Coffin, Sir Isaac (16 May 1759–23 July 1839), Loyalist and British admiral, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Nathaniel Coffin, the last receiver general and cashier of His Majesty’s Customs at Boston, and Elizabeth Barnes. Born into a family of wealth and social prominence, Isaac Coffin attended the Boston Latin School and then entered the British Royal Navy in May 1773. Assigned to the brig ...
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Coffin, Sir Isaac (1759-1839), Loyalist and British admiral
Samuel Willard Crompton
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Hall, Basil (1788-1844), captain in the British navy and author of scientific works and books of travel
Percy Adams
Hall, Basil (31 December 1788–11 September 1844), captain in the British navy and author of scientific works and books of travel, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of Sir James Hall, a geologist of repute who published on a variety of other subjects as well, including architecture, and Helen Douglas. After a basic education in Edinburgh, Basil at age fourteen joined the Royal Navy and set out on the first of many voyages. By age twenty he was made lieutenant and at twenty-nine was a captain....
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Johnstone, George (1730-1787), naval officer and first governor of British West Florida
Robin F. A. Fabel
Johnstone, George (1730–24 May 1787), naval officer and first governor of British West Florida, was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, the son of Sir James Johnstone, Laird of Westerhall, and Barbara Murray. After entering the Royal Navy in 1743, Johnstone fought in King George’s War before his promotion to lieutenant in 1749. Johnstone was undoubtedly brave but also, wrote a superior, “incapable of subordination.” He faced two courts-martial and fought at least one duel during the French and Indian War....
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Loring, Joshua (1716-1781), British naval officer and Loyalist
David E. Maas
Loring, Joshua (03 August 1716–05 October 1781), British naval officer and Loyalist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Joshua Loring, a tanner, and Hannah Jackson. Fatherless by the age of five, Joshua moved to Roxbury, where he was apprenticed to a tanner named James Mears. However, the continuing warfare between England and France attracted him, and when of age he went to sea and served on a privateer. In 1740 he married Mary Curtis; they had seven children. During the War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748), he became captain of his own privateer with 120 seamen under his command. In 1744, near Louisburg, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, his ship was captured by two French men-of-war after a four-hour chase. He spent several months in a prison in Louisburg, then was released. When the French and Indian War began, Loring was commissioned a lieutenant in the British navy and by December 1757 was commissioned a captain in command of a twenty-gun vessel named the ...
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Parker, Peter (1721-1811), British admiral of the fleet
Bobby G. Moss
Parker, Peter (1721–21 December 1811), British admiral of the fleet, was born possibly in Ireland, the son of Rear Admiral Christopher Parker. His mother’s name is unavailable, as is information on his education. It is said that Parker’s first sea service was as a boy under his father. In 1743 he was commissioned a lieutenant and placed aboard the HMS ...
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Pitcairn, John (1722–17 or 18 June 1775), British marine officer
Harry M. Ward
Pitcairn, John (1722–17 or 18 June 1775), British marine officer, was born in Dysart, Scotland, the son of Reverend David Pitcairn, a longtime minister at Dysart, and Katherine Hamilton. Pitcairn entered the Royal Marines, becoming a captain in 1756 and a major in 1771. He married Elizabeth Dalrymple of Arnsfield, Dumfriesshire. They had nine children. One son, Robert Pitcairn (1747?–1770?), a midshipman in the British navy, was lost at sea; Pitcairn Island in the Pacific is named for him....
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Vancouver, George (1757-1798), explorer and naval officer
Steven E. Kagle
Vancouver, George (22 June 1757–12 May 1798), explorer and naval officer, was born in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England, the son of John Jasper Vancouver, deputy collector of customs, and Bridget Berners. At the age of fourteen he gained appointment as midshipman in training and joined Captain James Cook’s explorations of the Antarctic, the South Atlantic, and the South Pacific aboard the ...
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Warren, Sir Peter (1703-1752), British admiral and politician
Gordon E. Kershaw
Warren, Sir Peter (10 March 1703–29 July 1752), British admiral and politician, was born in Warrenstown, County Meath, Ireland, the son of Michael Warren, a country gentleman, and Catherine Aylmer. As Catholics, both Peter’s father and his maternal grandfather, Sir Christopher Aylmer, were Jacobites. Seeking government preferment, young Peter embraced Anglicanism and entered the British navy as a seaman in 1716. Here, his own abilities and family interest promised a speedy advance. His uncle Matthew, Lord Aylmer, Lord of the Admiralty, and Aylmer’s son-in-law, Admiral Sir John Norris, actively promoted Warren’s career. By 1727 he was captain of the ...
