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Elphinstone entered the Navy in 1761, became a lieutenant in 1770 and in 1772, having been promoted to commander, went to the Mediterranean in the SCORPION, where he remained until 1775. As a captain he then went to North America and commanded, in succession, the ROMNEY, 1775 to 1776, the PERSEUS, 1776 to 1780, and the WARWICK, 1780 to 1782, being present at the reduction of Charleston in 1780. Between 1782 and 1793 Elphinstone was unemployed until he took command of the ROBUST during the occupation and evacuation of Toulon. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1794 and served in the Channel Fleet until, in 1795, he was appointed to command the expedition against the Cape of Good Hope. After the successful capture of the Cape he returned home, to encounter a French invasion force in Bantry Bay. He also received a peerage as Baron Keith, 1797. His next task was to assist in suppressing the mutinies at the Nore and Plymouth. In 1799 he was second-in-command to Earl St. Vincent, Mediterranean Fleet, succeeding to the command in the same year and holding it until 1802. When war broke out again, in 1803, Lord Keith became Commander-in-Chief of the North Sea Station where, until 1807, his prime concern was the protection of the English coasts against invasion. From 1812 to 1814 he commanded the Channel Fleet and again took this office during the Hundred Days. Finally, he was responsible for organizing the safe passage of Napoleon to St Helena He was made Viscount Keith in 1814 The only biography is by Alexander Allardyce, Admiral Lord Keith (London, 1882). The Navy Records Society published 'The Keith Papers' in 1926 (ed W.G. Perrin), 1950 and 1955 (ed C C Lloyd).