Lieutenant-Commander Cazaly was the Officer Commanding, 11th LCT flotilla during the latter half of the Second World War, taking part in Operation "Husky" (The allied invasion of Sicily in 1943) and then Operation "Neptune" (the naval element of the D-Day landings in 1944). On D-Day, Cazaly was responsible for landing Duplex-Drive Sherman tanks of the Canadian 10th Armoured Regiment (Fort Garry Horse) on to Nan Sector of Juno beach, in order to give support to the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade. Like other LCT commanders on D-Day, Cazaly took the decision that due to the rough seas, he would take the tanks right onto the beach, as opposed to letting them off of the landing craft out from the beach and letting them swim in, as was the plan.
Coles entered the Navy in 1838 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1846. He served in the Mediterranean and was made a commander in 1854 and a captain in 1856. His experiences in the Crimean War led him to experiment with defensive armour and turrets for ships, which he developed often at his own expense. HMS CAPTAIN, launched in 1869, was a low feeboard turret vessel built to Coles's design against the views of the Surveyor of the Navy. On trials, the CAPTAIN capsized off Cape Finisterre in 1870, drowning her designer and almost 500 other officers and crew.
The partnership of Devitt and Moore was started in 1836 by Thomas Henry Devitt (1800-1860) and Joseph Moore (fl 1836-1870). They began as trading brokers for a number of merchants who owned sailing vessels on the Australia run. On the death of Thomas H Devitt in 1860 his eldest son, Thomas Lane Devitt (1839-1923), who had joined the company in 1855, and Joseph Moore Jr became partners with Joseph Moore Sr. Under the direction of Thomas L Devitt, the business was greatly expanded and in 1863 the company purchased their first sailing ships and began their long association with the passenger and cargo trade to Australia. In 1870 they purchased their only steamship. In December 1878 Devitt and Moore joined with F Green and Co of London. As the importance of the sailing ship in the Australian trade began to decline the company turned its attention to the training of sea cadets, and The Ocean Training Scheme, devised by Lord Brassey and Thomas Lane Devitt, was begun in 1890. Known as the 'Brassey Scheme', its vessels were owned jointly by Lord Brassey and Devitt and Moore but managed by the latter company. The object was to develop a method of training officers for the Merchant Marine. Apart from practical seamanship, training instructions were provided on board the vessels to teach the cadets arithmetic, algebra, geometry, navigation and nautical astronomy. The first vessels acquired for the new scheme were the iron ships Harbinger and Hesperus. The four-masted barque PORT JACKSON was acquired in 1906. Another four-masted barque, the MEDWAY, was purchased in 1910 and the training scheme extended under a new company, Devitt and Moore Ocean Training Ship Ltd. The MEDWAY remained in service until 1918. In 1917 Devitt purchased 'Clayesmore', a large country house near Pangbourne and, together with his youngest son Philip Henry Devitt (1876-1947) founded the Nautical College. In 1929 the firm of Verne, Son and Eggar took over the shipbroking and chartering business of Devitt and Moore. In 1931 the company was reconstructed and renamed Devitt and Moore Nautical College Ltd.
Domvile entered the Navy in 1892 and served in the SOVEREIGN in the Channel. From 1895 to 1897 he went to the CRESCENT, flagship in North America, followed by a period in the ACTIVE, Training Squadron. After promotion to lieutenant in 1898, Domvile was in the REVENGE in the Mediterranean before taking the specialist gunnery course in EXCELLENT, after which he was a staff officer there. From 1903 to 1907 he was on the Mediterranean Station, firstly as gunnery officer in the MONTAGU and then in the LEVIATHAN. His next appointment was with the Home Fleet, from 1907 to 1901 It was at this time that he ran foul of Sir John (later Lord) Fisher (1841-1920) over an essay which won the Gold medal of the Royal United Service Institution in 1907. Promoted to commander at the end of 1909, Domvile commanded the destroyers BONETTA and RATTLESNAKE in home waters, 1910 to 1912, after which he became Assistant secretary to the Committee on Imperial Defence until 1914. He spent the whole war with the Harwich Force in command of the MIRANDA, LIGHTFOOT, ARETHUSA, CARYSFORT, CENTUAR and CURACAO, the latter four being Admiral Tyrwhitt's (1886-1951) flagships. Domvile was Director of the Plans Division at the Admiralty from 1919 to 1922, then Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean between 1922 and 1925. He commanded the ROYAL SOVEREIGN in the Atlantic Fleet, 1925 to 1926. In 1927 he reached flag rank and became Director of Naval Intelligence from 1927 until 1930. After commanding the Third Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean between 1931 and 1932, he ended his service career as President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 1932 to 1934. Subsequently he became known for his pro-German views and in June 1940 was detained under the Defence Regulations. He was released from Brixton Prison in 1943. Domvile wrote two autobiographical works: 'By and large' (London, 1936) and 'From admiral to cabin boy' (London, 1947).
The naval school of navigation, HMS Dryad, was founded in 1903. It was based at Portsmouth until 1941 when it moved to Southwick near Fareham in Hampshire. In 1974 it became the School of Maritime Operations, though retaining the name of Dryad. See B B Schofield, The Story of HMS Dryad (Havant, Hampshire,1977).
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)
Doughty entered the Navy as a cadet in 1847 in the VICTORY. He went to the Mediterranean in the Rodney and remained there firstly in the HOWE and then in the BULLDOG. From 1850 to 1854 he was in the PORTLAND on a voyage to Pitcairn Island and, still on the Pacific Station, he joined the CENTAUR in 1855, the year in which he became a lieutenant. From 1860 Doughty was in the Mediterranean as First Lieutenant of the FOXHOUND until 1864. He was appointed to command the WEAZEL in 1866 on the China Station and returned to the Shannon in 1868 to take up coastguard duties in the VALIANT. His next commission was to the East Indies in the MAGPIE, 1870 to 1872, and he was promoted to captain in 1875. Between 1878 and 1881 he commanded the CROCODILE, an Indian troopship, until he was sent to the Constance on the Pacific Station, 1882 to 1886, during which time he court-martialled his first lieutenant. The REVENGE, the flagship at Queenstown, was his last command, in 1887, and he was placed on the retired list as rear-admiral in 1890.
Duckworth went to sea in 1759 and became a lieutenant in 1771. He saw service in North America during the War of American Independence. He was made Commander of the ROVER in 1779 and a captain in 1780, serving in the West Indies until 1781. He commanded the BOMBAY CASTLE during the mobilization of 1790. In 1793 be was appointed to the ORION, under Lord Howe (q.v.) in the Channel fleet, and fought at the battle of the First of June 1794. In 1795 he returned to the West Indies as Captain of the LEVIATHAN and commanded the fleet for a time in 1796. After a short period in home waters, he joined Earl St. Vincent (q.v.) in the Mediterranean and was in command of the naval forces at the capture of Minorca, 1798. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1799 and continued to serve in the Mediterranean until 1800. He then took command of the blockading squadron off Cadiz, captured a Spanish convoy, and in the same year was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station. He received a knighthood for his services against the colonies of the Northern Confederation in 1801. In 1803 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica, and brought about the surrender of the French army in San Domingo. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1804. After Trafalgar, he was ordered to join Collingwood (q. V.) in the blockade of Cadiz and when there, heard that a French squadron had escaped; he defeated it at San Domingo on 6 February 1806. Afterwards he returned to Cadiz and the Mediterranean. In February and March 1807 he commanded the squadron which forced the passage of the Dardanelles. The ineffectual outcome of this mission caused Duckworth to be severely criticized. He was ordered to join the Channel fleet. Subsequently he remained in home waters until 1810 when he was promoted to admiral and appointed Commander-in-Chief and Governor of Newfoundland, returning home in 1813. He was elected Member of Parliament for New Romney in 1812. Shortly before his death he was appointed Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth.
Gilbert Elliot was the eldest son of Gilbert Elliot, first Earl of Minto (q. v.) and was trained for the diplomatic service. He was a Member of Parliament for Ashburton, 1806 to 1807 and for Roxburghshire, 1812 to 1814. He supported the Whigs and in 1832 was appointed Ambassador to Berlin. In 1835 he succeeded Lord Auckland as First Lord of the Admiralty and served as such until 1841. In 1846 Minto became Lord Privy Seal. He left office in 1852, after which he took no further part in politics.
Flinders joined the Navy in 1790 and went on the second bread-fruit voyage in the PROVIDENCE from 1791 to 1793. On his return, Flinders went to the BELLEROPHON and was present at the battle of the First of June 1794. He then served in the RELIANCE, taking the new Governor to New South Wales and used the opportunity to explore the coastline firstly in the TOM THUMB and then in the FRANCIS with the surgeon, George Bass (d c 1812). They charted the coast of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) between 1798 and 1799 in the NORFOLK and proved that it was an island. On his return home in 1800 Flinders convinced Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) of the need to chart the whole of Australia; he was promoted to commander and sent out in the INVESTIGATOR, 1801, with a team of scientific assistants. While surveying the southern coast of Australia as far as Port Phillip (the site of Melbourne), Flinders encountered the French ships LA GEOGRAPHE and LA NATURALISTE which were also engaged in charting the continent. He later travelled northwards, amplifying and correcting the work of Cook, but had to abandon his work in 1803 as the INVESTIGATOR appeared to be rotten. On his return voyage to England he was detained at Ile de France (Mauritius) by the French governor there and held prisoner for over six years. He was released in 1810 and survived only long enough to complete and publish, in 1814, his Voyage to Terra Australis. Flinders also made an important contribution to the knowledge of the variation of the mariner's compass. Among the many biographies written about Flinders, the latest is by James Decker Mack, Matthew Flinders (London, 1966).
Eldest son of Admiral Sir Edmund Robert Fremantle, Sydney Fremantle entered the Navy in 1881. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1887, to commander in 1889 and to captain in 1903 After a distinguished career afloat he was made Head of the War Division at the Admiralty in 1910 and President of the Signal Committee at Portsmouth in 1912. He became a rear-admiral in 1913 and was made Head of the Signals Division at the Admiralty in 1914. He was second-in-command of the Third Battle Squadron in 1915, and was appointed to command the Ninth Cruiser Squadron in 1916 and the Second Cruiser Squadron in early 1917. In August of that year he was in command of the British Aegean Squadron. In January 1918 he was made Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, was promoted to vice-admiral and in May 1919 was appointed to command the First Battle Squadron. Fremantle was promoted to admiral in 1922 and was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, from 1923 to 1926. Ho retired in 1928. See Fremantle's autobiography, My Naval Career (London, 1949).
Miss Cicely Fox Smith, who had travelled in Canada and Africa, wrote a number of popular books on sailing ships of the last century. She was also a contributor to Punch for many years and well known for her attractive verses.
For some fifty years George H. Gabb (fl 1880-1930) built up a collection not only of manuscripts relating to science, but also of scientific instruments.
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.
Greene entered the Admiralty as a Higher Division Clerk in 1881 From 1887 to 1892 he was Private Secretary to successive First Lords and became Principal Clerk in the Secretary's department in 1902. He was Assistant Secretary of the Admiralty, 1907 to 1911, in which year he became Permanent Secretary Considerable changes in the constitution of the Admiralty Board and other departments were made in 1917 and Greene became Secretary of the Ministry of Munitions, which post he held until his retirement in 1920.
Greet entered the Navy in 1867 and was promoted to midshipman in 1869. He served in the Pacific in the ZEALOUS and FAWN and was made a sub-lieutenant in 1874 He served in the JUNO, China Station, 1876 to 1877, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1878. He then spent the usual period at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, before his appointment to the Tenedos in 1882. In 1887 he served in the IRON DUKE, Channel, and in the following year he was appointed to the CHAMPION, Pacific Station. He was promoted to commander in 1891, served in the Channel and, from 1896, at a training establishment, and was promoted to captain in 1897. He retired with the rank of rear-admiral in 1907 and became an admiral on the retired list in 1916.
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.
Gower entered the Navy in 1755. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1762 and took part in two voyages of circumnavigation early in his career. He was promoted to captain in 1780 and served on the East Indies and Newfoundland stations. In 1792 he was appointed to command the LION in which he took the embassy of Earl Macartney (1737-1806) to China In November 1794, he was appointed to command the TRIUMPH and was with Admiral Sir William Cornwallis (q.v.) during the 'Cornwallis retreat' in 1795. He was involved in the mutiny at the Nore when he commanded the NEPTUNE, one of the ships commissioned for the defence of the Thames, and continued to serve in her, in the Channel Fleet, until his promotion to rear-admiral in 1799. In 1804 Gower became a vice-admiral and in 1809 an admiral.
Grey was made a lieutenant in 1781 and served in the West Indies and in home waters In 1793 he was promoted to captain and commanded the BOYNE, in which Sir John Jervis had his flag. The BOYNE was lost through fire at Spithead in 1795 but Grey was acquitted of responsibility at his court martial. From 1795 to 1797 he was Captain of the VICTORY, in which Jervis again had his flag, and was present at the battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. Later in the same year he took command of the VILLE DE PARIS but left the ship at the end of 1798. In April 1800 he returned to the VILLE DE PARIS, once again as Jervis' Flag Captain, and served in her until March 1801. He then commanded the Royal Yachts In 1804 he was appointed Commissioner of Sheerness Dockyard and in 1806 was transferred to Portsmouth Dockyard where he remained until his death. He was created a baronet in 1814.
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.
Graves was the second son of Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves and first cousin to Admiral Samuel Graves (1713-1787) He was with his father in the NORFOLK at the attack on Cartagena in 1741 and went with him to the Mediterranean and transferred into the MARLBOROUGH in 1742. In 1743 he was appointed Lieutenant of the ROMNEY and was present at the action off Toulon in February 1744. In 1746 he was in the PRINCESSA at the attack on L'Orient and he then served in the MONMOUTH under Anson and Hawke in the Channel. Between 1751 and 1754 he made two voyages to Africa. In 1754 he was given command of the HAZARD in home waters. He was made a captain in 1755 and appointed to the Sheerness, but in 1757 was court-martialled for refusing an engagement with an enemy ship, which appeared to be of superior force, and sentenced to be reprimanded. Graves was appointed to the UNICORN in 1758 and served in the Channel under Anson and Rodney. In 1761, as Captain of the ANTELOPE, he was Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland. On his arrival he found there had been a French invasion and he organized a relief expedition which drove them from the island. On his return home he was made Captain of the TEMERAIRE in 1764 and in 1765 was sent to the west coast of Africa to investigate charges of maladministration in the British forts. He served as Member of Parliament for East Looe, January to May, 1775. In 1778 he commanded the CONQUEROR in North America and the West Indies, returning home the next year on his promotion to rear-admiral when he served as second-in-command of the Channel Fleet. He was sent to America as Commander-in-Chief in 1780 and led the British fleet at the action off the Chesapeake in March 1781 which resulted in the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Graves sailed for home from the West Indies in 1782 but lost several ships in a storm He was made a vice-admiral in 1787 and in 1788 Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. He hoisted his flag in the CAMBRIDGE in 1790. In 1793 he was appointed second-in-command of the Channel Fleet under Lord Howe. He was promoted to admiral in 1794. He was raised to the Irish peerage for his part in the battle of the First of June 1794 but received a wound which forced him to give up his command and he saw no further service.
The yard at Halifax was established in February 1759. A Storekeeper had been stationed there since 1756, a Master Attendant since 1757 and the Admiralty ordered the construction of a careening wharf and other facilities for refitting ships in 1758. By 1774 there were two careening wharves, and these facilities remained largely unaltered until the mid-nineteenth century. Between 1881 and 1897 coaling facilities, a graving-dock and a torpedo boat slip were added. In January 1907 the yard was handed over to the Canadian Government and it remains the principal Atlantic base of the Canadian naval force.
Hamond was the son of Captain Sir Andrew Snape Hamond (1738-1828), Controller of the Navy. He entered the Navy in 1785, was promoted to lieutenant in 1795 and commander in 1798. He served during the French wars but was invalided in 1814. His next appointment was in 1824 to the Wellesley and in 1825 he conveyed the British ambassador, Sir Charles Stuart (1779-1845), later Lord Stuart de Rothesay, to Brazil. While there Hamond was promoted to rear-admiral. He was ordered home in the SPARTIATE and on the way he delivered the Treaty of Separation between Brazil and Portugal to the King of Portugal. From 1834 to 1838 he was Commander-in-Chief on the South American Station; this was his last employment. Hamond became a vice-admiral in 1837, an admiral in 1847 and Admiral of the Fleet in 1862.
Lee was a civil lawyer, and admitted as an advocate in Doctor's Commons in 1729. He was Member of Parliament for Brackley, 1733 to 1742, and afterwards represented Devizes, 1742 to 1747, Liskeard, 1747 to 1754, and Launceston, 1754 to 1758. In 1742 he was on the Board of Admiralty but in 1744 followed Lord Carteret (1690-1763) out of office. His connection with the Navy ceased from this time.
Hinde went to sea in July 1829 in the ATHOLL, Capt Alexander Gordon, possibly a friend of the family, seeing service on the West Coast of Africa. In 1831, while Midshipman in the DRYAD, Capt John Hayes, he was officially reported for the conduct he displayed in her tender, the BLACK JOKE, at the capture by boarding of a slave vessel of superior force. In December 1831 he moved from the BLACK JOKE into the FAIR ROSAMOND until July 1832 when he returned home in the DRYAD. In the two tenders he saw a good deal of action which he describes in his letters. Between 1833 and 1836 Hinde served aboard the SERPENT in the West Indies. The ship was not a happy one but apparently one of the more efficient sloops on the station. She cruised unsuccessfully for slavers, carried troops to various places in cases of insurrections by freed slaves and went to Para to watch British interests. Hinde was promoted Lieutenant in 1844, Commander in 1857 but never served at that rank. He retired in 1867 and died in 1869.
Hammill entered the Navy in 1865, was made a lieutenant in 1871 and a commander in 1881. At the bombardment of Alexandria, 1882, he commanded the MONARCH and then the Naval Brigade. He later served with the Naval Brigade at Port Said. Hammill again served with a Naval Brigade during the Sudan Campaign of 1884 to 1885, when he accompanied the Nile Expedition despatched for the relief of General Gordon. He commanded the naval force south of Wadi Halfa during the passage of the steamers through the Second Cataract and served with the Nile Flotilla in surveying the Upper Nile. For these services he was promoted to captain in 1885. Hammill held various posts at the Admiralty between 1886 and 1892. He then returned to service afloat until his early death.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
John Hamilton, elder brother of Archibald Hamilton, and nephew of Alexander Montgomerie, first went to sea in the service of the East India Company. He took command of the BOMBAY CASTLE for three voyages between 1795 and 1801, when the ship was managed by Alexander Montgomerie. The first two of these voyages were to Bombay and China. The destination of the third was to China direct and it was during this voyage, when the BOMBAY CASTLE was one of six East Indiamen under convoy of Captain Rowley Bulteel (fl 1780-1820) in HMS BELLIQUEUX, that three French frigates and a prize schooner were sighted off the coast of Brazil. La Medee was captured by Hamilton and by Captain Meriton (H.E.I.C.) of the Exeter and command of her was given to John's brother, Archibald Hamilton.
Archibald Hamilton, younger brother of John Hamilton, served in the East India Company's ship, BOMBAY CASTLE as Fourth Mate in 1798. He was given command of a French prize LA MEDEE, which was captured off Brazil in 1800. He then succeeded his brother in the command of the BOMBAY CASTLE, 1802, and made two voyages in her to Bombay and China. His ship was one of the East India Company's China fleet under Sir Nathaniel Dance (1748-1827) when the French squadron was beaten off in 1804, off Pulo Aor, in the Straits of Malacca. A court of enquiry into charges of misconduct was held during the final voyage of the BOMBAY CASTLE. Her successor, the BOMBAY, made four voyages with Hamilton commanding between 1810 and 1820; the first two were to China and the latter two to Bombay and China.
Michael Henley ([1742-1813]) was an apprentice waterman and lighterman from 1757 to 1764. By 1770 he was trading as a coal and rope merchant and three years later he acquired a wharf and premises in Wapping. In 1775 he appears to have purchased his first sea-going ship; other vessels followed, which he employed in the east coast coal trade, and later in other trades in the Atlantic, West Indies, Mediterranean and Baltic, mostly on charter. During the American War of Independence, he also chartered ships to the government as transports. In 1780 his eldest son Joseph (1766-1832) was bound apprentice to him and within a few years he was running the day-to-day aspects of the business. Michael Henley spent much of his time travelling to the various ports at which his ships called regularly, in particular Newcastle and Portsmouth, but on occasions he also visited Ireland and Scotland. The shipping activities of the Henleys increased substantially during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Between 1775 and 1832 they owned over a hundred and twenty ships. They stopped trading directly as coal merchants early in the nineteenth century, though retaining a strong interest in the trade. At the same time their ships became more involved in the West Indies trade and in the timber trades with the Baltic, North America and Canada and the Bay of Honduras. Many of their vessels were chartered to the Transport Board, after its re-establishment in 1794, as troop and horse ships or victuallers. After 1815 shipping suffered from the post-war slump and Joseph now divided his time between his shipping interests and Waterperry, his Oxford estate. He owned a smaller number of ships, which were principally involved in the North American and Baltic trades, although there were two notable Transport voyages to Ceylon and the Mediterranean between 1820 and 1822. He appears to have continued to own one or two ships up until the time of his death.
Vice-Admiral Lancelot Ernest Holland (1887-1941) was lost with the HOOD in 1941.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
William Herschel was a self-taught astronomer who began life as an army musician in Hanover and came to England in 1758 as a refugee during the Seven Years War. In 1781 he discovered the planet Uranus and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. George III appointed him Court Astronomer. He settled at Slough in 1786 and built a telescope which was the largest in the world until it was dismantled in 1839. In 1788 he married Mary Pitt (nee Baldwin). Among a number of biographies is Angus Armitage, William Herschel (London, 1962).
Henslow entered the dockyard service as a shipwright apprentice to Sir Thomas Slade (d 1771). After a period at the Navy Office as a draughtsman, he moved quickly up the service as Master Boat Builder at Woolwich, 1762 to 1764, Purveyor of Chatham Yard, 1764 to 1765, and Master Caulker of Portsmouth, 1765 to 1767. In 1767 he was Second Assistant to the Master shipwright at Portsmouth and in 1771 was the Assistant to the Surveyor of the Navy. He was Master Shipwright at Plymouth, 1775 to 1784 In 1785 he was appointed Surveyor of the Navy, which post he held until 1806.
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.
The India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ceylon Conferences (IPBCC) were the oldest of the conferences involved in the mangement and development of trade in the Far East. They had an international scope and strong links with several shipping companies. Membership of the Conferences was made up of associations of owners of both 'short sea' and 'deep sea' freight lines. These owners acted together to set common prices for the carriage of goods over designated routes, forming policies over discounts and rate rebates with the 'tied-in' companies, with tariffs to combat competition from non-members. They also had the power to admit or exclude shore trade.
Jenkinson entered the Navy in 1806. In 1808 he was appointed to the DECADE and was in the VENERABLE in 1809 during the Walcheren expedition. In 1810 he was promoted to lieutenant. He next served in the CLYDE in the Channel and then in the INCONSTANT, 1811 to 1812, at Vera Cruz and in the Channel. He was promoted to commander in 1812 and from this time until 1814 commanded the JASPER in home waters. He was promoted to captain in 1814. Between 1816 and 1817 he was in Russia, apparently on a private visit. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1850.
Jervis, son of Swynfen Jervis, Counsel to the Admiralty between 1747 and 1757, entered the Navy against his father's wishes in 1749. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1755, served with distinction in the Seven Years War and reached captain's rank in 1760. He served in the Channel during the American War of Independence. After the war he became a Member of Parliament, representing Launceston, Yarmouth and Wycombe successively. In 1787 Jervis became a rear-admiral and in 1793 a vice-admiral. He was Commander-in-chief of the West Indies Expedition, 1793 to 1794, capturing Martinique and Guadeloupe. He returned home in 1795 and in the same year was promoted to admiral and appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean. In February 1797 he defeated the Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent, for which victory he was created an earl. He gave up his command in 1799. After a brief period in command of the Channel Fleet he served as First Lord of the Admiralty, 1801 to 1804. His term of office aroused considerable controversy and he refused further service afloat until after the death of Pitt, but took the Channel command in 1806. He resigned after a further change of ministry in 1807. In 1821 he was made Admiral of the Fleet. Among a number of biographies is Jedediah Tucker, Memoirs of Admiral the Rt. Hon.The Earl of St. Vincent G.C.B.. (London, 1844), while some correspondence has been published by David Bonner-Smith, ed., 'Letters of Admiral of the Fleet the Earl of St. Vincent whilst First Lord of the Admiralty 1801 to 1804' (Navy Records Society, 1922, 1927, 2 vols).
William Henry Jones-Byrom, son of Captain Jenkin Jones, took the name of Byrom under terms of inheritance which stipulated that his wife's name should be added to his own. He entered the Navy in 1844 in the COLLINGWOOD, which was stationed at Portsmouth, became a lieutenant in 1850 and was in the Baltic and Black Sea during the Crimean War. In 1857 he sailed to China in a fleet of fifteen gunboats under Captain Sherard Osborn (1822-1875), sent to reinforce the China Squadron. The LEO, commanded by Jones, accompanied the FURIOUS in 1858, when Lord Elgin was escorted up the Yangtse river to Hankow. In 1859 Jones was promoted to commander. The LEO was lost in the attack on the Taku forts and the consequent courts martial ended in honourable acquittal for Jones. On his return home the early symptoms of tuberculosis were beginning to appear and he only served at sea again for one year, 1861 to 1862.
Martyn Jerram entered the Navy as a navigating cadet in 1871. He served in home waters in the VALOUROUS, 1873, and the HERCULES, 1873 to 1874, and was then in the MONARCH, 1874 to 1877, Mediterranean, with two short periods spent in the CRUISER in 1876 and the SWIFTSURE in 1877. In 1881 he became a lieutenant and was on the China Station from 1882 to 1883 in the IRON DUKE. He took out the new torpedo boat CHILDERS, built for the government of Victoria, Australia, in 1884 and was then appointed to the REINDEER, East Indies Station, and in 1889 to the CONQUEST. In 1891 Jerram was called upon to act as vice-consul in Mpanda, Tanganyka, until the British South Africa Company's expedition to Mashonaland had disembarked. He became a commander in 1894, a captain in 1899, a rear-admiral in 1908 and was appointed second-in-command in the Mediterranean, 1910 to 1912. From 1913 to 1915 he was Commander-in-Chief, China, and had to counter Von Spee's powerful squadron. To make best use of his ships, Jerram shifted his flag on shore at Singapore. From 1915 to 1916 he commanded the Second Battle Squadron, Grand Fleet, and led the line at Jutland, handing over his command when Beatty became Commander-in-Chief. When the Naval Welfare Committee was established, Jerram became its President.
Keats entered the Navy in 1770 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1777. He was made a captain in 1789. After service in the SOUTHAMPTON and NIGER, he was appointed in 1794 to the GALATEA and during his service in her was put ashore by the mutineers of 1797. He was appointed to the SUPERB in 1801 under Sir James, later Lord, Saumarez (1757-1836). After the resumption of hostilities with France, he served in the Mediterranean under Nelson, and took part in the chase to the West Indies; the SUPERB, however, was refitting when Trafalgar was fought. Until 1807 Keats took part in the blockade of Brest, being promoted to rear-admiral also in that year. He was with Saumarez again during the blockade of the Baltic. In 1811 Keats became a vice-admiral and while again in the Mediterranean in 1812, was forced to resign his command through ill-health. He was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland, in 1813, returning to England at the peace in 1815. In 1821 he was appointed Governor of Greenwich Hospital and given the rank of admiral in 1825.
Lillicrap became a shipwright apprentice at Devonport in 1902. After a time at Keyham and Greenwich he was appointed Assistant Constructor at Devonport in 1910. He then joined the Director of Naval Construction's department at the Admiralty, where he was made Acting Constructor in 1917. Lillicrap was appointed Lecturer in Naval Architecture to Probationary Assistant Constructors at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in 1921 and became Constructor, Director of Naval Construction Department, in 1922. He was Acting Assistant Director of Naval Construction, in charge of submarines from 1936, and Assistant Director of Naval Construction in charge of cruisers from 1938. In 1941 he was appointed Deputy Director, and in 1944, Director, of Naval Construction, a post he held until his retirement in 1951.
Liddon entered the Navy in 1804 and after service in the West Indies, South America and the Mediterranean, was promoted to lieutenant in 1811. In January 1819 he commanded the GRIPER, which accompanied an expedition to the Arctic under Lieutenant (later Rear-Admiral Sir William Edward) Parry (1790-1855), the object of which was to discover the North-West Passage. He paid off the GRIPER in December 1820 and saw no further active service, although he was promoted to captain on the retired list.
Walter Lord (8 Oct 1917-19 May 2002) published his most famous work, A Night to Remember, in 1955. A journalistic narrative history of the TITANIC, the book became a British film (in 1958) and Lord was asked to be a consultant on James Cameron's film 'Titanic'. (1998). He is credited with having revived the memory of the ship, about which not a single book was published between 1913 and 1955. His book has been a bestseller ever since.
His life-long fascination stemmed from his mother's tales of her voyages on the OLYMPIC, one of TITANIC's two sister ships, which she used to tell him as bedtime stories. By the age of nine, the story of the TITANIC had become his greatest interest and he persuaded his mother to take him across the Atlantic on the OLYMPIC, so that he could learn more about the lost liner.
Through the years he talked to and corresponded with scores of survivors, rescuers and others intimately connected with the disaster. He tracked down nearly 60 TITANIC survivors to get their stories for 'A Night To Remember', and collected much commemorative memorabilia, donated over many years by his friends and admirers.
William MacQuitty (15 May 1905 - 5 Feb. 2004) was born in Belfast. He was six when he watched the launch of the TITANIC on 30 May 1911, and saw her set sail on her fateful maiden voyage a year later. During the Second World War he worked in film production for the Ministry of Information but it was only in the 1950s that his interest in the TITANIC was rekindled. His wife had been reading Lord's 'A Night to Remember' and he realised that this was the film he had been waiting for. He took an option on the film rights, met Walter Lord, and together they developed a screenplay based on the book.
MacQuitty then produced the film, also called 'A Night to Remember' (directed by Roy Ward Baker) and following its success won a contract for the Independent Television Authority's franchise for Ulster.
George William Gill, a ship surveyor, founded the Chatham Shipbuilding Business of Gill and sons in 1858. This business built sailing craft, barges and paddle steamers and had its own fleet of barges. On the 1st April 1900 the company joined with Stewart Brothers and Spencer of Strood, it owned a seed crushing mill and operated barges. The resulting London and Rochester Barge Company Ltd. started with a fleet of 25 sailing barges of 22 lighters. In 1907 the company bought its first motor barge. By 1924 the sail barge fleet had expanded to 60; in that year the present name of the company was adopted. The company built sail barges for its own use until 1928. In 1929, Albert Hutson of Maidstone was made Managing Director of the Maidstone Office. Hutson owned 20 sailing barges and 50 lighters. Transshipment of wood pulp from Rochester to Aylesford began that year. The company placed a prominent role in barge racing. In 1960 the company began 'Crescent Line' services between Whitstable, Kent and Esbjerg, Denmark. Services from Rainham to Dieppe, Rotherham and Ostend began in 1965, 1966 and 1968 respectively. In 1951 Francis Gilders Ltd. of Colchester merged with the firm. In 1964 London and Rochester merged with the Hay's Group. The London & Rochester Company's first bulk starch carrier was delivered in 1969. The company also carried beer in casks, coal and dry cargoes. In 1969 the fleet consisted of 30 motor ships, 13 coastwise barges, 14 estuary barges, 7 river barges, 96 lighters, 6 tugs and 19 motor craft, which were merged from other owners.
Charles Malcolm, younger brother of Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, entered the Navy in 1795 and served under his brother's command in the East EURYDICE, in which ship he sailed home in 1803. He was promoted to captain in the same year. In 1804 Malcolm was in command of the RAISONNABLE in the North Sea and two years later was appointed to the NARCISSUS serving off the coasts of France and Portugal. Early in 1809 he was ordered to the West Indies where to took part in the capture of the Iles des Saintes. Later in 1809 he was appointed to the RHIN and from 1810 to 1812 was engaged in supporting Spanish guerrillas on the north coast of Spain. From 1812 to 1814 he was in the West Indies. Following his return and during the 'Hundred Days' he carried out a raid on the coast of Brittany in July 1815. After two years without employment Malcolm was appointed Flag-Captain to Sir Home Popham (1762-1820) in the SYBILLE on the West Indies Station in 1817. He was invalided home in 1819. His next commission, 1822 to 1827, was the command of the Royal Yachts WILLIAM AND MARY and ROYAL CHARLOTTE, which were at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was appointed Commissioner of Dublin Harbour in 1823. In 1827 Malcolm became Superintendent of the Bombay Marine, renamed the Indian Navy in 1830. He built up the surveying side of the work of the service and introduced steamships to the Red Sea. In 1837 he was promoted to rear-admiral and retired from his post the following year. He became a vice-admiral in 1847.