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John Gell (Royal Navy officer)
Encyclopedia
Admiral
John Gell (1740–1806) was from the Gell and Eyre families of Hopton Hall
in Derbyshire
. He served with the Royal Navy
, fighting in India and taking part in the occupation of Toulon
.
Gell was a commander in the Royal Navy for over
thirty years starting in 1762 following two years as a lieutenant. He was promoted to the
rank of Admiral in 1799 after completing duties in Nova Scotia
, Portugal
, Genoa
, the
East Indies
and Toulon
.
In 1793, Gell's squadron captured a Spanish ship which contained two million dollars and packages valued at over 200,000 pounds
.
. His father was born John Eyre but had taken the name Gell when he inherited the Gell fortune. Although his father had assumed the name Gell, this Gell was the great Grandson of the parliamentarian
soldier, the first baronet, Sir John Gell
The children of his elder brother, Philip Gell of Hopton Hall were mentioned in Gell's will.
in 1757 and was promoted to Lieutenant on board HMS Conqueror
in 1760 which was to be wrecked the same year.
. This ship was unusual in that it had been built in 1756 and for the first 24 years it had been part of the Spanish Navy before being captured by the British at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent
in 1780. Gell who was under the orders of Sir Samuel Hood
to go to the West Indies. However the ship lost its mast in a storm and was obliged to return to Britain for refitting.
Gell was off the Indian coast during Sir Edward Hughes' five actions against the French admiral Bailli de Suffren
when Gell was in command of the 68 gun
HMS Monarca
.
Gell and the Monarca did take part in the Battle of Cuddalore
in 20 June 1783. The battle was the last of the American Revolutionary War
between a rival French and British fleet. The battle which took place off the coast of India near Cuddalore
was inconclusive and was remarkable in that peace had already been signed in Europe, but the news had not been heard in Asia. The 200 or so soldiers killed were lost to a war already abandoned.
Gell returned to Europe in 1784 and received no command until 1790 when he was appointed to his last captaincy, of HMS Excellent
.
. The St George was under the command of Captain Foley, later Sir Thomas Foley and "Hero of the Nile". Whilst in the Mediterranean with his division of the fleet, he was able to seize a French Privateer and its Spanish registered prize the St Jago. These ships were said to be one of the most valuable prizes ever brought to England. The prize was said to contain two million dollars and packages to the value of 200,000 to 300,000 pounds. The capture of this ship and its condemnation as a prize of war (rather than being returned to its Spanish owners) was said to be one of the causes for the subsequent war with Spain.
The ownership of the Spanish ship was a matter of some debate and was not settled until 4 February 1795 when the value of the cargo was put at £935,000. At this time all the crew, captains, officers and admirals could expect to share in this prize, but it was Gell who had commanded the squadron. Admiral Lord Hood's share was £50,000. The ships that conveyed her to Portsmouth
were the St George, HMS Egmont
, HMS Edgar
, HMS Ganges
and HMS Phaeton.
In October 1793 his division of the fleet was able to obtain the surrender of a French frigate, the Modeste
which had abused the neutrality of the port of Genoa
. The battle was small and resulted in the death of one Frenchman from musket fire. The authorities at Genoa approved that the Modeste was taken as a spoil of war. After this he had to return to England for the last time due to ill health. The capture of the Modeste was to have repercussions as again in 1794 the crew of the merchant ship Betty were murdered by French forces.
Hughes commissioned Gell's portrait from Sir Joshua Reynolds. He bequeathed the picture to Sir Hugh Palliser
who gave the painting to the Greenwich Hospital only a few years later on his death in 1796. Gell was also involved in Hood's occupation on Toulon
.
Gell also sat for a portrait in 1785 when he completed his captaincy of the Monarca. This time the portrait was full length and by the visiting American painter, Gilbert Stuart
. Stuart was attempting only his second full length portrait under the guidance of Sir Joshua Reynolds.
In 1800 Gell was treated to an honour where his name was chosen by the Kymin Club
to be among sixteen British Admirals to have their names and victories recorded on a special naval monument. The Kymin Club was a dining club presided over by the Duke of Beaufort
who had built a special round house on Kymin Hill east of Monmouth. At the end of the eighteenth century they arranged for a naval monument to be built to honour the sixteen admirals and the second anniversary of the Battle of the Nile
.
When Gell died in 1806 at his home in Crickhowell
in South Wales, he had left no wife or children who might have inherited the Gell's holdings in Derbyshire. He left over four thousand pounds to his sisters, friends and to Philip Gell's children. His nephew Sir William Gell
was a noted archaeologist.
Admiral (United Kingdom)
Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9, outranked only by the rank Admiral of the Fleet...
John Gell (1740–1806) was from the Gell and Eyre families of Hopton Hall
Hopton Hall
Hopton Hall is an 18th century country house at Hopton, near Wirksworth, Derbyshire. It is a Grade II listed building.The Manor of Hopton , anciently the seat of the de Hopton family, was acquired by the Gell family in 1553 by Ralph Gell who also purchased lands at Darley Abbey and Rocester.John...
in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. He served with the 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...
, fighting in India and taking part in the occupation of 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....
.
Gell was a commander in the Royal Navy for over
thirty years starting in 1762 following two years as a lieutenant. He was promoted to the
rank of Admiral in 1799 after completing duties in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, 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...
and 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....
.
In 1793, Gell's squadron captured a Spanish ship which contained two million dollars and packages valued at over 200,000 pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
.
Biography
Gell was born in 1740 to another John Gell of Hopton HallHopton Hall
Hopton Hall is an 18th century country house at Hopton, near Wirksworth, Derbyshire. It is a Grade II listed building.The Manor of Hopton , anciently the seat of the de Hopton family, was acquired by the Gell family in 1553 by Ralph Gell who also purchased lands at Darley Abbey and Rocester.John...
. His father was born John Eyre but had taken the name Gell when he inherited the Gell fortune. Although his father had assumed the name Gell, this Gell was the great Grandson of the parliamentarian
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
soldier, the first baronet, Sir John Gell
Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet
Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet was a Parliamentarian politician and military figure in the English Civil War.-Background:...
The children of his elder brother, Philip Gell of Hopton Hall were mentioned in Gell's will.
Midshipman
The first known reference to Gell's career is when he joins HMS PrinceHMS Triumph (1698)
HMS Triumph was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Chatham Dockyard in 1698. She was renamed HMS Prince in 1714....
in 1757 and was promoted to Lieutenant on board HMS Conqueror
HMS Conqueror (1758)
HMS Conqueror was a 68-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 24 May 1758 at Harwich.She was wrecked in 1760....
in 1760 which was to be wrecked the same year.
Captain Gell
In 1776 he was appointed captain of the three year old HMS Thetis. With this ship he served in the American, The Mediterranean and the Channel Fleets until he was given command of the MonarcaSpanish ship Monarca (1756)
Monarca was a 68-gun ship of the line of the Spanish Navy, launched in 1756.She fought in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780, in which she was captured by the Royal Navy and subsequently commissioned as the third rate HMS Monarca. She came under the command of Captain John Gell who was under the...
. This ship was unusual in that it had been built in 1756 and for the first 24 years it had been part of the Spanish Navy before being captured by the British at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)
The naval Battle of Cape St Vincent, took place off the coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American War of Independence. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara. The battle is sometimes referred to as the Moonlight Battle,...
in 1780. Gell who was under the orders of Sir Samuel Hood
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was a British Admiral known particularly for his service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars...
to go to the West Indies. However the ship lost its mast in a storm and was obliged to return to Britain for refitting.
Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez
Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren , French admiral, was the third son of the marquis de Saint Tropez, head of a family of nobles of Provence which claimed to have emigrated from Lucca in the 14th century...
when Gell was in command of the 68 gun
HMS Monarca
Spanish ship Monarca (1756)
Monarca was a 68-gun ship of the line of the Spanish Navy, launched in 1756.She fought in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780, in which she was captured by the Royal Navy and subsequently commissioned as the third rate HMS Monarca. She came under the command of Captain John Gell who was under the...
.
Gell and the Monarca did take part in the Battle of Cuddalore
Battle of Cuddalore (1783)
The Battle of Cuddalore was a battle between a British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and a slightly smaller French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren off the coast of India near Cuddalore during the American Revolutionary War, which in 1780 had sparked the Second Mysore War in India...
in 20 June 1783. The battle was the last of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
between a rival French and British fleet. The battle which took place off the coast of India near Cuddalore
Cuddalore
Cuddalore is a fast growing industrial city and headquarter of Cuddalore district in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India. Located south of Pondicherry on the coast of Bay of Bengal, Cuddalore has a large number of industries which employ a great deal of the city's population.Cuddalore is known...
was inconclusive and was remarkable in that peace had already been signed in Europe, but the news had not been heard in Asia. The 200 or so soldiers killed were lost to a war already abandoned.
Gell returned to Europe in 1784 and received no command until 1790 when he was appointed to his last captaincy, of HMS Excellent
HMS Excellent (1787)
HMS Excellent was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Harwich on 27 November 1787. She was the captaincy of John Gell before he was appointed an Admiral.Excellent took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797....
.
Admiral Gell
On 1 February 1793 he was appointed to be an Rear Admiral of the Blue, and raised his flag on HMS St GeorgeHMS St George (1785)
HMS St George was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 October 1785 at Portsmouth. In 1793 she captured one of the richest prizes ever. She then participated in the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands in 1795 and took part in the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801...
. The St George was under the command of Captain Foley, later Sir Thomas Foley and "Hero of the Nile". Whilst in the Mediterranean with his division of the fleet, he was able to seize a French Privateer and its Spanish registered prize the St Jago. These ships were said to be one of the most valuable prizes ever brought to England. The prize was said to contain two million dollars and packages to the value of 200,000 to 300,000 pounds. The capture of this ship and its condemnation as a prize of war (rather than being returned to its Spanish owners) was said to be one of the causes for the subsequent war with Spain.
The ownership of the Spanish ship was a matter of some debate and was not settled until 4 February 1795 when the value of the cargo was put at £935,000. At this time all the crew, captains, officers and admirals could expect to share in this prize, but it was Gell who had commanded the squadron. Admiral Lord Hood's share was £50,000. The ships that conveyed her to Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
were the St George, HMS Egmont
HMS Egmont (1768)
HMS Egmont was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 29 August 1768 at Deptford. She was designed by Sir Thomas Slade, and was the only ship built to her draught....
, HMS Edgar
HMS Edgar (1779)
HMS Edgar was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, that saw service in the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...
, HMS Ganges
HMS Ganges (1782)
HMS Ganges was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 30 March 1782 at Rotherhithe. She was the first ship of the Navy to bear the name. Her first captain was Charles Fielding...
and HMS Phaeton.
In October 1793 his division of the fleet was able to obtain the surrender of a French frigate, the Modeste
HMS Modeste (1793)
HMS Modeste was a 36-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had previously been a ship of the French Navy under the name Modeste. Launched in France in 1786, she served during the first actions of the French Revolutionary Wars until being captured while in harbour at Genoa, in circumstances...
which had abused the neutrality of the port of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. The battle was small and resulted in the death of one Frenchman from musket fire. The authorities at Genoa approved that the Modeste was taken as a spoil of war. After this he had to return to England for the last time due to ill health. The capture of the Modeste was to have repercussions as again in 1794 the crew of the merchant ship Betty were murdered by French forces.
Hughes commissioned Gell's portrait from Sir Joshua Reynolds. He bequeathed the picture to Sir Hugh Palliser
Hugh Palliser
Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, 1st Baronet was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War...
who gave the painting to the Greenwich Hospital only a few years later on his death in 1796. Gell was also involved in Hood's occupation on 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....
.
Gell also sat for a portrait in 1785 when he completed his captaincy of the Monarca. This time the portrait was full length and by the visiting American painter, Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Charles Stuart was an American painter from Rhode Island.Gilbert Stuart is widely considered to be one of America's foremost portraitists...
. Stuart was attempting only his second full length portrait under the guidance of Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Retirement and legacy
Despite taking no further commands, Gell was able to make his way to be an Admiral of the White as naval promotions were strictly by seniority as superiors either died or were moved aside.In 1800 Gell was treated to an honour where his name was chosen by the Kymin Club
The Kymin
The Kymin, or Kymin Hill, is a hill overlooking Monmouth, in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located approximately one mile east of Monmouth, on the eastern side of the River Wye and its AONB and adjacent to the border with Gloucestershire's Forest of Dean and England...
to be among sixteen British Admirals to have their names and victories recorded on a special naval monument. The Kymin Club was a dining club presided over by the Duke of Beaufort
Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort
Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort KG was the only son of Charles Noel Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort and his wife, Elizabeth Berkeley. Styled Marquess of Worcester from 1746, on his father's death on 28 October 1756, he succeeded him as Duke of Beaufort.He succeeded to the title of 13th Lord...
who had built a special round house on Kymin Hill east of Monmouth. At the end of the eighteenth century they arranged for a naval monument to be built to honour the sixteen admirals and the second anniversary of the Battle of the Nile
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
.
When Gell died in 1806 at his home in Crickhowell
Crickhowell
Crickhowell is a small town in Powys, Mid Wales.-Location:The name Crickhowell is taken from that of the nearby Iron Age hill fort of Crug Hywel above the town, the Welsh language name being anglicised by map-makers and local English-speaking people...
in South Wales, he had left no wife or children who might have inherited the Gell's holdings in Derbyshire. He left over four thousand pounds to his sisters, friends and to Philip Gell's children. His nephew Sir William Gell
William Gell
Sir William Gell was an English classical archaeologist and illustrator.-Life:Born at Hopton in Derbyshire, the son of Philip Gell and Dorothy Milnes...
was a noted archaeologist.