 1821, became a training ship for boys in 1866. The ship was moored in Falmouth Bay until 1899 when it was moved to the Essex Coast off Shotley, near Harwich, where it remained until 1906. From 1905 the training establishment was based on shore at Shotley where it remained until its closure in 1976.
John Henry Godfrey entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet in 1903. He was promoted to Midshipman in 1904, to Sub-Lieutenant in 1908 and to Lieutenant of the light cruiser BLANCHE in 1913. He served on HMS EURYALUS during the Dardenelles campaign in 1915, and in 1916 Godfrey was promoted to Lieutnenant-Commander. Between 1916-19, Godfrey was on the staff of C-in-C Mediterranean, Admiral Wemyss, after which he was a Junior War Staff officer on the staff of Sir Charles Madden, C-in-C Home Fleet. In 1920, Godfrey was promoted to Commander, at the time, one of the youngest to hold that rank. From 1923 to 1931, Godfrey was on the directing staff of the Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, with a brief break in between from 1925-28, when he served as second in command of HMS DIOMEDE. (After this he was promoted to Captain and returned to the Royal Naval Staff College in 1929 as Deputy Director.) Godfrey then commanded HMS KENT, HMS SUFFOLK and from 1936-39, was in command of HMS REPULSE in the Mediterranean Fleet. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1939, Godfrey took up the postition of Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI), which he held until 1942, when he was made Vice-Admiral. He was then appointed Flag Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Navy (FOCRIN) in 1943, being responsible for its organisation, training, administration, etc. In 1945, Godfrey was placed on the retired list and promoted to Admiral. However, he continued to serve as FOCRIN until March of 1946, thereby completing a full 3 years service in that position.
Gould entered the Navy in 1906 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1911. He served on the China Station and in the Mediterranean, but was invalided from active service in 1915. In 1916 he was appointed Naval Assistant to the Hydrographer of the Admiralty, a post he held until 1927. In 1920 Gould offered to clean and reconstruct the four Harrison marine timekeepers belonging to the nation, now on display in the National Maritime Museum.
The first ship builder connected with Blackwall Yard was Sir Henry Johnson (d.1683), who passed it on to his son (d 1693). The yard then passed on to Philip Perry who passed the firm to his second son John Perry in 1776. The yard was then taken over by Sir Robert Wigram (1744- 1830), who bought the Perry shares. In 1819 he sold half the yard to George Green and his two sons Money and Henry Loftus Wigram retained the other half. George Green (1767- 1849) was taken into partnership in 1796 and married his employer' s daughter (Miss Perry). He built the Green' s sailors' Home in the East India Dock Road in 1840-1 and the Trinity Schools and Trinity Chapel. In 1829, Richard Green, known as "Dicky Green" (1803-1863), was taken into partnership. The company became known as Green, Wigram and Green. In 1843 the eastern portion of the yard became R and H Green's and the western portion Money Wigram and sons. "Dicky" left the practical side of the yard to his brother Henry who was trained as both shipwright and seaman. In 1858 the East India Company dissolved due to the Indian Mutiny. This led to much competition with individual firms and the Green' s Blackwall line became occupied with purchasing and building vessels in the interests of valauble eastern trade and the Australian passenger trade. In 1855 the Greens became involved with the Crimean War, they built 14 screw gunboats over 200 tons. Dicky Green was a lover of teak and British Oak and would not build using iron, but, after his death all opposition was removed and the firm built their first iron ship, the SUPERB (lauched 1866). Money and Wigram and son' s shipyard closed in 1893, sold to the London Midland and Scottish Railway. The fleet was sold to Mr Allen Hughes. R and H Green, from the 1970's onwards built mainly paddle steamers; the final ship built was the AMY in 1903. R and H Green merged with Silley Weir Ltd in 1910 and became shiprepairers. In 1918 R and H Green and Silley Weir Ltd took over Cox and Co Ltd and acquired Falmouth Docks and Engineering Co. In 1977, London Graving Dock Co Ltd merged with R and H Green and Silley Weir Ltd and became the River Thames Shiprepairers Ltd (ceased trading 1982).
Grant, son of an Aberdeen merchant, entered naval service as a clerk in 1778. In 1794 he was appointed to the LUTINE as Purser, and in 1795 to the DIDO. Two years later he was appointed to the GOLIATH and was present at the Battle of the Nile. In 1799 he applied for an exchange to home service for health reasons and returned with the GOLIATH at the end of the year. He remained in England until 1801 when he rejoined his ship and went to the West Indies. His health became so bad that he was invalided back to England.
Edward Heron-Allen (1861-1943) was a marine biologist and zoologist.
This officer, known throughout his naval career as Hallowell, took the additional name of Carew in 1828. In 1783 he was a lieutenant, becoming a commander in 1790. He served off Africa and was in the Mediterranean as one of Nelson's 'Band of Brothers'. In 1812 he hoisted his flag in the MALTA, again in the Mediterranean, where he remained until the peace. He was Commander-in-Chief on the coast of Ireland, 1816 to 1818, and at the Nore, 1821 to 1824. Attaining the rank of vice-admiral in 1819, he was advanced to admiral in 1830.
Hamilton spent some years in the army before marrying an heiress. From 1764 to 1800 he was Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Naples. His first wife died in 1782 and in 1791 he married Emma Hart, formerly his nephew's mistress, who had been living with him since 1786. The Hamiltons enjoyed considerable influence with the Neapolitan royal family and succeeded in persuading them to ally Naples with Britain against the French, although this led to the flight of the government to Sicily in 1798 and 1799. In 1800 Hamilton was recalled. He travelled home across Europe with Lady Hamilton and Nelson and eventually settled with them at Merton, where he died.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Cedric S. Holland (affectionately known as "Hookey") joined HMS BRITANNIA as a Cadet in 1905 and went on to serve in the Royal Navy from 1906 until his retirement in 1946. His early career saw him serving as Midshipman on the HMS SUFFOLK, the HMS IRRESISTIBLE and the HMS BULWARK (1906-1909). He was promoted to Lieutenant on the 31st August 1911, going on to serve on the HMS SHANNON with the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow, August-November 1914. He also served as Squadron Wireless Officer with HMS REVENGE during the Turko-Greek conflict (1920). From July 1928-August 1929, Holland commanded the HMS KENT in China, SE Asia and Japan. During this time he attended the funeral of Dr Sun Yat Sen (31st May 1929) and the annual Naval Regatta at Wei-Hai-Wei. As Captain of the HMS KEMPENFELT (1934-1936) he served in the Mediterranean. He was Naval Attache for France, Holland, Belgium, Spain and Portugal from January 1938 to April 1940 and was also Head of the Naval Mission to the French Admiralty from the outbreak of war until April 1940. Holland commanded the aircraft carrier HMS ARK ROYAL from May 1940 to May 1941 and it was during this time that he undertook the role for which he will be most remembered, that of chief negotiator with the French during the Mers el Kebir affair (July 1940). From May 1941 to January 1942 he held the post of Chief of Staff to Lord Gort at Gibraltar and was appointed Director of Naval Communications at Admiralty from January 1942 until November 1943, during which time he was promoted to Rear Admiral (6th February 1942). Holland served as Principal Administrative Officer for the Navy in South-East Asia from November 1943 to September 1945 - the first appointment of this kind ever made. He received promotion to Vice-Admiral on the 1st June 1945 and was actively involved in planning and executing the re-occupation of Singapore in September 1945. Vice-Admiral Holland retired from active service in 1946.
Howe entered the Navy in 1740, was made a lieutenant in 1744 and a captain in 1746. After service on the Guinea coast, the West Indies, the Mediterranean and on the North American Station, he served in the Channel during the Seven Years War. He was elected Member of Parliament for Dartmouth in 1757, and succeeded his brother to the Irish peerage in the following year. He held his parliamentary seat until raised to the British peerage in 1782. In 1763 he was a Lord of the Admiralty and from 1765 to 1770 was Treasurer of the Navy. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1770 and to vice-admiral in 1775. He was then appointed Commander-in-Chief, North America, but came home in 1778 and did not serve again until 1782. Howe became First Lord of the Admiralty in 1783, which position, apart from the period between April and December 1783, he held until 1788. He was created Earl Howe in this year. In 1790 he took command of the Channel Fleet during the Nootka Sound mobilization as he did later at the outbreak of war in 1793. During this time Howe continued reforms in signalling. In 1794 he commanded the fleet which brought the French to action at the battle of the First of June. He finally gave up the command after a long period of ill-health, in 1797. See George Mason, The life of Richard Earl Howe (London, 1803) and Sir John Harrow, The life of Richard Earl Howe E.G. Admiral of the Fleet and General of Marines (London, 1838).
Hope entered the Navy in 1811. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1817 and to commander in 1822 and commanded the BRISK, Nore, 1824 to 1826. He was promoted to captain in 1826. Between 1830 and 1834 he commanded the TYNE, South America. From January to July 1835 he commanded the DUBLIN, fitting out at Plymouth. Between 1841 and 1845 he was Senior Officer at Chusan during the First China War. He was made Superintendant of Sheerness Dockyard and captain of the MONARCH, guardship of the ordinary at Sheerness, 1851 to 1854. He was promoted to Rear Admiral and died in 1854.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Keppel entered the Navy in 1822 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1828, when he was appointed to the GALATEA in home waters and later in the West Indies. He then went to the East Indies in the MAGICIENNE. In 1833, he was promoted to commander and the following year commanded the CHILDERS off Spain during the Carlist War. In 1837, he was promoted to captain and in 1841 commanded the DIDO during the China War. After this he remained in the East Indies, helping Sir James Brooke (1803-1868) to suppress pirates off Borneo. He commanded, after two years on half-pay, the MEANDER on the same station, returning to England in 1851. In 1853 he was appointed to the ST JOAN D'ACR in the Baltic and then, in 1855, went to the RODNEY in the Black Sea, serving with distinction in the Crimea. In 1856 he went again to China where he lost his ship the RALEIGH; Keppel was acquitted in the subsequent court martial. He commandeered the Hong Kong, a river steamer, and at the battle of Fatshan Creek, on the Canton River, destroyed a powerful force of pirates in 1857, the year he was promoted to rear-admiral. In 1860 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Cape and Brazil Station. He became a vice-admiral in 1864 and from 1866 to 1869 commanded the China Squadron. Between 1872 and 1875 he was Commander-in-Chief at Devonport and in 1877 was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet. Keppel published his memoirs, A sailors life under four sovereigns (London, 1899). See also Sir Algernon Edward West, Memoir of Sir Henry Keppel G.C.B. Admiral of the Fleet (London, 1945) and V.E. Stuart, The beloved little admiral (London, 1967).
Hamilton (known throughout his career as 'Turtle'), son of Admiral Sir Frederick Tower Hamilton, entered the Navy in 1903. After Dartmouth he served on the Mediterranean Station, 1908 to 1910, in the ALBEMARLE and the PRINCE OF WALES. Between 1910 and 1911 he was in the VANGUARD in the Channel and went in the VENUS to the Indian Durbar of 1911. He was made lieutenant in 1913, after which he went to the CUMBERLAND and took a prominent part in the Cameroons operations, 1914 to 1915. Subsequently he began a long service commanding destroyers in the Harwich Force. Between 1915 and 1916 he was in the MOORSOM and in the TAURUS from 1917 to 1918. He was appointed to the STRENUOUS, home waters, in 1921, to the QUEEN ELIZABETH, home waters, 1922 to 1924 and in 1925 to the Royal Yacht, VICTORIA AND ALBERT, becoming a commander in 1926. He next served in the destroyers WANDERER and WILD SWAN, Mediterranean and China, 1927 to 1928, returned to the Mediterranean for a short period in 1929 and was at the Admiralty from 1931 to 1932. He was promoted to captain in 1932, commanded the NORFOLK, flagship on the East Indies Station, 1935 to 1937, and was Captain of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 1938 to 1939. Promoted to rear-admiral in 1941, he commanded the First Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet, from 1940 to 1942, during which he was ordered to abandon the Arctic convoy PQ17. He was Flag Officer, Malta, 1943 to 1945, and then went to Australia as First Member of the Commonwealth Naval Board, 1945 to 1948. He was made an admiral in 1947 and retired in 1948.
William Clift was born in Cornwall in 1775, and was educated locally. He became an apprentice anatomical assistant to the celebrated surgeon John Hunter (1728-1793) in 1792. He was appointed conservator of the Hunterian Museum after Hunter's death. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1823, and was a member of the Society for Animal Chemistry. He died in 1849.
Philip Syng Physick was born in 1768. He was an American physician, who mainly studied in Philadelphia, but was also a pupil of John Hunter whilst in London. He became known as 'The Father of American Surgery.' He died in 1837.