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John Campbell (governor)
Encyclopedia
John Campbell was born in or before 1720, parish of Kirkbean
, near Dumfries
, Kirkcudbrightshire
, Scotland
and died 16 December 1790, at his house at Charles Street, Berkeley Square
, London
, England
. Campbell was a British naval officer, navigational expert and colonial governor.
Campbell joined the Royal Navy at an early age and sailed around the world in 1740 on the Centurion
. He later became known as a navigational expert, and was from 1782 to his death Governor and Commander-in-Chief
in Newfoundland.
, 'Father of the American Navy'.
His father, John Campbell (d. 1733), was minister of Kirkbean and John was at an early age apprenticed to the master of a coasting vessel. That vessel's mate was pressed into the navy, and John is said to have entered the navy by offering himself in exchange for him. He served for three years in the Blenheim
, Torbay
, and Russell
before being appointed in 1740 as a midshipman to the Centurion
. On the Centurions ensuing circumnavigation
of the world as the flagship of Commodore
George Anson
, he was promoted master's mate
when a vacancy came up soon after sailing, and was promoted to master
after the 1743 engagement against the Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de Covadonga. One of his fellow midshipmen was Augustus Keppel
, who from then on became a lifelong friend.
Returning home in January 1745, Campbell passed the examination for lieutenant
and, with Anson's influence behind him, rapidly gained a first command (a sloop
) and - in November 1747 - a second, with promotion to post captain of the new frigate
Bellona, a command he held until the peace in 1748. Praised for his successes on the Bellona, in 1749 he was given command of the expedition to the Pacific by the sloop Porcupine
and the Raven, then of one to the north-west and north-east passages in the Atlantic, both of which were proposed but then called off for political reasons.
to measure the angular distance between the moon and fixed stars.
The astronomer royal
, James Bradley
, was shown Campbell's results and found them to correspond exactly with the actual distances in the sky, and Bradley and Campbell together made frequent observations at Greenwich
of the moon's distance from the sun and stars, and of the stars' distances from one another.
His next commands after the Bellona were the Mermaid
, the Prince
(90 guns) and - in 1757 - the Essex
(64 guns) under Edward Hawke in the Bay of Biscay
and the blockade of Brest (barring an interlude in 1758/59, as flag captain to Anson in the Royal George
when he temporarily took over command of the Brest fleet). During Campbell's command of the Essex, in 1756, James Bradley suggested to the Board of Longitude
(chaired by Anson) that Campbell should give a sea trial to Tobias Mayer
's new lunar table
s and reflecting circle, and Campbell did so successfully within sight of the French coast, ‘though they [the observations] were not taken with all the advantages that might have attended them, had I been alone; for I was all the cruise in company with an admiral whose motions I was obliged to follow’, in trials which would profoundly influence marine navigation for the next 250 years. He compared Mayer's new reflecting circle instrument with the common wooden Hadley octant
as means of observing lunar distances, and in doing so found Mayer's was much too heavy whereas Hadley's - though it could not measure angles beyond 90° and was often unstable in its wooden frame - was far more useful. From this, he suggested modifications to the Hadley octant, extending its arc from 45° to 60° (to allow the measurement of arcs up to 120°) and making it of brass not wood. In 1759 John Bird
, commissioned by the Board of Longitude, produced an instrument taking up both suggestions, a sextant of 20 inches radius with a brass frame and 1/3 the weight of the 16 inches (406.4 mm) reflecting circle, which served as a prototype of the marine sextant
still used today.
on 20 November 1759. It was Campbell whom Hawke sent to England on 24 November in the frigate Vengeance
with news of the victory, and after a six-day voyage Campbell, accompanied by Lord Anson (now First Lord of the Admiralty), personally gave the king
the news.
Next, Campbell was captain of the Dorsetshire
(70 guns), on the home station and in the Mediterranean, from 1760 to the peace in 1763. He was admitted as a fellow of the Royal Society
on 24 May 1764 (and was one of its Visitors to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich
, from March 1765), before being one of those the Board of Longitude asked to 'number-crunch' the results of the 1764 second sea-trial to Barbados
of John Harrison
's longitude watch. From about 1764 he commanded the royal yacht
Mary
, later moving to the HMY Royal Charlotte, a command he retained until promotion to rear-admiral of the blue
on 23 January 1778.
Then, in March 1778, he was chosen by his old friend Admiral Keppel (now in command of the Channel Fleet
), to be "captain of the fleet
" and effectively chief of staff in HMS Victory
, which commissioned
in May 1778 as Keppel's flagship
. (Campbell was Victorys "1st captain", whilst Captain Jonathan Faulknor
was her "2nd Captain".) As such, he took an important part in the battle of Ushant
on 27 July, was warmly recommended to the king
by the first sea lord
Lord Sandwich
, and remained in the role until the end of 1778.
), governor and commander-in-chief of Newfoundland; Campbell sailed there in HMS Portland (50 guns) on 17 June 1782. On 25 June, the Portland and another 27 ships were intercepted by the Franco-Spanish combined fleet commanded by Luis de Cordova. Although 18 vessels were captured, HMS Portland and nine ships managed to slip away. He held this post from 1782 to his death in London in 1786.
During this time he returned to England periodically, allowing him in 1784 and 1785 - at Hans Moritz von Brühl
's request - to arrange trials of Thomas Mudge
's first chronometer on his passage to and from England and in Newfoundland (borrowing an achromatic telescope from the Board of Longitude to ascertain Newfoundland's longitude). Also, as a result of Campbell's proclamation of religious freedom for all inhabitants of Newfoundland, James Louis O'Donel
authorized the construction of a Catholic chapel.
Kirkbean
Kirkbean is a small village and civil parish near the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.Arbigland, an estate in Kirkbean parish, was the birthplace of American naval commander John Paul Jones....
, near Dumfries
Dumfries
Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...
, Kirkcudbrightshire
Kirkcudbrightshire
The Stewartry of Kirkcudbright or Kirkcudbrightshire was a county of south-western Scotland. It was also known as East Galloway, forming the larger Galloway region with Wigtownshire....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and died 16 December 1790, at his house at Charles Street, Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square is a town square in the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It was originally laid out in the mid 18th century by architect William Kent...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Campbell was a British naval officer, navigational expert and colonial governor.
Campbell joined the Royal Navy at an early age and sailed around the world in 1740 on the Centurion
HMS Centurion (1732)
HMS Centurion was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched on 6 January 1732. At the time of Centurion's construction, the 1719 Establishment dictated the dimensions of almost every ship being built...
. He later became known as a navigational expert, and was from 1782 to his death Governor and Commander-in-Chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
in Newfoundland.
Early life
John Campbell was born at Kirkbean close to the birth place of John Paul JonesJohn Paul Jones
John Paul Jones was a Scottish sailor and the United States' first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. Although he made enemies among America's political elites, his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to...
, 'Father of the American Navy'.
His father, John Campbell (d. 1733), was minister of Kirkbean and John was at an early age apprenticed to the master of a coasting vessel. That vessel's mate was pressed into the navy, and John is said to have entered the navy by offering himself in exchange for him. He served for three years in the Blenheim
HMS Blenheim
At least three ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Blenheim, after the Battle of Blenheim.*HMS Blenheim was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line built in 1761, and lost in 1807. She took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent ....
, Torbay
HMS Torbay (1693)
HMS Torbay was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford Dockyard on 16 December 1693. In 1707, she served as flagship of Rear-Admiral of the Blue Sir John Norris and belonged to Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell's fleet...
, and Russell
HMS Russell
Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Russell., an 80-gun second-rate ship of the line, rebuilt in 1735 and sunk in 1762 at Sheerness., launched in 1764, was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line, sold in 1811., launched in 1822, was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line, broken up in...
before being appointed in 1740 as a midshipman to the Centurion
HMS Centurion (1732)
HMS Centurion was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched on 6 January 1732. At the time of Centurion's construction, the 1719 Establishment dictated the dimensions of almost every ship being built...
. On the Centurions ensuing circumnavigation
George Anson's voyage around the world
While Great Britain was at war with Spain in 1740, Commodore George Anson led a squadron of eight ships on a mission to disrupt or capture Spain's Pacific possessions...
of the world as the flagship of Commodore
Commodore (Royal Navy)
Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:...
George Anson
George Anson, 1st Baron Anson
Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson PC, FRS, RN was a British admiral and a wealthy aristocrat, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe and his role overseeing the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War...
, he was promoted master's mate
Master'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...
when a vacancy came up soon after sailing, and was promoted to master
Master-at-arms
A master-at-arms may be a naval rating responsible for discipline and law enforcement, an army officer responsible for physical training, or a member of the crew of a merchant ship responsible for security and law enforcement.-Royal Navy:The master-at-arms is a ship's senior rating, comparable in...
after the 1743 engagement against the Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de Covadonga. One of his fellow midshipmen was Augustus Keppel
Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel
Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel PC was an officer of the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and the War of American Independence...
, who from then on became a lifelong friend.
Returning home in January 1745, Campbell passed the examination for 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, with Anson's influence behind him, rapidly gained a first command (a sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
) and - in November 1747 - a second, with promotion to post captain of the new 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"...
Bellona, a command he held until the peace in 1748. Praised for his successes on the Bellona, in 1749 he was given command of the expedition to the Pacific by the sloop Porcupine
HMS Porcupine
Nine vessels of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Porcupine, after the porcupine, a rodent belonging to the families Erethizontidae or Hystricidae....
and the Raven, then of one to the north-west and north-east passages in the Atlantic, both of which were proposed but then called off for political reasons.
Astronomy and Brest
Meanwhile, in about 1747, Campbell had his first direct involvement in the development of astronomical navigation, as the first person to use a Hadley quadrantOctant (instrument)
The octant, also called reflecting quadrant, is a measuring instrument used primarily in navigation. It is a type of reflecting instrument.-Etymology:...
to measure the angular distance between the moon and fixed stars.
The astronomer royal
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834....
, James Bradley
James Bradley
James Bradley FRS was an English astronomer and served as Astronomer Royal from 1742, succeeding Edmund Halley. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light , and the nutation of the Earth's axis...
, was shown Campbell's results and found them to correspond exactly with the actual distances in the sky, and Bradley and Campbell together made frequent observations at Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
of the moon's distance from the sun and stars, and of the stars' distances from one another.
His next commands after the Bellona were the Mermaid
HMS Mermaid (1749)
HMS Mermaid was a 24-gun sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy, built in 1748-49, which served in the Seven Years War.-Construction and commissioning:...
, the Prince
HMS Prince
Six ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Prince, including: was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line launched in 1670 and renamed HMS Royal William in 1692. Broken up in 1813....
(90 guns) and - in 1757 - the Essex
HMS Essex (1679)
HMS Essex was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Blackwall Yard in 1679.She was rebuilt at Rotherhithe in 1700, retaining her 70-gun armament. She underwent a second rebuild in 1713, and on 20 May 1736 she was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at Woolwich as...
(64 guns) under Edward Hawke 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...
and the blockade of Brest (barring an interlude in 1758/59, as flag captain to Anson in the Royal George
HMS Royal George (1756)
HMS Royal George was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard and launched on 18 February 1756...
when he temporarily took over command of the Brest fleet). During Campbell's command of the Essex, in 1756, James Bradley suggested to the Board of Longitude
Board of Longitude
The Board of Longitude was the popular name for the Commissioners for the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea. It was a British Government body formed in 1714 to administer a scheme of prizes intended to encourage innovators to solve the problem of finding longitude at sea.-Origins:Navigators and...
(chaired by Anson) that Campbell should give a sea trial to Tobias Mayer
Tobias Mayer
Tobias Mayer was a German astronomer famous for his studies of the Moon.He was born at Marbach, in Württemberg, and brought up at Esslingen in poor circumstances. A self-taught mathematician, he had already published two original geometrical works when, in 1746, he entered J.B. Homann's...
's new lunar table
History of longitude
The history of longitude is a record of the effort, by navigators and scientists over several centuries, to discover a means of determining longitude....
s and reflecting circle, and Campbell did so successfully within sight of the French coast, ‘though they [the observations] were not taken with all the advantages that might have attended them, had I been alone; for I was all the cruise in company with an admiral whose motions I was obliged to follow’, in trials which would profoundly influence marine navigation for the next 250 years. He compared Mayer's new reflecting circle instrument with the common wooden Hadley octant
Octant
An octant is one of eight divisions.-Octant in the plane :Traditionally wind direction is given as one of the 8 octants because that is more accurate than merely giving one of the 4 quadrants, and the wind vane typically does not have enough accuracy to bother with more precise indication.-Octant...
as means of observing lunar distances, and in doing so found Mayer's was much too heavy whereas Hadley's - though it could not measure angles beyond 90° and was often unstable in its wooden frame - was far more useful. From this, he suggested modifications to the Hadley octant, extending its arc from 45° to 60° (to allow the measurement of arcs up to 120°) and making it of brass not wood. In 1759 John Bird
John Bird (astronomer)
John Bird , the great mathematical instrument maker, was born at Bishop Auckland. He worked in London for Jeremiah Sisson, and by 1745 he had his own business in the Strand. Bird was commissioned to make a brass quadrant 8 feet across for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, where it is still...
, commissioned by the Board of Longitude, produced an instrument taking up both suggestions, a sextant of 20 inches radius with a brass frame and 1/3 the weight of the 16 inches (406.4 mm) reflecting circle, which served as a prototype of the marine sextant
Sextant
A sextant is an instrument used to measure the angle between any two visible objects. Its primary use is to determine the angle between a celestial object and the horizon which is known as the altitude. Making this measurement is known as sighting the object, shooting the object, or taking a sight...
still used today.
Seven Years War
Campbell, meanwhile, returned to the Royal George as flag captain in November 1759, this time under Hawke (when Hawke moved his flag to that ship), serving as such during the decisive battle of Quiberon BayBattle of Quiberon Bay
The naval Battle of Quiberon Bay took place on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. Nazaire...
on 20 November 1759. It was Campbell whom Hawke sent to England on 24 November in the frigate Vengeance
HMS Vengeance (1758)
HMS Vengeance was a 28-gun sixth rate of the Royal Navy. She had previously been a French privateer under the same name until her capture in 1758 during the Seven Years' War.-French career and capture:...
with news of the victory, and after a six-day voyage Campbell, accompanied by Lord Anson (now First Lord of the Admiralty), personally gave the king
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
the news.
Next, Campbell was captain of the Dorsetshire
HMS Dorsetshire (1757)
HMS Dorsetshire was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, amended in 1754, and launched on 13 December 1757....
(70 guns), on the home station and in the Mediterranean, from 1760 to the peace in 1763. He was admitted as a fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
on 24 May 1764 (and was one of its Visitors to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich , in London, England played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and is best known as the location of the prime meridian...
, from March 1765), before being one of those the Board of Longitude asked to 'number-crunch' the results of the 1764 second sea-trial to Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
of John Harrison
John Harrison
John Harrison was a self-educated English clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought device in solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age...
's longitude watch. From about 1764 he commanded the royal yacht
Royal Yacht
A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head...
Mary
HMY Mary
HMY Mary was the first Royal Yacht of the Royal Navy. She was built in 1660 by the Dutch East India Company. Then she was purchased by the City of Amsterdam and given to King Charles II, on the restoration of the monarchy, as part of the Dutch Gift. She struck rocks off Anglesey in thick fog on...
, later moving to the HMY Royal Charlotte, a command he retained until promotion to rear-admiral of the blue
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
on 23 January 1778.
Then, in March 1778, he was chosen by his old friend Admiral Keppel (now in command of 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...
), to be "captain of the fleet
Captain of the fleet
In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries a Captain of the Fleet could be appointed to assist an admiral when the admiral had ten or more ships to command....
" and effectively chief of staff in HMS Victory
HMS Victory
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
, which commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
in May 1778 as Keppel's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
. (Campbell was Victorys "1st captain", whilst Captain Jonathan Faulknor
Jonathan Faulknor the elder
Captain Jonathan Faulknor was one of a five-generation dynasty of Northamptonshire-born men who became Royal Navy officers in the 18th century. He commanded HMS Victory at the battle of Ushant....
was her "2nd Captain".) As such, he took an important part in the battle of Ushant
Battle of Ushant (1778)
The Battle of Ushant took place on 27 July 1778, during the American War of Independence, fought between French and British fleets 100 miles west of Ushant, a French island at the mouth of the English Channel off the north-westernmost point of France...
on 27 July, was warmly recommended to 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...
by the first sea lord
Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised command over the Royal Navy.Officially known as the Commissioners for Exercising the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland &c. The Lords...
Lord Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather, Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich, as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten...
, and remained in the role until the end of 1778.
Governorship
However, Campbell was offered no further commands until April 1782, when Keppel became Sandwich's successor as first sea lord, and appointed Campbell (now a vice-admiral of the whiteVice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
), governor and commander-in-chief of Newfoundland; Campbell sailed there in HMS Portland (50 guns) on 17 June 1782. On 25 June, the Portland and another 27 ships were intercepted by the Franco-Spanish combined fleet commanded by Luis de Cordova. Although 18 vessels were captured, HMS Portland and nine ships managed to slip away. He held this post from 1782 to his death in London in 1786.
During this time he returned to England periodically, allowing him in 1784 and 1785 - at Hans Moritz von Brühl
Hans Moritz von Brühl
Hans Moritz von Brühl was a German diplomat and astronomer, resident for much of his life in London, where he was known as John Maurice, Count of Brühl.-Life:...
's request - to arrange trials of Thomas Mudge
Thomas Mudge (horologist)
Thomas Mudge was an English horologist who invented the lever escapement, the greatest single improvement ever applied to pocket watches.-Early life:...
's first chronometer on his passage to and from England and in Newfoundland (borrowing an achromatic telescope from the Board of Longitude to ascertain Newfoundland's longitude). Also, as a result of Campbell's proclamation of religious freedom for all inhabitants of Newfoundland, James Louis O'Donel
James Louis O'Donel
James Louis O'Donel was the first Roman Catholic bishop of St. John's, Newfoundland....
authorized the construction of a Catholic chapel.
Service history
- 1740 sailed around the world on the CenturionHMS Centurion (1732)HMS Centurion was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched on 6 January 1732. At the time of Centurion's construction, the 1719 Establishment dictated the dimensions of almost every ship being built...
- 1745 made a lieutenant,
- 1778 made captain,
- 1779 promoted Vice-Admiral,
- 1782 commander-in-chief and governor of Newfoundland,
See also
- Governors of Newfoundland
- List of people of Newfoundland and Labrador