William Fitzwilliam Owen

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William Fitzwilliam Owen
William Fitzwilliam Owen
Born(1774-09-17)17 September 1774
Manchester, England
Died3 November 1857(1857-11-03) (aged 83)
Saint John, New Brunswick
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1788 - 1847
RankVice admiral
Commands held

Vice Admiral William Fitzwilliam Owen (17 September 1774 – 3 November 1857), was a British naval officer and explorer. He is best known for his exploration of the west and east African coasts, discovery of the Seaflower Channel off the coast of Sumatra and for surveying the Canadian Great Lakes
.

The illegitimate son of

Captain William Owen he was orphaned at the age of four, however, his father's friend Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Rich, kept an eye on both William and his elder brother Edward. In 1788 at age 13 he embarked as a midshipman in Rich's ship, HMS Culloden
, and from that time the Royal Navy was his life. Self-willed and boisterous, he had frequent difficulties early in his naval career.

He served at home and on ships in the

cutter King George, under the command of a Mr. Yawkins, served under Nelson
at his failed attack on Boulogne. On 25 August Nelson came aboard King George to conduct a reconnaissance of the French fleet. In October Nelson gave Owen command over the King George as well, with secret instructions to launch a burning Nancy at the French fleet. The fire attack did not occur and Nancy was sold in December.

After the resumption of war with France in 1803, Owen was given command of the 16-gun brig HMS Seaflower, which sailed to the East Indies. There he served under Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, Commander-in-Chief East Indies.

He explored the

Maldive Islands in 1806, and in the same year discovered the Seaflower Channel, between the islands of Siberut and Sipora
off the west coast of Sumatra.

He fought the Dutch in the

post captain
in May 1811, before returning to England in 1813.

From 1815 to 1816, he surveyed the Upper Canadian Great Lakes with Lieutenant

Edward William Campbell Rich Owen
. Between 26 October 1815 and 31 May 1816 he was the senior Royal Navy Officer on the Great Lakes.

Owen mapped the entire east African coast from the

tropical diseases. His survey of the east coast of Africa is regarded as one of the most challenging ever undertaken by the British Admiralty.[1]

In 1827 he was in charge of settling a colony at Fernando Po. During the first year, he was joined by Lieutenant James Holman who was famous in his time as "the Blind Traveller".

In the mid-1830s, having little hope of further naval appointment, he removed with his family to

justice of the peace
as well as concurrently as judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas.

Between 1837 and 1842 he was a very visible member of the New Brunswick House of Assembly for Charlotte County. Following his defeat for reelection, he was appointed in December 1843 to the New Brunswick Legislative Council of which he was an active member through 1851. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1844.[2]

In the final action of his naval career, between September 1842 and December 1847, he conducted the definitive survey of the Bay of Fundy for the Admiralty. Indeed, some charts of the area are still based upon his surveys.

Family

Vice Admiral Owen was twice married: first in January 1818 to Martha Evans with whom he had two daughters (see Captain John James Robinson-Owen), secondly 11 December 1852 in Saint John, New Brunswick to Amy (née Vernon) Nicholson widow of Captain Thomas L. Nicholson (see William Johnstone Ritchie).

Owen was promoted

Vice Admiral in 1854. He died on 3 November 1857 at St. John, New Brunswick
.

Legacy

A

Trioceros oweni, was named in his honor by British zoologist John Edward Gray in 1831.[3]

See also

References

  1. doi:10.1080/00253359.1996.10656616
    .
  2. ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter O" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  3. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5
    . ("Owen, W.F.W.", p. 198).

Further reading

External links
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