Pulteney Malcolm, elder brother of Charles Malcolm, entered the Navy in 1778, became a lieutenant in 1783, a commander in 1794 and a captain later in the same year. From 1795 to 1803 he was in the East Indies. In 1804 he went out to the Mediterranean in the ROYAL SOVEREIGN and, after brief commands in the KENT and RENOWN, was appointed to the DONEGAL in 1805. In this ship he sailed with NELSON during the pursuit of the French Fleet to the West Indies and then joined the blockade of Cadiz. The DONEGAL was at Gibraltar when the battle of Trafalgar was fought and Malcolm hastened to the scene, arriving in time to capture the Spanish ship RAYO and assist with the prizes. He then went to the West Indies with Sir John Duckworth and took part in the battle of San Domingo, 1806. The DONEGAL was subsequently attached to the Channel Fleet and in 1808 convoyed troops to Portugal. In 1811 Malcolm was appointed to the ROYAL OAK, off Cherbourg. From 1812 to 1814 he was Captain of the Fleet Lord Keith, his uncle by marriage, being promoted to rear-admiral in 1813. In 1814 he took a squadron to America and served under Sir Alexander Cochrane (1758-1832) during the operations in the Chesapeake and New Orleans. During the 'Hundred Days' in 1815 he commanded a squadron in the North Sea and was then Commander-in-Chief at St. Helena from 1816 to 1817. He became a vice-admiral in 1821 and later held commands in the Mediterranean and the North Sea. He was promoted to admiral in 1838.
McClure entered the Navy in 1824. He was made a lieutenant in 1837 and had already taken part in two Arctic expeditions when, in 1850, he was appointed to command the INVESTIGATOR in the search expedition for Sir John Franklin via the Bering Strait, led by Captain Richard Collinson. McClure and the men of the INVESTIGATOR were the first to make the traverse of the North-West Passage, though they were forced to abandon their ship which was beset in the ice off Banks Island, arriving back home in 1854. They were awarded £10,000 by Parliament in 1855 and McClure was knighted. In 1856 he was appointed to command the ESK on the Pacific Station and the following year was ordered to China. In December 1857 he commanded a battalion of the Naval Brigade at the capture of Canton. He was then appointed Senior Officer in the Straits of Malacca. He returned home in 1861 and had no further service, being promoted to rear-admiral in 1867 and vice-admiral in 1873 on the retired list.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Dundas was admitted to the Scottish Bar in 1763, was appointed Solicitor-General for Scotland in 1766 and Lord Advocate in 1775. He represented Edinburghshire, 1774 to 1782, Newtown, Isle of Wight, 1782, Edinburghshire, 1783 to 1790 and Edinburgh, 1790 to 1802. He first held office in 1782 when he was appointed Treasurer of the Navy for a short time under Shelburne and resumed office under Pitt in December, 1783, holding it continuously until June 1800. He was also Home Secretary, 1791 to 1794, and Secretary of War, 1794 to 1801. In 1804 he was made First Lord of the Admiralty. When the Commission of Naval Enquiry published its tenth report dealing with the office of Treasurer of the Navy, Dundas resigned from office. He was impeached in 1806 and, although acquitted, it was clear that he was guilty of negligent supervision during his term of office. He held no further appointment.
John Harold McGivering joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1941 as an Ordinary Seaman, recieving training at HMS RALIEGH and HMS WHADDON, before attending Cypher School at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Promoted to Temporary Midshipman in 1942, McGivering was posted to the Cypher Office in Portsmouth, before going overseas to Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1943. Promoted to Temporary Sub-Lieutenant in 1943, he was then stationed at the Coastal Forces base at Pembroke, after which he was posted Ceylon as a Transport Officer in 1946. After returning to England in 1947, McGivering pursued a career as an estate agent whilst on reserve, until he was posted to Falmouth from 1958 to 1962. He recieved two further promotions, being made Lieutenant in 1962, then Lieutenant Commander in 1970. McGivering then took up a position in the Civil Service, retiring in 1979.
Michell attended the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth between 1800 and 1803. He served in various ships in the Mediterranean from 1803 to 1809, becoming a lieutenant in 1807. He spent six years in the RHIN, 1809 to 1815, in horne waters, off Brazil and in the West Indies. In 1816 he was made a commander and led the battering flotilla attached to the squadron of Admiral Edward Pellew at the battle of Algiers. He subsequently commanded the Rifleman in the Mediterranean, 1826 to 1830, when he was promoted to captain; and the MAGICIENNE and the INCONSTANT, also in the Mediterranean, 1840 to 1843. In the MAGICIENNE he was engaged in the Syrian operations of 1840. His last service, 1852 to 1855, was the command of the QUEEN, flagship in the Mediterranean; in her he distinguished himself at the bombardment of Sebastopol and was Senior Officer when Lord Lyons (1790-1858) took his force to Kerch, 1855. He was promoted to rear-admiral in July of the same year, finally becoming an admiral in 1866.
Charles Middleton entered the navy as a captain's servant in 1741, was promoted a lieutenant in 1745 and post captain in 1758. In 1778 he became Comptroller of the Navy, a position he held until 1790. He was created a baronet in 1781 and, though holding a civil post, a rear-admiral in 1787, being made a vice-admiral in 1793 and admiral in 1795. In 1794-5 he was senior sea lord to Lord Spencer and in 1805-6, First Lord of the Admiralty. Between 1804 and 1807 he headed the Commission for revising and digesting the civil affairs of the navy, being made a peer in May 1805 on accepting the appointment as First Lord.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Alexander Hood, elder brother of Sir Samuel Hood and cousin of Viscount Bridport and Viscount Hood, entered the Navy in 1767. In 1772 he joined the RESOLUTION for Cook's second voyage. He became a lieutenant in 1777 and a commander in 1781. In the same year be was made Flag-Captain to Rear-Admiral Samuel (later Viscount) Hood in the BARFLEUR in the West Indies, and was later given command of the AIMABLE, a French prize, which he took to England in 1783. In 1793 he commanded the HEBE and in 1794 the AUDACIOUS but was compelled in the same year to retire from active service through ill-health until 1797. In this year he was appointed to the MARS and was put ashore at the mutiny at Spithead. He was killed soon afterwards in action.
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The Marine Insurance Company is an insurance company dealing in marine, aviation and transit insurance, based in Leadenhall Street, London. It was established in 1836 and became a limited liability company in 1881. In 1917 it became part of the London and Lancashire Insurance Group and since 1961 it has been a member of the Royal Group of insurance companies.
Marryat entered the Navy in 1806 and served under Lord Cochrane (1775-1860), whose career was the model for many of Marryat's heroes in his novels. In 1810 he served in the CONTOUR under Sir Samuel Hood in the West Indies and North America, was made a lieutenant in 1812 and went again to the West Indies in the ESPIEGLE; he was forced to return in 1815 because of ill-health. He was appointed commander into the BEAVER in 1820, at St. Helena, and remained there until the death of Napoleon. He then went in the LARNE to the East Indies, 1823, where he played a distinguished part in the First Burmese War, 1824. In 1825 he was promoted to Captain of the Tees and returned to England in 1826. He resigned from the service in 1830. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1819 for his work on Sir Home Popham's system of signalling. Biographies of Marryat include Florence Marryat, The life and letters of Captain Marryat (London, 1872), C.C. Lloyd, Captain Marryat and the old navy (London, 1939), and Maurice-Paul Gautier, Captain Frederick Marryat l'homme et l'oeuvre (Paris, 1972).
The Marine Society was founded in 1756 by Jonas Hanway (1712-1786) and others to provide men for the Navy. While men going to sea were fitted out with clothing, boys were invited to attend the Society's office where they could obtain some basic education and wait until they were applied for by captains or masters. In its first year of activity the Society supplied the Navy with 1,961 men and 1,580 boys. In 1763 the Society almost ceased operation, though boys were still assisted in finding work ashore, such as ropemaking and boatbuilding. However from 1769 the income from a bequest was used by the Society to continue its work and in 1772 the Society was strengthened by an act of Parliament for incorporation. From 1786 boys were prepared for sea aboard a training ship; in 1862 the Warspite, a third rate built in 1807, was obtained from the Admiralty and, though other vessels succeeded it, the name of this ship was preserved. The Society continues to function and has recently absorbed a number of other marine charities that are concerned with serving seafarers. See J Hanway, 'The origin, progress and present state of the Marine Society' (London, 1770). There are also other books and pamphlets by Hanway on the Marine Society and related subjects.
Martin served in the Mediterranean in the steam frigate CURACOA from 1854 to 1857 and on the west coast of Africa in the SPITFIRE from the end of 1857 to 1860, when he became acting mate. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1861 and appointed to the SURPRISE, gun vessel, in the Mediterranean, until 1866. In 1869 he became a commander.
G.S. Nares entered the Navy in 1845 and served as a midshipman in the Havannah, flagship on the Australian Station, and in her tender, the Bramble. He specialized in surveying, becoming a lieutenant in 1854 and a captain in 1869. In 1872 he was chosen to command the Challenger on her voyage round the world, the first major oceanographic expedition. He then led the Arctic Expedition of 1875 to 1876. He became a rear-admiral in 1887 and a vice-admiral in 1892. See M.B. Deacon, Ann Savours and Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith, 'Sir George Strong Nares 1831-1915' (Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, 1976).
Oliver was educated at Osborne and Dartmouth Royal Naval Colleges. He served as Midshipman on HMS GOOD HOPE, Flag ship of the Mediterranean Fleet, in 1912 and HMS INFLEXIBLE from January 1913. Oliver was promoted to Acting Sub-Lieutenant in 1914, then lent to HMS ALBION as Acting Lieutenant in March 1915, when he volunteered in command of a pair of Trawlers sweeping Minefields off Chanak. In April 1915, he was appointed to HMS PRINCE OF WALES, which landed five hundred Australian troops at ANZAC beach and supported their operations with gun fire. Oliver joined HMS MURRAY in September 1915, and was promoted to Lieutenant and became Second in Command in April 1916: he was subsequently awarded the Swedish Gold Medal 5th Class for life saving. In 1917, Oliver transferred to HMS TELEMACHUS, Destroyer, which lay mines for the most part in the German Swept channels in the Heligoland Bight, sinking numerous U Boats and Sweepers: he was awarded the D.S.C. in 1918. He was on HMS RENOWN during H.R.H. the Prince of Wales' tours to North America from May to December 1919, and to Australia and New Zealand from March to November 1920. From April 1921 to May 1922, Oliver was at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, for a preliminary gunnery course and from May 1922 to Feb 1923, he attended the Long (G) Course at HMS EXCELLENT (The Gunnery School at Whale Island, Portsmouth). In April 1924, Oliver was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and was on the Senior Staff of HMS EXCELLENT from 1925 to 1927. In November, he was appointed First Lieutenant and HMS WARSRITE, Mediterranean Fleet. Oliver was promoted to Commander on 31 December 1929 and was on the staff at HMS EXCELLENT until November 1930. From April 1931, he was Squadron Gunnery Officer in the Battle Cruiser Squadron, Home Fleet, until he was commissioned HMS RESOLUTION as Executive Officer Second in Command in September 1933. Oliver was promoted to Captain in 1936, and attended various courses at Greenwich and Portsmouth before moving to Wellington in order to take up an appointment as Second Member of the New Zealand Navy Board. He returned to the U.K. at the end of 1938 and took command of HMS IRON DUKE, proceeding to his War Station at Scapa Flow in August 1939. In 1940, Oliver joined HMS DEVONSHIRE, which was involved with Convoy work in the South Atlantic and convoying troops in the Indian Ocean: he was awarded the C.B.E. in 1942. From January 1943 to February 1944, Oliver was in Command of HMS EXCELLENT, Gunnery School, Portsmouth. From March 1944, he was in command of HMS SWIFTSURE building at Vickers, Newcastle, and subsequently proceeding to join the Pacific Fleet at Sydney, N.S.W. Oliver became Rear-Admiral in 1945 and was Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Weapons) at the Admiralty from March to September, when he was appointed Deputy Chief of Naval Staff with a Seat on the Board of Admiralty. In August 1947, he hoisted his Flag in HMS SUSSEX as Flag Officer Commanding 5th Cruiser Squadron. Oliver was promoted to Vice Admiral retired list in 1948 and was made Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Roxburghshire in 1962.
Pakenham joined the DUNKIRK, which was attached to the Western Squadron, in 1758. He took part in the Goree expedition, remaining in the DUNKIRK until 1761, when he joined the NEPTUNE at Gibraltar. There he was promoted to lieutenant, and appointed to the TERROR but was taken prisoner by the Spanish. On his release in 1762 he went to the BLENHEIM, Mediterranean. From 1763 to 1765 he served in the ROMNEY, Halifax; there, in 1765, he purchased the command of the CROWN. He was promoted to captain the following year but had no further service until 1777, when he was appointed to command the AMERICA, 1777 to 1779, and then the ALEXANDER, 1779 to 1783, both in the Channel.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Page entered the Navy as a First Class Volunteer in the SUPERB in 1778. By 1782 he had been involved in four engagements and was wounded in one leg. At this time he was promoted acting Lieutenant and was involved in a further action in 1783. His rank was confirmed in 1784. For the next ten years he filled a series of appointments and was promoted commander of the HOBART by Captain Peter Rainier in 1794. Page was in the East Indies in 1796 using his experience gained whilst on station in the SUPERB to guide convoys through those difficult waters. In that year he achieved Post-rank. From 1800 he spent two years in the Mediterranean in command of the INFLEXIBLE and in 1804 returned to the East Indies in command of the CAROLINE. Whilst in the East Indies in 1804 he made the captures of two well armed French privateers. In 1805 he becam Rainier's flag captain in the TRIDENT and in October of that year returned to England. In 1809 Page assumed command of the Sea Fencibles at Harwich until they were disbanded in 1810. From 1812 to 1815 he commanded the PUISSANT a guardship at Portsmouth. Page attained the rank of admiral. He died in retirement in 1845.
R.S. Phipps Hornby, son of Sir Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, entered the Navy in 1879. He became a lieutenant in 1886. From 1901 to 1903 he commanded the PYLADES on the Australian Station and was promoted to captain in 1903. While commanding the DIANA in the Mediterranean, 1904 to 1906, he was involved in the Akbar boundary dispute. After commanding the GLORY in home waters from 1907 to 1908, he was appointed Captain of the Vernon (the naval torpedo school) where he remained until 1911. He then commanded the SWIFTSURE, INFLEXIBLE and MONARCH before being promoted to rear-admiral in 1913. Re was Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, 1914 to 1915, when he went in the GLORY to reinforce the Allied Fleet at the Dardanelles. He was invalided during this voyage for the rest of the war and was engaged in torpedo work. He was involved between 1917 and 1920 in the work of several Admiralty committees, including the Submarine Committee, the Armament Personnel Committee and the Post-War Reconstruction Committee. He was promoted to admiral in 1922 on the retired list.
Son of Admiral R.S. Phipps Hornby (q.v.), W.M. Phipps Hornby entered the Navy in 1909. After his time at the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth and in the training ship Cumberland, he was appointed midshipman in 1914 in the Hampshire, moving to the Warspite in 1915. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1916, joined the Ramillies in 1917, was promoted to lieutenant in 1918, to lieutenant-commander in 1925 and retired in 1932
Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) devoted his life to building up his library at his house, Middle Hill, in Gloucestershire. Although Phillipps never managed to catalogue his collection, it was estimated that he owned 60,000 manuscripts at his death, and it became the most famous private library in Europe. The library was left to his grandson, who had still not completed its dispersal at his death in 1938. In 1946 the residue was finally purchased by Messrs Robinson who sold the naval manuscripts, describer here, to Sir James Caird for the Museum. (See A.N.L. Munby, Phillipps Studies, vols I-V, Cambridge, 1951-60). Because of the importance and diversity of this collection, it has been split into six entries. Those of no obvious provenance are given in this entry. The collections of Robert Cole (entry no.96), George Jackson (97), the Southwells (98), and William Upcott (99) are described separately below. The collection of John Wilson Croker, consisting of the correspondence received by Lord Nelson, has been described in Volume I of this Guide, entry no. 207.
Pell entered the Navy in 1799 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1806. He then served in the MERCURY on the Newfoundland and Mediterranean Stations until 1809. He was promoted to commander in 1810 into the THUNDER at Cadiz. He was promoted to captain in 1813 and given command of the MENAI on the North American Station until 1816. After a period on half-pay, Pell was appointed Commodore in command of the Jamaica Division of the North America and West Indies Station, 1833 to 1837. He commanded the HOWE in the Mediterranean, 1840 to 1841, and was Superintendent of Pembroke Dockyard, 1842 to 1845. From 1846 to 1863 he was a Commissioner of Greenwich Hospital. Pell was knighted in 1837 and promoted to rear-admiral in 1848, vice-admiral in 1855 and admiral in 1861.
Rice entered the School of Naval Architecture in 1813. He held appointments in various dockyards between 1819 and 1822, when he became draughtsman to Sir Robert Seppings (1767-1840). In 1824 he sailed to South America to assist in repairing the SPARTIATE. From 1825 to 1844 he was Foreman of Portsmouth Dockyard. In 1837 he went to Lough Swilly to refloat the TERROR, Captain George Back (1796-1878), which had returned from the Arctic badly damaged by the ice. He was promoted to Assistant Master Shipwright in 1844 and in 1852 was appointed Master Shipwright at Pembroke Dockyard but held office for less than a year.
Richmond entered the Navy in 1885 in the BRITANNIA. From 1887 to 1890 he served on the Australian Station in the NELSON, CALLIOPE and ORLANDO. He was a midshipman in the RUBY, Training Squadron, 1890 to 1891, spending some time in the Channel MINOTAUR. In 1892 he was promoted to lieutenant and served in the surveying ship STORK, Mediterranean, until 1893. After a short period in the ACTIVE, Training Squadron, in 1894, he went to the VERNON to specialise in torpedoes and remained on the staff until 1897. He then served as torpedo officer in the EMPRESS OF INDIA, RAMILLIES and CANOPUS, Mediterranean, 1897 to 1900, and in the MAJESTIC, Channel Fleet, 1900 to 1903. He was promoted to commander in 1903. After a brief period at the Admiralty he served in the CRESCENT, flagship at the Cape of Good Hope, from 1904 to 1906. He then returned to the Admiralty for two years, when the Fisher reforms were in progress, and was promoted to captain in 1908. Richmond was captain of the DREADNOUGHTH, flagship of the Atlantic Fleet, from 1908 to 1911. This was followed by two years in command of the FURIOUS and VINDICTIVE, attached to VERNON, during which time he delivered a series of lectures to the Naval War College. In 1913 he became Assistant Director of Operations at the Admiralty. After a short spell in 1915 as liaison officer with the Italian fleet he commanded the COMMONWEALTH, Third Battle Squadron, from 1915 to 1917, and the CONQUEROR, Grand Fleet, 1917 to 1918. In 1918 he was appointed Director of Training and Staff Duties at the Admiralty but in 1919 returned to sea in the ERIN. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1920 and appointed first to revive the War Course and later to be President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. From 1923 to 1925 he was Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, and was promoted to Vice-Admiral in 1925. He set up and headed the Imperial Defence College between 1926 and 1931, being promoted to admiral in 1929. He retired in 1931 and in 1934 was appointed to the Vere Harmsworth Chair of Imperial and Naval History. He subsequently became Master of Downing College, Cambridge. Richmond's active interest in naval history, in which he came to specialize, began while he was still a serving officer. He also had strong views on contemporary naval policy which were not always acceptable to the Admiralty. He was the author of numerous books, lectures and articles on the Navy in history and in the present day. His most famous work is 'The Navy in the War of 1739 to 1748' (3 vols, Cambridge, 1920). See A.J. Marder, 'Portrait of an Admiral; the life and papers of Sir Herbert Richmond' (London, 1952) and D.M. Schurman, 'Education of a Navy' (London, 1965).
Roberts' name was entered in ships' books from 1794 onwards but he apparently served first in the DREADNOUGHT in the Mediterranean from 1801 to 1804. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1805 and served in several ships before being appointed to command the MEROPE on the east coast of Spain in 1812. From 1814 to 1815 he was in the PYLADES on the North American Station. He was promoted to captain in 1815 but had no further service. He retired in 1846 and rose to admiral on the retired list. Roberts took the surname of Gawen in 1851 for family reasons.
A group of philanthropists opened the Destitute Sailors' Asylum in 1827 in a warehouse in Dock Street, in Whitechapel to provide shelter and food for shipwrecked and destitute sailors. It was soon realized that sailors who were not destitute also needed somewhere to stay when they were ashore as an alternative to the notorious boarding houses of the time, and a fund was started to build a sailors' home upon the site of the old Brunswick Theatre in Well Street (now renamed Ensign Street). The Committee for the Home had already begun finding berths for sailors in direct competition with the crimps, before the Home was opened in 1835. Agents were then employed to meet ships on arrival and persuade the men to stay at the Home. Other facilities provided by the committee included a sailors' bank, a slop shop, a chapel and an evening school. Later a school of navigation was opened. The Asylum was transferred to a new building in Well Street in 1836, renamed the Destitute Sailors' Rest and placed under the management of the Home.
Over the years various extensions were added to the Home to provide further accommodation until the buildings covered the whole of the site between Well Street and Dock Street. In 1882 a branch of the Home and a Rest were opened at Gravesend and the Well Street Rest was closed. The Gravesend Home and Rest were handed over to the Government during the First World War and afterwards were sold to the Shipping Federation for their new sea school. It soon became evident that provision was still needed for the destitute and the Beresford Rest was built in Wellclose Square near the Well Street Home in 1923. In 1851 a Mercantile Marine Office was opened in the Home and in 1854 the Secretary of the Home was appointed as the Shipping Superintendent. The Mercantile Marine Office moved to Tower Hill in 1873, but in 1895 part of the Home was demolished and a new Mercantile Marine Office and examination rooms were built in Dock Street for leasing to the Board of Trade. In 1893 the London School of Nautical Cookery was opened by the Home in conjunction with the London County Council. When the Merchant Shipping Act of 1906 made it compulsory for all British foreign-going ships to carry a certificated cook, the School was enlarged to help meet the extra demand. The Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Society rented a room at the Home from 1895 until 1958. The object of the Destitute Sailors' Fund had been to provide practical help through the Rest. When bomb damage prevented this in 1941, the men were accommodated at the Home. In 1947 it was decided to use the Rest Fund for the purpose of assisting the inmates of the Home in temporary need of help. At the Home a rebuilding programme was carried out between 1951 and 1961. However, by 1974 the Home was in financial difficulties and had to close at the end of that year.
Sir Admiral Nowell Salmon joined the Navy as a Volunteer First Class in 1847 and served on THESIS at the South American Station during the period 1851-53. He was promoted to First Mate in 1854 and would go on to serve on JAMES WHATT in the Baltic, gaining the Baltic medal. In January 1856. He was promoted to Lieutenant and made commander in March 1856. During the Indian Mutiny of 1857 he went into action in the town of Lucknow, under Peel. Peel then called for volunteers to climb a tree next to the fortified temple in order to spot grenade throwers Sir Admiral Nowell Salmon volunteered and received the Victoria Cross. He then joined SHERMAN in May 1853. During the period 1859-61 He was in control of ICARUS, in the Mediterranean and the West Indies stations and in 1863 was promoted to Captain, commanding DEFENCE in the West Indies. In 1878 Salmon commanded SWIFTSHORE and by 1885 was promoted to Vice Admiral. He served as the Commander in Chief of the China Station 1888-1891 and became an Admiral on 10th September 1891. He then served as the Commander in Chief of Portsmouth 1894-7. In 1899 he was made Admiral of the Fleet. He retired in 1905, and lived in retirement at Curdridge Grange, Botley, Hampshire. Sir Admiral Nowell Salmon died on 14th February 1912. In 1866 Sir Admiral Nowell Salmon married Emily Augusta.
Montagu took his seat in the House of Lords in 1739 and in 1744 was appointed one of the Lords of the Admiralty. He represented the United Kingdom at the negotiations leading to the conclusion of peace in 1748. He then became First Lord of the Admiralty, 1748 to 1761, for a brief period in 1763 and again from 1771 to 1782, after which he held no further public office. A selection of his papers were published by Sir George Barnes and Commander J.H. Owen, The private papers of John, Earl of Sandwich 1771-1782 (Navy Records Society, 1932-1938, 4 vols). There is a biography by George Martelli, Jemmy Twitcher, a life of the Fourth Earl of Sandwich (London, 1962).
In 1868 Scott began a venture, financed initially by his father, that resulted in the shipbuilding partnership of Messrs Scott and Linton of Dumbarton. The company failed the following year, Linton blaming the creditors for preventing the completion of ships under construction, which included the CUTTY SARK.
Sharpe went to sea in the BLAZER, Captain Owen Stanley (1811-1849), in 1845. He entered the Navy in 1846 and sailed with Stanley in the RATTLESNAKE on her surveying voyage to Australia, 1846 to 1850. Two years later he was again appointed to the RATTLESNAKE, as mate, and sailed in her to the Arctic to relieve the expedition searching for Sir John Franklin. In 1854 he was promoted to lieutenant. From 1857 to 1859 he was in the MAGICIENNE and served during the Second Chinese War. He was promoted to commander in 1863 and in 1867 was appointed to command the WATERWITCH, hydraulic gun boat, during tests on her performance. In 1868 he was appointed to the LAPWING on the west coast of Ireland and then escorted the ships towing the new floating dock to Bermuda, continuing to the West Indies. He was promoted to captain in 1870 and from 1875 to 1878 commanded the Indian troopship CROCODILE. He retired in 1886, became a rear-admiral in 1887 and a vice-admiral in 1892.
When he was a boy Sisson's family moved to Switzerland where he went to school. He entered the Navy in 1860 as a cadet in the BRITANNIA and was promoted to midshipman in 1862 After serving in the NEPTUNE, 1861 to 1863, in the Mediterranean, the EDGAR in home waters, 1863 to 1866 and the DORIS in North America and the West Indies from 1866 to 1869, he was promoted to lieutenant in 1869. From 1872 to 1875 Sisson was in the PETEREL on the Pacific Station. After a spell in the MALABAR in 1878 he commanded the FIREBRAND at the Cape of Good Hope from 1879 to 1882. He retired as a commander in 1882 and in 1883 was appointed Port Captain of Natal but died the same year.
Smith entered the Navy in 1777 and served in North America and the West Indies, where in 1780 he was promoted to lieutenant. After the American War of Independence, he travelled in France, North Africa and the Baltic as a government agent and at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War he was in Smyrna. He joined Hood at Toulon and took part in its evacuation and burning. In 1794 he was employed in the North Sea and in 1796 off Le Havre, where he was captured during a cutting-out expedition. For two years he was a prisoner but escaped in 1798, when he was given command of Tigre as senior officer in the Levant. In 1799 his success at the defence of Acre halted the advance of the French army. He was elected Member of Parliament for Rochester in 1802. On the resumption of the war Smith commanded a squadron off Holland. In 1805 he was promoted to rear-admiral and went to the Mediterranean where he was active off the coast of South Italy. He took part in the expedition to the Dardanelles in 1807 and in the following year went briefly to the South American Station. In 1810 he was promoted to vice-admiral and went in 1812 to be second-in-command of the Mediterranean Station, returning in bad health in 1814. He saw no further active service and retired to Paris after 1815. He was made an admiral in 1821 Among the biographies are Sir John Barrow, 'Life and correspondence of Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith, G. C. B.' (London, 1848) and Edward Russell, 2nd Baron of Liverpool, 'Knight of the sword; the life and letters of Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith, C. C. B.' (London, 1964).
Francis Shipton was promoted to lieutenant in 1884. He held the rank of lieutenant-commander during World War One, having previously retired from the Navy.
James Shipton entered the Navy in 1803. He served in HMS THUNDERER 1803 to1805, HIBERNIA 1805 to 1806, PRINCE OF WALES and PENELOPE 1806 to 1809, as midshipman and mate. He reached the rank and lieutenant in 1810, invalied early in 1812, and was on half pay from 1815.
Francis Shipton was promoted to lieutenant in 1884. He held the rank of lieutenant-commander during World War One, having previously retired from the Navy.
Frank Clarke Strick (1849-1943) set himself up in business in 1885 in London as a shipbroker and coal exporter; two years later he purchased a small vessel and to raise additional capital he founded, with others, the London and Paris Steamship Company Limited. A new company was formed to operate the vessel called the Anglo-Algerian Steamship Company Limited. This was the first strand in a pattern of Strick trading which was to last for many years -- coal from South Wales or North East Coast ports to West Italian ports, loading iron ore homewards from Benisaf in North Africa for the United Kingdom or the Continent, under contract, using owned or chartered vessels. A successful voyage to the Persian Gulf in 1892 with coal and general cargo induced Strick to build ships for the Gulf trade, within the framework of a new company, the Anglo-Arabian and Persian Steamship Company Limited. By the beginning of the century, Frank Strick had fifteen ships sailing under his flag, serving the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf trades; less regularly, his ships were also to be found in the Indian Ocean or the United States. La Tunisienne Steam Navigation Company Limited was formed by Strick in 1909; this company operated vessels in the North African trade, where Strick's interests were important. In addition Strick's controlled coal bunkering depots in Port Said, Algiers and Oran. In 1919 Strick sold the remaining Strick Line fleet and business to Lord Inchcape and it was absorbed into P and O in 1923. The company went into voluntary liquidation, but Strick had no intention of retiring, forming a new company under the name of London, Paris and Marseilles Steamship Company (later London and Paris Steamship Co Ltd) and continuing to operate La Tunisienne. The Persian Gulf trade was carried on under the joint management of Frank C. Strick and Company Ltd and Cray, Dawes and Company. At first the ships were owned by single-ship companies, but later Strick Line (1923) Limited was formed to own and operate the fleet. Ships of Anglo-American Steamship Company (1896) Limited, in a joint service with Ellerman's Bucknall Steamship Lines, carried large quantities of the prospectors'equipment, stores and personnel to the Gulf. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company Limited (later Anglo-Iranian, later British Petroleum) was formed in 1909 and its Managing Director was appointed a director of Anglo-Algerian. Strick opened his own offices in the Gulf through a partnership with Lloyd, Scott and Company; the firm was known as Strick, Scott and Company. In 1913 Anglo-Algerian became the Strick Line Ltd. By 1928 Strick wished to re-acquire an interest in the Persian Gulf and in the company which bore his name. He succeeded in negotiating with P&O the purchase by his London and Paris Company of a 49% minority interest in Strick Line (1923) Ltd and the Shahristan Steamship Company Ltd. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War the Strick ownership of twenty-five ships was divided into three fleets -- Strick Line, La Tunisienne and Cory and Strick. During the war Strick Line built eight vessels and Frank C. Strick managed twelve; but twenty vessels were lost. In 1960 Strick Line acquired Frank C Strick and Co Ltd. In 1972 P and O completed its acquisition of all the Strick interests and absorbed them into the and O Group.
The Shipbuilders and Repairers National Association was formed in 1967 by the integration of the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation (founded in 1899), the Dry Dock Owners' and Repairers' Central Council (founded in 1910) and the Shipbuilding Conference (founded in 1928). Before the formation of the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation, a 'Federation of Shipbuilders and Engineers of England, Scotland and Ireland' had been constituted. As early as 1890 there was a feeling that it would be advantageous if the association were to be confined to shipbuilding members only, but it was 1897 -- the same year as the engineers strike for a forty-eight hour week --before the engineering firms withdrew. They then formed their own body, the Engineering Employers' Federation. The National Federation of Shipbuilders, as the old association was briefly known, was dissolved in 1899 with the formation of the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation. Most of the local Shipbuilders' Associations then in existence were represented, including those of Aberdeen, Clyde, Barrow, Hull, Tyne, Tees and Wear. Responsibility for negotiation with the shipyard trade unions was undertaken by the central body on behalf of the membership; in this period several important national agreements were concluded, notably that of 1909, which laid down procedures to be followed in future negotiations and established a framework for conciliation and arbitration. This, with a review in 1913, was maintained until the beginning of the war when the shipyards came within the provisions of the legislation for the compulsory settlement of disputes. There was also a comprehensive review of labour relations by a joint Committee of management and labour which led in 1928 to an agreement with the S.E.F. and the shipbuilding trade unions on the procedures to be followed in future disputes, which, with some modifications, lasted to the present day.
The Dry Dock Owners' and Repairers' Central Council was formed in 1910 by members of several local ship-repairing associations to ensure greater uniformity of schedules and rates and to contain the extreme competition which was then taking place. The Shipbuilding Conference, a national commercial organization representative of the whole industry, was set up in 1928 at a time when the industry was experiencing severe difficulties. In an attempt to solve the problem of economically unsound competition between firms in the 1930s, one of the Conference's first actions was to produce a 'tendering expenses scheme', whereby one per cent of the contract price was intended for tendering expenses to be divided among the tenderers in accordance with an agreed scale. Another system which it- instituted was notification to the Conference of enquiries received by builders which led to the introduction of 'Job Conferences', an arrangement for establishing co-operation between firms and maintaining reasonable price levels. There was a general recognition during this period that the major task of the industry was to reduce building capacity which led to the formation in 1920 of National Shipbuilders Security Ltd. The main object of this organization was the purchase by voluntary negotiation of redundant shipyards. By 1938 it had reduced building capacity by purchase by 1.3 million tons. National Shipbuilders Security Ltd went into voluntary liquidation in 1958.
The National Association of Marine Enginebuilders, formed in 1939, operated as an affiliate of the Conference, since many of its members were neither shipbuilders nor ship-repairers. Its members' workforces negotiated with the Engineering Employers' Federation rather than the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation, and this relationship continued after the formation of the Shipbuilders and Repairers National Association in 1967. In this year the three organizations joined to become the Shipbuilders and Repairers National Association. Within the new body separate boards were set up.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Tait entered the Navy in 1902 and served in the Pacific from 1903 to February, 1905, in the GRAFTON, and then in the Mediterranean, in the DRAKE. He went to the FLORA, China, in 1908 and became a lieutenant in 1909. In 1910 he joined the Home Fleet, serving in a number of ships, including the HINDUSTAN and the COLLINGWOOD until 1912. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander in 1917, commander in 1921 and captain in 1926. After a course at Greenwich, Tait returned to sea in 1928 and took command of four cruisers; these included the CAPETOWN in 1929 and the DELHI in 1930, on the America and West Indies Station. He was appointed Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence in 1932 and in 1933 went out to the Far East to report on the possibility of an outbreak of hostilities with Japan. In 1938 he became a rear-admiral and in 1941 was appointed vice-admiral and Commander-in-Chief, African Station. On his appointment as Governor of Southern Rhodesia in 1944, he retired and was promoted to admiral in 1945.
Thursfield joined the Times as a leader writer in 1877 and by about 1880 he had begun to specialize in naval affairs. He represented the Times in the naval manoeuvres of 1887 and in every subsequent year when correspondents were admitted. When Mahan's book The influence of sea power upon history appeared in 1890, Thursfield's review was the first that adequately recognized its importance. He lectured at the invitation of the Staff College, Camberley, in 1902 on the 'Higher policy of defence' and at this time became closely associated with Sir John (later Lord) Fisher (1841-1920). After the war he wrote the four naval volumes of the Times documentary history of the war. Thursfield was knighted in 1920.
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Tyler entered the Navy in 1771 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1779. During the American War he served chiefly in the Channel and the Mediterranean and in the early part of the Revolutionary war in the Mediterranean. In 1799 he was appointed to the WARRIOR, at first in the Channel and after 1802 in the West Indies, and in 1805 to the TONNANT, with the Mediterranean fleet. He was severely wounded at Trafalgar. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1808 and hoisted his flag as second-in-command at Portsmouth. Between 1812 and 1816 he was Commander-in-Chief at the Cape of Good Hope, after which he had no further service. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1813 and to admiral in 1825.
See W.H. Wyndham-Quin Sir Charles Tyler, G. C. B. Admiral of the White (London, 1912)
Upton entered the East India Company's service as a midshipman in 1788 and served in the ROCKINGHAM during two voyages to China. He was in the GENERAL GODDARD as Fourth Officer on a voyage to Madras and Bengal from 1793 to 1794 and remained in her as part of the Cape Expedition of 1795. Nine Dutch Indiamen were captured during this cruise and Upton was detached in one of them as prize master. He went to China in the TRUE BRITON in 1804 and to Bengal in the WINDHAM in 1809, from which ship he was captured. However, after the taking of the Ile de France (Mauritius), Upton joined the CEYLON, 1810, and brought her home. His next voyage was to China, 1814, in the GLATTON; upon her arrival at St Helena her captain died and Upton was sworn in to command. Nothing further is known about his career.