William Robert Broughton
William Robert Broughton | |
---|---|
Born | Gloucestershire, England | 22 March 1762
Died | 14 March 1821 Florence, Tuscany | (aged 58)
Allegiance | Great Britain United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Navy |
Rank | Captain |
Commands held | HMS Chatham HMS Providence HMS Penelope HMS Illustrious |
Battles/wars | Napoleonic Wars |
William Robert Broughton (22 March 1762 – 14 March 1821) was a British naval officer in the late 18th century. As a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, he commanded HMS Chatham as part of the Vancouver Expedition, a voyage of exploration through the Pacific Ocean led by Captain George Vancouver in the early 1790s.
Personal life
William Robert Broughton was born on 22 March 1762.[1][2] His father, Charles Broughton, was a Hamburg merchant and his mother, Anne Elizabeth, was the daughter of Baron William de Hertoghe.[1] Broughton married his cousin, Jemima, on 26 November 1802. They had four children.[3] On 12 March 1821, while in Florence, Broughton suffered an angina attack and died two days later. He was buried in the English burial ground in Leghorn.[4]
Early career
Broughton's name was added to the muster of the yacht Catherine on 1 May 1774, as captain's servant but Broughton first went to sea on 18 November when he joined the 14-gun sloop, Falcon which sailed for North America, under the command of Captain John Linzee.[1]
On 14 February 1777, Broughton, by then a midshipman, transferred to Harlem under Lieutenant John Knight. He was appointed to the 64-gun Eagle on 1 July 1778, then in December he joined the seventy-four, Superb as a Master's mate and began service in the East Indies.[1] On 12 January 1782, Broughton was promoted to lieutenant aboard the 68-gun Burford commanded by Captain Peter Rainier. When Burford paid off on 19 July 1784, Broughton went ashore and did not serve again for almost four years.[3]
Broughton resumed his career on 23 June 1788, aboard the 18-gun sloop,
Vancouver Expedition
En route to the
Sometime after their arrival in North America, in 1792, Broughton was given the task of charting a group of islands in the Queen Charlotte Sound. In his honour, Vancouver named them the Broughton Archipelago.[2] In October, Broughton was ordered to explore the lower stretches of the Columbia River, between present-day Oregon and Washington.[3][6] With several boats from his ship, Broughton and his party navigated upstream as far as the Columbia River Gorge and on 30 October, he reached his farthest point, landing in eastern Multnomah County east of Portland and northwest of Mount Hood, which he named for Viscount Samuel Hood, Admiral of the British Fleet. Late in 1792, Vancouver, stymied by conflicting instructions over Nootka Sound, sent Broughton back to England via Mexico and the Atlantic, bearing dispatches and requesting instructions.[6]
Exploring Japan and Sakhalin
On 3 October 1793, Broughton was promoted to commander and given command of HMS Providence, a ship formerly commanded by Captain William Bligh.[2][7] The fitting out caused a long delay and the ship didn't sail until February 1795 and when Broughton finally returned to north-west America, he was unable to locate Vancouver.
From September 1796 Broughton charted the east coast of
Later career
Having been kept from the greater part of the
In November 1810, Broughton, still in command of Illustrious, took part in the
Broughton resigned his commission on 23 October 1812 but was recalled on 31 May 1815 to serve in the channel as commander of the 100-gun
Death and legacy
Broughton died in Florence, Italy in 1821, and was buried in the Old English Cemetery, Livorno. He named many locations in the course of his explorations and has been honoured with namings as well:[16]
- Broughton Island (New South Wales) and Providence Bay off Port Stephens, New South Wales, were surveyed by Broughton in August 1795. While there he encountered some escaped convicts whom he took back to Sydney.[17]
- Broughton Island in the Snares Islands, New Zealand is named for Lieutenant Broughton.
- Both Broutona Island and its highest point, 801m Broutona Mount in Russia's Kurils Islands are named for William Robert Broughton.
- Brouton Bay at the northern end of Simushir Island in the Kuril Islands, Russia is named for William Robert Broughton.
- Broughton Arm in Dusky Sound, New Zealand is named for Lieutenant Broughton.
- The West End and a street in Downtown Victoriaalso bear his name.
- Broughton's Bluff, a popular rock climbing destination at the Lewis and Clark State Recreation Site in Troutdale, Oregon, was named after him in 1926.[18]
- Mount Hood for Viscount Samuel Hood, Admiral of the British Fleet.
- Youngs River and Youngs Bay for his uncle, Admiral Sir George Young.
- Broughton's map of the Columbia River was instrumental in the planning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
- Broughton Beach, a popular sandy beach on the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon.[19]
- A plaque erected by the State of Oregon along Columbia Gorgecommemorates the spot where Broughton landed in 1792.
- The pub located within the British Embassy in Korean Peninsula.
- A cricket team in the Korea Cricket Association league is named "Broughton's International XI" in his honour.
- Broughton Street in the West End of Vancouver, British Columbia is named in his honour.
- Broughton Avenue in Ham, Richmond upon Thames, London. Close to the hamlet of Petersham in the same borough, where the last dwelling and final resting place of Captain George Vancouver are located.
See also
Notes
- post captainsfor good service. It carried an increase in salary with no extra duties or responsibilities. Not to be confused with a colonel in the marines.
References
Derek Hayes, Historical Atlas of the North Pacific Ocean',2001
- ^ ISBN 1-86176-244-5.
- ^ a b c d e f J. K. Laughton, 'Broughton, William Robert, naval officer, (1762–1821)', rev. Roger Morriss, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006 retrieved 29 December 2015
- ^ ISBN 1-86176-244-5.
- ISBN 1-86176-244-5.
- ^ "Snares Islands – New Zealand's subantarctic islands". Parks and Recreation. Department of Conservation. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ a b Jim Mockford, "The Journal of a Tour across the Continent of New Spain from St. Blas in the North Pacific Ocean to La Vera Cruz in the Gulph of Mexico, by Lieut. W. R. Broughton in the Year 1793, Commander H.M. Brig 'Chatham'", Terrae Incognitae, vol.36, 2004, pp.2–58.
- ^
Broughton, William Robert (1804), A voyage of discovery to the north Pacific Ocean : in which the coastal Asia, ... Japan ... as well as the coast of Corea have been examined and surveyed, performed in His Majesty's Sloop Providence and her tender in the years 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, T. Cadell and W. Davies, p. 1, OL 24159440M, retrieved 3 January 2015
- ^
Broughton, William Robert (1804), A voyage of discovery to the north Pacific Ocean : in which the coastal Asia, ... Japan ... as well as the coast of Corea have been examined and surveyed, performed in His Majesty's Sloop Providence and her tender in the years 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, T. Cadell and W. Davies, p. 2, OL 24159440M, retrieved 3 January 2015
- ^
Broughton, William Robert (1804), A voyage of discovery to the north Pacific Ocean : in which the coastal Asia, ... Japan ... as well as the coast of Corea have been examined and surveyed, performed in His Majesty's Sloop Providence and her tender in the years 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, T. Cadell and W. Davies, p. 64, OL 24159440M, retrieved 3 January 2015
- ^
Broughton, William Robert (1804), A voyage of discovery to the north Pacific Ocean : in which the coastal Asia, ... Japan ... as well as the coast of Corea have been examined and surveyed, performed in His Majesty's Sloop Providence and her tender in the years 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, T. Cadell and W. Davies, pp. 96–114, OL 24159440M, retrieved 3 January 2015
- ^
Broughton, William Robert (1804), A voyage of discovery to the north Pacific Ocean : in which the coastal Asia, ... Japan ... as well as the coast of Corea have been examined and surveyed, performed in His Majesty's Sloop Providence and her tender in the years 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, T. Cadell and W. Davies, p. 195, OL 24159440M, retrieved 6 January 2015
- ^ Gurney, W.B. (1809). Minutes of a court-martial . . . on the trial of James Lord Gambier. Mottey, Harrison & Miller.
- ^ James, William (1827). The Naval History of Great Britain, from the declaration of war by France in 1793 to the accession of George IV, Volume V. London: Macmillan & Co. pp. 203–204.
- ^ James, William (1827). The Naval History of Great Britain, from the declaration of war by France in 1793 to the accession of George IV, Volume V. London: Macmillan & Co. p. 310.
- ISBN 1-86176-244-5.
- ^ Mockford, Jim. "Before Lewis and Clark, Lt. Broughton's River of Names: The Columbia River Exploration of 1792". Oregon History Quarterly. Archived from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
- ISBN 0-904180-97-2.
- ^ ""Broughton Bluff, Oregon"". Lewis & Clark's Columbia River – "200 Years Later". Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- ^ Lyn Topinka (October 2011). "Broughton Beach, Oregon". The Columbia River – A Photographic Journey.