Richard Charles Mayne
Encyclopedia
Richard Charles Mayne RN CB FGS MP (1835 – 29 May 1892) was a Royal Navy
Captain, later Admiral and explorer.
Richard Mayne was the son of Sir Richard Mayne
KCB
(the first joint commissioner of the Metropolitan Police) and the grandson of Judge Edward Mayne
. Both his father and grandfather were graduates of Trinity College, Dublin
,. Richard Mayne was educated at Eton
. He was a scion of a family that settled at Mount Sedborough in County Fermanagh
during the Plantation of Ulster
and subsequently at Freame Mount, County Cavan
in Ireland.,,.
and British Columbia. Mayne sailed with Captain George Henry Richards
on his expedition in HMS Plumper and also on HMS Hecate
to survey the coast of British Columbia
(1857–1859), and there came to serve in the Royal Engineers
under Colonel Richard Moody
and was assigned the exploration and mapping of hitherto unknown parts of the colony. His journal of these activities is a classic source of British Columbia history
, as are those of his Royal Engineer colleague Lieutenant Henry Spencer Palmer
. Mayne Island
in the Gulf Islands
is named after him, and Hecate Strait
for his vessel. For this work, in 1860, he was promoted to Commander and returned to England. In 1862 he was appointed to the command of HMS Eclipse
, for service in New Zealand, and took part in the native wars
until severely wounded in 1863 and invalided home. For these services he was mentioned in despatches and promoted to the rank of Captain; and in 1867 received the Companionship of the Bath .
. Charles Darwin
requested the Lords of the Admiralty to ask Capt. Mayne to collect several boatloads of fossil bones of extinct species of quadrupeds. Admiral Sulivan had previously discovered an astonishingly rich accumulation of fossil bones not far from the Straits. These remains apparently belonged to a more ancient period, than the collection by Mr Darwin on HMS Beagle
and by other naturalists and therefore of great interest to science. Many of these were collected with the aid of Hydrographer Capt. Richards R.N. and deposited in the British Museum
.
Admiral Mayne was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
and served on its Council. He was the author of Four years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island.
, Hong Kong
, and his wife, Sabine Ellen Robarts, daughter of James Thomas Robarts (1784–1825), another influential opium merchant. Sabine Dent was the niece of Lancelot Dent
. After his marriage he only served a short term afloat in command of HMS Invincible
. He retired as a Rear-Admiral in 1879.
constituency of Pembroke and Haverfordwest
as a Conservative
at the 1885 general election
. He was elected as a Liberal Unionist
Member of Parliament
(MP) there the following year
, serving until his death shortly before the 1892 general election
.
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...
Captain, later Admiral and explorer.
Richard Mayne was the son of Sir Richard Mayne
Richard Mayne
Sir Richard Mayne KCB was a barrister and the joint first Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, the head of the London Metropolitan Police...
KCB
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...
(the first joint commissioner of the Metropolitan Police) and the grandson of Judge Edward Mayne
Edward Mayne
The Hon. Edward Mayne was one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas and later removed to The Court of the King's Bench....
. Both his father and grandfather were graduates of Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
,. Richard Mayne was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. He was a scion of a family that settled at Mount Sedborough in County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....
during the Plantation of Ulster
Plantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster was the organised colonisation of Ulster—a province of Ireland—by people from Great Britain. Private plantation by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while official plantation controlled by King James I of England and VI of Scotland began in 1609...
and subsequently at Freame Mount, County Cavan
County Cavan
County Cavan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Cavan. Cavan County Council is the local authority for the county...
in Ireland.,,.
Exploration of British Columbia
In 1856 Lieutenant Mayne was attached to the Nautical Survey of Vancouver IslandVancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
and British Columbia. Mayne sailed with Captain George Henry Richards
George Henry Richards
Admiral Sir George Henry Richards was Hydrographer to the British Admiralty from 1864 to 1874.-Early life:Richards was born in Anthony, Cornwall, the son of Captain G S Richards, and joined the navy in 1832....
on his expedition in HMS Plumper and also on HMS Hecate
HMS Hecate (1839)
HMS Hecate was a 4-gun paddle sloop launched on 30 March 1839 from the Chatham Dockyard.She was assigned to the Mediterranean Station between 1840 and 1843, she participated during the Syrian War of 1840. After a period of be laid in reserve she served as part of the West Africa Squadron off Africa...
to survey the coast of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
(1857–1859), and there came to serve in the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
under Colonel Richard Moody
Richard Moody
Major-General Richard Clement Moody was a Lieutenant-Governor, and later Governor, of the Falkland Islands, and the first Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of British Columbia. While serving under this post, he selected the site of the new capital, New Westminster...
and was assigned the exploration and mapping of hitherto unknown parts of the colony. His journal of these activities is a classic source of British Columbia history
History of British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost province in Canada. Originally politically constituted as a pair of British colonies, British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation on July 20, 1871.-Early history :...
, as are those of his Royal Engineer colleague Lieutenant Henry Spencer Palmer
Henry Spencer Palmer
Major General Henry Spencer Palmer was a British army military engineer and surveyor, noted for his work in developing Yokohama harbor in the Empire of Japan as a foreign advisor to the Japanese government-Biography:...
. Mayne Island
Mayne Island
Mayne Island is a rustic 21-km² island in the southern Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia. It is situated midway between the Lower Mainland of BC and Vancouver Island, and has a population of around eleven hundred.-History:...
in the Gulf Islands
Gulf Islands
The Gulf Islands are the islands in the Strait of Georgia , between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada....
is named after him, and Hecate Strait
Hecate Strait
Hecate Strait is a wide but shallow strait between the Haida Gwaii and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It merges with Queen Charlotte Sound to the south and Dixon Entrance to the north...
for his vessel. For this work, in 1860, he was promoted to Commander and returned to England. In 1862 he was appointed to the command of HMS Eclipse
HMS Eclipse (1860)
HMS Eclipse was a 4-gun Cormorant-class first class gunvessel launched on 18 September 1860 from the shipyard of J. Scott Russell & Co., Millwall.She was sent to Australia Station in 1863 under the command of Commander Richard Charles Mayne...
, for service in New Zealand, and took part in the native wars
New Zealand land wars
The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...
until severely wounded in 1863 and invalided home. For these services he was mentioned in despatches and promoted to the rank of Captain; and in 1867 received the Companionship of the Bath .
Straits of Magellan expedition
Mayne commanded HMS Nassau on the survey expedition to the Straits of Magellan, 1866–9. The naturalist on the voyage was Robert Oliver CunninghamRobert Oliver Cunningham
Robert Oliver Cunningham was a Scottish naturalist.He was born on 27 March 1841, in Prestonpans, the second son of the Rev. William Bruce Cunningham and Cecilia Margaret Douglas , daughter of David Douglas, Lord Reston , the heir of Adam Smith...
. Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
requested the Lords of the Admiralty to ask Capt. Mayne to collect several boatloads of fossil bones of extinct species of quadrupeds. Admiral Sulivan had previously discovered an astonishingly rich accumulation of fossil bones not far from the Straits. These remains apparently belonged to a more ancient period, than the collection by Mr Darwin on HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames, at a cost of £7,803. In July of that year she took part in a fleet review celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom in which...
and by other naturalists and therefore of great interest to science. Many of these were collected with the aid of Hydrographer Capt. Richards R.N. and deposited in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
Admiral Mayne was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
and served on its Council. He was the author of Four years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island.
Marriage
In 1870 Captain Mayne married Miss Sabine Dent, a daughter of Sir Thomas Dent (1796–1872), founder of Dent & Co.Dent & Co.
Dent & Co. or Dent's, was one of the wealthiest British merchant firms, or hongs, active in China during the 19th century. The company was a direct rival to Jardine, Matheson & Co...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and his wife, Sabine Ellen Robarts, daughter of James Thomas Robarts (1784–1825), another influential opium merchant. Sabine Dent was the niece of Lancelot Dent
Lancelot Dent
Lancelot Dent was a 19th century British merchant resident for a period in Canton, China who dealt primarily in opium.He was christened on August 4, 1799 in Crosby Ravensworth, Westmorland, England, son of William and Jane Dent....
. After his marriage he only served a short term afloat in command of HMS Invincible
HMS Invincible (1869)
HMS Invincible was an Audacious-class ironclad battleship of the Royal Navy. She was built at the Napier shipyard and completed in 1870. Completed just 10 years after , she still carried sails as well as a steam engine.-Armament:...
. He retired as a Rear-Admiral in 1879.
Political career
After retiring from the Navy, he unsuccessfully contested the WelshWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
constituency of Pembroke and Haverfordwest
Pembroke and Haverfordwest (UK Parliament constituency)
Pembroke and Haverfordwest was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Pembroke and Haverfordwest in West Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.- History :The constituency...
as a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
at the 1885 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
. He was elected as a Liberal Unionist
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
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,...
(MP) there the following year
United Kingdom general election, 1886
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, serving until his death shortly before the 1892 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1892
The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...
.