Adams, John [alias Alexander Smith] (1768
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Adams, John [alias Alexander Smith] (1768?–1829), seaman, mutineer, and settler
J. K. Laughton
revised by Andrew Lambert
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Adams, John (1768?–1829)
Maker: Richard Beechey
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John Adams (1768?–1829) attrib. Richard Beechey, 1825 Phillips Picture Library
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Barton, Andrew (c. 1470–1511), seaman and shipowner
Norman Macdougall
Barton, Andrew (c. 1470–1511), seaman and shipowner, was one of three brothers, Robert Barton, John, and Andrew, sons of the seafaring merchant John Barton (d. in or before 1494). Like his brothers, Andrew was frequently employed as a naval commander by James IV...
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Clerke, Richard (fl. 1572–1596), navigator and privateer
David B. Quinn
revised
Clerke, Richard (fl. 1572–1596), navigator and privateer, claimed to have been born at Buckhurst, Essex, but is generally referred to as 'of Weymouth'. He presumably learned his trade in the ships of the latter port, being master of the Pilgrim between ...
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Clifford, George, third earl of Cumberland (1558–1605), courtier and privateer
Peter Holmes
Clifford, George, third earl of Cumberland (1558–1605), courtier and privateer, was born on 8 August 1558 in Brougham Castle, Westmorland, the eldest son of Henry Clifford, second earl of Cumberland (1517–1570), and his second wife, Anne (c.1538–1581), daughter of William, third Baron Dacre...
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Clifford, George, third earl of Cumberland (1558–1605)
Maker: Nicholas Hilliard
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George Clifford, third earl of Cumberland (1558–1605) by Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1590 © National Maritime Museum, London
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Cornwell, John Travers (1900–1916)
Maker: unknown photographer
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John Travers Cornwell (1900–1916) by unknown photographer The Imperial War Museum, London
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Cornwell, John Travers [Jack] (1900–1916), naval hero
Richard Davenport-Hines
Cornwell, John Travers [Jack] (1900–1916), naval hero, was born on 8 January 1900, at Clyde Cottage, Clyde Place, Leyton, Essex, the son of Eli Cornwell (1852–1916), tram driver and soldier, originally from Newmarket, and his wife, Lily King (d. 1918). His siblings included at least two brothers (one of whom was killed in action in August 1918) and a sister. He was educated at ...
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Coxere, Edward (bap. 1633, d. 1694), sailor
Bernard Capp
Coxere, Edward (bap. 1633, d. 1694), sailor, was baptized on 16 June 1633 at St Mary's Church, Dover, the seventh (but second surviving) child of John Coxere (d. 1633), sailor, and his wife, Wealthan, née Peace. His mother, widowed when he was only five months old, quickly married a local cordwainer, ...
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Crabb, Lionel Kenneth Philip (1909–1956), naval frogman
Richard Compton-Hall
Crabb, Lionel Kenneth Philip (1909–1956), naval frogman, was born on 28 January 1909 at 4 Greyswood Street, Streatham, London, the son of Hugh Alexander Crabb, a commercial traveller for a firm of photographic merchants, and his wife, Beatrice Goodall. Crabb was described by contemporaries as a most courageous diver able to endure great discomfort, but technically inept and a man of action rather than a thinker: those assessments well summarize an overexciting career below the surface that extended from 1941 to a controversial end in 1956....
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Crawford, John [Jack] (1775–1831), sailor and naval hero
Keith Gregson
Crawford, John [Jack] (1775–1831), sailor and naval hero, was born on 22 March 1775 at a house on Thornhill Bank in the east end of Sunderland, co. Durham, the son of a keelman. At an early age Crawford also worked on the keelboats that carried coal on the ...
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Crawford, John (1775–1831)
Maker: D. Orme
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John Crawford (1775–1831) by D. Orme, pubd 1797 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Crow, Hugh (1765–1829), privateer and slave trader
Elizabeth Baigent
Crow, Hugh (1765–1829), privateer and slave trader, was born in Ramsey, Isle of Man, the son of Edmund Crow (1730–1809), a tradesman, and his wife, Judith (1737–1807). He lost his right eye in infancy, but despite this was apprenticed to a boat builder in ...
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Crowdy, Edith Frances (1880–1947), travel agent and member of the Women's Royal Naval Service
Lesley Thomas
Crowdy, Edith Frances (1880–1947), travel agent and member of the Women's Royal Naval Service, was born on 25 August 1880 at 79 Victoria Road, Wandsworth, London, one of the four daughters of James Crowdy, solicitor, and his wife, Mary Isabel Anne Fuidge. Educated at home, in 1912 she joined her younger sister ...
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Davidson, William (c. 1756–1797), privateer
Francis Watt
revised by Christopher Doorne
Davidson, William (c. 1756–1797), privateer, was born in Scotland; further details of his family and upbringing are unknown. In 1791 he was serving as an able seaman on the Niger, then commanded by Sir Richard Keats. Davidson was noted as a comparatively well-educated man of gloomy and silent disposition, but liable to sudden outbursts of temper. While the ship was at ...
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Dover, Thomas (bap. 1662, d. 1742), physician and privateer
Samuel Pyeatt Menefee
Dover, Thomas (bap. 1662, d. 1742), physician and privateer, was baptized on 6 May 1662 at Barton on the Heath, Warwickshire, the third son of John Dover (bap. 1614, d. 1696), gentleman, and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Vade. Thomas was grandson of ...
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Elfrith, Daniel (fl. 1607–1640), privateer and colonist in the West Indies
Karen Ordahl Kupperman
Elfrith, Daniel (fl. 1607–1640), privateer and colonist in the West Indies, was active in the Caribbean from 1607. Nothing is known of his earlier life. He was memorialized by Alexander Brown in his Genesis of the United States (1890) as 'the man who carried the first rats to the ...
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Elsdale, Robinson (bap. 1744, d. 1783), author and privateer
J. M. Rigg
revised by Philip Carter
Elsdale, Robinson (bap. 1744, d. 1783), author and privateer, the son of Samuel and Mary Elsdale, was baptized on 25 December 1744 at Surfleet, Lincolnshire, where his family had long maintained an estate. He entered the navy as a midshipman, but left soon afterwards on account of the slowness of promotion. From 1762 he served in various privateers cruising against the French, chiefly off the coast of ...
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Fenner, George (c. 1540–1618), merchant and privateer
David Loades
Fenner, George (c. 1540–1618), merchant and privateer, is of unknown parentage. However, the name Fenner was common in west Sussex, and the family into which he was born has been described variously as a mercantile clan in Chichester itself, or as a minor but armigerous gentry family based at ...
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Frobisher, Sir Martin (1535?–1594), privateer, explorer, and naval commander
James McDermott
Frobisher, Sir Martin (1535
