William Lukin

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

William Lukin Windham
Vice Admiral
Commands held
Battles/wars
Relations

Vice-Admiral William Lukin, later William Lukin Windham (20 September 1768 – 12 January 1833), was a Royal Navy officer who rose to the rank of Vice Admiral and served with great distinction through the Napoleonic Wars. Eventually he inherited the house and estates of William Windham.[1]

Early life

William Lukin was born in the village of Felbrigg,[2] Norfolk on 20 September 1768.[1] He was the son of the Rev. George Lukin and Susan Katherine Doughty.[1] His father was the rector of Felbrigg and Aylmerton. The Rev. George Lukin was the half brother of William Windham.[3] who was the local squire of Felbrigg Hall and one time member of parliament for Norwich and Secretary at War in the Cabinet. Windham had a special affection for all the children of the Rev. Lukin and in particular William Lukin who would eventually become his heir.[1] The young William Lukin went to sea probably around 1781 at the age of 13.[1] He appears to have been a keen seaman and a fast learner and survived the harsh life in the navy, and by 1786 he had become a midshipman.[1]

Promotion through the ranks

In 1793 Lukin had become a Lieutenant,

First Lord of the Admiralty.[1]

Spithead mutiny

In April 1797 Captain William Lukin found himself embroiled in the

Royal Pardon granted. It was noted Captain Lukin's vessel, HMS Thames[1]
was the first to be ready to resume its duties within the Royal Navy.

War between Britain and France

On 18 May 1803 Britain declared war with France and one response to these events was that the

bill in Parliament to increase the armed forces by creating reserve army of 30,000 men. At the behest of William Windham, Lukin was given the task of establishing a local militia in North East Norfolk
. This role he embraced with great gusto and was successful in the task.

Back to sea

HMS Mars at anchor off the coast at Cromer, Norfolk

Now the war with France had started, William Lukin was given command of various warships with the most notable being the 74-gun third-rate ship of the line HMS Mars.

Rochefort, Bay of Biscay

Lukin took the Mars into

Eleonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil's flagship, the 44-gun frigate Gloire, which by now had sustained damaged, could not distance herself from the British flagship HMS Centaur sufficiently before support arrived in the form of HMS Mars. With his ship undamaged, Lukin was able to easily catch the fleeing frigate and opened fire at 14:30pm, combat continuing for half an hour before Soleil surrendered his badly damaged frigate.[5]
These deeds brought with them a considerable sum in prize money.

Bombardment of Copenhagen

HMS Mars and Captain Lukin participated in the bombardment, which took place between 16 August and 5 September known as the

Zealand.[6] The British believed that access to the Baltic was "vitally important to Britain" for trade as well as a major source of necessary raw materials for building and maintaining warships, and that it gave the Royal Navy access to help Britain's allies, Sweden and (before Tilsit) Russia, against France.[6] After the Danes rejected British demands to surrender, the British fleet under Admiral Gambier bombarded the city from 2 to 5 September 1807.[6] Captain Lukin and HMS Mars which had joined the fleet on 8 August, participated in this bombardment which resulted in Danish General Peymann surrendering both the city and the fleet on 7 September 1807.[6]

Final command

William Lukin's final command in the service of the Royal Navy was as captain of the 50-gun

fourth rate ship of the line HMS Chatham.[1] This new command brought to a close the naval career of Lukin. He had served his country with reliability and efficiency throughout the Napoleonic wars with one or two outstanding actions.[1] Lukin effectively left the navy in 1814[1] with the rank of vice admiral of the blue
, just a year away from the end of the war; he saw no further active service.

Felbrigg Hall

Felbrigg Hall
Portrait of his wife, Anne (née Thellusson), by William Edward West, 1833
Vice Admiral Lukin's memorial plaque inside St Margaret's Church, Felbrigg

William Windham died on 4 June 1810,[7] and was last of his line. His death effectively ended the hereditary succession of the Felbrigg estates which had run uninterrupted for 350 years.[1] The Felbrigg estate was left to Windham's wife Cecilia Windham[7] in the first instance for the remainder of her life. Thereafter, William Windham's heir was Vice Admiral William Lukin. Lukin was related to Windham as he was the grandson of William Windham's mother by her first marriage. After his retirement from the Navy, Lukin settled back to north Norfolk, to a small estate farm at Metton which was close to Felbrigg. Lukin and his wife Anne Thellusson (a daughter of Peter Thellusson and granddaughter of Isaac de Thellusson) settled into family life with their 12 children.[1] With six sons and six daughters to raise the Lukins soon found finances were stretched and as a consequence in 1820 Lukin moved to Brussels[1] with his family to save money.

On 5 May 1824,

William Howe Windham (the eldest) and Charles Ash Windham represented East Norfolk in Parliament; the latter fought in the Crimean War and rose to the rank of General. A third son Cdr. John Henry Windham[8]
RN, followed him into the Navy.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-946148-85-1
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-319-24038-0
  3. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29725. Retrieved 12 March 2010. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  4. ^ "Spencer, George John, Viscount Althorp (SPNR776GJ)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  5. ^
    ISBN 1-84067-359-1
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0750942799
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1-84359-101-6
    .
  8. A Naval Biographical Dictionary
    . London: John Murray.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Lukin&oldid=1214343502"