Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet
Sir John Thomas Duckworth | |
---|---|
Born | 9 February 1748 Leatherhead, Surrey, England |
Died | 31 August 1817 HMNB Devonport, England | (aged 69)
Allegiance | Great Britain United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Navy |
Years of service | 1759–1817 |
Rank | Admiral of the Blue |
Commands held | |
Battles/wars |
|
Awards | Naval Gold Medal Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Swords of Honour from London and Jamaica |
Serving with most of the great names of the Royal Navy during the later 18th and early 19th centuries, he fought almost all of Britain's enemies on the seas at one time or another, including a
Early life
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Born in
On 5 April 1764, he joined the 50-gun
Duckworth married Anne Wallis in July 1776, with whom he had a son and a daughter.
After some time in North America, where Duckworth was court-martialled for negligence after an accident at Rhode Island on 18 January 1777 left five men dead, the Diamond was sent to join Vice-Admiral John Byron's fleet in the West Indies. Byron transferred him to his own ship, HMS Princess Royal, in March 1779, and Duckworth was present aboard her at the Battle of Grenada on 6 July 1779. Duckworth was promoted to commander ten days after this and given command of the sloop-of-war HMS Rover (1779).
After cruising off
Revolutionary wars service
Fighting against France, Duckworth distinguished himself both in European waters and in the Caribbean. He was initially in command of the 74-gun
He was appointed to command the 74-gun
In April 1800 was in command of the blockading squadron off
Duckworth was nominated a Knight Companion of the most Honourable Military Order of the Bath in 1801 (and installed in 1803),[3] for the capture of the islands of St. Bartholomew, St. Martin, St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix and defeat of the Swedish and Danish forces stationed there on 20 March 1801.[4]
Lieutenant-General Thomas Trigge commanded the ground troops, which consisted of two brigades under Brigadier-Generals Fuller and Frederick Maitland, of 1,500 and 1,800 troops respectively. These included the 64th Regiment of Foot (Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Pakenham), and the 2nd and 8th West Indies Regiments, two detachments of Royal Artillery, and two companies of sailors, each of about 100 men. The ships involved, in addition to Leviathan, included HMS Andromeda, HMS Unite, HMS Coromandel, HMS Proselyte, HMS Amphitrite, HMS Hornet, the brig HMS Drake, hired armed brig Fanny, schooner HMS Eclair, and tender Alexandria.
Aside from the territory and prisoners taken during the operation, Duckworth's force took two Swedish merchantmen, a Danish ship (in ballast), three small French vessels, one privateer brig (12-guns), one captured English ship, a merchant-brig, four small schooners, and a sloop.[11]
Service against Napoleon
West Indies
From 1803 until 1804, Duckworth assumed command as the commander-in-chief of the
The merchants of Kingston provided a second gift, an ornamental tea kettle signifying Duckworth's defence of sugar and tea exports. Both sword and kettle were subsequently gifted to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.[14]
Duckworth remained in Jamaica until 1805, returning to England that April aboard HMS Acasta.[6] On his return to England again, he was called to face court-martial charges brought by Captain James Athol Wood of HMS Acasta, who claimed that Duckworth had transgressed the 18th Article of War; "Taking goods onboard other than for the use of the vessel, except gold & etc."
Duckworth had apparently acquired some goods, and in wishing to transport them home in person reassigned Captain Wood to another vessel on Jamaica station knowing that the vessel was soon to be taken under command by another flag officer.
Consequently, Duckworth was able to take the goods to England as personal luggage, and Wood was forced to sail back as a passenger on his own ship. The court-martial was held on board HMS Gladiator in Portsmouth on 25 April 1805, but the charge was dropped on 7 June 1805.[15][16]
Atlantic
In 1805 the
Although known for a cautious character, he abandoned the blockade and sailed in search of a
Return to the West Indies
Duckworth then set sail for the Leeward Islands to take on water, dispatching the 74-gun
Battle of San Domingo
In the Battle of San Domingo, Duckworth's squadron defeated the squadron of French when
Duckworth at once made the signal to attack. Keats and his crew having accompanied Nelson in the pursuit of Villeneuve to the West Indies were still lamenting having missed Trafalgar. Keats silently suspended a portrait of Nelson from the mizzen stay before addressing the men in a manner intended to encourage enthusiasm for the cause in the coming battle. With the band playing ‘God save the King’ and ‘Nelson of the Nile’ the Superb having made up all ground on the fleeing enemy fired her starboard broadside as she was laid up against the Imperiale, the largest ship in the French navy.[24] The conflict soon became general. In a severe action of two hours, two of the French ships were driven ashore and burnt with three others captured. Only the French frigates escaped.[25][26]
Despite this, it is thought that Duckworth was lucky to have with him captains who were used to working together instinctively and who consistent with the Nelson approach, had no need to wait for any central direction from the Admiral and the credit for the victory was due more to the initiative of the individual British captains.[27][22]
His victory over the French Admiral Leissègues off the coast of Hispaniola on 6 February together with Admiral Alexander Cochrane's squadron was a fatal blow to French strategy in the Caribbean region, and played a major part in Napoleon's eventual sale of Louisiana, and withdrawal from the Caribbean. It was judged sufficiently important to have the Tower of London guns fire a salute.[28] San Domingo was added to Duckworth's coat of arms as words; a British sailor was added to the supporters of the Arms in 1814.
A promotion to vice-admiral of the white in April 1806 followed,
Santo Domingo was the last significant
Mediterranean
Duckworth was appointed second in command of the
Finally, on 19 February, at the action at Point Pisquies (Nagara Burun), a part of the British force encountered the Ottoman fleet which engaged first. One 64-gun ship of the line, four 36-gun frigates, five 12-gun corvettes, one 8-gun brig, and a gunboat were forced ashore and burnt by the part of the British fleet.[citation needed]
The British fleet consisted of HMS Standard, under Captain Thomas Harvey, HMS Thunderer, under Captain John Talbot, HMS Pompee, under flag captain Richard Dacres, and HMS Repulse, under Captain Arthur Kaye Legge, as well as the frigate HMS Active, under Captain Richard Hussey Mowbray, under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Sidney Smith, commanding the rear division.[35] They took one corvette and one gunboat, and the flags of the Turkish Vice-Admiral and Captain Pasha in the process, with adjacent fortifications destroyed by landing parties from HMS Thunderer, HMS Pompée, and HMS Repulse, while its 31 guns were spiked by the marines.[36] The marines were commanded by Captain Nicholls of HMS Standard who had also boarded the Turkish ship of the line. There were eight 32 lb and 24 lb brass guns and the rest firing marble shot weighing upwards of 200 pounds.[37]
On 20 February, the British squadron under Duckworth, having joined Smith with the second division of ships under command of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Louis, reached the Ottoman capital, but had to engage in fruitless negotiations with the Sultan's representatives, advised by Napoleon's ambassador Sébastiani, and with the accompanying British ambassador Charles Arbuthnot and Russian plenipotentiary Andrey Italinski, the latter being carried aboard on HMS Endymion, under the command of Captain Thomas Bladen Capel,[38] due to the secret instructions that were issued as part of his orders for the mission,[39] and therefore losing more time as the Turks played for time to complete their shore batteries in the hope of trapping the British squadron.[36]
Smith was joined a week later by Duckworth, who observed the four bays of the Dardanelles lined with five hundred cannon and one hundred mortars as his ships passed towards Constantinople. There he found the rest of the Turkish fleet of twelve ships of the line and nine frigates,[f] all apparently ready for action in Constantinople harbour. Exasperated by Turkish intransigence, and not having a significant force to land on the shore, Duckworth decided to withdraw on 1 March after declining to take Smith's advice to bombard the Turkish Arsenal and gunpowder manufacturing works. The British fleet was subjected to shore artillery fire all the way to the open sea, and sustaining casualties and damage to ships from 26-inch calibre (650 mm) guns firing 300–800 pound marble shot.[40][41]
Though blamed for indecisiveness, notably by Thomas Grenville, the First Lord of the Admiralty,[42] Duckworth announced that
I must, as an officer, declare to be my decided opinion that, without the cooperation of a body of land forces, it would be a wanton sacrifice of the squadrons to attempt to force the passage[43]
After his departure from Constantinople,[6] he commanded the squadron protecting transports of the Alexandria expedition of 1807, but that was forced to withdraw after five months due to lack of supplies.[44] Duckworth summed up this expedition, in reflection on the service of the year by commenting that
Instead of acting vigorously in either one or the other direction, our cabinet comes to the miserable determination of sending five or six men-of-war, without soldiers, to the Dardanelles, and 5000 soldiers, without a fleet, to Alexandria.[45]
Soon after, he married again, on 14 May 1808 to Susannah Catherine Buller, a daughter of William Buller, the Bishop of Exeter. They had two sons together before his death, she survived him, dying on 27 April 1840.[46]
The Channel Fleet
Duckworth's career however did not suffer greatly, and in 1808 and 1810 he went on to sail in
Newfoundland and War of 1812
Probably because he was thought of as irresolute and unimaginative,
While serving as Governor he was attacked for his arbitrary powers over the territory, and retaliated against the pamphleteer by disallowing his reappointment as surgeon of the local militia unit, the Loyal Volunteers of St John, which Duckworth, renamed the St John's Volunteer Rangers, and enlarged to 500 officers and militiamen for the War of 1812 with the United States.[citation needed]
Duckworth also took an interest in bettering relationship with the local Beothuk Indians,[3] and sponsored Lieutenant David Buchan's expedition up the Exploits River in 1810 to explore the region of the Beothuk settlements.[citation needed]
As the governor and station naval commander, Duckworth had to contend with American concerns over the issues of "Free Trade and Sailor's Rights." His orders and instructions to captains under his command were therefore directly concerned with fishing rights of US vessels on the
Semi-retirement
On 2 December 1812, soon after arriving in Devon, Duckworth resigned as governor after being offered a
Sir John was created a baronet on 2 November 1813, adopting a motto Disciplina, fide, perseverantia (Discipline, fidelity, perseverance),[54] and in January 1815 was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth 45 miles from his home; a post considered one of semi-retirement by his successor, Lord Exmouth.[55] However, on 26 June that year it became a centre of attention due to the visit by HMS Bellerophon bearing Napoleon to his final exile, with Duckworth being the last senior British officer to speak with him before his departure on board HMS Northumberland.[56]
Duckworth died at his post on the base in 1817 at 1 o'clock, after several months of illness;
Memorials
This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2022) |
When in England for winters during his term as Governor of Newfoundland, Duckworth lived on a property called Weare House of Weare Park in Topsham,
During the Second World War one Royal Navy warship, the destroyer HMS Duckworth was named after the Admiral.
In England, The Duckworth House is in Kent St, Portsmouth PO1 to be found not far from the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard complex.
The memorial to Admiral John Thomas Duckworth in the south transept of St Margaret's Church, Topsham, was erected by his wife, Susannah nee Buller, daughter of William Buller, Bishop of Exeter. The memorial describes him as Admiral of the White Squadron of his Majesty's Fleet and depicts a naval scene which, by comparison with artworks on the same theme, represents his famous passage through the Dardenelles in 1807.The sculptor, Sir Francis Chantrey (1781 – 1841), is regarded as the foremost portrait sculptor of his generation.The adjacent memorial, also by Chantrey, is to the Admiral's son Colonel George Duckworth who died in action at Albuera in 1811. It depicts a soldier and an angel.
Duckworth Street in
Notes
a. ^ Some accounts mention only Leviathan, HMS Swiftsure, and HMS Emerald.[59]
b. ^ The sword was forged by Richard Teed (1756–1816) of Lancaster Court, London, and carried the inscription: Presented in 1804 by the Assembly of Jamaica to Vice Admiral Sir I.T. Duckworth in remembrance of his effectual protection afforded to the commerce and coasts of the island. By his able disinterested distribution of H.M. Naval Forces under his command & as a testimony of the high sense entertained by the Assembly of the eminent service he has thereby rendered to that country."[14]
c. ^ Brenton records a story of amazingly lucky wind changes that allowed this news to be delivered to Duckworth within two days.
d. ^ The Naval Chronicle gives 9 November 1805.
e. ^ Richard Teed was responsible for the manufacture and supply of the swords presented by the Lloyd's Patriotic Fund to deserving sailors and soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars, 1803–14; the sword is now part of the sword collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.[60]
f. ^ Miller (p. 311) reports "twelve ships of the line and nine frigates", but Howard (p. 37) gives "twelve ships of the line, two of them three-deckers, and nine frigates filled with troops"
g. ^ The new spelling is Wear, in Countess Wear on the outskirts of Exeter.
References
- ^ Allen, vii.
- ^ a b Debrett, p. 173
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Whiteley
- ^ a b Clarke, p. 209
- ^ p. 278, Ross
- ^ a b c Lysons, pp. 108–122.
- ^ pp. 369–370, Stephens
- ^ p. 348, Mostert
- ^ a b p. 371, Stephens
- ^ Haydn, Joseph (2008). The Book of Dignities: Containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire ... from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time ... Together with the Sovereigns and Rulers of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain Original 1851 Digitized by the University of Michigan. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 279.
- ^ Stephens, p. 375
- ^ Cundall, p. xx
- ^ Nelson, cf. p. 459
- ^ a b c d McAleer, pp. 41–43
- ^ a b Sir John Thomas Duckworth, K.B., Papers, 1801–1807 Manuscript Group 18.
- ^ James, p. 78; Stanier Clarke, Jones, p. 84.
- ^ Longman; Rees; Orme; Brown; Green; Longman (1837). The Annual Biography and Obituary 1835, Volume 29. Fisher, Son and Jackson. p. 47.
- ^ Hannah, pp. 122–124.
- OCLC 1286142765. pp. 128–130.
- ^ a b p. 308, Miller
- ^ Ireland, p. 184; Brenton, p. 105
- ^ a b Ireland, p. 184
- ^ Anderson, p. 102
- ^ Hannah, p. 133.
- ^ Hannah, p. 135.
- ^ "History : HMS Superb : Swiftsure Class : Fleet Submarines (SSN) : Submarine Service : Operations and Support : Royal Navy". Archived from the original on 7 August 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
- ^ Hannah p. 135.
- ^ Stephens, p. 382
- ^ Knight, p. 483; Stanier Clarke, Jones, p. 439.
- ^ Sconce, p. 9
- ^ Wegener, pp. 2–3
- ^ Hannah, p. 138
- ^ Stanier Clarke, Jones, p. 261
- ^ Brenton, p. 187
- ^ Howard, pp. 15–20, 51.
- ^ a b Ireland, p. 189
- ^ Howard, p. 23
- ^ Howard, p. 53; Knight, p. 484.
- ^ Howard, pp. 3–5
- ^ Howard, pp. 44, 47
- ^ Brenton, p. 193
- ^ Knight, p. 483
- ^ Chatterton, p. 114
- ^ Mostert, p. 522
- ^ Higgins, p. 3
- ^ Debrett, p. xxvi
- ^ Cates, p. 311
- ^ Sconce, p. 13
- ^ Gurney, W.B. (1809). Minutes of a court-martial . . . on the trial of James Lord Gambier. Mottey, Harrison & Miller.
- ^ Miller, p. 323
- ^ Sconce, p. 18
- ^ The Salisbury and Winchester Journal, Monday, 30 November 1812.
- ^ Clarke, p. 210
- ^ Burke, p. 716
- ^ Osler, p. 206
- ^ Sconce, p. 30
- ^ Sconce, p. 37
- ^ a b Exeter Memories, Countess Wear, Weare Park Archived 7 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ James, p. 37
- ^ "The World's Premier Online Auctions".
Works cited
- Allen, Joseph, Esq. R.N., New Navy Lists and General Record of Services of Officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, Military Library, Whitehall, London, 1850
- Anderson, William, The Scottish Nation: Or The Surnames, Families, Literature, Honours, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland, Fullarton, 1862
- Barham (Lord), Charles Middleton, Letters and Papers of Charles, Lord Barham, Admiral of the Red Squadron: 1758–1813, Volume III Adamant Media Corporation, 2004
- Brenton, Edward Pelham, The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Year MDCCLXXXIII. to MDCCCXXXVI.: From the Year MDCCLXXXIII. to MDCCCXXXVI, Volume II, Henry Colburn Publisher, London 1837
- Bisset, Robert, The History of the Reign of George III.: To which is Prefixed, A View of the Progressive Improvement of England, in Prosperity and Strength, to the Accession of His Majesty ..., Volumes II–III, E. Littell, London, 1828
- Burke, John, A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, Vol. II, 5th ed., Published by H. Colburn and R. Bentley, London, 1832
- Cates, William Leist Readwin, A Dictionary of General Biography: With a Classified and Chronological Index of the Principal Names, Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1867
- Chatterton, E. Keble, Dardanelles Dilemma; The Story of the Naval Operations, Rich & Cowan, Ltd., London, 1935
- Clarke, The Georgian Era: Memoirs of the Most Eminent Persons, who Have Flourished in Great Britain, from the Accession of George the First to the Demise of George the Fourth, Vizetelly, Branston and Co., London, 1833
- Cundall, Frank (1915). Historic Jamaica. West India Committee.
- Debrett, John, (Ed.), The Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in two volumes, Volume Two, Scotland and Ireland, Thirteenth edition, London, 1820
- Debrett, John, Debrett's baronetage of England revised, corrected and continued by George William Collen, William Pickering Publisher, London 1840
- Hannah, P., Keats, A Treasure to the Service, Green Hill, Adelaide, 2021, ISBN 978-1922629739
- Higgins, Trumbull, Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles; A Dialogue in Ends and Means, McMillan, London, 1963.
- Howard, Edward, Memoires of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith, K.C. B., & c., Volume 2, Adamant Media Corporation, 2003
- Ireland, Bernard, Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail: War at Sea 1756–1815, Collins, 2001
- James, William M., A Naval History of Great Britain: During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Vol. 3: 1800–1805, Stackpole Books, 2002
- James, William & Chamier, Frederick, The Naval History of Great Britain: From the Declaration of War by France in 1793 to the Accession of George IV, volume IV, R. Bentley, 1837
- Knight, Charles, Popular History of England: An Illustrated History of Society and Government from the Earliest Period to Our Own Times, Volume VII, Bradbury and Evans, London, 1861
- Lysons, Daniel and Samuel, General history: Baronets, Magna Britannia: volume 6, Devonshire, 1822 [1]
- McAleer, John (February 2009). ""Eminent Service": War, Slavery and the Politics of Public Recognition in the British Caribbean and the Cape of Good Hope, c. 1782–1807". The Mariner's Mirror. 95 (1). Portsmouth, United Kingdom: The Society for Nautical Research: 33–51. S2CID 154396622.
- Miller, Nathan, Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775–1815, Wiley, 2001
- Mostert, Noel, The line upon a wind: an intimate history of the last and greatest war fought at sea under sail, 1793-1815, Jonathan Cape, London, 2007
- Nelson, Horatio, Lord Viscount, The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson: With Notes by Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas G.C.M.G., The Fifth Volume, January 1802 to April 1804, Henry Colburn, London, 1845
- Osler, Edward, The Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth, BiblioBazaar, 2007
- Phillips, Richard, (ed.), The Monthly Magazine, Volume XI, Part I, January to June, London, 1801
- Ross, Sir John, Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord De Saumarez: From original papers in possession of the family, Volume 1, Adamant Media Corporation, 2001
- Sconce, Robert Clement, Life and Letters of R. C. Sconce, formerly Secretary to Admiral Sir John Duckworth, Compiled by Sarah S. Bunbury. in two volumes, Cox & Wyman, London, 1861
- Stanier Clarke, James, Jones, Stephen & Jones, John, The Naval Chronicle for 1805 containing a general and biographical history of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, Volume the fourteenth (from July to December), Published by I.Gold, London, 1805
- Stephens, Alexander, Public Characters of 1807, volume IX, R. Phillips, by T. Gillet, 1807
- Watts, Sir Percy, The Ships of the Royal Navy as they existed at the time of Trafalgar, Read to the Institution of Naval Architects, 19 July 1905
- Wegener, Edward, H. Wegener (Translator), The Soviet Naval Offensive, Naval Institute Press, 1976
- Whiteley, William H., Duckworth, Sir John Thomas, Dictionary of Canadian Biography online, http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2380
Further reading
- Dr Leslie Southwick, Journal of the Arms and Armour Society, Vol. XI pp. 47–55; Vol. XII pp. 223–284, 291–311; and Vol XIII pp. 173–220. (Swords of Honour)
- William H. Whiteley, Duckworth's Newfoundland: The island in the early nineteenth century, H. Cuff Publications, St. John's, Newfoundland, 1985
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir John Duckworth
- Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador
- Guide to the Sir John Thomas Duckworth Papers 1808–1812 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
- "Archival material relating to Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet". UK National Archives.
- "Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.