George Eliott, son of Sir Gilbert Eliott, 3rd Bt., of Stobs, descended through four generations from a younger branch of the Minto family, received a French military academy training and fought on the Continent at an early age with the Prussian army. After training as a field engineer, he served during the War of 1739 to 1748 in the British Army, becoming a captain in 1745 and a lieutenant-colonel in 1754. During the Seven Years War he was present at the capture of Havana. In 1774 he was made Commander-in-Chief of the forces in Ireland and the following year he went out, as Governor, to prepare Gibraltar for the threatened attack from Spain. This did not come until 1779. From then until 1783 the Rock was under constant siege, being relieved on three occasions. For his skilful defence Eliott was raised to the peerage in 1787.
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Robert Fairfax joined the navy in 1687 and participated in the battles of Bantry Bay (1689) and Beachy Head (1690). He captained the BERWICK, one of the 20 ships with which Rear Admiral Byng seized Gibraltar. He played a prominent role in the battle of Malaga (1704), and the reduction of Barcelona (1706). He became Rear Admiral of the Blue following the disasterous death of Sir Cloudsley Shovell (1707), but the promotion was instead given to Lord Dursley, by dint of the former's connections. Fairfax was left without employment, and after unsuccessfully petitioning the Crown to be reinstated, retired altogether from naval life. In 1713 Fairfax was elected to the seat of York but his rival candidate, Mr Tobias Jenkyns, disputed the result and a recount took place. Fairfax was returned, though he lost the seat the following year, when elected Alderman of the city of York. In 1715 he was elected Lord Mayor. Fairfax also purchased his estate of Bilbrough from his extended family. He died in 1725 leaving his wife, a son, and a daughter. His wife out lived him by another 10 years.
Fisher entered the Navy in 1888 and served as a sub-lieutenant and lieutenant in the Mediterranean In 1903 he was appointed a senior staff officer of the Gunnery School on Whale Island. He was made a commander in 1906 and a captain in 1912 . After more than four years with the Grand Fleet he was called in May 1917 to the Admiralty as Director of the then recently-formed Anti-Submarine Division In 1919 he commanded the IRON DUKE, flagship, Mediterranean Fleet, and was then Chief of Staff to Admiral Sir John De Robeck (1862-1928), in both the Mediterranean and Atlantic Fleets Fisher became rear-admiral in 1922, commanded the First Battle Squadron, Mediterranean Fleet, in 1924 and in 1926 was appointed Director of Naval Intelligence He joined the Board of the Admiralty as Fourth Sea Lord in 1927 and, after rising to vice-admiral, became in April 1928 Deputy Chief of Naval Staff In the autumn of 1930 he was appointed second-in-command, Mediterranean Fleet, until April 1932. He was then promoted to admiral and returned to the Mediterranean as Commander-in-Chief in October. His command covered the period which included the Abyssinian crisis of 1935 His final appointment was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. There is a biography by Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir W.W Fisher (London, 1943).
Field entered the navy as a cadet in 1868, becoming a sub-lieutenant in 1874, and a lieutenant only a year later as a result of his success in the examinations. He received the Beaufort Testimonial for 1875. After a few months on HMS BLACK PRINCE he embarked on his career in surveying and hydrography, the branch of the service in which he remained. From 1876 to 1880 he served on the surveying vessel HMS FAWN and in 1881 was employed in his first piece of independent work, as Admiralty Surveyor for the river entrances of the Niger delta, known as the Oil Rivers. From 1882 to 1884 he was on HMS SYLVIA and his first command was HMS DART in 1885, surveying around New Guinea and Tasmania. In 1889 he was promoted to commander and served from 1890 to 1894 on HMS EGERIA around Borneo. He was twice commended by the Admiralty for his surveying work. In 1895 he was promoted to captain and from 1896 to 1899 commanded HMS PENGUIN, surveying islands in the south west Pacific including deep borings on Funafuti Atoll under the auspices of the Royal Society. This was his last foreign service and on his return, he spent the next four years until 1904, surveying on HMS RESEARCH in home waters. In 1903 in company with HMS FLIRT he was involved in sounding experiments at speed in the Channel with the resulting tables bearing his name. He was Hydrographer from 1904 to 1909, was made a Rear-Admiral in 1906 and in 1909 was appointed the first Admiral representative on the Port of London Authority, a post he held until 1925. In 1910 he retired and the same year was promoted to Vice-Admiral on the retired list, becoming Admiral in 1913. In 1905 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1911 received the KCB. From 1910 to 1930 he was Acting Conservator of the River Mersey, and was a Nautical Assessor to the House of Lords. As a leading authority he wrote on surveying and revised and enlarged the "Hydrographical Surveying" of his predecessor as Hydrographer, Rear-Admiral Sir William Wharton, publishing the 3rd edition in 1909 and the fourth in 1920. With Purey-Cust he patented the Field/Cust automatic tide-recorder in 1908. His father, John Bousquet Field (1819-1869) served as a midshipman on HMS PICKLE in 1839 and became a captain.
Thomas (b.1808) and George Fisher (1810-1899) were sons of Captain William Fisher, a Limehouse seaman and shipowner. Thomas appears to have gone to sea but after illness took up residence in the Sandwich Islands and became a carpenter.
Owing to the death of his father, Fisher had to go out to work at an early age. However, his interest in science won him recognition and in 1817 he was able to go to Cambridge University. In 1818 he sailed as astronomer with the naval expedition to Spitsbergen commanded by Captain David Buchan (d c 1839) in the DOROTHEA and the TRENT. He then returned to Cambridge. In 1821 he graduated and was ordained. In that year he sailed with Captain W E Parry (1790-1855), on his second expedition, 1821 to 1823, to search for the North-West Passage, in the double capacity of chaplain and astronomer. During both these expeditions he made astronomical and magnetic observations and did some pioneer work on the physical, chemical and physiological consequences of the Arctic climate. In recognition of his work he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1825. From 1828 to 1832 he served in the Mediterranean as chaplain in the SPARTIATE and ASIA and continued his work on astronomy and magnetism. From 1834 to 1863 Fisher was Headmaster of the Greenwich Hospital School, where he continued his scientific work and established an observatory.
Fitzgerald entered the Navy in 1818. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1823. In May 1839 he was appointed to the MAGNIFICENT, flagship of Commodore Peter John Douglas at Jamaica, and in March 1841 to the RACER, North America and West Indies. Following his promotion to Captain in November 1841, Fitzgerald was sent in 1842 by Sir Charles Adam, the Commander-in-Chief, on a mission to Guatemala. In 1845 he was appointed Captain of the VERNON, flagship of Rear-Admiral S H Inglefield on the south east coast of America and later in the East Indies. On the death of Inglefield in 1848 he was for a time Senior Officer on the station, arriving home in the autumn of that year. In 1853 he was appointed Captain of HMS WINCHESTER, flagship of Sir Fleetwood Pellew, in the East Indies. For reasons of health he was transferred to the CALLIOPE the following year, on the Australian Station, and brought her home in 1855. He was appointed Superintendent of Sheerness Dockyard in 1857 and died there in 1859.
Flinders joined the Navy in 1790 and went on the second bread-fruit voyage in the PROVIDENCE from 1791 to 1793. On his return, Flinders went to the BELLEROPHON and was present at the battle of the First of June 1794. He then served in the RELIANCE, taking the new Governor to New South Wales and used the opportunity to explore the coastline firstly in the TOM THUMB and then in the FRANCIS with the surgeon, George Bass (d c 1812). They charted the coast of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) between 1798 and 1799 in the NORFOLK and proved that it was an island. On his return home in 1800 Flinders convinced Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) of the need to chart the whole of Australia; he was promoted to commander and sent out in the INVESTIGATOR, 1801, with a team of scientific assistants. While surveying the southern coast of Australia as far as Port Phillip (the site of Melbourne), Flinders encountered the French ships LA GEOGRAPHE and LA NATURALISTE which were also engaged in charting the continent. He later travelled northwards, amplifying and correcting the work of Cook, but had to abandon his work in 1803 as the INVESTIGATOR appeared to be rotten. On his return voyage to England he was detained at Ile de France (Mauritius) by the French governor there and held prisoner for over six years. He was released in 1810 and survived only long enough to complete and publish, in 1814, his Voyage to Terra Australis. Flinders also made an important contribution to the knowledge of the variation of the mariner's compass. Among the many biographies written about Flinders, the latest is by James Decker Mack, Matthew Flinders (London, 1966).
Foley entered the Navy in 1770 and after early service in Newfoundland and the West Indies was promoted to lieutenant in 1778. During the American War he saw service in the Channel, North America and the West Indies. In 1782 he was promoted to commander and in 1790 to captain. After a period on the Home Station, he was Flag-Captain in the BRITANNIA at the battle of Cape St Vincent, 1797, and in the GOLIATH he led the Fleet into action at the Nile, 1798. In 1800, Foley was appointed to the ELEPHANT in the Channel Fleet, going later to the Baltic, where he served at the battle of Copenhagen, 1801. Foley 'was then ill and unfit for service for several years until his appointment as Commander-in-Chief in the Downs from 1811 to the peace, 1815. He had been promoted to rear-admiral in 1808, became a vice-admiral in 1812 and in 1825 an admiral. In 1830 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, where he served until his death. There is a privately printed biography by John Beresford Herbert, The life and services of Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, G.C.B., Rear-Admiral of Great Britain (Cardiff, 1884).
Thomas Fremantle entered the Navy in 1777 and after service in the West Indies was promoted to lieutenant in 1782. He was promoted to captain in 1793 when he commissioned the Tartar frigate and went to the Mediterranean. He led the way into Toulon in 1793 and in the following year served under Nelson at the siege of Bastia, after which he commanded the INCONSTANT, in which he took part in the action off Toulon, March 1795, and in the blockade of the North Italian coast In 1797 he accompanied Nelson to the attack on Santa Cruz where both were severely wounded. Fremantle took part in the battle of Copenhagen in 1801 and was also at Trafalgar He returned to England in 1806, was made a Lord of the Admiralty until his appointment as Captain of the Royal Yacht in 1807. In 1810 he was promoted to rear-admiral and to a command in the Mediterranean, and in 1812 took command of the squadron in the Adriatic In 1818 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, and died at Naples. See Anne Parry, The Admirals Fremantle (London, 1971)
Edmund Fremantle, grandson of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle, entered the Navy in 1849 in the Queen on the Mediterranean Station. From 1852 he served in the SPARTAN on the East Indies and China Stations and was involved in the Burma War. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1857. He next served in the ORION and ROYAL ALBERT on the Mediterranean and Channel Stations and from 1860 in the NEPTUNE, with Captain Sir Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, on the Mediterranean Station, until his promotion to commander in 1861. Fremantle then commanded the despatch vessel ECLIPSE on the Australian Station, 1864 to 1867, and saw service in the Maori War, 1864 to 1866. He was promoted to captain in 1867. He commanded the BARRACOUTA between 1873 and 1874 on the Cape Station, after which he served in the DORIS between 1874 and 1876 as part of the Detached Squadron. From 1877 he commanded the LORD WARDEN for a year on coastguard service and then went to the INVINCIBLE in the Mediterranean, 1879 to 1881. He was Senior Naval Officer at Gibraltar from 1881 to 1883. His next command was the DREADNOUGHT in 1884. After his promotion to rear-admiral in 1885, he was second-in-command of the Channel Squadron with his flag in the AGINCOURT. He was Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, from 1888 to 1891, on the China Station from 1892 to 1895 and at Devonport from 1896 to 1899. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1890 and admiral in 1896. Fremantle published The Navy as I have known it (London, 1904). See also Anne Parry, The Admirals Fremantle (London, 1971).
Fremantle was the youngest son of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle (q.v.). He entered the Royal Naval Academy, Portsmouth, in 1823 and afterwards served as midshipman in the Challenger, 1828, and the Pallas, 1828 to 1829, on the Home Station. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1829 and to commander in 1836, when he commanded the Clio, Southampton and Wanderer at the Cape of Good Hope and on the South American Station and in China respectively. He was promoted to captain in 1842 while in the Wanderer. After service in North America, he was appointed to the Arrogant, 1852 to 1853, on the Home Station and then the Juno on the Australian Station, 1853 to 1857. He was accused of over-strict discipline in the Juno and had no further employment.
Eldest son of Admiral Sir Edmund Robert Fremantle, Sydney Fremantle entered the Navy in 1881. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1887, to commander in 1889 and to captain in 1903 After a distinguished career afloat he was made Head of the War Division at the Admiralty in 1910 and President of the Signal Committee at Portsmouth in 1912. He became a rear-admiral in 1913 and was made Head of the Signals Division at the Admiralty in 1914. He was second-in-command of the Third Battle Squadron in 1915, and was appointed to command the Ninth Cruiser Squadron in 1916 and the Second Cruiser Squadron in early 1917. In August of that year he was in command of the British Aegean Squadron. In January 1918 he was made Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, was promoted to vice-admiral and in May 1919 was appointed to command the First Battle Squadron. Fremantle was promoted to admiral in 1922 and was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, from 1923 to 1926. Ho retired in 1928. See Fremantle's autobiography, My Naval Career (London, 1949).
Franklin entered the Navy in 1800. He served as midshipman under his cousin, Captain Matthew Flinders from 1801 to 1803, surveying the coasts of Australia. He began his Arctic career as second-in-command to Captain David Buchan (d c 1839) during the Spitsbergen expedition of 1818. From 1819 to 1822 he commanded an expedition down the Coppermine River of Canada to the Arctic Ocean. From 1825 to 1827 he commanded a second expedition to the Arctic Ocean down the Mackenzie River. He was knighted in 1829. Franklin was in the Mediterranean from 1830 to 1833 and between 1833 and 1844 was Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). In 1845 at the age of fifty-nine, he took command of an expedition in search of the North-West Passage in the EREBUS and TERROR. He died on board the EREBUS off King William Island. See Sir J Franklin, 'Narrative of the journey to the shores of the Polar Seas in the years 1819, 1820, 21 and 22' (London, 1823) and 'Narrative of a second expedition to the shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1825, 1826 and 1827' (London, 1828). Among a number of biographies is Richard J. Cyriax, Sir John Franklin's Last Arctic Expedition (London, 1939).
Fraser entered the Navy in 1880. As a midshipman he served in the MONARCH and the AGINCOURT, Mediterranean Station, between 1882 and 1885 and then in the ACTIVE between 1885 and 1886 mostly in the East Indies. Having attended the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, he was promoted to lieutenant in 1888. In 1890 he was appointed to the KINGFISHER in the East Indies, after which he specialised in torpedo duties, serving at the torpedo school Vernon in 1894 and again between 1897 and 1900. He organized the illumination of the Fleet at the opening of the Kiel Canal in 1899, probably the first time this had been done by electricity. After promotion to commander in the same year, he joined the VINDICTIVE in the Mediterranean. During this period he became seriously ill and had eventually to be invalided, retiring as captain in 1907. During the First World War he served in the Torpedo and Mining Division of the Admiralty, specialising in defensive mining.
Fraser was a marine painter who collaborated extensively with the Commendatore Eduardo de Martino (1838-1912), Marine Painter-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria. Martino also enjoyed special favour with Edward VII, who never went to sea without him, but although Fraser hoped to succeed to this position at Martino's death, he was disappointed.
Fullerton entered the Navy in 1895, became a lieutenant in 1900 and a commander in 1910. In 1908 he married Dorothy Fisher, daughter of Admiral Sir John (later Lord) Fisher (1841-1920). At the beginning of the First World War he commanded monitors off the Belgian coast; for this he was specially commended and promoted to captain in 1914. As Senior Officer of the Monitor Squadron in 1915 he commanded the inshore operations in East Africa and took part in the destruction of the German cruiser KONIGSBERG. From 1916 to 1918 he commanded the ORION in the Grand Fleet as Flag Captain to Rear-Admiral Goodenough (1867-1945). Between 1921 and 1923 he was Captain of the Fleet on the staff of Admiral Sir Charles Madden in the Home Fleet, was then Commodore commanding the Royal Naval Barracks at Chatham and, for a few months in 1925, was aide-de-camp to King George V. Having been promoted to rear-admiral the previous year, in 1927 Fullerton was appointed Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Rt. Hon (later Viscount) W.C. Bridgeman (1864-1935), and in 1929 went out to the East Indies Station as Commander-in-Chief. On his return he was Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth, 1932 to 1935, was promoted to admiral in 1935 and retired the following year. During the Second World War Fullerton served in the Royal Naval Reserve between 1940 and 1942.
Fuller entered the Navy in 1887 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1893. He specialized in gunnery and served on the staff of the EXCELLENT in 1902. Two years later he was promoted to commander and became a captain in 1910. After service in China, Fuller took command of the CUMBERLAND, 1914, and in the latter part of that year was Senior Naval Officer in the campaign against the German territories in Togoland and the Cameroons. He continued on this service in the CHALLENGER and the ASTREA and saw the successful termination of the operation in 1915. Fuller subsequently had a distinguished career, becoming Director of the Plans Division of the Naval Staff, 1917, Head of the British Naval Section at the Peace Conference in Paris, 1919 to 1920, and Second Sea Lord in 1932. He retired in the same year.
Furness Withy was incorporated as a company in 1891 upon the amalgamation of Christopher Furness' business in West Hartlepool and London with Edward Withy's shipbuilding yard in Hartlepool. By 1914 the company had acquired interests all over the world in liner and tramp shipping and in shipbuilding, but from 1920 they concentrated on liner services. In addition to the North Atlantic service, they developed other American routes based principally on New York and including Bermuda and the West Indies. The Furness Line to the Pacific coast of North America via Panama was started in 1921. An interest in the refrigerated meat trade with South America had begun before the First World War. The Argentine Cargo Line was formed in 1908 to acquire the freight contracts of the Anglo-Argentine Shipping Co. Two ships were managed by Birt, Potter and Hughes in agreement with Furness Withy and Manchester Liners, another subsidiary. The Line was amalgamated in 1912 with the newly formed British and Argentine Steam Navigation Co Ltd. In 1911 Furness Withy acquired a large holding in Houlder Brothers and the British and Argentine's vessels were operated in association with those of the Houlder Line. In 1914 the Furness-Houlder Argentine Lines was incorporated for the purpose of building a fleet of large, fast twin-screw steamers for the conveyance of chilled and frozen meat from the River Plate to London in conjunction with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co, Furness Withy and Houlder Brothers. There were other additions to the company. The Prince Line was purchased in 1916 and with this services were developed to the Mediterranean and from New York to the Far East and the River Plate. The River Syndicate was incorporated in 1920 to acquire a controlling interest in the Danube shipping which had formerly belonged to South German, Austrian and Hungarian companies. The Syndicate (which formed the Danube Navigation Co Ltd in July 1920) went into voluntary liquidation in 1968. The break-up of the Royal Mail group in 1931 and 1932 led to the formation of a new company, Royal Mail Lines Ltd which became part of the Furness Withy Group. Later this was closely integrated with Furness Lines. In 1933 a substantial holding in the Shaw Savill Line was also acquired.
Miss Cicely Fox Smith, who had travelled in Canada and Africa, wrote a number of popular books on sailing ships of the last century. She was also a contributor to Punch for many years and well known for her attractive verses.
For some fifty years George H. Gabb (fl 1880-1930) built up a collection not only of manuscripts relating to science, but also of scientific instruments.
Miss Ganz taught dancing at Mr Littlejohn's Navy School between 1888 and 1898. Later she took pupils, many of whom were from the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
Goodsall entered the merchant service in 1863 and in 1867 joined the Bombay Shipping Company as second mate. His submarine telegraph work began as Third Officer in the cable ship KANGAROO with the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, laying a cable from Singapore to Hong Kong. As Second Officer in the Company's ship VANESSA between 1872 and 1873, he participated in the laying of the duplicate Placentia-St.Pierre-Sydney cable. Late in 1873 he was Third and Navigating Officer in the Great Eastern, working on the cable from Valentia to Newfoundland. He subsequently commanded other cable ships, including the CHILTERN, which was employed in the Red Sea, 1883 to 1884.
After serving an apprenticeship of seven years to William Brown of Gillingham, William Godden of Chatham became a Fisherman and Dredgerman of the City of Rochester in 1821.
Geary entered the Navy in 1727, became a lieutenant in 1734, a captain in 1742 and served through the War of Austrian Succession. During the early part of the Seven Years War he was in North America and then returned, in 1757, to take command at the Nore for a few months, in the PRINCESS ROYAL. In 1758 he moved into the LENOX, Channel Fleet, and in the following year served on the same station in the RESOLUTION and then in the SANDWICH. It was in the latter ship that he hoisted his flag in 1759 as rear-admiral and commanded detached squadrons in the Channel until late in 1760. After this he became Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth until 1762, when he became vice-admiral. His next service was in the same command between 1769 and 1771. Having been promoted to admiral in 1775, in 1780 he took up his last appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet.
Greene entered the Admiralty as a Higher Division Clerk in 1881 From 1887 to 1892 he was Private Secretary to successive First Lords and became Principal Clerk in the Secretary's department in 1902. He was Assistant Secretary of the Admiralty, 1907 to 1911, in which year he became Permanent Secretary Considerable changes in the constitution of the Admiralty Board and other departments were made in 1917 and Greene became Secretary of the Ministry of Munitions, which post he held until his retirement in 1920.
Greet entered the Navy in 1867 and was promoted to midshipman in 1869. He served in the Pacific in the ZEALOUS and FAWN and was made a sub-lieutenant in 1874 He served in the JUNO, China Station, 1876 to 1877, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1878. He then spent the usual period at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, before his appointment to the Tenedos in 1882. In 1887 he served in the IRON DUKE, Channel, and in the following year he was appointed to the CHAMPION, Pacific Station. He was promoted to commander in 1891, served in the Channel and, from 1896, at a training establishment, and was promoted to captain in 1897. He retired with the rank of rear-admiral in 1907 and became an admiral on the retired list in 1916.
The General Maritime Assurance Company appears to have been established in London in 1839 with an authorised capital of one million pounds. At a time when there was a great deal of activity in the promotion of specialist marine insurance companies, of the authorised ten thousand shares, only 7,500 were allotted; by 1848 only five thousand were still registered. The affairs of the company did not flourish, and the company seems to have ceased trading in 1848. The directors of the company, who also took charge of its liquidation, were defendants in Hallet v Dowdall, 1852, a case concerning the liability of shareholders in insurance claims.
The GANGES, launched in 1821, became a training ship for boys in 1866. The ship was moored in Falmouth Bay until 1899 when it was moved to the Essex Coast off Shotley, near Harwich, where it remained until 1906. From 1905 the training establishment was based on shore at Shotley where it remained until its closure in 1976.
F W G Grant, Shoreham Pilot and Captain, born 8th March 1905, at Southwick, Sussex, son of Frederick Grant (born 1866, discharged Ebenezer in 1890) and Ellen Grant (formerly Sayers). His Father was a Trinity House Pilot licensed for the London Outports District of Shoreham-by- Sea, Sussex. Captain FWG Grant was appointed a Trinity House Pilot. A former master of the Tug "Harold Brown" owned by the Shoreham Harbour Trustees in 1971. Mr Grant had a varied life as a deck boy before qualifying as a master.
John Henry Godfrey entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet in 1903. He was promoted to Midshipman in 1904, to Sub-Lieutenant in 1908 and to Lieutenant of the light cruiser BLANCHE in 1913. He served on HMS EURYALUS during the Dardenelles campaign in 1915, and in 1916 Godfrey was promoted to Lieutnenant-Commander. Between 1916-19, Godfrey was on the staff of C-in-C Mediterranean, Admiral Wemyss, after which he was a Junior War Staff officer on the staff of Sir Charles Madden, C-in-C Home Fleet. In 1920, Godfrey was promoted to Commander, at the time, one of the youngest to hold that rank. From 1923 to 1931, Godfrey was on the directing staff of the Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, with a brief break in between from 1925-28, when he served as second in command of HMS DIOMEDE. (After this he was promoted to Captain and returned to the Royal Naval Staff College in 1929 as Deputy Director.) Godfrey then commanded HMS KENT, HMS SUFFOLK and from 1936-39, was in command of HMS REPULSE in the Mediterranean Fleet. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1939, Godfrey took up the postition of Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI), which he held until 1942, when he was made Vice-Admiral. He was then appointed Flag Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Navy (FOCRIN) in 1943, being responsible for its organisation, training, administration, etc. In 1945, Godfrey was placed on the retired list and promoted to Admiral. However, he continued to serve as FOCRIN until March of 1946, thereby completing a full 3 years service in that position.
Dr Philip Gosse (1879-1959) ended his career as Superintendent of the Radium Institute, London in 1930, after which he not only collected documents and books relating to piracy, but wrote many works on the subject.
Gould entered the Navy in 1906 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1911. He served on the China Station and in the Mediterranean, but was invalided from active service in 1915. In 1916 he was appointed Naval Assistant to the Hydrographer of the Admiralty, a post he held until 1927. In 1920 Gould offered to clean and reconstruct the four Harrison marine timekeepers belonging to the nation, now on display in the National Maritime Museum.
Gower entered the Navy in 1755. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1762 and took part in two voyages of circumnavigation early in his career. He was promoted to captain in 1780 and served on the East Indies and Newfoundland stations. In 1792 he was appointed to command the LION in which he took the embassy of Earl Macartney (1737-1806) to China In November 1794, he was appointed to command the TRIUMPH and was with Admiral Sir William Cornwallis (q.v.) during the 'Cornwallis retreat' in 1795. He was involved in the mutiny at the Nore when he commanded the NEPTUNE, one of the ships commissioned for the defence of the Thames, and continued to serve in her, in the Channel Fleet, until his promotion to rear-admiral in 1799. In 1804 Gower became a vice-admiral and in 1809 an admiral.
See sub-fonds levels for biographies.
Grey was made a lieutenant in 1781 and served in the West Indies and in home waters In 1793 he was promoted to captain and commanded the BOYNE, in which Sir John Jervis had his flag. The BOYNE was lost through fire at Spithead in 1795 but Grey was acquitted of responsibility at his court martial. From 1795 to 1797 he was Captain of the VICTORY, in which Jervis again had his flag, and was present at the battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. Later in the same year he took command of the VILLE DE PARIS but left the ship at the end of 1798. In April 1800 he returned to the VILLE DE PARIS, once again as Jervis' Flag Captain, and served in her until March 1801. He then commanded the Royal Yachts In 1804 he was appointed Commissioner of Sheerness Dockyard and in 1806 was transferred to Portsmouth Dockyard where he remained until his death. He was created a baronet in 1814.
Griffin served in the Baltic Fleet, 1716 to 1717, in the WEYMOUTH and then in the PANTHER. He became a lieutenant in 1718 and was in the BARLEUR and ORFORD, Mediterranean Station, until 1720; from 1727 to 1730 he served in the GIBRALTER, the PRINCESS LOUISA and the FALMOUTH on the same station. He was promoted to captain in 1731, served in the West Indies in the Shoreham from 1731 to 1733 and on the Channel Station under Sir John Norris (c 1670-1749) from 1735 until 1740 in the Blenheim, Oxford and Princess Caroline It was in the latter ship that he sailed to join Admiral Vernon's fleet in the West Indies in October 1740. During the abortive attack on Cartagena in 1741 he commanded the BURFORD. Griffin was then at Portsmouth until 1743 in the ST GEORGE. It was during his service in the Captain, 1744 to 1745, that he was accused of an error of judgement, court-martialled but acquitted. He was made rear-admiral, in 1747, when he hoisted his flag in the PRINCESS MARY and went to the East Indies. In the following year he was promoted to vice-admiral and, on his arrival back in England, found himself the object of criticism over an alleged failure to attack eight French ships: he requested a court martial, was found guilty of negligence and suspended from his rank. Although reinstated in 1752, he had no further active employment.
The first ship builder connected with Blackwall Yard was Sir Henry Johnson (d.1683), who passed it on to his son (d 1693). The yard then passed on to Philip Perry who passed the firm to his second son John Perry in 1776. The yard was then taken over by Sir Robert Wigram (1744- 1830), who bought the Perry shares. In 1819 he sold half the yard to George Green and his two sons Money and Henry Loftus Wigram retained the other half. George Green (1767- 1849) was taken into partnership in 1796 and married his employer' s daughter (Miss Perry). He built the Green' s sailors' Home in the East India Dock Road in 1840-1 and the Trinity Schools and Trinity Chapel. In 1829, Richard Green, known as "Dicky Green" (1803-1863), was taken into partnership. The company became known as Green, Wigram and Green. In 1843 the eastern portion of the yard became R and H Green's and the western portion Money Wigram and sons. "Dicky" left the practical side of the yard to his brother Henry who was trained as both shipwright and seaman. In 1858 the East India Company dissolved due to the Indian Mutiny. This led to much competition with individual firms and the Green' s Blackwall line became occupied with purchasing and building vessels in the interests of valauble eastern trade and the Australian passenger trade. In 1855 the Greens became involved with the Crimean War, they built 14 screw gunboats over 200 tons. Dicky Green was a lover of teak and British Oak and would not build using iron, but, after his death all opposition was removed and the firm built their first iron ship, the SUPERB (lauched 1866). Money and Wigram and son' s shipyard closed in 1893, sold to the London Midland and Scottish Railway. The fleet was sold to Mr Allen Hughes. R and H Green, from the 1970's onwards built mainly paddle steamers; the final ship built was the AMY in 1903. R and H Green merged with Silley Weir Ltd in 1910 and became shiprepairers. In 1918 R and H Green and Silley Weir Ltd took over Cox and Co Ltd and acquired Falmouth Docks and Engineering Co. In 1977, London Graving Dock Co Ltd merged with R and H Green and Silley Weir Ltd and became the River Thames Shiprepairers Ltd (ceased trading 1982).
Baillie Grohman joined the Navy in 1903, becoming a lieutenant in 1909. He served in the Mediterranean and on the China station, and during the First World War on the east coast, in the Dover Patrol and in minesweepers In 1922 and 1923 he served in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, and was made commander in the latter year He then became Senior Officer, First Minesweeping Flotilla, 1923 to 1924. He was promoted to captain in 1930 and between 1931 and 1933 was Senior Officer of a British Naval Mission to China. He then served in the Mediterranean, commanded a training establishment and at the beginning of the Second World War was again in the Mediterranean. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1941 and in the same year was attached to the staff of the General Officer Commanding, Middle East. In 1942 he was nominated as Naval Force Commander for the Dieppe Raid, but, although he took part in the planning of the raid, he did not command it. Afterwards he became Flag Officer, Harwich, and in 1943 was promoted to vice-admiral, retiring in 1946.
Cuthbert Grasemann (d 1962) was a railwayman who rose to be Public Relations Officer of the Southern Railway, and later of the Southern Region of British Railways. He had a particular interest in the cross-channel ships and was co-author, with G.W.P. McLachlan, of English Channel Packet Boats (1939).
Grant, son of an Aberdeen merchant, entered naval service as a clerk in 1778. In 1794 he was appointed to the LUTINE as Purser, and in 1795 to the DIDO. Two years later he was appointed to the GOLIATH and was present at the Battle of the Nile. In 1799 he applied for an exchange to home service for health reasons and returned with the GOLIATH at the end of the year. He remained in England until 1801 when he rejoined his ship and went to the West Indies. His health became so bad that he was invalided back to England.
See Sub-fonds level descriptions for biographical histories.
Graves was promoted to commander in 1709 and captain in 1713 In the summer of 1711 he was in command of the WINCHESTER for a few months. From 1711 to 1714 he commanded the DUNWICH, stationed mainly in home waters but was sent in 1713 to take news of the conclusion of the Treaty of Utrecht to Bermuda and the American colonies He was unemployed from 1714 to 1728, in which year be took command of the ASSISTANCE, guardship, at Plymouth In 1733 he was appointed to command the SWALLOW and the next year was with Sir John Norris (c 1670-1749) at the Tagus. In 1738 he was Captain of the PRINCESS LOUISA and in November of the same year commissioned the NORFOLK. In 1740 he was sent to the West Indies and took part in the attack on Cartagena. Still in the NORFOLK, he was ordered to the Mediterranean in 1742 where he transferred to the MARLBOROUGH. After 1743 he had no further service and became a rear-admiral in 1747.
Graves was the second son of Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves and first cousin to Admiral Samuel Graves (1713-1787) He was with his father in the NORFOLK at the attack on Cartagena in 1741 and went with him to the Mediterranean and transferred into the MARLBOROUGH in 1742. In 1743 he was appointed Lieutenant of the ROMNEY and was present at the action off Toulon in February 1744. In 1746 he was in the PRINCESSA at the attack on L'Orient and he then served in the MONMOUTH under Anson and Hawke in the Channel. Between 1751 and 1754 he made two voyages to Africa. In 1754 he was given command of the HAZARD in home waters. He was made a captain in 1755 and appointed to the Sheerness, but in 1757 was court-martialled for refusing an engagement with an enemy ship, which appeared to be of superior force, and sentenced to be reprimanded. Graves was appointed to the UNICORN in 1758 and served in the Channel under Anson and Rodney. In 1761, as Captain of the ANTELOPE, he was Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland. On his arrival he found there had been a French invasion and he organized a relief expedition which drove them from the island. On his return home he was made Captain of the TEMERAIRE in 1764 and in 1765 was sent to the west coast of Africa to investigate charges of maladministration in the British forts. He served as Member of Parliament for East Looe, January to May, 1775. In 1778 he commanded the CONQUEROR in North America and the West Indies, returning home the next year on his promotion to rear-admiral when he served as second-in-command of the Channel Fleet. He was sent to America as Commander-in-Chief in 1780 and led the British fleet at the action off the Chesapeake in March 1781 which resulted in the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Graves sailed for home from the West Indies in 1782 but lost several ships in a storm He was made a vice-admiral in 1787 and in 1788 Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. He hoisted his flag in the CAMBRIDGE in 1790. In 1793 he was appointed second-in-command of the Channel Fleet under Lord Howe. He was promoted to admiral in 1794. He was raised to the Irish peerage for his part in the battle of the First of June 1794 but received a wound which forced him to give up his command and he saw no further service.
In 1821 a small group of London businessmen and steam packet operators formed a syndicate for the purpose of developing steam-ship communication. The success of this venture prompted the membership to turn the existing arrangement into a joint stock undertaking and in 1824 the General Steam Navigation Company was incorporated by private Act of Parliament. One of the earliest steamship concerns on the Thames and almost certainly the first to operate a steamer service to foreign ports, the new company began to increase its tonnage and by the time of the first half-yearly meeting of the shareholders owned fifteen steamers; by 1834 it had won the contract for carrying the mails from London to Boulogne, Ostend, Rotterdam and Hamburg. Earlier, in the mid-1820s, the company had gained permission for its ships to engage in the movement of goods as well as passengers, whereupon it moved into the carriage of live cattle from the Continent, a trade upon which the prosperity of the company was to be founded for much of the nineteenth century. In 1836 the company acquired the London and Edinburgh Steam Packet Company, a purchase which included six steamers and property in both London and Edinburgh. Soon afterwards the Margate Steam Packet Company was also taken over and by 1840 the General Steam Navigation Company operated forty steamers serving all the principal East Coast and near Continental ports. After its early success the company encountered a number of setbacks. The railways began to affect the passenger business while the cattle trade was adversely affected, by an outbreak of plague on the Continent and also by the Order-in-Council of 1884 prohibiting the carriage of live cattle, which by the early 1890s had virtually put an end to this trade. In 1902, under the chairmanship of Richard White (d.1926), the structure of the company was reorganised and its capital reduced. During this period the company consolidated its long association with the London river, where in the 1880s it had successfully revived the excursion trade between the capital, Southend and the North Kent resorts. At the same time it took over the firm of John Crisp and Sons, whose activities included not only a service between London and East Anglia, but the river trade as well, a transaction which incidentally made G.S.N. the operator of a fleet of Norfolk wherries. At this time the G.S.N. company also began to develop its wharf age interests near Tower Bridge, an extension of its shore-side activities which had begun in 1825 when it had taken over a yard at Deptford for the building, maintenance and repair of its ships. At the end of the First World War, the company was able to expand its interests in several fields but larger companies, keen to acquire a fleet of smaller ships to provide feeder services and a network of agency services for their own vessels, began to look at the potential of G.S.N. in this respect and in 1920 it was taken over by the P and 0 Company. In turn, G.S.N. acquired several other small companies. Although wholly owned by the larger company, the G.S.N. Company led a largely autonomous existence until 1971. In this year the P and 0 Group, as it had now become, reorganised its subsidiaries and the old G.S.N. Company became a part of P and 0 European and Air Transport Division. See L Cope Cornford, A Century of sea trading (London, 1924); H.E. Hancock, Semper Fideles: The Saga of the Navvies (London, 1949).