Acton, Edward (d. 1707), naval officer, was the son of Mary Acton, and was related to the Acton family of Shropshire. He entered the navy as a volunteer on the Diamond in September 1691, was lieutenant on the Advice in May 1693, and succeeded as captain on 7 October 1694 following his predecessor's death. The ship was docked in ...
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Adam, Sir Charles (1780–1853), naval officer, was born at Brighton, Sussex, on 6 October 1780, the second son of William Adam (1751–1839), of Blairadam, Kinross, and of Eleanora (1749–1808), daughter of the tenth Lord Elphinstone, and sister of Captain Elphinstone, afterwards Admiral Lord Keith...
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Affleck, Sir Edmund, baronet (1725–1788), naval officer, ninth son of the eighteen children of Gilbert Affleck (1684?–1764), politician, of Dalham Hall, Suffolk, and Anna Dolben, was born on 19 April 1725. He became a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in July 1745, commander in May 1756, and captain on 23 March 1757; and he served throughout the Seven Years' War, first in the ...
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Nicholas Tracy
Affleck, Philip (b. after 1725
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John R. Bullen
Agar, Augustus Willington Shelton (1890–1968), naval officer, was born in Kandy, Ceylon, on 4 January 1890, the son of John Shelton Agar, an Irish tea planter from co. Kerry. He was the youngest of thirteen children, and his Austrian mother, whose maiden name was ...
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Agnew, Sir William Gladstone (1898–1960), naval officer, was born in London on 2 December 1898, the fifth son of the six children of (Charles) Morland Agnew (1855–1931) [see under Agnew family], art dealer, and his wife, Evelyn Mary (d. 1932)...
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John Van der Kiste
Alfred, Prince, duke of Edinburgh (1844–1900), duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, naval officer, and son of Queen Victoria, was born Alfred Ernest Albert at Windsor Castle on 6 August 1844, the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. An extroverted child, his capacity for learning delighted his parents. They feared that the comparative academic weakness of his elder brother ...
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Allen, William (1792–1864), naval officer and writer, was born at Weymouth in November 1792, entered the navy as a volunteer in October 1805, and as midshipman was present at the passage of the Dardanelles in 1807. On the Leda (36 guns), he served at the capture of ...
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Alms, James (1728–1791), naval officer, was born on 15 July 1728 at Gosport, the son of John Alms, said to be a servant of the duke of Richmond, and his wife, Mary. After serving in merchant ships he entered the navy about 1740 in the ...
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Ambrose, John (d. 1771), naval officer, was commissioned fourth lieutenant of the Lenox on 20 June 1728, and from 27 March 1734 served as captain of the frigate Greyhound in Sir John Norris's fleet off Lisbon. As captain of the Rupert (60 guns) from 12 September 1740 he cruised the north coast of ...
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Bernard Capp
Ames, Joseph (1619–1695), naval officer, was born at Great Yarmouth on 5 March 1619, the son of John Ames (c.1577–1647). Bred to the sea, Ames appears to have played no part in the civil war but he shared the puritan sentiments strong in the town and on 18 February 1647 was admitted to the congregationalist church led by ...
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Eric J. Grove
Andrewes, Sir William Gerrard (1899–1974), naval officer, was born on 3 November 1899 at Chilcomb rectory, St Giles Hill, Winchester, the second son of the Revd Canon Gerrard Thomas Andrewes, rector of the parish of Chilcomb, and his wife, Helen Louisa, daughter of ...
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Anson, George, Baron Anson (1697–1762), naval officer and politician, was born on 23 April 1697 at Colwich, Staffordshire, the second son of William Anson (d. 1720) and his wife, Isabella, daughter and coheir of Charles Carrier of Wirksworth, Derbyshire. As the younger son of a minor country gentleman, ...
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Aplin, Peter (1753–1817), naval officer, first went to sea as captain's servant and, later, midshipman on the yacht William and Mary, and then as able seaman and midshipman on the Guernsey, Savage, and Niger before passing his lieutenant's examination on 9 August 1775. On 9 October 1776 ...
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Bernard Capp
Appleton, Henry (d. 1657), naval officer, probably born in Hull, was bred to the sea and commanded merchant vessels to Spain and the Mediterranean in the 1630s and 1640s. He was admitted a younger brother of Hull Trinity House in 1632, and was elected an assistant in 1640, an elder brother in 1644, and warden in 1650. In 1645 he was also serving as lieutenant of the town's garrison. He played very little part in naval affairs during the civil wars, though there were negotiations to hire one of his ships and its ordnance in 1645. In September 1650, however, ...
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Arbuthnot, Marriot (1711–1794), naval officer and colonial governor, was born in Weymouth, the son of John Arbuthnott. He entered the navy about 1727, and passed his lieutenant's examination in August 1739 when he was described as upwards of twenty-seven (TNA: PRO, ADM 107/3, p. 334...
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Arnold, Thomas (1679–1737), naval officer, was born in Lowestoft, the second of five sons of Matthew Arnold and his wife (née Coe). After gaining his commission on 23 October 1708 he served on the Captain, Ormond, and Dragon under the patronage of ...