Lister entered the Navy in 1916. He qualified in engineering as a lieutenant in 1924, was Commander (E) in the Newcastle, 1943 to 1945, and served in the Engineer-in-Chief's department, 1946 to 1949. Lister had become Captain (E) in 1946 and in 1950 joined the Mechanical Training and Repair Establishment at Portsmouth where he remained until his retirement in 1953.
Merchant Shipping: Logs
Basil Lubbock (1876-1944) was educated at Eton and in 1897 went to Canada and on to the KLONDYKE in the second year of the gold rush. He shipped home in 1899 from the West Coast round the Horn as an ordinary seaman on the four-masted barque ROYALSHIRE, a voyage recorded in his Round the Horn Before the Mast (London, 1902). After the First World War Lubbock devoted himself to recording the history of sailing ships between 1850 and 1930 in a series of over fifteen volumes, most of which are still in print as standard reference works. These include The China Clippers (1914), The Colonial Clippers (1921), The Blackwall Frigates (1922), The Last of the Windjammers (2 vols, 1927-8) and his last book The Arctic Whalers (1937).
Leveson-Gower entered the Navy as a cadet in the BRITANNIA from 1903 until 1905, when he joined the ISIS; in August of the same year he went to the COMMONWEALTH and, apart from a short period in the MARS in 1907, stayed in her until 1908, when he joined the AFRICA; all these ships were based in home waters. As a sub-lieutenant he was on the Mediterranean Station in the DIANA, 1909 to 1910, becoming a lieutenant in 1911. During the First World War he served again in the Mediterranean in the RACOON, 1913 to 1915, the SAPPHO, 1916 to 1917, and the MINERVA, 1918 to 1919, when he became a lieutenant-commander. Between 1920 and 1921 he was in the DAUNTLESS and from 1922 to 1924 was in the COLOMBO, both in home waters. He went out to Hong Kong in 1926 and served in the dockyard there until 1928, retiring as a commander in 1929.
Maclear entered the Navy in 1851, became a lieutenant in 1859 and a commander in 1868. He sailed with Captain G.S. Nares in 1872 during the CHALLENGER expedition. When Nares left the ship at Hong Kong, Maclear was the most senior officer to complete the voyage which lasted until 1876, the year he was promoted to captain. In 1879 he succeeded Nares in command of the ALERT and completed his survey of the Magellan Straits before moving to the Indian Ocean and Australian waters. From 1883 to 1887 he commanded the survey ship FLYING FISH charting the Korean and China coasts. In 1891 he became a rear-admiral and retired. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1897, to admiral in 1903 and continued working at the Hydrographic Department compiling Admiralty sailing directions. See: Sir Archibald Day, The Admiralty Hydrographic Service (London, 1967).
Robert Marsham was the second son of Charles, 2nd Earl of Romney in direct descent of Sir Cloudesley Shovell through his elder daughter Elizabeth. He assumed the second name of Townshend by Royal Licence in 1893. Marsham-Townshend was educated first at Eton and then at Christ Church, Oxford.
William Henry Maxwell entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 12 January 1854. He served in HMS EURYALUS in the Baltic during the war with Russia, January 1854-April 1856, and was appointed Midshipman on 12 January 1856. He was promoted to Mate on 11 January 1860 whilst serving in HMS BOSCAWEN at Cape Station, May 1856-March 1860. After rising to the rank of Lieutenant on 13 January 1860, he served in HMS LYRA on the east coast of Africa, March 1860-January 1862, taking as prize a Spanish slaving barque and 18-20 Arab slave dhows, and freeing and landing 200 slaves on the Seychelles. He was made Commander on 6 July 1866 whilst serving in HMS SUTLEJ in the Pacific, May 1863-September 1866. During 1868 and 1869, he was on board HMS OCTAVIA and HMS DRYAD, when he participated in the Abyssinian Expedition, voyaged to the East Indies, and took an Arab slave dhow as a prize on the coast of Madagascar, again freeing and landing 200 slaves on the Seychelles.
Maxwell served at HMS EXCELLENT, the School of Gunnery, Portsmouth, from November 1869 to November 1872, receiving a promotion to the rank of Captain on 29 November 1872. He then served as Captain in HMS EMERALD at the Australian Station, July 1878-August 1882, and from March 1883 to early 1885 he was in HMS NEPTUNE as part of the Channel Fleet. He acted as Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria in Hong Kong, 1887-1888, and after his return to Britain, was appointed Rear-Admiral on 1 January 1889 and Vice-Admiral on 9 December 1894, before retiring from the Navy on 25 June 1895. He subsequently acted as Conservator of the Thames, 1896-1906, during which time he was promoted to the rank of Admiral, Retired on 21 March 1900. Maxwell died on 1 July 1920.
Chief Inspectorate General of the Chinses Imperial Maritime Customs, 1929- 43. Maze joined the Chinese Customs Service in the closing period of Sir Robert Hart's tenure. He also served on the Chinese Government's Monetary Advisory Commitee in 1935. Maze became interested in Chinese vessels, especially Junks and in particular the 'crooked stern' junks of Fou Chou. He also maintained an interest in light houses, especially the Amherst Rocks. Maze was awarded various Chinese honours, as well as 'Knight Commander of the Order of Pope Pius IX'. Maze also published The Chinese Maritime Customs Service: A Brief Synopsis of its Genesis and Development.
Madden entered the Navy in 1919 and after training at Osborne and at Dartmouth served in the THUNDERER training ship in 1923, then in the WARWICK, Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, in the Atlantic, and in the REPULSE in the Atlantic Fleet. He served in the VICTORIA AND ALBERT in 1927, after which he trained as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm. In 1934 he qualified at the Navigation School, HMS DRYAD, serving subsequently as navigator for a short period in the MALAYA, Atlantic Fleet, in the SANDWICH, on the China Station, 1934 to 1936, and the ORION in North America, 1939. During the Second World War he served in Naval Intelligence and with the Fleet Air Arm. He retired in 1950.
Robert Dundas, only son of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (q.v.), entered Parliament as representative for Hastings, 1794 to 1796, Rye, 1796 to 1801 and Edinburghshire, 1801 to 1811. He first came into prominence when he defended his father against impeachment in 1806. In 1807 he was made President of the Board of Control. In 1809 he was briefly Irish Secretary before resuming his former office. From 1812 to 1827 he was First Lord of the Admiralty, resigning because he refused to serve under Canning. He held the office again from 1828 to 1830.
Milne entered the Navy in 1779 and served in the Canada until the end of the American War in the Channel and the West Indies. During the peace he was employed in merchant ships, among them the East Indiaman, General Eliott, 1788 to 1790. At the out-break of war, 1793, he went in the Boyne to the West Indies and subsequently joined the BLANCHE, in which ship he earned promotion to lieutenant for capturing La Pique in 1794. He became commander and captain in 1795 and was appointed to the command of LA PIQUE in 1796. After two years service in the West Indies and the Channel, Milne, whilst taking La Seine, lost LA PIQUE in action off Brittany and returned to the West Indies in LA SEINE. On renewal of the war in 1803, he was Commander-in-Chief at Leith until 1808, after which he had a period ashore in command of the SEA FENCIBLES. He was then appointed to the Channel Fleet in the IMPETUEUX, 1811 to 1812, and to the VENERABLE, 1812 to 1813. From 1813 to 1814, when he became a rear-admiral, he was in North America in the Bulwark. Milne was Commander-in-Chief of the Halifax Station, 1816 to 1819, but before he departed, served as second-in-command to Lord Exmouth (q.v.) at the battle of Algiers, 1816. He was made a vice-admiral in 1825 and an admiral in 1841. His only further service was as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, 1842 to 1845, and he died during his journey home to Scotland.
Granville Murray-Browne became a midshipman in March 1902, serving first in the HOGUE and from 1904 in the KENT. He became a sub-lieutenant in 1905 and, after studying at Portsmouth joined the DRAGON in 1906. He was made a lieutenant in 1907 and joined the VICTORIOUS in 1908. From 1909 he commanded TB106 (Tender to VIVID at Devonport) and, from December 1909, TB055 (Tender to HOOD at Queenstown). The ACHILLES was his next ship, in 1911, and two years later he joined the INDEFATIGABLE. In 1915 he was promoted to lieutenant-commander. He was killed in action at the Battle of Jutland when the INDEFATIGABLE was sunk on 31 May 1916.
Mason entered the Navy in 1803 and served on the Channel Station and then in the AMPHION, Mediterranean. He was captured by the French in 1809, escaped the following year and was made a lieutenant in 1811. His subsequent service was off Lisbon and in the Mediterranean. He was promoted to commander in 1815, after which he saw no further active service.
J.D. Nares, son of Sir George Strong Nares, was a midshipman in the CRESCENT, RAPID and ORLANDO, Australian Station, between 1894 and 1897. He became a lieutenant in 1900, commander in 1913 and captain in 1919, serving in numerous survey ships including the IROQUOIS, which he commanded in 1928 on the China Station. From 1924 to 1928, 1930 to 1931 and 1940 to 1945, he was Assistant Hydrographer and Naval Assistant to the Hydrographer. In 1952 he was made Director of the International Hydrographic Bureau at Monaco.
Noel entered the Navy in 1859. He served as a midshipman in the Hannibal, Mediterranean, from 1859 to 1861 and in the SHANNON in the Mediterranean and West Indies from 1862 to 1865. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1866 and served in the RATTLER, on the China Station, until 1869. Following this he took courses in the Excellent and at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth. He was appointed Gunnery Lieutenant of the MINOTAUR, Channel Squadron, in 1871. In 1873 he went in the Active to the West Coast of Africa, where he commanded the seamen landed with the force under Sir Garnet Wolseley (1833-1913). He was promoted to commander in 1874 and appointed to the Immortalite, Detached Squadron. From 1878 to 1881 he served in the Royal Yacht, VICTORIA and ALBERT, and was promoted to captain in 1881, but then had several years on half-pay. In 1884 he served on the Admiralty Torpedo Committee and in 1885 was appointed Captain of the ROVER, Training Squadron, until 1888. The following year he became Captain of the TEMERAIRE, on the Mediterranean Station. In 1891, on the same station, he commissioned the NILE, which ship was the next astern when the VICTORIA and CAMPERDOWN collided. He was appointed a junior Sea Lord in 1893 and was promoted to rear-admiral in 1896. In 1898 he was appointed second-in-command, Mediterranean, and was involved in settling the disturbances in Crete. Noel was made Superintendent of Naval Reserves and commanded the Home Fleet from 1900 to 1903. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1901 and was Commander-in-Chief, China, 1904 to 1906, and at the Nore from 1907 to 1908. He was promoted to admiral in 1905 and Admiral of the Fleet in 1908, retiring in 1915.
The Navy Records Society was founded in 1893 for the purpose of making documents or unpublished works of naval interest available in print. Since that time it has issued over a hundred and twenty volumes connected with naval history and still continues to function.
The New Zealand Shipping Company Limited was incorporated in 1873 in Christchurch, New Zealand, by a group of local farmers and merchants, who were dissatisfied with the existing shipping facilities and their ability to cope with the country's rapidly expanding trade. It was at first administered from New Zealand, with a London 'Board of Advice' in the City. The company began by purchasing four second-hand iron sailing ships. Competition from the existing shipping companies, particularly Shaw Savill and the Albion Line was keen, and there was initially a brief rate war which led to an agreement ensuring uniform and viable rates of freight. Within four years of its inception the company was operating seventeen ships under its own flag as well as a large number of chartered vessels. In 1879 a joint charter, by Shaw Savill and the company, of a steamship demonstrated that, at the outset at least, a regular steamship service would have to be subsidized. Accepting this, the Colonial Government provided for a subsidy of £30,000 on its joint contract with Shaw Savill and Albion and the company in 1884: this contract ran for five years and was not renewed. Refrigeration was introduced and the second cargo of frozen meat from New Zealand was carried in 1882 in one of the company's sailing ships, the Mataura, fitted with Haslam's cold-air refrigerating machinery. In 1880 financial control of the company was transferred to London, and the business was reorganized. When in 1889 Edwyn Sandys Dawes (later Sir Edwyn, 1838-1903) acquired the controlling interest, it was the start of a connection between the company and the Dawes family which was to last until 1970. The company absorbed the Federal Steam Navigation Co in 1912 and the amalgamation secured for the company a firm foothold in the Australian trade. The Federal Steam Navigation Company Ltd was founded in 1892 after Allan Hughes (d 1928) had acquired the remaining assets of Money Wigram and Sons Ltd, owners of the Blackwall Line; the Federal Line ships flew the same house-flag and used the same English county names as Money Wigram's. Allan Hughes became chairman of the New Zealand Shipping Company in 1920.
In 1916 the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company acquired a controlling interest in the company. Both the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Federal Line, however, enjoyed considerable autonomy. Parallel to, but less important than the United Kingdom trade, was the affiliation of New Zealand Shipping and the Federal Line with other shipping companies, either as shareholders in a company or partners in a consortium. An early exampleof this was the New Zealand and African Steamship Company, 1902 to 1911, to take care of trade with South Africa. The Canadian connection, the Canadian-Australian Royal Mail Line, 1901 to 1910, was a joint venture between New Zealand Shipping and the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand. A later development was the Montreal, Australia and New Zealand Line, 1941 to 1971, a partnership between New Zealand Shipping, Ellerman's and the Port Line. M.A.N.Z., as it was called, took in the East Coast United States, which trade was also served by the American and Australian Steamship Line, 1956 to 1971. In 1954 the Avenue Shipping Company Ltd was founded to augment the New Zealand and Federal fleets when needed; otherwise its ships were put into tramping. The Crusader Line (1957-1967) a joint service from New Zealand to the West Coast of the United States and to Japan, with Shaw Savill, Port Line, Blue Star and New Zealand Shipping as partners, was another Pacific venture. Finally the Dolphin Line (1967-1971) was a joint service of conventional ships to supplement the Overseas Containers Ltd operation; the partners were New Zealand Shipping Company, Scottish Shire and Clan Lines, Shaw Savill and Ocean Steam Navigation Company.
The Orient Steam Navigation Company was established in 1878 and jointly managed by the London shipowning firms of Anderson, Anderson and Company and F. Green and Company until 1919, when the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company acquired a controlling interest in its shareholding capital; at approximately the same time the dual management of the undertaking by the Anderson and Green companies came to an end and the two businesses were merged into a private limited company formed for the purpose, Anderson, Green and Company Limited. The Orient company was a small enterprise operating a handful of very large ships in virtually one trade, the mail and passenger service to Australia and New Zealand. In due course it provided a co-ordinated service in this region with ships of the P&O fleet; in later years, similarly in collaboration with P&O, a passenger service between North American ports and Australia and New Zealand was instituted, and in attempts to promote passenger traffic in the Pacific, a series of voyages between North America, the Far East and Australia were inaugurated. The company's ships were also extensively employed in ocean cruising. Anderson, Green and Company Limited, the managers, were brought under the P and O umbrella in 1949, but the P and O and Orient companies maintained separate identities and independent shore organizations until 1960 when the services were run together and the balance of the ordinary share-holdings of the Orient company was bought up by P and O. A new company, P and O/Orient Lines Passenger Services Limited, better known under its trading name, Orient and Pacific Lines, was set up to run the services of the two companies, an arrangement which ceased to exist in 1966. In the following years the former Orient company vessels gradually came into P and O ownership and their livery was likewise altered. See 'Steam to Australia', Syren and Shipping, July 1938; Stephen Rabson, 'Orient -- a mark of quality', Wavelength, June 1977.
Atlases, maps and plans - volumes.
Parker was a nephew of Sir John Jervis (later Earl St. Vincent. He entered the Navy in 1793 as a captain's servant in the ORION and, as a midshipman, was present at the battle of the Glorious First of June 1794. He was then transferred with Captain (later Admiral) J.T. Duckworth to the LEVIATHAN and he went out to the West Indies in 1795. From 1796 to 1798 he was acting lieutenant of the MAGICIENNE and from 1798 to 1799 of the QUEEN, being promoted to lieutenant in 1799. He was appointed to command the VOLAGE and then the STORK, in which ship he returned home in 1800 and served for a year in the North Sea. He was promoted to captain in 1801 and during the following year commanded L'OISEAU, the HELDIN and the ALARM in home waters. Between 1802 and 1812 Parker was Captain of the AMAZON. He served in the Mediterranean under Nelson and sailed with him to the West Indies in 1805. From 1806 to 1810 he was employed mainly on the coasts of Spain and Portugal and from 1811 to 1812 in the Channel.
Parker was then on half-pay until 1827 when he was sent to the Mediterranean in the WARSPITE, being Senior Officer in the Aegean in 1828. On his return home he was appointed Captain of the Royal Yacht Prince Regent until his promotion to rear-admiral in 1830. He was second-in-command, Channel Squadron, in 1831 and commanded a squadron on the coast of Portugal during the Carlist War, 1831 to 1834. He was knighted in 1834 and was a Lord of the Admiralty between August and December of the same year. From 1835 he again had a seat at the Board of the Admiralty until 1841, when he was promoted to vice-admiral and appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, where he brought the First Chinese War to a successful conclusion. In 1845 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, a post he held until 1852 and which, from 1846 to 1847, was combined with a command in the Channel during the Portuguese Civil War. In 1851 he was promoted to admiral. He was Commander-in-Chief at Devonport from 1853 to 1857 and was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet in 1863. See Admiral Sir Augustus Phillimore, The life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker (3 vols, London, 1876-1880).
Peachey entered the Navy in 1914. He became a midshipman in the KING GEORGE V in 1915 and was present at Jutland. He joined the PRINCESS ROYAL in 1917 and in 1918 became acting Flag-Lieutenant to Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck (1862-1928). He became a lieutenant in 1918 and spent several years in China and the Mediterranean before becoming a lieutenant-commander in 1927. After serving in several ships he was promoted to commander in 1933 and then spent some time at the Admiralty. From 1936 to 1938 he was in the ROYAL OAK, Home Fleet, and on the staff of Rear-Admiral L.D.I. Mackinnon (1882-1948). In 1938 he was appointed Operations Officer, Coast of Scotland. He was promoted to captain in 1940 and commanded the DELHI, Mediterranean, from 1941 to 1944. From 1947 to 1948 he was Commodore, Palestine and Levant. He retired in 1950.
Whitshed, who until 1791 had the name Hawkins, entered the Navy in 1773 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1778. Becoming both commander and captain in 1780, he was appointed to the ROSE in home waters from 1784 to 1786. In 1799, having been promoted to rear-admiral, he was sent to join Earl St Vincent in the Mediterranean, serving subsequently in the Channel from 1800 to 1801. Whitshed became a vice-admiral in 1804, was Commander-in-Chief at Cork between 1807 and 1810, when he was promoted to admiral, and was later Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, 1821 to 1824. He became Admiral of the Fleet in 1844.
Pellew entered the Navy in 1770. He became a lieutenant in 1778, a commander in 1780, a captain in 1782. In 1795 commanded a frigate squadron in the INDEFATIGABLE in the Channel. From 1802 to 1804 he was Member of Parliament for Barnstaple. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1804, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, with his flag in the CULLODEN and remained there for five years. In 1808 he became a Vice-Admiral and held the North Sea command from 1810 until 1811, when he was appointed to the Mediterranean with the CALEDONIA as his flagship. He was promoted to Admiral in 1814 and went again to the Mediterranean in 1815. In the next year he was ordered to suppress the Moorish pirates who operated from Tripoli, Tunis and Algiers. Pellew negociated teaties with Tunis and Tripoli but the Dey of Algiers refused to comply with Pellew's demands. Pellew then combined with a Dutch squadron at Gibraltar in August 1816 and together they bombarded Algiers, forcing the Dey to release prisoners and sgree to the treaty. His final command was at Devonport from 1817 to 1820. See Edward Osler, The life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth (2 vols, London, 1835, 1841) and C Northcote Parkinson Edward Pellew Viscount Exmouth Admiral of the Red (London, 1934).
Copies of Volumes and Documents - Photographs
Palmer received his first commision on 20th May 1848 as acting assistant surgeon on HMS VICTORY. Later that year he served on HM Sloop DWARF from 19th September 1848 until late March 1850. His next commission was on 12th April 1850 as assistant surgeon on HMS ASIA in the Pacific under Captain Robert Fanshawe Stopford. He transferred on 17th February 1851 to the flagship in the Pacific, HMS PORTLAND, under Rear Admiral Fairfax Moresby. He later served on HMS JACKAL, under Lieutenant Commander William T. F. Jackson, from 3rd July 1854 until a brief term on HMS IMPREGNABLE under Vice Admiral Sir Barrington Reynolds in Devonport from 17th December 1858 until he transferred back to the JACKAL on 12th April 1859 under Lieutenant and Commander James Simpson at Sheerness. On 14th April 1860, he served on the flagship in the East Indies and China, HMS CHESAPEAKE, under Rear Admiral Sir James Hope. He produced many sketches on various subjects in China. On 16th May 1861, he spent two days on the new flagship, HMS IMPERIEUSE, before transferring to HMS PRINCESS CHARLOTTE, a receiving ship at Hong Kong under Captain Matthew S. Nolloth, where he was listed as surgeon (additional for service in Melville Hospital Ship). On 24th January 1866, he was commissioned as surgeon on HMS TOPAZE under Commodore 2nd Class Richard A. Powell. The TOPAZE voyaged to Easter Island among other destinations and it is here that he painted many watercolours and produced sketches of the topography of the island, the stone statues and some of the chiefs resident on the island at the time. His final commission was on HMS RESISTANCE from 11th September 1870 as staff surgeon under Captain William H. Haswell. This ship was on coast guard duty from Rockferry and Birkenhead from 1872 onwards. He is listed as retired in 1874.
The dockyard at Portsmouth was established in 1495. It was used throughout the reign of Henry VIII but was thereafter neglected until the Civil War when new buildings were erected and permanent officers appointed. The extension and improvement of yard facilities continued through the Dutch wars. Further periods of expansion followed between 1684 and 1690, 1694 and 1704 and 1716 and 1723. This expansion and the movement of the centre of naval operations into the Western approaches made Portsmouth the most important dockyard from the mid-eighteenth century. During the eighteenth century the area of the yard more than doubled in size; in the nineteenth century it trebled. The most notable additions were the Steam Basin, built between 1843 and 1848, and a further extension between 1863 and 1868 which added two locks, three docks and three basins. Expansion continued in the twentieth century. The dockyard remains operational today, and the Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command is based there. See H. Kitson, 'The Early History of Portsmouth Dockyard, 1496-1800', parts 1-4, The Mariner's Mirror, 33 (1947), 256-65, 34 (1948), 3-11, 87-97, 271-9.
Porter became a surgeon in the Navy in 1877 and after service abroad joined the SCOUT, Mediterranean Station, from 1889 to 1892. He then served at Bermuda Dockyard. In 1896 he was Staff Surgeon in the BRITANNIA and in 1897 went to the DORIS, flagship at the Cape of Good Hope, and was promoted to Fleet Surgeon there in 1898. Between 1899 and 1900 Porter was Principal Medical Officer to the Naval Brigade in South Africa and afterwards received special promotion to the rank of Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets. In 1902 he was appointed to the Royal Naval Hospital, Chatham and to Gibraltar in 1905. In the next year he became Inspector-General. Between 1907 and 1908 he was Principal Medical Officer at Haslar. In 1908 he became Medical Director-General of the Navy until his retirement in 1913. During 1915 he was Principal Hospital Transport Officer for the Mediterranean Station, being much concerned with the Dardanelles campaign. He reverted to the retired list in 1917.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
J S Rainier served under his uncle, Admiral Peter Rainier, in the East Indies, became a lieutenant in 1794 and a captain in 1796. He commanded the SWIFT, 1795 to 1797, and the CENTURION, 1797 to 1805, in the East Indies. In 1799 he was in the Red Sea, following the French invasion of Egypt. After a gap in his service between 1805 and 1808, he commanded the NORGE in the Mediterranean from 1808 to 1812 and then in the North Sea until 1814. He was a Member of Parliament for Sandwich, 1808 to 1812. In 1819 he was promoted to rear-admiral.
The Royal Indian Navy's foundation dates from a squadron of ships that was sent out by the East Indies Company to the Swally, Surat on 5 September 1612, under the command of Captain Thomas Bast, to protect British trading interests from the Portuguese. Until 1686, this force was known as the Honourable East Indies Company's Marine, with headquarters initially in Surat, and then Bombay, to where the Company formally transferring its interests in 1685. From 1686 the force became known as the Bombay Marine.
On 1 May 1830, the Bombay Marine became the Indian Navy by Government Order. The Indian Navy was abolished in 1863 and the naval protection of Indian Waters was taken over by the Admiralty. From 1863-1877 the Service was again known as the Bombay Marine, and acted in a non-combatant role, trooping and laying submarine telegraph cables from Bombay to Suez, and Karachi to Basra.
In 1877 the Service was reorganised by Admiral Bythesea, NC, and became Her Majesty's Indian Marine, divided into Eastern and Western Divisions, with dockyards at Calcutta and Bombay. Its duties included: the transportation of troops and stores; maintenance of Station ships and gunboats; building, repair and maintenance of all Indian Government vessels; and marine survey. The HMIM took part in the Abyssinian War of 1871, the Egyptian campaigns 1882 and 1885, the 3rd Burmese War 1885, and the Chin-hushai Expedition in Burma 1889.
These years as a trooping/ surveying organisation earned the Service Royal recognition and in 1892 Queen Victoria authorised the name to be changed to the Royal Indian Marine. The RIM participated in the Suakin Expedition 1896, an Expedition to Mkwelo in East Africa 1897, the Boer War, the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and a Somaliland Expedition 1902-4. From 1909-14, the RIM was engaged in the suppression of gun-running in the Persian Gulf. After extensive service in World War I, the RIM returned to trooping/ surveying duties and the Service reached its lowest ebb in 1925 as a result of the Inchcape Report. A committee, formed under the Chair of Lord Rawlinson, C-in-C, India (Rawlinson Committee), put foward proposals for reconstituting the Service on a combatant footing, and in 1928 the White Ensign was hoisted onboard all RIM ships.
On 8 September 1934, the Indian Navy (Discipline) Bill received Governor-General's assent and HM King George V conferred the title of Royal Indian Navy on the Service. In February 1939, the Chatfield Committee made recommendations for the RIN taking over increased responsibility for the naval defence of India. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the RIN began to establish reserves - the Royal Indian Naval Reserve, recruited from serving officers in the Mercantile Marine; and the Royal Indian Naval Volunteer Reserve, recruited from the general public and given intensive training, mainly in Bombay. In addition to the ordinary Continuous Service Ratings, the RIN recruited Special Service Ratings who served for 5 years and then transferred to the Fleet Reserve for 10 years.
On 15 August 1947, the subdivision of India and Pakistan brought about division of the Navy into the Royal Pakistan and Royal Indian Navies. When India abrogated her Dominion status to become a Republic within the Commonwealth on 26 January 1950, the Navy became the Indian Navy.
In 1837 James MacQueen (1778-1870) put a plan to the Government for a steam packet service between England and the Caribbean; this was quickly followed by more ambitious proposals embodied in a 'General Plan for a Mail Communication between Great Britain and the Eastern and Western parts of the World; also to Canton and Sydney westward by the Pacific'. On MacQueen's initiative the West India Committee, an association in London of merchants and planters, gave its support to the formation of a company. Under the chairmanship of John Irving (d.1845), a merchant banker, the first meeting of the Directors of the Company was held in 1839. James MacQueen was appointed 'General Superintendent of Affairs'. In the autumn of 1839 the new company was granted a royal charter and the first mail contract was signed with the Admiralty in 1840. It provided for a service of steamships, twice in each calendar month, from a Channel port (eventually fixed as Southampton) to islands and ports in the West Indies. Connecting with this main line of steamers at the various points there was to be a feeder service of seven steamers and three sailing vessels, serving all the principal islands and countries of the Spanish Main, with an extension northwards to New York, Halifax and Nova Scotia. An annual subsidy of ?24,000 was written into the agreement. Because the contract was with the Admiralty (the first contract with the Postmaster-General was made in 1864) the Royal Navy exercised a great deal of influence over the running of the ships. In an unprecedented building operation, fourteen large steam vessels and three small sailing ships were commissioned in time to start the service in December 1841. In 1846 the service was extended to link up with the west coast of South America (served by the Pacific Steam Navigation Company) over the Isthmus of Panama. A further extension followed in 1850, when a monthly service to Brazil and the River Plate was added to the extended West Indies contract. This new service was of great importance to the subsequent development of the Company. Royal Mail tried three times between 1852 and 1869 to get a foothold in the Australasian trade via Panama, but without any long-term success. A fourth attempt was made in 1906, in conjunction with the Orient Line (q.v.), but the partnership lasted only a year, after which the latter company obtained the mail contract for itself alone. There was a short-lived attempt to acquire berthing rights to Morocco, the Canaries and Madeira. This route was abandoned in 1919. The last five-year mail contract for the West Indies, signed in 1911, was not renewed owing to the advent of the First World War. However, the Canadian mail contract, for a fortnightly service between Canada, the West Indies and British Guiana remained in force from 1913 throughout the war; thereafter it was renewed by short-term extensions, until the increasing use of Canadian Government ships on the route brought it to an end in 1927. In addition, the company known as 'R.M.S.P. Meat Transports Limited' was formed in 1914 in order to put additional refrigerated tonnage on the Plate route. At the end of the First World War, the Company was allocated fourteen standard 'War' type freighters, as well as eleven ships of the Russian Volunteer fleet. From the beginning of the twentieth century the Royal Mail offered cruises on its vessels of which the most notable were Arcadian, Atlantis and Andes. From 1903 the policy of the Company under its Chairman, Owen Cosby Philipps (1863-1937), created Lord Kylsant in 1923, was to broaden the base of its operations by acquiring a controlling interest in a great number of shipping companies in diverse trades. Before the First World War, besides other less important enterprises, the Pacific Steam Navigation Company (1910), Lamport and Bolt and Elder Dempster (1911), the Union Castle Line (1912) and the Nelson Line (1913) became members of the group, with MacIver joining in
The first South Africa Conference was formed in 1883 following increased steamship trading rivalry between European shipping lines operating in the area. Its main objective quickly became the regulation of member companies and the establishment of common freight tariffs. From 1886, the Conference granted a bonus ("deferred rebate") to member companies, thus providing a trading advantage for membership, and a common interest in improving standards. The major shipping lines that made up the conferences were: The Union Castle Mail Steamship Company Limited, The Clan Line Steamers Limited, Ellerman and Bucknall Steamships Company Limited, Ellerman and Hall Line, Bullard King and Company, Harrison Line, Huston Line, British India Line and the D.O.A. Line.
Scott entered the Navy in 1803, was made a lieutenant in 1809 and after service in the Channel, off the African coast and in North America, was promoted to captain in 1828. He commanded the PRESIDENT, flagship, West Indies, 1834 to 1836, and when she was flagship, Pacific, 1836 to 1839. Scott saw no further service after 1841 and was promoted to rear-admiral in 1854, vice-admiral in 1861 and admiral in 1865. He published Recollections of a naval life (London, 1834).
Spratt entered the Navy in 1827, was made a lieutenant in 1841 and a commander in 1849, his ship then being the SPITFIRE, a survey vessel in the Mediterranean; he continued in command of her until the end of the Crimean War, becoming a captain in 1855. In 1856 he was appointed to the MEDINA and remained surveying in the Mediterranean until 1863. He was a Commissioner of Fisheries from 1866 to 1873 and was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1872. In 1878 he became a Vice-Admiral and from 1879 was Acting Conservator of the Mersey Conservancy Board. Spratt published books and articles on the Mediterranean, chiefly on the history and antiquities of Crete.
From their first venture in 1858, Shaw and Savill specialized in the New Zealand trade. When they gained a share of the New Zealand Government contract for a regular mail, passenger and cargo service between the United Kingdom and New Zealand, they began operating a joint service with the White Star Line. In 1899 the White Star Line began a steamship service from Liverpool to Australia via the Cape and in 1905 Shaw Savill and the White Star Line acquired a further interest in the Australian trade when they became the major shareholders in the Aberdeen Line. The Royal Mail Group purchased the White Star Line in 1926 and in 1928 the Australian Government's Commonwealth Line which was then amalgamated with the Aberdeen Line to provide a fortnightly service from London to Australia via Suez and Colombo. The group also acquired the major shareholding in Shaw Savill in 1928, but after the group's collapse and the reorganization which followed this, Shaw Savill became part of the Furness Withy Group (q.v.) in 1933. In 1939 a new fast passenger and cargo service to New Zealand via the Cape and Australia was inaugurated. In the postwar period many of the new vessels were designed without accommodation for passengers, but in 1955 the SOUTHERN CROSS was built solely for passengers and with one-class accommodation to operate on a new round-the-world route. When she was joined by her sister ship the NORTHERN STAR they maintained eight round-the-world sailings a year until the decline in the passenger trade in the early 1970s.
Stephenson entered the Navy in 1855. He served in the Crimea, India and Canada, being promoted to lieutenant in 1861 and to commander in 1868. He was in command of the RATTLER when she was lost in La Perouse Strait in 1868. He became a captain in 1875. From 1875 to 1876 Stephenson commanded the DISCOVERY in the British Arctic Expedition led by Captain C.S. Nares. He commanded the CARYSFORT, Mediterranean, 1880 to 1883, and took part in operations in Egypt in 1882. During the 1890s he was Commander-in-Chief both in the Pacific and the Channel, being appointed rear-admiral in 1890, vice-admiral in 1896 and admiral in 1901.
William Stokes Rees entered the Navy in 1866 and served on the Mediterranean Station in the ROYAL OAK from 1868 to 1870. In 1872 he was in home waters in the PEMBROKE and the BELLEROPHON and then went out to the Pacific in the REPULSE until 1873. He became a lieutenant in 1877 and specialized in gunnery. Promoted to Commander in 1891, he went, in 1894, to the ST GEORGE, flagship at the Cape of Good Hope, and took part in the Brass River (1895), M'Wele (1896), Ashanti (1896), Zanzibar (1896) and Benin (1897), expeditions. Having become a captain in 1897, Rees took command of the THETIS in the Mediterranean, 1898 to 1900, and then on the Cape Station until 1901. After some short commands followed by two years as senior officer in Australia (1904 to 1906), he retired as a Rear-Admiral in 1910 and rose to Admiral on the retired list.
Trinder Anderson and Co. Ltd began in the 1870s. In 1886 Trinder Anderson & Co. acquired the business of Messrs Oliver and Wilson of Fremantle and entered trade in Western Australia. In 1886, Trinder Anderson and Co Ltd set up a steamer service called the Western Australia Steam Navigation Co. In 1892, Trinder Anderson and Co reorganized with Charles Bethell and Co when Walter J Gwyn was taken into partnership becoming known as Bethell, Gwyn and Co. In the same year Trinder Anderson and Co. and Bethell, Gwyn and Co enters the emigrant trade. In 1904, Trinder Anderson and Co. and Bethell, Gwyn and Co founded the Australind Steam Navigation Co. The first steam vessel registered was the AUSTRALIND, a 5,568 ton cargo vessel built by Charles Connell and Co of Glasgow. In later years the Australind Steam Navigation Company became associated with the New Zealand Shipping Company which registered in 1872 and changed in 1966 to become asscociated with the Federal Steam Navigation Co Australind Steam Navigation Co together with its parent company forms part of the P and O organisation. In 1967, the Australind Steam Navigation Co ran services in association with Avenue Shipping. In this collection, Trinder Anderson and Co. Ltd. acted as agents to the Australind Steam Navigation Company Ltd from 1897 to 1964, New Zealand Shipping Company Ltd from 1937 to 1959 and Avenue Shipping Co Ltd. from 1954 to 1969. Trinder Anderson and Co. Ltds own company records in this collection cover the period 1914 to 1974.
Tennant joined the BRITANNIA in 1905, from 1906 to 1909 was in the Channel in the PRINCE OF WALES, VENERABLE, IMPLACABLE and QUEEN and was promoted to lieutenant in 1912. After specialising in navigation he served from 1914 to 1916 in the LIZARD and FERRET, Harwich Force, and in the Grand Fleet in the CHATHAM and NOTTINGHAM. Still in 1916, he returned to the Harwich Force in the CONCORD and remained in her as navigator until 1919. He was navigator during the two Royal tours around the world in the RENOWN, 1921 and the REPULSE, 1925, the year he was promoted to commander. He was made Captain in 1932. From 1935 to 1937 he was on the Mediterranean Station in the ARETHUSA followed by two years (1937 to 1939), as naval instructor at Imperial Defence College. At the beginning of the Second World War, Tennant organized the embarkation of the allied armies at Dunkirk. He next commanded the REPULSE and survived her sinking off Singapore by Japanese air attack at the end of 1941. In 1942 he was promoted to rear-admiral and commanded a cruiser squadron of the Eastern Fleet. He joined the staff for 'Overlord' , the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied Europe, in 1943 and was responsible for the 'Mulberry' harbours. In 1945 he went as Flag-Officer, Levant and Eastern Mediterranean, was promoted to vice-admiral in that year and to admiral in 1949 at the end of his term as Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies, 1946 to 1949.
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Hamilton entered the Navy in 1843 and served in the Virago on the Mediterranean Station. From 1850 to 1851 he served in the ASSISTANCE and from 1852 to 1854 in the RESOLUTE in the Arctic expeditions searching for Sir John Franklin (q.v.). He was made a lieutenant in 1851. During the Crimean War he served in the Baltic in the DESPERATE, 1855 to 1856. After this he took part in the Second Chinese War in command of the HAUGHTY, and was promoted to commander in 1857 for his services. In 1858 he commissioned the HYDRA for service off the African coast but was sent instead to Halifax, serving on the North American and West Indies Station until 1868. During this time he was promoted to captain, 1862, and commanded the VESUVIOUS until 1864 and the SPHINX from 1865 to 1868. Hamilton then served in home waters. In 1875 he was appointed Superintendent of Pembroke Dockyard, became a rear-admiral in 1877 and in 1878 was made Director of Naval Ordnance. From 1880 to 1883 he was in command off the Irish coast. He became vice-admiral in 1884 and was Commander-in-Chief, China Station, from 1885 to 1888. He became an admiral in 1887. Hamilton was appointed Second, later First, Sea Lord, 1889 to 1891. From 1891 to 1894 he was President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. He retired in 1895 and wrote works on naval administration and historical subjects.
Born 1919; commissioned as 2nd Lt, 1939; 2nd Lt, Indian Army, 1940; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; Lt, 1941; temporary Capt, 1941-1942; transferred to Royal Artillery, 1943; Capt, 1946; temporary Maj, 1950-1952; Maj, 1952; served with 156 (East Africa) Independent Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery, Kenya during Mau Mau revolt, 1952- 1955; awarded MBE,1955; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, War Office, 1958- 1963; Lt Col, 1963; General Staff Officer 1, Army Department, Ministry of Defence, 1964-1966; Col, 1966; Col, General Staff, Headquarters British Army of the Rhine, 1969-1972; Central Defence Staff Officer, Ministry of Defence, 1974-1975; retired 1975.
Born in 1912; educated at Wesley College Dublin and Dublin University; commissioned into RAF, 1933; served in flying boats with 230 Sqn, Egypt and Far East, 1935-1938; commanded night fighter squadron, UK, 1939-1940, and day fighter squadron, 1940; Officer Commanding 266 (Fighter) Wing, Dutch East Indies, 1942; POW, Java, 1942; Staff College, 1947; FighterCommand Staff Duties, 1948-1950; Officer Commanding RAF Odiham, 1950-1952; Senior Air Staff Officer, HQ No 11 Group, RAF, 1958-1959; Air Officer Commanding No 13 group, 1959-1961; Air Officer Commanding No 11 Group, Fighter Command, 1961-1962; Senior Air Staff Officer, Far East Air Force, 1962-1964; Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence), 1964-1965; Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Intelligence), 1965-1968; retired, 1968; Director General of Intelligence, Ministry of Defence, 1968-1972.
Born in Zomba District, Nyasaland (Malawi), 1926; conscripted into 2 Bn, D Company, Nyasaland King's African Rifles, 1939; stationed in Egypt, 1940-1943; Corporal, 1942; stationed in India, 1943-1945; Sergeant, 1943; Staff Sergeant, 1944; discharged, 1945; trained as a teacher, 1958.
Born in 1871; gazetted to Derbyshire Regt (later the Sherwood Foresters), 1892; served in Tirah Expeditions, India, 1897-1898; Capt, 1899; Special Service Officer, South Africa, 1899-1900; entered Staff College, 1902; General Staff Officer Grade 2, War Office, 1902; General Staff Officer Grade 2, 1908; Maj, 1911; Instructor, Staff College, 1913; Lt Col 1913; General Staff Officer Grade 2, later Grade 1, 3 Div, France, 1914-1915; Director of Military Operations, Imperial General Staff, 1915-1918; Maj Gen, 1916; wrote letter to the press accusing David Lloyd George's government of making misleading statements about the strength of British Army on the Western Front, May 1918; retired from Army and became military correspondent for The Daily Chronicle, May 1918; helped to found British Legion, 1920; Principal, Working Men's College, London, 1922-1933; Professor of Military Studies, London University, 1927; President of the British Legion, 1932-1947; Principal of Queen Mary College, University of London, 1933-1944; died in 1951. Publications: The Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878 (Special Campaign Series, 1905); Sir Frederick Maurice: a record of his work and opinions (Edward Arnold, London, 1913); Forty days in 1914 (Constable and Co, London, 1919); The last four months (Cassell and Co, London, 1919); The life of Lord Wolseley (with Sir George Compton Archibald Arthur) (William Heinemann, London, 1924); Robert E Lee, the soldier (Constable and Co, London, 1925); Governments and war (William Heinemann, London, 1926); An aide-de-camp of Lee (Little, Brown and Co, London, 1927); The life of General Lord Rawlinson of Trent (Cassell and Co, London, 1928); British strategy (Constable and Co, London, 1929); The 16th Foot (Constable and Co, London, 1931); The history of the Scots Guards (Chatto and Windus, London, 1934); Haldane (Faber and Faber, London, 1937, 1939); The armistices of 1918 (Oxford University Press, London, 1943); The adventures of Edward Wogan (G Routledge and Sons, London, 1945). Also contributed to John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, Baron Acton's Cambridge modern history planned by (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1902-1911).
Born in 1841; educated Addiscombe College and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; commissioned into Royal Artillery 1861; passed through Staff College, 1870; Private Secretary to FM Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley in Ashanti Campaign, 1873-1874; served in South Africa, 1879-1880, Egypt, 1882, and the Sudan, 1884-1885; also served in Intelligence Department, War Office; Professor of Military History, Staff College, 1885-1892; Aldershot, 1892-1893; commanding Royal Artillery, Eastern District, 1893-1895; Maj Gen, 1895; commanded Woolwich District, 1895-1902; died in 1912.