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Henry Duncan (1786–1835)
Encyclopedia
Captain
The Honourable
Sir Henry Duncan KCH
, CB
(c. 1786 – 1 November 1835) was a prominent Royal Navy
officer of the early nineteenth century. The second surviving son of the highly regarded Admiral Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan, who defeated the Dutch Navy at the Battle of Camperdown
in 1797, Duncan achieved a successful career in his own right, operating with great success against French
and Italian
shipping and shore fortifications in the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars
. For his services he was knighted and given numerous honours before dying at the young age of 49 from a sudden apoplexy
in 1835.
, later to become the admiral who defeated the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperdown
and thus became Viscount Duncan
. Henry's elder brother Robert inherited the titles on their father's death and was later created Earl of Camperdown
. Their mother, Henrietta, was the daughter of Robert Dundas
, a prominent Scottish judge. Following his father into the Navy at 14 in 1800, Duncan served as a midshipman on board the frigate
HMS Maidstone until the Peace of Amiens the following year.
When the Navy was expanded once more at the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars
in 1803, Duncan joined HMS Narcissus in the Eastern Mediterranean and served in operations in the Aegean Sea
and off Egypt
. With Narcissus Ordered back to Britain in 1804, Duncan joined the first rate HMS Royal Sovereign
under Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton as a lieutenant and it was aboard this ship that he received news of the death of his father. The death of such a senior officer was marked by numerous letters of condolence, including one from Horatio Nelson which offered command of the small brig
HMS Bittern, whose captain Robert Corbet
had been taken ill. When Duncan arrived to take command however Corbet had recovered and was restored to command. Duncan was instead promoted to commander and returned to Britain to take over the 18-gun HMS Minorca in the Channel Fleet
.
in 1807, sent to serve in the Adriatic campaign
by operating off the coast of the Kingdom of Italy
. In 1808 he moved to the small frigate HMS Mercury
engaged on the same service, raiding French harbours in the Adriatic Sea
and Eastern Mediterranean. During these operations, he captured numerous coastal merchant ships and destroyed large quantities of military supplies. With Mercury in a poor state of repair, Duncan was ordered to escort the Mediterranean merchant shipping back to Britain and pay the ship off, arriving in early 1810 after a stormy passage.
Duncan was then given the large frigate HMS Imperieuse and commanded her in the Western Mediterranean off Toulon
and Tripoli
, seizing a number of French merchant ships. Raiding the Northwestern coast of Italy, Duncan succeeded in capturing numerous ships and destroying large quantities of supplies in fortified harbours before Imperieuse was forced to undergo extensive repairs in Port Mahon
. Offered two other frigates as replacements, Duncan was presented with a letter from Imperieuse' s crew declaring their regard and respect for him and asking him not to move to another ship without them. Moved by this letter, Duncan remained with the ship and was given command of a squadron to operate against the Kingdom of Naples
.
, Imperieuse was paid off and Duncan given command of the new HMS Glasgow. Operating off the Spanish Atlantic coast and in the Bay of Biscay
, Duncan saw little action before the final end to the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and his ship was paid off in September. Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath, Duncan was unemployed for three years before taking over the 50-gun fifth rate HMS Liffey
which he commanded on anti-pirate operations in the West Indies and later escorted the Prince Regent
on his fleet inspection in 1819, during which he praised Duncan and his ship. He subsequently conveyed Sir Charles Bagot
, Ambassador to Russia, to Saint Petersburg
and took despatches to Naples
, remaining in the Mediterranean until 1821.
Marrying Mary Simson Crawford in 1823, Duncan was briefly detached to Lisbon
on confidential duties and subsequently conveyed King George IV to Ireland and Calais
before the ship was paid off and Duncan entered retirement. Except for occasional and largely ceremonial shore duties, Duncan did not serve in a naval capacity again. He had one surviving son, Adam Alexander and a daughter Anne Mary. A third child, Henry Robert, died at only a few days old. In December 1834, Duncan was knighted in the Royal Guelphic Order
, but two years later suddenly collapsed and died at his London home in Eaton Place from apoplexy
. He was buried at Harrow Road Cemetery, his funeral attended by many prominent serving naval officers.
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....
The Honourable
The Honourable
The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Sir Henry Duncan KCH
Royal Guelphic Order
The Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent . It has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the...
, 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...
(c. 1786 – 1 November 1835) was a prominent 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 of the early nineteenth century. The second surviving son of the highly regarded Admiral Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan, who defeated the Dutch Navy at the Battle of Camperdown
Battle of Camperdown
The Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...
in 1797, Duncan achieved a successful career in his own right, operating with great success against French
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
and Italian
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon, fully influenced by revolutionary France, that ended with his defeat and fall.-Constitutional statutes:...
shipping and shore fortifications in the Mediterranean during the 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...
. For his services he was knighted and given numerous honours before dying at the young age of 49 from a sudden apoplexy
Apoplexy
Apoplexy is a medical term, which can be used to describe 'bleeding' in a stroke . Without further specification, it is rather outdated in use. Today it is used only for specific conditions, such as pituitary apoplexy and ovarian apoplexy. In common speech, it is used non-medically to mean a state...
in 1835.
Early career
Henry Duncan was born in about 1786, the second surviving son of Adam Duncan, then a captain in the Royal NavyRoyal 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...
, later to become the admiral who defeated the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperdown
Battle of Camperdown
The Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...
and thus became Viscount Duncan
Earl of Camperdown
Earl of Camperdown, of Lundie in the County of Forfar and of Gleneagles in the County of Perth, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1831 for Robert Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Viscount Duncan...
. Henry's elder brother Robert inherited the titles on their father's death and was later created Earl of Camperdown
Earl of Camperdown
Earl of Camperdown, of Lundie in the County of Forfar and of Gleneagles in the County of Perth, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1831 for Robert Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Viscount Duncan...
. Their mother, Henrietta, was the daughter of Robert Dundas
Robert Dundas, Lord Arniston, the younger
Robert Dundas, Lord Arniston, the younger was a Scottish judge.The eldest son of Robert Dundas , he was deducated at Edinburgh University and studied Roman law at Utrecht University....
, a prominent Scottish judge. Following his father into the Navy at 14 in 1800, Duncan served as a midshipman on board the 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"...
HMS Maidstone until the Peace of Amiens the following year.
When the Navy was expanded once more at the outbreak of the 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...
in 1803, Duncan joined HMS Narcissus in the Eastern Mediterranean and served in operations in the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
and off Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. With Narcissus Ordered back to Britain in 1804, Duncan joined the first rate HMS Royal Sovereign
HMS Royal Sovereign (1786)
HMS Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar. She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear the name. Designed by Sir Edward Hunt, she was launched at Plymouth Dockyard on 11...
under Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton as a lieutenant and it was aboard this ship that he received news of the death of his father. The death of such a senior officer was marked by numerous letters of condolence, including one from Horatio Nelson which offered command of the small 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...
HMS Bittern, whose captain Robert Corbet
Robert Corbet
Captain Robert Corbet RN , often spelled Corbett, was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who was killed in action in highly controversial circumstances...
had been taken ill. When Duncan arrived to take command however Corbet had recovered and was restored to command. Duncan was instead promoted to commander and returned to Britain to take over the 18-gun HMS Minorca in the Channel Fleet
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
.
Post captain
Returning to the Mediterranean, Duncan was promoted to post captain in 1806 and took over the sixth rate HMS PorcupineHMS Porcupine (1807)
HMS Porcupine was a Royal Navy Banterer-class post ship of 24 guns,launched in 1807. She served extensively and relatively independently in the Adriatic and the Western Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars, with her boats performing many cutting out expeditions, one of which earned for her crew...
in 1807, sent to serve in the Adriatic campaign
Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
The Adriatic campaign was a minor theatre of war during the Napoleonic Wars in which a succession of small British Royal Navy squadrons and independent cruisers harried the combined naval forces of the First French Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, the Illyrian Provinces and the Kingdom of Naples...
by operating off the coast of the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon, fully influenced by revolutionary France, that ended with his defeat and fall.-Constitutional statutes:...
. In 1808 he moved to the small frigate HMS Mercury
HMS Mercury (1779)
HMS Mercury was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built during the American War of Independence and serving during the later years of that conflict...
engaged on the same service, raiding French harbours in the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
and Eastern Mediterranean. During these operations, he captured numerous coastal merchant ships and destroyed large quantities of military supplies. With Mercury in a poor state of repair, Duncan was ordered to escort the Mediterranean merchant shipping back to Britain and pay the ship off, arriving in early 1810 after a stormy passage.
Duncan was then given the large frigate HMS Imperieuse and commanded her in the Western Mediterranean off Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
and Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
, seizing a number of French merchant ships. Raiding the Northwestern coast of Italy, Duncan succeeded in capturing numerous ships and destroying large quantities of supplies in fortified harbours before Imperieuse was forced to undergo extensive repairs in Port Mahon
Mahon
Mahón is a municipality and the capital city of the Balearic Island of Minorca , located in the eastern part of the island. Mahon has the second deepest natural harbor in the world: 5 km long and up to 900m. wide...
. Offered two other frigates as replacements, Duncan was presented with a letter from Imperieuse
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
.
Post war service
Returning to Britain in 1814 at the end of the War of the Sixth CoalitionWar of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
, Imperieuse was paid off and Duncan given command of the new HMS Glasgow. Operating off the Spanish Atlantic coast and in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
, Duncan saw little action before the final end to the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and his ship was paid off in September. Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath, Duncan was unemployed for three years before taking over the 50-gun fifth rate HMS Liffey
HMS Liffey
A number of ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Liffey, after the Irish river. Another was planned but renamed before entering service:...
which he commanded on anti-pirate operations in the West Indies and later escorted the Prince Regent
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...
on his fleet inspection in 1819, during which he praised Duncan and his ship. He subsequently conveyed Sir Charles Bagot
Charles Bagot
Sir Charles Bagot, GCB was an English diplomat and colonial administrator who served as Governor General of the Province of Canada 1841-1843)....
, Ambassador to Russia, to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and took despatches to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, remaining in the Mediterranean until 1821.
Marrying Mary Simson Crawford in 1823, Duncan was briefly detached to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
on confidential duties and subsequently conveyed King George IV to Ireland and Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
before the ship was paid off and Duncan entered retirement. Except for occasional and largely ceremonial shore duties, Duncan did not serve in a naval capacity again. He had one surviving son, Adam Alexander and a daughter Anne Mary. A third child, Henry Robert, died at only a few days old. In December 1834, Duncan was knighted in the Royal Guelphic Order
Royal Guelphic Order
The Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent . It has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the...
, but two years later suddenly collapsed and died at his London home in Eaton Place from apoplexy
Apoplexy
Apoplexy is a medical term, which can be used to describe 'bleeding' in a stroke . Without further specification, it is rather outdated in use. Today it is used only for specific conditions, such as pituitary apoplexy and ovarian apoplexy. In common speech, it is used non-medically to mean a state...
. He was buried at Harrow Road Cemetery, his funeral attended by many prominent serving naval officers.