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.
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.