James Brisbane
Encyclopedia
Captain Sir James Brisbane, CB
(1774 – 19 December 1826) was a British
Royal Navy
officer of the French Revolutionary
and Napoleonic Wars
. Although never engaged in any major actions, Brisbane served under both Lord Howe
and Horatio Nelson and performed important work at the Cape of Good Hope
, prior to the Battle of Copenhagen
and in the Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
. In later life Brisbane became commander-in-chief in the East Indies
. He contracted dysentery in Burma and arrived in Port Jackson (Sydney) aboard HMS Warspite where he died on 19 December 1826. He was a cousin of General Sir Thomas Brisbane
who had earlier been governor of New South Wales.
and the younger brother of future Admiral Charles Brisbane
. In 1787 Brisbane went to sea aboard HMS Culloden
and by 1794 he was signal midshipman
aboard Lord Howe's
flagship HMS Queen Charlotte
. Brisbane served in this capacity at the Glorious First of June
, where Queen Charlotte was heavily engaged and badly damaged. In the aftermath of the battle, Brisbane was promoted to lieutenant
and was sent to the Cape of Good Hope
, later joining George Elphinstone's flagship HMS Monarch
and being present at the surrender of a Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay
.
Brisbane was given command of one of the captured Dutch ships and later the frigate
HMS Daphne as a commander
, but on his return to Britain in 1797 was reduced to reserve. Remaining on half-pay until 1800, Brisbane married Jemima Ann Ventham shortly before he was returned to sea in command of HMS Cruizer
. Cruizer was attached to Sir Hyde Parker's Baltic fleet on commissioning and Brisbane came under the direct command of Admiral Horatio Nelson, who used Cruizer to take soundings and make charts of the approaches to Copenhagen
prior to the British attack on the city at the Battle of Copenhagen
. Brisbane impressed his superiors in this duty and in 1801 was made a post captain and commanded HMS Saturn under Admiral Thomas Totty
until the admiral's death.
Between 1803 and 1805, Brisbane commanded the Kent
sea fencibles and in 1807 took command of HMS Alcmene
off Ireland
. In 1809, he moved to HMS Belle Poule
, and commanded her in the Adriatic Sea
and Ionian Sea
in the early stages of the Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
. There Brisbane captured the French frigate Var off Valona
. he later participated in the capture of several of the Ionian Islands
and remained in the region until 1811, becoming an expert in coastal operations.
In 1812 Brisbane commanded the newly-built HMS Pembroke
in the Channel Fleet
and in 1813 returned to the Mediterranean, where he remained for the rest of the war. In 1816, Pembroke was attached to the force under Lord Exmouth that bombarded Algiers and on his return home, Brisbane was knighted
. He was already a Companion of the Order of the Bath, having been admitted to the order in 1815.
In 1825, Brisbane was made commander-in-chief of the East Indies Station and sailed there as commodore, arriving in 1826 and taking part in the latter stages of the First Anglo-Burmese War, in which he had some success in riverine operations. During the campaign however he contracted a fatal illness and died from it at Penang
in Malaya
late in 1826. Brisbane is remembered as a popular and capable commander whose expertise was focused on coastal and riverine operations, which he conducted with success throughout his career.
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...
(1774 – 19 December 1826) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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 French Revolutionary
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...
. Although never engaged in any major actions, Brisbane served under both 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...
and Horatio Nelson and performed important work at the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
, prior to the Battle of Copenhagen
Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
The Battle of Copenhagen was an engagement which saw a British fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker fight and strategically defeat a Danish-Norwegian fleet anchored just off Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson led the main attack. He famously disobeyed Parker's...
and in the Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
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...
. In later life Brisbane became commander-in-chief 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...
. He contracted dysentery in Burma and arrived in Port Jackson (Sydney) aboard HMS Warspite where he died on 19 December 1826. He was a cousin of General Sir Thomas Brisbane
Thomas Brisbane
Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE was a British soldier, colonial Governor and astronomer.-Early life:...
who had earlier been governor of New South Wales.
Career
James Brisbane was born in 1774, the son of Admiral John BrisbaneJohn Brisbane
John Brisbane , was a Scottish physician.Brisbane graduated M.D. at Edinburgh in 1750, and was admitted licentiate of the College of Physicians in 1766. He held the post of physician to the Middlesex Hospital from 1758 till 1773, when he was superseded for being absent without leave. His name...
and the younger brother of future Admiral Charles Brisbane
Charles Brisbane
Sir Charles Brisbane KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence, and with distinction under Lords Hood and Nelson....
. In 1787 Brisbane went to sea aboard HMS Culloden
HMS Culloden (1783)
HMS Culloden was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 June 1783 at Rotherhithe. She took part in some of the most famous battles of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....
and by 1794 he was signal 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...
aboard Lord Howe's
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...
flagship HMS Queen Charlotte
HMS Queen Charlotte (1790)
HMS Queen Charlotte was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1790 at Chatham. She was built to the draught of designed by Sir Edward Hunt, though with a modified armament....
. Brisbane served in this capacity at the Glorious First of June
Glorious First of June
The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...
, where Queen Charlotte was heavily engaged and badly damaged. In the aftermath of the battle, Brisbane 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...
and was sent to the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
, later joining George Elphinstone's flagship HMS Monarch
HMS Monarch (1765)
HMS Monarch was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 20 July 1765 at Deptford Dockyard.Monarch had a very active career, fighting in her first battle in 1778 at the First Battle of Ushant and her second under Admiral Rodney at Cape St. Vincent in 1780...
and being present at the surrender of a Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay
Saldanha Bay
Saldanha Bay is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa, north west of Cape Town. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local Municipality in 2000. The current population of...
.
Brisbane was given command of one of the captured Dutch ships and later 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 Daphne as a 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...
, but on his return to Britain in 1797 was reduced to reserve. Remaining on half-pay until 1800, Brisbane married Jemima Ann Ventham shortly before he was returned to sea in command of HMS Cruizer
HMS Cruizer (1797)
HMS Cruizer was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Stephen Teague of Ipswich and launched in 1797. She was the first ship of the class, but there was a gap of 5 years between her launch and the ordering of the next batch in October 1803; by 1815 a total of 105 other vessels had been...
. Cruizer was attached to Sir Hyde Parker's Baltic fleet on commissioning and Brisbane came under the direct command of Admiral Horatio Nelson, who used Cruizer to take soundings and make charts of the approaches to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
prior to the British attack on the city at the Battle of Copenhagen
Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
The Battle of Copenhagen was an engagement which saw a British fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker fight and strategically defeat a Danish-Norwegian fleet anchored just off Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson led the main attack. He famously disobeyed Parker's...
. Brisbane impressed his superiors in this duty and in 1801 was made a post captain and commanded HMS Saturn under Admiral Thomas Totty
Thomas Totty
-Life:Totty was born at Flint, Flintshire, and was baptised at Holywell parish church on 24 January 1746. He inherited his birthplace, Cornist Hall, from his mother's side...
until the admiral's death.
Between 1803 and 1805, Brisbane commanded the Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
sea fencibles and in 1807 took command of HMS Alcmene
HMS Alcmene
Three ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Alcmene. In Greek mythology, Alcmene or Alcmena was the mother of Heracles:...
off Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. In 1809, he moved to HMS Belle Poule
HMS Belle Poule (1806)
HMS Belle Poule was a 40-gun Royal Navy fifth rate frigate, formerly Belle Poule, a Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy, which was built by the Crucy family's shipyard at Basse-Indre to a design by Jacques-Noël Sané...
, and commanded her 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 Ionian Sea
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...
in the early stages of the Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
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...
. There Brisbane captured the French frigate Var off Valona
Vlorë
Vlorë is one of the biggest towns and the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 94,000 . It is the city where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912...
. he later participated in the capture of several of the Ionian Islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
and remained in the region until 1811, becoming an expert in coastal operations.
In 1812 Brisbane commanded the newly-built HMS Pembroke
HMS Pembroke (1812)
HMS Pembroke was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 June 1812 at Blackwall Yard.She was fitted with screw propulsion in 1855, transferred to the Coastguard in 1858, and used as a base ship from 1887....
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...
and in 1813 returned to the Mediterranean, where he remained for the rest of the war. In 1816, Pembroke was attached to the force under Lord Exmouth that bombarded Algiers and on his return home, Brisbane was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
. He was already a Companion of the Order of the Bath, having been admitted to the order in 1815.
In 1825, Brisbane was made commander-in-chief of the East Indies Station and sailed there as commodore, arriving in 1826 and taking part in the latter stages of the First Anglo-Burmese War, in which he had some success in riverine operations. During the campaign however he contracted a fatal illness and died from it at Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
in Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
late in 1826. Brisbane is remembered as a popular and capable commander whose expertise was focused on coastal and riverine operations, which he conducted with success throughout his career.