Thomas Manby
Encyclopedia
Thomas Moore Manby was a British naval officer who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars
and Napoleonic Wars
and later rose to the rank of rear admiral. He sailed with George Vancouver
on his voyages of exploration, captained the Bordelais, the Africaine and the Thalia, and was the chief suspect in the "delicate investigation" into the morals of Caroline, princess of Wales
.
on the edge of the Norfolk
Fens
. His father, Matthew Pepper Manby, was lord of the manor of Wood Hall in Hilgay and a former soldier and aide-de-camp
to Lord Townshend
. Manby's elder brother was George William Manby
, the inventor of life-saving devices including the Manby mortar
.
Lord Townshend arranged a position for the young Manby in the stationers of the ordnance department, but Manby dreamt of a life at sea and at the age of 14 resigned his post and embarked as a midshipman
on board the 24-gun Hyaena
. After 2 years on the Irish station he joined the Cygnet and sailed to the Caribbean
, returning on the Amphion
, and then served on the 74-gun Illustrious
.
on George Vancouver's
ship Discovery
. The Admiralty
had ordered Vancouver to complete a survey of the north-west coast of America
and take possession of disputed land at Nootka Sound
on the island that is now Vancouver Island
. Discovery was fitted out for exploration, complete with a plant frame on the quarterdeck to bring back specimens. Together with the brig
Chatham
, the Discovery left Plymouth
1 April 1791. The two ships called at New Zealand
, Tahiti
and Hawaii
before reaching the starting point for the American survey, the Strait of Juan de Fuca
, almost exactly a year after setting out. Manby recorded first impressions of the coast:
The Discovery and Chatham spent the next three summers surveying the north-west coast of America, passing the winters in Hawaii. They arrived at Nootka Sound in the autumn of 1792 and, when disputes arose with the Spanish
, several officers were sent back to England to request instructions from the Admiralty. Manby was promoted to fill vacant places: firstly as master
of the Chatham and then as lieutenant
on the Discovery. The relationship between Manby and Vancouver was not however a harmonious one. Manby wrote that Vancouver: "is grown Haughty Proud Mean and Insolent, which has kept himself and his Officers in a continual state of wrangling..."
and then in early 1797 was appointed as commander of the 44-gun Charon, guarding trade in Irish Sea
and the Channel
. During the two years he commanded the Charon, Manby provided protection to 4753 vessels, not one of which was lost, and he also captured a French privateer
, the Alexandrine.
Manby was promoted to post-captain
rank 22 January 1799, three weeks after his thirtieth birthday. Later that year he was appointed commander of the 24-gun Bordelais, a former French privateer which was nicknamed the Coffin on account of her dangerous build. Manby had rescued his brother George Manby
from debtor's prison, and he now took him on board his ship as a lay chaplain. On a trip to Ireland the Bordelais foundered on a sandbank; Manby managed to refloat her by throwing everything possible overboard and they limped back to Plymouth. The incident brought home to George Manby the dangers of a lee shore in a storm and led to his invention of Manby's mortar, a life-line for sailors wrecked close to shore. Back in Plymouth, George Manby underwent an operation to remove slugs and rotting hat from his skull (he had been shot by his wife's lover some years previously). Afterwards he appeared to be dying and decided that he "preferred to die at sea among sailors (a consoling and compassionate class of man) rather than be left in the care of a mistress of lodgings, to be hurried to my grave unnoticed and unknown". So Manby took him back on board before setting off for duty around the Azores
. During the trip the Bordelais captured a valuable coffee-laden French prize, and George Manby recovered his health.
After a short period spent blockading the port of Flushing
, the Bordelais was sent to the Caribbean, where she sank the French warship Curieuse. After the Treaty of Amiens
temporarily brought a halt to hostilities between Britain and France, Manby was appointed to the Juno
and returned to England where the ship was paid off.
Manby was not out of commission for long. In October 1802 the Earl of St Vincent
, first Lord of the Admiralty, sent for him and said 'I don't like to see an active officer idle on shore; I therefore give you the Africaine, one of the finest frigates in the British navy'. On leaving the Juno, Manby had visited his friend and patron, Lord Townshend
, at Raynham Hall
in Norfolk, and Lady Townshend had introduced him to Caroline, princess of Wales
. While the Africaine was fitting out at Deptford
, Manby was a frequent visitor to Montagu House in Blackheath
where the princess, who was estranged from her husband the prince of Wales
, lived. Manby soon replaced Sir Sidney Smith in the princess's affections. She bought the soft furnishings for his cabin and asked the Admiralty to send the Africaine to attend her in the Downs
when she rented a house at Ramsgate
in the summer. War with France had resumed and the Africaine was called away from her royal duties to blockade the port of Hellevoetsluis
, although Manby was able to visit the princess again the following summer when she took a house in Southend
and the Africaine anchored off the Nore
for a few weeks.
After two years blockading Helvoetsluis, the Africaine joined Admiral Russell's
squadron off the Texel
and was badly damaged in a storm. Having refitted at Sheerness
, Manby was ordered to escort a fleet of merchant ships to the Caribbean. On the return journey there was an outbreak of yellow fever
on board. Three days out from Carlisle Bay
the ship's surgeon and assistant were dead, and Manby had to take care of the sick. Acting on the instructions of a doctor who came alongside in a small boat from Saint Kitts
, he treated them with calomel
. By the time the Africaine reached England she had lost nearly one-third of her crew and officers, and had to spend forty days in quarantine off the Isles of Scilly
. Manby had survived an attack of the fever and large doses of calomel, but his health never recovered. He had also received several serious wounds in action, and had suffered from rheumatic pains since his voyages with Vancouver.
The Africaine was decommissioned and Manby was appointed to the frigate Thalia. He spent a year in command of a squadron off the Channel Islands
and captured a French privateer, before being sent in 1808 to search for two French frigates off Greenland
. The French frigates were not found, but Manby surveyed and named Port Manvers on the coast of Labrador
before returning to England. It was to be his last voyage. He accepted medical advice to give up his ship and bought an estate in Northwold
in Norfolk
.
In 1806 the king
, at the request of his son the prince of Wales
, ordered an inquiry into rumours that the princess of Wales
had given birth to a child. A number of men were suspected of having had a relationship with the princess (which was grounds for a charge of high treason
), but it was Manby against whom the evidence was "particularly strong". Manby was called before the commissioners of the inquiry and swore on oath that he never did "at Montagu House, Southend, Ramsgate, East Cliff, or anywhere else, ever sleep in any house occupied by, or belonging to, HRH the Princess of Wales". The commissioners concluded that the main accusation against the princess was unfounded, but nevertheless they criticised her behaviour. The princess was defended by former attorney-general and future prime-minister Spencer Perceval
, who dismissed the evidence of the princess's servants as 'hearsay representations'. The gifts and letters from the princess to Manby were evidence only of her gratitude for Manby having taken two of her charity boys on board the Africaine, and his frequent visits were to keep the princess informed of their progress. If jugs of water and towels were left in the passage when Manby visited it was proof, Perceval argued, of the servants' slovenliness and not of high treason. Perceval was ready to publish his defence in the form of a book when there was a sudden change of government, the princess was accepted at court, and the book was suppressed. After Perceval's assassination in 1812 the book was published and extracts, including Manby's testimony, were published in the Times
.
), and the French diplomat and politician, Théodore Adolphe Barrot. Manby later moved to London and also had a country house in Christchurch, Dorset
. He worked on a chart of the South Pacific which he hoped would prove that the peoples of the region had a common origin, and helped solve the mystery of the disappearance of La Pérouse's
ships when he identified medals found by an English whaler in the South Pacific as having belonged to the explorer. He was promoted, by seniority, to rear admiral in 1825.
Manby died of an opium
overdose in the George Hotel, Southampton
, and was buried in South Stoneham
.
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and later rose to the rank of rear admiral. He sailed with George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
on his voyages of exploration, captained the Bordelais, the Africaine and the Thalia, and was the chief suspect in the "delicate investigation" into the morals of Caroline, princess of Wales
Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the Queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 until her death...
.
Childhood and early naval career
Manby was born in the village of HilgayHilgay
Hilgay is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, outside of Downham Market.It covers an area of and had a population of 1,174 in 500 households as of the 2001 census....
on the edge of the Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
Fens
The Fens
The Fens, also known as the , are a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region....
. His father, Matthew Pepper Manby, was lord of the manor of Wood Hall in Hilgay and a former soldier and aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Lord Townshend
George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend
Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, PC , known as The Viscount Townshend from 1764 to 1787, was a British soldier who reached the rank of field marshal.-Early life:...
. Manby's elder brother was George William Manby
George William Manby
Captain George William Manby FRS , was an English author and inventor. He designed an apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks and also the first modern form of fire extinguisher.-Life:Manby went to school at Downham Market...
, the inventor of life-saving devices including the Manby mortar
Manby Mortar
The Manby Mortar was invented by Captain George William Manby, also the inventor of the portable fire extinguisher.The mortar fired a shot with a line attached from the shore to the wrecked ship...
.
Lord Townshend arranged a position for the young Manby in the stationers of the ordnance department, but Manby dreamt of a life at sea and at the age of 14 resigned his post and embarked 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...
on board the 24-gun Hyaena
HMS Hyaena
Four ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Hyaena, after the Hyena, a family of carnivorous mammals. Two others were planned but either commissioned under another name or cancelled....
. After 2 years on the Irish station he joined the Cygnet and sailed to 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...
, returning on the Amphion
HMS Amphion (1780)
HMS Amphion was a Royal Navy 32-gun fifth-rate ship built in Chatham in 1780 that blew up on 22 September 1796.-Service:On 10 September 1781, a small squadron under the command of the Amphion's captain John Bazely, in conjunction with General Benedict Arnold, completely destroyed the town of New...
, and then served on the 74-gun Illustrious
HMS Illustrious (1789)
HMS Illustrious was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 7 July 1789 at Bucklers Hard. She participated in the Battle of Genoa after which she was wrecked.-Service:...
.
Voyage with Vancouver
In 1790, when he was 21, Manby was appointed as master's mateMaster's mate
Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master...
on George Vancouver's
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
ship Discovery
HMS Discovery (1789)
HMS Discovery was a Royal Navy ship launched in 1789 and best known as the lead ship in George Vancouver's exploration of the west coast of North America in his famous 1791-1795 expedition. She was converted to a bomb vessel in 1798 and participated in the Battle of Copenhagen. Thereafter she...
. The Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
had ordered Vancouver to complete a survey of the north-west coast of America
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
and take possession of disputed land at Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound is a complex inlet or sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Historically also known as King George's Sound, as a strait it separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island.-History:The inlet is part of the...
on the island that is now Vancouver Island
Vancouver 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...
. Discovery was fitted out for exploration, complete with a plant frame on the quarterdeck to bring back specimens. Together with the brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Chatham
HMS Chatham (1788)
HMS Chatham was a Royal Navy survey brig that accompanied HMS Discovery on George Vancouver's exploration of the west coast of North America in his 1791–1795 expedition. Chatham was built by King, of Dover and launched in early 1788...
, the Discovery left 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...
1 April 1791. The two ships called at New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
and Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
before reaching the starting point for the American survey, the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
, almost exactly a year after setting out. Manby recorded first impressions of the coast:
"It had more the aspect of enchantment than reality, with silent admiration each discerned the beauties of Nature, and nought was heard on board but expressions of delight murmured from every tongue. Imperceptibly our Bark skimmed over the glassy surface of the deep, about three Miles an hour, a gentle breeze swelled the lofty Canvass whilst all was calm below".
The Discovery and Chatham spent the next three summers surveying the north-west coast of America, passing the winters in Hawaii. They arrived at Nootka Sound in the autumn of 1792 and, when disputes arose with the Spanish
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra was a Spanish naval officer born in Lima, Peru. Assigned to the Pacific coast Spanish Naval Department base at San Blas, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain , this navigator explored the Northwest Coast of North America as far north as present day Alaska.Juan...
, several officers were sent back to England to request instructions from the Admiralty. Manby was promoted to fill vacant places: firstly as master
Master (naval)
The master, or sailing master, was a historic term for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel...
of the Chatham and then as 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...
on the Discovery. The relationship between Manby and Vancouver was not however a harmonious one. Manby wrote that Vancouver: "is grown Haughty Proud Mean and Insolent, which has kept himself and his Officers in a continual state of wrangling..."
French Revolutionary Wars
The expedition returned in 1795, by which time England was at war with France. Manby spent the next year as a lieutenant in the 84-gun JusteFrench ship Deux Frères
The Deux Frères was a 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was offered to King Louis XVI by his two brothers.On 29 September 1792, she was renamed Juste. She took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2, where she was captured....
and then in early 1797 was appointed as commander of the 44-gun Charon, guarding trade in Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
and the Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. During the two years he commanded the Charon, Manby provided protection to 4753 vessels, not one of which was lost, and he also captured a French privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
, the Alexandrine.
Manby was promoted to post-captain
Post-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
rank 22 January 1799, three weeks after his thirtieth birthday. Later that year he was appointed commander of the 24-gun Bordelais, a former French privateer which was nicknamed the Coffin on account of her dangerous build. Manby had rescued his brother George Manby
George William Manby
Captain George William Manby FRS , was an English author and inventor. He designed an apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks and also the first modern form of fire extinguisher.-Life:Manby went to school at Downham Market...
from debtor's prison, and he now took him on board his ship as a lay chaplain. On a trip to Ireland the Bordelais foundered on a sandbank; Manby managed to refloat her by throwing everything possible overboard and they limped back to Plymouth. The incident brought home to George Manby the dangers of a lee shore in a storm and led to his invention of Manby's mortar, a life-line for sailors wrecked close to shore. Back in Plymouth, George Manby underwent an operation to remove slugs and rotting hat from his skull (he had been shot by his wife's lover some years previously). Afterwards he appeared to be dying and decided that he "preferred to die at sea among sailors (a consoling and compassionate class of man) rather than be left in the care of a mistress of lodgings, to be hurried to my grave unnoticed and unknown". So Manby took him back on board before setting off for duty around the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. During the trip the Bordelais captured a valuable coffee-laden French prize, and George Manby recovered his health.
After a short period spent blockading the port of Flushing
Flushing, Netherlands
Vlissingen is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century...
, the Bordelais was sent to the Caribbean, where she sank the French warship Curieuse. After the Treaty of Amiens
Treaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 , by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
temporarily brought a halt to hostilities between Britain and France, Manby was appointed to the Juno
HMS Juno (1780)
HMS Juno was a Royal Navy 32-gun Amazon-class fifth rate. This frigate served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Construction and commissioning:...
and returned to England where the ship was paid off.
Napoleonic Wars
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...
, first Lord of the Admiralty, sent for him and said 'I don't like to see an active officer idle on shore; I therefore give you the Africaine, one of the finest frigates in the British navy'. On leaving the Juno, Manby had visited his friend and patron, Lord Townshend
George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend
Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, PC , known as The Viscount Townshend from 1764 to 1787, was a British soldier who reached the rank of field marshal.-Early life:...
, at Raynham Hall
Raynham Hall
Raynham Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. For 300 years it has been the seat of the Townshend family. The hall gave its name to the area, known as The Raynhams, and is reported to be haunted, providing the scene for possibly the most famous ghost photo of all time, the famous Brown Lady...
in Norfolk, and Lady Townshend had introduced him to Caroline, princess of Wales
Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the Queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 until her death...
. While the Africaine was fitting out at Deptford
Convoy's Wharf
Convoys Wharf, formerly called the King's Yard, is the site of Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Dockyards, built on a riverside site in Deptford, by the River Thames in London. It was first developed in 1513 by Henry VIII to build vessels for the Royal Navy. Convoys Wharf also covers most...
, Manby was a frequent visitor to Montagu House in Blackheath
Blackheath, London
Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...
where the princess, who was estranged from her husband the prince of Wales
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
, lived. Manby soon replaced Sir Sidney Smith in the princess's affections. She bought the soft furnishings for his cabin and asked the Admiralty to send the Africaine to attend her in the Downs
The Downs
The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...
when she rented a house at Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
in the summer. War with France had resumed and the Africaine was called away from her royal duties to blockade the port of Hellevoetsluis
Hellevoetsluis
Hellevoetsluis is a small city and municipality on Voorne-Putten Island in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland...
, although Manby was able to visit the princess again the following summer when she took a house in Southend
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
and the Africaine anchored off the Nore
Nore
The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, England. It marks the point where the River Thames meets the North Sea, roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point in Kent....
for a few weeks.
After two years blockading Helvoetsluis, the Africaine joined Admiral Russell's
Thomas McNamara Russell
Vice-Admiral Thomas McNamara Russell was an admiral in the Royal Navy. Russell's naval career spanned the American Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic War....
squadron off the Texel
Texel
Texel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark...
and was badly damaged in a storm. Having refitted at Sheerness
Sheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
, Manby was ordered to escort a fleet of merchant ships to the Caribbean. On the return journey there was an outbreak of yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
on board. Three days out from Carlisle Bay
Carlisle Bay, Barbados
Carlisle Bay is a small natural harbor located in the southwest region of Barbados. The island nation's capital, Bridgetown, is situated on this bay, which has been turned into a marine park. Carlisle Bay's marine park is a popular spot on the island for scuba diving...
the ship's surgeon and assistant were dead, and Manby had to take care of the sick. Acting on the instructions of a doctor who came alongside in a small boat from Saint Kitts
Saint Kitts
Saint Kitts Saint Kitts Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island (Saint-Christophe in French) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean...
, he treated them with calomel
Mercury(I) chloride
Mercury chloride is the chemical compound with the formula Hg2Cl2. Also known as calomel or mercurous chloride, this dense white or yellowish-white, odorless solid is the principal example of a mercury compound...
. By the time the Africaine reached England she had lost nearly one-third of her crew and officers, and had to spend forty days in quarantine off the Isles of Scilly
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
. Manby had survived an attack of the fever and large doses of calomel, but his health never recovered. He had also received several serious wounds in action, and had suffered from rheumatic pains since his voyages with Vancouver.
The Africaine was decommissioned and Manby was appointed to the frigate Thalia. He spent a year in command of a squadron off the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
and captured a French privateer, before being sent in 1808 to search for two French frigates off 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...
. The French frigates were not found, but Manby surveyed and named Port Manvers on the coast of Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
before returning to England. It was to be his last voyage. He accepted medical advice to give up his ship and bought an estate in Northwold
Northwold
Northwold is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 1,070 in 448 households as of the 2001 census....
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
.
In 1806 the king
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
, at the request of his son the prince of Wales
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
, ordered an inquiry into rumours that the princess of Wales
Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the Queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 until her death...
had given birth to a child. A number of men were suspected of having had a relationship with the princess (which was grounds for a charge of high treason
High treason in the United Kingdom
Under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; having sexual intercourse with the sovereign's consort, with his eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the...
), but it was Manby against whom the evidence was "particularly strong". Manby was called before the commissioners of the inquiry and swore on oath that he never did "at Montagu House, Southend, Ramsgate, East Cliff, or anywhere else, ever sleep in any house occupied by, or belonging to, HRH the Princess of Wales". The commissioners concluded that the main accusation against the princess was unfounded, but nevertheless they criticised her behaviour. The princess was defended by former attorney-general and future prime-minister Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...
, who dismissed the evidence of the princess's servants as 'hearsay representations'. The gifts and letters from the princess to Manby were evidence only of her gratitude for Manby having taken two of her charity boys on board the Africaine, and his frequent visits were to keep the princess informed of their progress. If jugs of water and towels were left in the passage when Manby visited it was proof, Perceval argued, of the servants' slovenliness and not of high treason. Perceval was ready to publish his defence in the form of a book when there was a sudden change of government, the princess was accepted at court, and the book was suppressed. After Perceval's assassination in 1812 the book was published and extracts, including Manby's testimony, were published in the Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
.
Retirement
Having given up his naval career on medical advice, Manby settled on an estate in Norfolk and in 1810 married twenty-year-old Judith Hammond. The marriage produced three daughters: Mary Harcourt, Georgina Manvers, and Elizabeth Annabella Montgomery. Sons-in-law included James Dawes, Baron de Flassans (nephew of Sophie Dawes, Baronne de FeuchèresSophie Dawes, Baronne de Feuchères
Sophie Dawes , Baronne de Feuchères by marriage, was an English "adventuress" best known as a mistress of Louis Henry II, Prince of Condé....
), and the French diplomat and politician, Théodore Adolphe Barrot. Manby later moved to London and also had a country house in Christchurch, Dorset
Christchurch, Dorset
Christchurch is a borough and town in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. The town adjoins Bournemouth in the west and the New Forest lies to the east. Historically in Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of local government in 1974 and is the most easterly borough in...
. He worked on a chart of the South Pacific which he hoped would prove that the peoples of the region had a common origin, and helped solve the mystery of the disappearance of La Pérouse's
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.-Early career:...
ships when he identified medals found by an English whaler in the South Pacific as having belonged to the explorer. He was promoted, by seniority, to rear admiral in 1825.
Manby died of an opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
overdose in the George Hotel, Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, and was buried in South Stoneham
St. Mary's Church, South Stoneham
St. Mary's Church, South Stoneham is one of the two remaining medieval churches in the city of Southampton, England. Parts of the building date from the Norman period and the chancel arch is 12th century...
.