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David Milne (admiral)
Encyclopedia
Admiral Sir David Milne, GCB
, RN
(May 1763 – 5 May 1845) was a Royal Navy
admiral.
, East Lothian
, Scotland
, he entered the Royal Navy
as a midshipman
in 1779. He served in the West Indies from 1779 to 1783, seeing action in the Caribbean
during the American Revolutionary War
and in Lord Howe
's final relief of the French and Spanish siege of Gibraltar
in 1782. From 1783 to 1793, he served in the East Indies
. Promoted to commander
, he defeated a French division off Puerto Rico
on 5 June 1795, and, in 1796, he participated in the capture of the Dutch colonies of Demerara
, Essequibo
and Berbice
, becoming the British governor of Netherlands Guiana. He continued to fight against the French in Santo Domingo
, from 1797 to 1799, and, in 1800, he captured the French frigate
La Vengeance
off the coast of Africa.
On 14 June 1814, he was promoted to Rear-Admiral. He served as second-in-command of the fleet sent to bombard Algiers in 1816. The Dutch king awarded him the commander's cross of the coveted Military Order of William for his distinguished conduct. In May 1816, he was appointed to command the North American Station, living in Halifax, Nova Scotia
and Bermuda
. In 1818, he was nominated a knight of the Neapolitan
Order of St Januarius, and he returned to the United Kingdom in 1819. In 1820, he was briefly Member of Parliament
for Berwick-upon-Tweed
.
In 1825, he became a Vice-Admiral. In 1842, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
. He died at sea 5 May 1845 while returning to Scotland from Plymouth
, after more than sixty years’ service in the Royal Navy. He is buried with his first wife in the churchyard at Inveresk.
, by his second wife Mary Home, daughter of Sir James Home, 3rd Baronet of Coldinghame. Their children included advocate and geologist David Milne-Home
and Admiral of the Fleet
Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet
. His wife died at Bordeaux
, in France, on 4 October 1814, where she had gone for the recovery of her health. The admiral brought her body back to the United Kingdom, and she was buried at Inveresk
, East Lothian, Scotland, 18 February 1815. On 28 November 1819, Agnes Stephen.
Milne Land
, in East Greenland
, was named after him by Captain William Scoresby
.
The island can be found 70.87 N, 25.42 W, sits in the large fjord Scoresby Sund
and covers an area of 3912.9 km² (1,510.8 sq mi) with a highest point of 2103 m (6,899.6 ft).
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, RN
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
(May 1763 – 5 May 1845) was a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
admiral.
Naval career
Born in MusselburghMusselburgh
Musselburgh is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, six miles east of Edinburgh city centre.-History:...
, East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, he entered the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
as a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
in 1779. He served in the West Indies from 1779 to 1783, seeing action in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
and in Lord Howe
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
's final relief of the French and Spanish siege of Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
in 1782. From 1783 to 1793, he served in the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
. Promoted to commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
, he defeated a French division off Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
on 5 June 1795, and, in 1796, he participated in the capture of the Dutch colonies of Demerara
Demerara
Demerara was a region in South America in what is now Guyana that was colonised by the Dutch in 1611. The British invaded and captured the area in 1796...
, Essequibo
Essequibo (colony)
Essequibo was from 1616 to 1814 a Dutch colony in the region of the Essequibo river on the north coast of South America. The colony formed a part of the colonies that are known under the collective name of Dutch Guyana.- History :...
and Berbice
Berbice
Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1815 a colony of the Netherlands. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom in the latter year, it was merged with Essequibo and Demerara to form the colony of British Guiana in 1831...
, becoming the British governor of Netherlands Guiana. He continued to fight against the French in Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
, from 1797 to 1799, and, in 1800, he captured the French frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
La Vengeance
HMS Vengeance (1800)
The Vengeance was a Résistance class frigate of the French Navy, noted for her fight with during the Quasi-War, an inconclusive engagement that left both ships heavily damaged. During the French Revolutionary Wars, hunted Vengeance down and captured her after a sharp action...
off the coast of Africa.
On 14 June 1814, he was promoted to Rear-Admiral. He served as second-in-command of the fleet sent to bombard Algiers in 1816. The Dutch king awarded him the commander's cross of the coveted Military Order of William for his distinguished conduct. In May 1816, he was appointed to command the North American Station, living in Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
and Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. In 1818, he was nominated a knight of the Neapolitan
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...
Order of St Januarius, and he returned to the United Kingdom in 1819. In 1820, he was briefly Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)
Berwick-upon-Tweed is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
.
In 1825, he became a Vice-Admiral. In 1842, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. In the nineteenth century the holder of the office was known as Commander-in-Chief,...
. He died at sea 5 May 1845 while returning to Scotland from Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, after more than sixty years’ service in the Royal Navy. He is buried with his first wife in the churchyard at Inveresk.
Family
On 16 April 1804, he was married to Grace Purves, eldest daughter of Sir Alexander Purves, 5th Baronet, of PurvesPurves (Family Name)
The Purves family history can be traced back to 1066 AD. During the Battle of Hastings, the Purves family gave significant military service to William the Conqueror...
, by his second wife Mary Home, daughter of Sir James Home, 3rd Baronet of Coldinghame. Their children included advocate and geologist David Milne-Home
David Milne-Home
David Milne-Home FRSE was a Scottish advocate, geologist and meteorologist....
and Admiral of the Fleet
Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)
Admiral of the fleet is the highest rank of the British Royal Navy and other navies, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-10. The rank still exists in the Royal Navy but routine appointments ceased in 1996....
Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet
Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet, GCB was a Royal Navy admiral, the second son of the Scot Admiral Sir David Milne, and the younger brother of the advocate, geologist and meteorologist David Milne-Home.-Naval career:He entered the Royal Naval Academy, 8 February 1817...
. His wife died at Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, in France, on 4 October 1814, where she had gone for the recovery of her health. The admiral brought her body back to the United Kingdom, and she was buried at Inveresk
Inveresk
Inveresk is a civil parish and was formerly a village that now forms the southern part of Musselburgh. It is situated on slightly elevated ground at the south of Musselburgh in East Lothian, Scotland...
, East Lothian, Scotland, 18 February 1815. On 28 November 1819, Agnes Stephen.
Milne Land
Milne Land
Milne Land is a large island in eastern Greenland. It is the third largest island of Greenland, after the main island of Greenland and Disko Island. It is named after British admiral David Milne. It is 113 km long from Moræne Pynt in the southwest to Bregnepynt in the northeast, and up to 45 km...
, in East Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, was named after him by Captain William Scoresby
William Scoresby
William Scoresby , was an English Arctic explorer, scientist and clergyman.-Early years:Scoresby was born in the village of Cropton near Pickering 26 miles south of Whitby in Yorkshire. His father, William Scoresby , made a fortune in the Arctic whale fishery...
.
The island can be found 70.87 N, 25.42 W, sits in the large fjord Scoresby Sund
Scoresby Sund
Scoresby Sund is an inlet system of the Greenland Sea on the eastern coast of Greenland. It has a tree-like structure, with a main body approximately long that branches into a system of fjords covering an area of about . The longest of these extends 340–350 km in from the coastline...
and covers an area of 3912.9 km² (1,510.8 sq mi) with a highest point of 2103 m (6,899.6 ft).