Admiral Humphrey Wykeham Bowring CB

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...

 DSO

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

 (18 April 1874 – 21 February 1952) 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...

 officer who became Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland

Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland

The Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland is a senior post in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It is based at HM Naval Base Clyde and the holder of the post is the Royal Navy’s senior officer in Scotland with representational duties everywhere north of the M4. The...

.

Naval career

Born the son of the industrialist John Charles Bowring

J. C. Bowring

John Charles Bowring was the eldest son of Sir John Bowring, and accompanied him on some of his travels. He was a Hong Kong businessman, sometime a partner in the firm Jardine, Matheson & Co., and a keen amateur naturalist and JP for the County of Devon.He was the brother of Lewin Bentham Bowring...

, Bowring joined 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 cadet

Cadet

A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...

 in 1887, took part in the Witu

Wituland

Wituland was an approximately territory in East Africa centered on the town of Witu just inland from Indian Ocean port of Lamu north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya.-History:Founded in 1858 by the former ruler of the insular Pate sultanate after several abortive moves to the...

 expedition in 1890 and was promoted to Lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in 1895. He served in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 as Captain

Captain (naval)

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

 of the cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

 HMS Arrogant and then of the cruiser HMS Aurora

HMS Aurora (1913)

HMS Aurora was an Arethusa-class light cruiser launched on 30 September 1913 at Devonport Dockyard.Construction started in 1912 and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy and saw service as part of the Grand Fleet from 1914 to 1915, as leader of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla...

 and acted as Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Dover Patrol

Dover Patrol

The Dover Patrol was a Royal Navy command of the First World War, notable for its involvement in the Zeebrugge Raid on 22 April 1918. The Dover Patrol formed a discrete unit of the Royal Navy based at Dover and Dunkirk for the duration of the First World War...

. After the War he commanded the battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 HMS Bellerophon

HMS Bellerophon (1907)

HMS Bellerophon was a dreadnought of the Royal Navy. She was the lead ship of the Bellerophon class, and the fourth Royal Navy vessel to bear the name of the mythic Greek hero...

 and then the battleship HMS Centurion

HMS Centurion (1911)

HMS Centurion was the second battleship of the King George V class, built at HM Dockyard, Devonport.The Battleships of the King George V class had been designed as Dreadnought Battleship....

. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland

Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland

The Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland is a senior post in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It is based at HM Naval Base Clyde and the holder of the post is the Royal Navy’s senior officer in Scotland with representational duties everywhere north of the M4. The...

 in 1926 and retired in 1929.

He lived at Plympton

Plympton

Plympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport...

 in Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

.