Adam, Sir Charles (1780–1853), naval officer, was 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. John Adam (1779–1825), administrator, and Frederick William Adam...
Article
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)...
Image
Prince Alfred, duke of Edinburgh (1844–1900) by Abel Lewis, c. 1875–80 © National Portrait Gallery, London
Article
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 ...
Article
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 ...
Article
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 ...
Image
Sir William Gerrard Andrewes (1899–1974) by Walter Stoneman, 1948 © National Portrait Gallery, London
Article
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 ...
Image
George Anson, Baron Anson (1697–1762) by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1753–5 Shugborough, The Anson Collection (The National Trust). Photograph: Photographic Survey, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Article
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, ...
Article
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 ...
Article
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...
Article
J. D. Davies
Ashby, Sir John (bap. 1646, d. 1693), naval officer, was baptized on 21 March 1646, the fourth son of Robert Ashby (1607–1659), merchant of Lowestoft, and his wife, Alice, a sister of the naval officer Sir Thomas Allin. The Allin connection probably explains ...
Image
Sir George Ayscue (c. 1615–1672) by Sir Peter Lely, c. 1665–6 © National Maritime Museum, London, Greenwich Hospital Collection
Article
J. D. Davies
Ayscue, Sir George (c. 1615–1672), naval officer, was the eldest son of William Ayscue (d. c.1632), originally of Lincoln, gentleman of the privy chamber to Charles I. The identity of his mother is uncertain. Ayscue was also a godson of George Abbot...
Image
Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon (1863–1947) by Francis Dodd, 1917 © private collection; photograph The Imperial War Museum, London
Article
A. B. Sainsbury
Bacon, Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer (1863–1947), naval officer, was born on 6 September 1863 at Wiggonholt rectory, Sussex, youngest of the eight children of the Revd Thomas Bacon and his wife, Emma Lavinia, daughter of George Shaw of Teignmouth. He entered the Royal Navy...
Article
Baker, Sir Thomas (1771
Image
Sir John Balchen (1670–1744) by Jonathan Richardson the elder, c. 1695 © National Maritime Museum, London, Greenwich Hospital Collection
Article
Daniel A. Baugh
Balchen, Sir John (1670–1744), naval officer, was born on 2 February 1670 at Godalming, Surrey, the fourth and only surviving child of John Balchin and Ann Edsur. His paternal forebears were yeoman landholders of long standing in the vicinity. (Although the name is commonly spelt ...
