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James Gambier


NationalityBritish 
RolesNaval Sailor 
Date of Birth1723ODNB
First Known Service1743ODNB
FatherJames Gambier, warden of the Fleet prisonODNB
MotherMary MeadODNB
WifeMary Ruck (d.1763)ref:676
WifeJane Montpeson (d. c1785)ref:676
WifeSarah NewcombeODNB
Son
Samuel John GambierBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1783-1786
ref:676
Uncle
Samuel MeadBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1707-1742
ODNB
Nephew
Sir James GambierBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1767-1830
ODNB
Last Known Service9.7.1800ODNB
Date of Death28.1.1789 - Burlington Street, BathODNB

Event History


Date fromDate toEventSource
6.3.1743/44 LieutenantADM 6/16
6.3.1743/4423.5.1744
Buckingham (70) 1731-1745
British 70 Gun
3rd Rate Ship of the Line
, Fourth Lt. & Lt. at Arms, ADM 6/17/5
Confirmed 24.9.1745
ADM 6/17
3.4.1746 CommanderODNB
3.4.17465.12.1747
Speedwell (10) 1744-1750
British 10 Gun
Unrated Sloop
, Commander, and Commanding Officer ADM 6/17/84
ADM 6/17
5.12.1747 CaptainCSORN
5.12.174720.4.1748
Flamborough (20) 1727-1749
British 20 Gun
6th Rate Frigate
, Captain, and Commanding Officer ADM 6/17/291
BWAS-1714
20.4.17489.5.1749
Squirrel (20) 1727-1749
British 20 Gun
6th Rate Frigate
, Captain, and Commanding Officer ADM 3/17/346
BWAS-1714
19.4.175517.8.1756
Sphinx (24) 1748-1770
British 24 Gun
6th Rate Ship
, Captain, and Commanding Officer ADM 6/18/157
BWAS-1714
17.8.175620.8.1756
Namur (90) 1756-1804
British 90 Gun
2nd Rate Ship of the Line
, Captain, and Commanding Officer ADM 6/18/300
ADM 6/18
20.8.175631.8.1756
Defiance (60) 1744-1766
British 60 Gun
4th Rate Ship of the Line
, Captain, and Commanding Officer ADM 6/18/302
BWAS-1714
31.8.17568.4.1757
Severn (50) 1747-1759
British 50 Gun
4th Rate Ship of the Line
, Captain, and Commanding Officer ADM 6/18/305
Issued by
Thomas CoatesBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1722-1762
, Jamaica
ADM 6/18
8.4.175715.4.1757
Lowestoffe (28) 1756-1760
British 28 Gun
6th Rate Frigate
, Captain, and Commanding Officer ADM 6/18/383
ADM 6/18
4.2.175826.1.1763
Burford (68) 1757-1785
British 68 Gun
3rd Rate Ship of the Line
, Captain, and Commanding Officer ADM 6/18/484
BWAS-1714
6.6.175827.7.1758The Siege of Louisbourg 
16.1.175919.1.1759Attack on Martinique 
20.1.17591.5.1759Capture of Guadeloupe 
20.11.1759 Battle of Quiberon Bay 
29.3.176111.6.1761Expedition against Belle-Isle 
12.10.176615.11.1769
Yarmouth (64) 1745-1811
British 64 Gun
3rd Rate Ship of the Line
, Captain, and Commanding Officer ADM 6/20/143
BWAS-1714
2.12.1767 Appointed Commander-in-Chief — River Medway and The Nore ADM 6/20/186ADM 6/20
11.7.17708.1771Appointed Commander-in-Chief — North America ADM 6/20/283ADM 6/20
11.7.17706.3.1772
Salisbury (50) 1769-1796
British 50 Gun
4th Rate Ship of the Line
, as Flag Officer, Commodore,
BWAS-1714
1773 Appointed Comptroller of the Victualling Accountsref:676
25.8.1773 Appointed Governor of Royal Naval Academy ADM 6/20/528ADM 6/20
25.8.177326.1.1778Appointed Resident Commissioner at Portsmouth DockyardE-WIKI
23.1.1778 Rear-Admiral of the BlueCSORN
23.1.177811.6.1779
Ardent (64) 1764-1779
British 64 Gun
3rd Rate Ship of the Line
, as Flag Officer, Rear-Admiral of the Blue,
BWAS-1714
26.1.177810.1778Appointed Commander-in-Chief — North AmericaE-WIKI
19.3.1779 Rear-Admiral of the RedCSORN
26.9.1780 Vice-Admiral of the BlueCSORN
14.8.178312.2.1784Appointed Commander-in-Chief — Jamaica ADM 6/23/111ADM 6/23
6.11.178312.2.1784
Europa (50) 1783-1814
British 50 Gun
4th Rate Ship of the Line
, as Flag Officer, Vice-Admiral of the Blue, ADM 6/20/550
BWAS-1714
24.9.1787 Vice-Admiral of the RedCSORN

Notes on Officer


Biographyref:1059

GAMBIER, JAMES (1723–1789), vice-admiral, was the grandson of a Norman Huguenot who left France on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, brother of John Gambier, lieutenant-governor of the Bahamas, and uncle of James, lord Gambier [q. v.] He was made a lieutenant by Admiral Mathews in the Mediterranean in 1743, and, after serving in the Buckingham and Marlborough, was in April 1746 promoted to the command of the Speedwell sloop, employed in the North Sea. In December 1747 he was posted to the Flamborough, and after commanding many different ships was in February 1758 appointed to the Burford, in which he assisted at the reduction of Louisbourg, and in the following year at the capture of Guadeloupe and the unsuccessful attack on Martinique, coming home in time to take part in the battle of Quiberon Bay. While at Halifax in 1758, acting under orders from Boscawen, he destroyed a number of pestilent liquor sheds, and pressed the sutlers—a piece of good service which afterwards caused him much annoyance, some of the sutlers prosecuting him at common law, against which he was still, two years later, claiming the protection of the admiralty. After the battle of Quiberon Bay, the Burford continued attached to the grand fleet till the peace. From 1766 to 1770 he commanded the Yarmouth guardship at Chatham, and from 1770 to 1773 was commander-in-chief on the North American station, with his broad pennant in the Salisbury. In July 1773 he was appointed comptroller of victualling, but was almost immediately afterwards advanced to be resident commissioner of the navy at Portsmouth, a post which he held till his promotion to be rear-admiral on 23 Jan. 1778. He was then sent out to New York as second in command under Lord Howe, and was left for short intervals as commander-in-chief, first, on Howe's departure from the station, and, secondly, on Byron's leaving for the West Indies. On 26 Sept. 1780 he was advanced to the rank of vice-admiral, and in 1783-4 was commanderin-chief at Jamaica, with his flag on board the Europa. His failing health compelled his early return to England, and he died at Bath on 8 Jan. 1789. He was twice married, and left issue by his first wife.




Previous comments on this page

Posted by Sylvia Wright on Wednesday 16th of September 2020 20:48

Admiral James Gambier, d. 1789 was married THREE times, 1st to Mary Ruck, 1730-1763 on 23 Sep 1751 • Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, Westminster, London, England(no children),
2ndly to Jane/Jenny MOMPESSON in 1767 ( descendant of the Rev. Mompesson who saved the villagers of Eyam, Derbyshire from the plague)1746-1785 (she had the children)
and thirdly to Sarah Newcome, 1751-1808 27 Jan 1787 • Walcot, Bath, Somerset, England (no children), She was the daughter of Rev. Benjamin Newcome, DD, Bishop of Rochester.

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James SymonsBritish
Naval Sailor
Service 1780-1808