James Whitley Deans Dundas

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Sir

James Dundas
Admiral Sir James Whitley Deans Dundas
Born(1785-12-04)4 December 1785
Died3 October 1862(1862-10-03) (aged 76)
Weymouth, Dorset
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1799–1857
RankAdmiral
Commands heldHMS Tagus
HMS Prince Regent
HMS Britannia
Mediterranean Fleet
Baltic Fleet
Battles/warsNapoleonic Wars
Crimean War
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

First Naval Lord in the First Russell ministry in July 1847 and in that role his service was dominated by the needs of Whig party. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean in 1852 and led all naval operations in the Black Sea including the bombardment of Sevastopol in October 1854 during the Crimean War
.

Early career

The first-rate HMS Britannia, a ship commanded by Dundas, as flag captain to Admiral Sir Philip Durham who was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth

Born the son of Dr James Deans (of

North American Station and having been promoted to commander on 8 October 1806, he was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Rosamond but was injured while putting out a fire at Copenhagen Dockyard shortly after the capture of that City in August 1807.[1] Promoted to captain on 13 October 1807, he briefly took command of the fifth-rate HMS Cambrian.[1] Following his marriage to Janet Dundas he assumed the surname of Dundas in April 1808.[2]

Dundas was given command of the third-rate HMS Stately, flagship of Rear Admiral Thomas Bertie, in the Baltic Fleet in March 1809.[1] He took command of the third-rate HMS Venerable in January 1812 and then the frigate HMS Pyramus in September 1812 and in the latter ship captured two more privateers.[1] He took command of the armed frigate HMS Tagus in the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1815 and then the first-rate HMS Prince Regent, as flag captain to Admiral Sir William Parker who was commanding on the coast of Portugal, in 1830.[2]

Entering politics, Dundas became

Deputy Lieutenant of Berkshire on 16 June 1834,[3] he sat in Parliament until he stood down at the 1835 general election in favour of a fellow Whig.[2] He was then given command of the first-rate HMS Britannia, as flag captain to Admiral Sir Philip Durham who was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, in 1836.[2] He became Member of Parliament for Devizes in February 1836 in place of Sir Philip Durham who had stood down as Member of Parliament for that constituency.[4] He then resigned his seat in Parliament when he became Clerk of the Ordnance on 21 March 1838.[5] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 25 October 1839.[2]

Having been elected Member of Parliament for Greenwich again at the 1841 general election,[6] Dundas became Fourth Naval Lord in the Second Melbourne ministry in June 1841 but stood down in September 1841 when the Government fell from power.[7]

Senior command

The bombardment of Sevastopol which was led by Dundas

Promoted to

First Naval Lord in the same ministry in July 1847.[7] As First Sea Lord his service was dominated by the needs of Whig party and he stood down as First Naval Lord when the Government fell from power in February 1852.[7]

Dundas was appointed

vice-admiral on 17 December 1852,[11] he led all naval operations in the Black Sea in command of the Baltic Fleet, including the bombardment of Sevastopol in October 1854, during the Crimean War.[2]

Dundas returned to England in January 1855 and was appointed to the Turkish Order of the Medjidie (First Class) on 15 May 1855,[12] advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 5 July 1855[13] and awarded the Grand Cross of the French Legion of Honour on 30 April 1857.[14] Promoted to full admiral on 8 December 1857,[15] he died at Weymouth in Dorset on 3 October 1862.[2]

Family

On 2 April 1808, he married his first cousin, Janet, only daughter and heiress of Charles Dundas, later Lord Amesbury.[1] His first wife died in April 1846 and, in August 1847, he married Lady Emily Moreton, fourth daughter of Thomas Reynolds-Moreton, 1st Earl of Ducie.[1] By his first wife, he had a life interest in large estates in Flintshire and Berkshire – centred on Aston Hall in Flintshire and Barton Court at Kintbury in Berkshire – which, at his death, passed to his grandson, Mr. Charles Amesbury Deans Dundas. (Dundas' elder son, Charles Whitley Deans Dundas, having predeceased him in 1856.)[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Admiral Sir J. W. Deans Dundas GCB. The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 213. 1862. p. 782.
  2. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8254. Retrieved 3 January 2013. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  3. ^ "No. 19167". The London Gazette. 24 June 1834. p. 1189.
  4. ^ "No. 19355". The London Gazette. 12 February 1836. p. 286.
  5. ^ "No. 19600". The London Gazette. 23 March 1838. p. 727.
  6. ^ "No. 19998". The London Gazette. 13 July 1841. p. 1812.
  7. ^ a b c Sainty, J C (1975). "'Lord High Admiral and Commissioners of the Admiralty 1660–1870', Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4: Admiralty Officials 1660–1870". pp. 18–31. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  8. ^ "No. 20044". The London Gazette. 24 November 1841. p. 3015.
  9. ^ Department of Information Services (14 January 2010). "Appointments to the Chiltern Hundreds and Manor of Northstead Stewardships since 1850" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  10. ^ "No. 21290". The London Gazette. 13 February 1852. p. 407.
  11. ^ "No. 21394". The London Gazette. 24 December 1852. p. 3736.
  12. ^ "No. 21714". The London Gazette. 18 May 1855. p. 1915.
  13. ^ "No. 21743". The London Gazette. 10 July 1855. p. 2654.
  14. ^ "No. 21996". The London Gazette. 1 May 1857. p. 1573.
  15. ^ "No. 22071". The London Gazette. 11 December 1857. p. 4367.

Further reading

  • Russian war, 1854, Baltic and Black Sea: official correspondence, edited by David Bonner-Smith and Captain A.C. Dewar. Publications of the Navy Records Society. v. 83. ([London]: Printed for the Navy Records Society, 1943)
  • Note in the Bodleian Library Catalog: "Correspondence between the Admiralty and Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Napier respecting naval operations in the Baltic.--Correspondence between the Admiralty and Vice-Admiral Sir James Deans Dundas respecting naval operations in the Black Sea."

External links

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