Aldersey, Laurence (1546–1597/8), sea captain, was born at Aldersey Hall, Spurstow, Cheshire, the son of Thomas Aldersey (d. 1557), sheriff of Chester in 1539 and mayor in 1549, and his wife, Cecilia Garnet (fl. 1513–1594), also of Chester. As the sixth in a family of at least eight children, in the mid-1560s he looked to ...
Article
Aldersey, Laurence (1546–1597/8), sea captain
R. C. D. Baldwin
Article
Angas, William Henry (1781–1832), mariner and missionary
Roald Kverndal
Angas, William Henry (1781–1832), mariner and missionary, was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 6 October 1781, the son of Caleb Angas, a successful coach manufacturer, merchant, and shipowner. Angas was descended from a branch of the Scottish clan Angus, which had long since settled in ...
Article
Arnold, Mary Anne (b. 1825), sailor and cross-dresser
Julie Wheelwright
Arnold, Mary Anne (b. 1825), sailor and cross-dresser, was born in Sheerness, Kent, and may have been the daughter of Lieutenant Arnold of the Royal Navy who served aboard the Ganges and Prince Regent men-of-war. According to a report in The Times following her detection in October 1839, an officer of the ...
Article
Avery, Henry [known as Captain John Avery] (bap. 1659, d. 1696?), pirate
David Cordingly
Avery, Henry [known as Captain John Avery] (bap. 1659, d. 1696
Article
Baker, Robert (fl. c. 1563), mariner and poet
P. E. H. Hair
Baker, Robert (fl. c. 1563), mariner and poet, is known only through his one published writing. Possibly a relative of the Bakers of Sissinghurst who had connections with the London overseas trading community, Robert Baker composed a poem about two English voyages to ...
Article
Balleny, John (b. c. 1770, d. in or after 1842), merchant navy officer and Antarctic discoverer
A. G. E. Jones
revised by Elizabeth Baigent
Balleny, John (b. c. 1770, d. in or after 1842), merchant navy officer and Antarctic discoverer, was born c.1770 but nothing is known about his early life and education. He may have been a Londoner, brought up in the Newcastle coal trade. From 1798, when he was living in the parish of ...
Article
Barker, John (c. 1600–1653), naval officer and shipmaster
J. K. Laughton
revised by Peter Le Fevre
Barker, John (c. 1600–1653), naval officer and shipmaster, was possibly related to the John Barker of Ratcliffe, Middlesex, shipmaster and captain of the Golden Cock who in 1629, aged forty-five, appeared before the admiralty court in connection with illegally seizing, and selling, a ship belonging to the ...
Article
Barker, Matthew Henry [pseud. the Old Sailor] (1790–1846), sailor and writer
A. H. Bullen
revised by Rebecca Mills
Barker, Matthew Henry [pseud. the Old Sailor] (1790–1846), sailor and writer, was born on 18 July 1790 at Deptford, London, the son of John Theodore Barker (1760-1833) and his wife Martha née Naish. His father had attained some distinction as a dissenting minister at Deptford. At sixteen Barker joined an East Indiaman. Afterwards he served in the ...
Article
Barlow, Edward (1642–1706?), mariner
J. D. Davies
Barlow, Edward (1642–1706
Article
Barry, Lording (bap. 1580, d. 1629), playwright and pirate
David Kathman
Barry, Lording (bap. 1580, d. 1629), playwright and pirate, was baptized on 17 April 1580 in St Laurence Pountney, St Laurence Pountney Lane, London, the fifth of eleven children of Nicholas Barry (d. 1607), citizen and fishmonger, and his second wife, Anne (...
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Lording Barry, playwright and pirate (bap. 1580, d. 1629)
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Lording Barry, playwright and pirate (bap. 1580, d. 1629)
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Lording Barry, playwright and pirate (bap. 1580, d. 1629)
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Lording Barry, playwright and pirate (bap. 1580, d. 1629)
Article
Barton, Robert [called Hob a Barton] (d. 1540), sea captain and administrator
Athol Murray
Barton, Robert [called Hob a Barton] (d. 1540), sea captain and administrator, known to the English as the pirate Hob a Barton, was one of three sons of John Barton, sea captain in Leith, the port of Edinburgh. Some time prior to 1476 his father's ship and goods were captured by Portuguese ships. ...
Article
Best, Thomas (1570–1639), sea captain and master of Trinity House
R. C. D. Baldwin
Best, Thomas (1570–1639), sea captain and master of Trinity House, was baptized on 8 June 1570 at Merstham, Surrey, the youngest son of Robert Best, an interpreter for the Muscovy Company, and Anne, formerly Bowman. Later, in 1623, Best told Sir William Conway...
Article
Biscoe, John (bap. 1794, d. 1843), merchant navy officer and explorer
A. G. E. Jones
revised by Elizabeth Baigent
Biscoe, John (bap. 1794, d. 1843), merchant navy officer and explorer, was baptized in Enfield on 28 June 1794, the third son and youngest child of Thomas Biscoe of Waltham Abbey and his wife, Ann Tibbs. Nothing is known of his early years, but on leaving school he became a clerk. On 11 March 1812 he volunteered for the ...
Article
Blogg, Henry George (1876–1954), lifeboat coxswain
H. M. Palmer
revised
Blogg, Henry George (1876–1954), lifeboat coxswain, was born in Cromer on 6 February 1876, the son of Ellen Blogg. He was educated at the Goldsmiths' School, Cromer, where he proved quick at learning and revealed an unusually retentive memory. He took no part in games, failed to defend himself against bullying, and never learned to swim. When nearly twelve he began life as a longshore fisherman. In 1894 he joined the ...
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Blogg, Henry George (1876–1954)
Maker: Thomas Cantrell Dugdale
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Henry George Blogg (1876–1954) by Thomas Cantrell Dugdale, 1942 © reserved; photograph courtesy of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Article
Bond, William (d. 1576)
See Bond, Martin
Article
Bonnet, Stede (d. 1718), pirate
Robert C. Ritchie
Bonnet, Stede (d. 1718), pirate, may have been a soldier as he was given the title of major during his trial, where he was also treated as an educated gentleman by the officers of the court. The most that can at present be said about his family is that he is probably the ...
Article
Bonny, Anne (1698–1782), pirate
David Cordingly
Bonny, Anne (1698–1782), pirate, was born near Cork in Ireland. Evidence from her descendants suggests that she was the illegitimate daughter of William Cormac, lawyer, and his maidservant. Cormac, who raised his daughter as a boy, found his legal practice so affected by his affair that he decided to go abroad. Taking ...
