Stephen George Comyn was an English naval chaplain

Chaplain

Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

 who served with Lord Nelson at 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...

 and Battle of Copenhagen. He was a close friend of Nelson and is said to have been his favourite chaplain.

Early life

Comyn was the eldest son of Stephen Comyn a merchant of 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...

 and his wife Mary Wilsonn. He attended Westminster School

Westminster School

The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

 and Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

. He took Holy Orders, and became a naval chaplain in 1798 and was posted to .

Naval service

Comyn was thus Nelson's Chaplain at the time of the Battle of the Nile. At the battle the injured Nelson believed he was dying and sent for Comyn. Nelson recovered and following the victory, issued a memorandum to his fleet, "Almighty God having blessed His Majesty's arms with victory, the Admiral intends returning public thanksgiving for the same at 2 o'clock this day and he recommends every ship doing the same as soon as convenient." Reverend Comyn conducted the service from the quarterdeck of the Vanguard, which made a great impression on a group of captured French officers.

After the battle the Vanguard headed for Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

 in Italy, where Nelson encountered Emma Hamilton and the crew languished there inactive for several months. On the 5th June 1799, Nelson shifted his flag to HMS Foudroyant

HMS Foudroyant (1798)

HMS Foudroyant was an 80-gun third rate of the Royal Navy. She was built at Plymouth Dockyard and launched on 31 March 1798.Goodwin gives the launch date for Foudroyant as 31 March, 25 May, and 31 August. The text highlights this discrepancy and attributes the August date to Lyon's Sailing Navy...

, with Captain Hardy and five lieutenants, and Comyn accompanied them until 1800. Comyn was on the captured Guillaume Tell until he transferred to on 24 December 1800.

In Spring 1801 the British Fleet was in the Baltic for the attack on the Danes at Copenhagen where Comyn was chaplain on Nelson's ship, HMS St George

HMS 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...

. Nelson transferred to HMS Elephant

HMS Elephant (1786)

HMS Elephant was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by George Parsons in Bursledon, Hampshire, and launched on 24 August 1786....

 for the battle, but it is not known if Comyn accompanied him.

Land service

As he was reaching the end of his service with the Navy, Comyn approached Nelson with a request for a living ashore and he became Vicar of Bridgham

Bridgham

Bridgham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 328 in 130 households as of the 2001 census.For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland....

 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 1802 and later of Brunstead Norfolk . A letter from Nelson to him dated June 24 1801 congratulated him on his appointment and ended in a postscript in Emma Hamilton’s handwriting Joy joy to you & Mrs Comyn my dear sir. .

Comyn married Charlotte Carter of Rochester, Kent and their second son, born in 1806 was called Horatio Nelson William Comyn. Comyn died at Brunstead and was buried in the north-east corner of the chancel'. Comyn's brother Henry Comyn was also a clergyman and as curate of Boldre

Boldre

Boldre is a village and civil parish in the New Forest district of Hampshire. It is situated inside the New Forest National Park borders, near the Lymington River, and is about two miles north of Lymington...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, is noted for conducting a very early census of the New Forest

New Forest

The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....

. His great nephew William Leslie Comyn

William Leslie Comyn

William Leslie Comyn was a Californian businessman, shipbuilder and builder of one of the first large Concrete ships.Comyn was the second son of Charles Comyn an English civil servant and was born at Shepherd's Bush, London. His great-uncle Stephen George Comyn had been naval chaplain to the...

 was a pioneer builder of concrete ships in California during the First World War.