Robert Pitcairn (midshipman)

Robert Pitcairn
Robert Pitcairn
Born	6 May 1752; Burntisland, Fife, Scotland, Great Britain
Died	c. 1770; At sea / Uncertain
Occupation	Midshipman
Parent(s)	John Pitcairn ; Elizabeth Dalrymple

Last updated February 18, 2019

Robert Pitcairn (6 May 1752 – 1770?) was a Scottish midshipman in the Royal Navy. Pitcairn Island was named after him: he was the first person to spot the island on 2 July 1767 (ship's time), while serving in a voyage in the South Pacific on HMS Swallow, captained by Philip Carteret.^[1]

The Scottish people or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century. Later, the neighbouring Celtic-speaking Cumbrians, as well as Germanic-speaking Anglo-Saxons and Norse, were incorporated into the Scottish nation.

A midshipman is an officer of the junior-most rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Kenya.

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years War against the Kingdom of France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is known as the Senior Service.

Early life and family

Robert's father, Major John Pitcairn John Pitcairn.jpg — Robert's father, Major John Pitcairn

Pitcairn was born in Burntisland, Fife, in 1752. His father, John Pitcairn (1722–75), was a major in the Royal Marines who commanded the British advance party at the Battle of Lexington that fired the "shot heard round the world", and died from wounds after the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. His paternal grandfather, David Pitcairn, was a clergyman at Dysart, Fife, and his paternal grandmother Katherine was the daughter of William Hamilton. His mother Elizabeth (1724–1809) was the daughter of Robert Dalrymple. His uncle William Pitcairn (1712–91) was a doctor at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London.^[1]

Burntisland is a royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 6,269.

John Pitcairn British Marine officer during the American Revolutionary War

Major John Pitcairn was a British Marine officer who was stationed in Boston, Massachusetts, at the start of the American War of Independence.

Royal Marines marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom

The Corps of Royal Marines (RM) is the amphibious light infantry and one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Royal Marines were formed in 1755 as the Royal Navy's infantry troops. However, the marines can trace their origins back to the formation of the English Army's "Duke of York and Albany's maritime regiment of Foot" at the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company on 28 October 1664.

Among his eight siblings (four other sons and four daughters) were his brother David Pitcairn (1749–1809) who became a doctor at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London; his sister Catherine Pitcairn married Charles Cochrane, son of Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald, and first cousin of Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, who served in the British Army and died in 1781 in the Siege of Yorktown; and his sister Anne was the mother of Sir John Campbell (1780–1863).^[1]

David Pitcairn M.D. (1749–1809) was a Scottish physician.

St Bartholomews Hospital Hospital in London

St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust.

Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald was a Scottish nobleman, army officer and politician. He was Member of Parliament for Renfrewshire, 1722–1727. He served as Commissioner of the Excise for Scotland from 1730 until 1764. He acceded to the title of Earl of Dundonald in 1758 on the death of his cousin, William Cochrane, 7th Earl of Dundonald.

Naval career

Pitcairn served on HMS Emerald, a 32-gun fifth-rate ship, and then joined HMS Swallow in July 1766 as a midshipman (the ship's pay-book listed him as aged 19, but baptismal records show he was only 14).^[1] The ship, a 14-gun sixth-rate sloop, sailed under Philip Carteret on a voyage of exploration in the South Pacific, accompanying HMS Dolphin commanded by Samuel Wallis. The two ships were parted shortly after sailing through the Strait of Magellan. Carteret took a more southerly route through the Pacific Ocean, and so failed to find much new land, while Wallis took a more northerly route and became the first clearly documented European vessel to land at Tahiti in June 1767.

In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchical system of six "ratings" based on size and firepower.

In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and sometimes without. It thus encompassed ships with up to 30 guns in all. In the first half of the 18th century the main battery guns were 6-pounders, but by mid-century these were supplanted by 9-pounders. 28-gun sixth rates were classed as frigates, those smaller as 'post ships', indicating that they were still commanded by a full ('post') captain, as opposed to sloops of 18 guns and less under commanders.

A sloop is a sailing boat with a single mast and a fore-and-aft rig. A sloop has only one head-sail; if a vessel has two or more head-sails, the term cutter is used, and its mast may be set further aft than on a sloop.

On Thursday, 2 July 1767 (according to the ship's records; 1 July according to the civil calendar), Pitcairn was the first person on the Swallow to spot an island in the Pacific.^[1] He was just fifteen at this time.^[2] The island was described by Carteret as "small high uninhabited island not above 4 or 5 miles round ... scarce better than a large rock in the Ocean" and was named "Pitcairn's Island" after the midshipman.^[1] High volcanic cliffs prevented the voyagers landing on the island.^[1] Recorded (erroneously) at a 25°02′S133°21′W / 25.033°S 133.350°W / -25.033; -133.350 ,^[1] the incorrect coordinates meant that the island could not be found again by later voyages, but from its description and general location it is considered to be Pitcairn Island, which actually lies 327.4 kilometres (203.4 mi) further east, at 25°04′S130°06′W / 25.067°S 130.100°W / -25.067; -130.100 . The 3° longitude error may be explained by Carteret sailing without the benefit of the new marine chronometer.

A marine chronometer is a timepiece that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of tracking and comparing the time at point of origin and the time at the current location. When first developed in the 18th century, it was a major technical achievement, as accurate knowledge of the time over a long sea voyage is necessary for navigation, lacking electronic or communications aids. The first true chronometer was the life work of one man, John Harrison, spanning 31 years of persistent experimentation and testing that revolutionized naval navigation and enabling the Age of Discovery and Colonialism to accelerate.

Pitcairn arrived back in England on the Swallow in March 1769.^[1] He left the Swallow in May 1769, and joined the East India Company ship HMS Aurora, a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate, commanded by Captain Thomas Lee.^[1]

The East India Company (EIC), also known as the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) or the British East India Company and informally as John Company, Company Bahadur, or simply The Company, was an English and later British joint-stock company. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with Mughal India and the East Indies, and later with Qing China. The company ended up seizing control over large parts of the Indian subcontinent, colonised parts of Southeast Asia, and colonised Hong Kong after a war with Qing China.

Disappearance

He sailed from England on Aurora in September, and called at the Cape of Good Hope in December 1769.^[1] The ship made for the Comoros Islands, but disappeared without trace.^[2] It may have been sunk in a tropical storm, or wrecked on the Star Bank off the south coast of Madagascar in early 1770.^[2]

Related Research Articles

The Pitcairn Islands, officially Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, are a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific. The four islands – Pitcairn proper, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno – are scattered across several hundred miles of ocean and have a combined land area of about 47 square kilometres (18 sq mi). Henderson Island accounts for 86% of the land area, but only Pitcairn Island is inhabited. The nearest places are Mangareva to the west and Easter Island to the east.

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Vice-Admiral The Hon. John Byron was a British Royal Navy officer and politician. He was known as Foul-weather Jack because of his frequent encounters with bad weather at sea. As a midshipman, he sailed in the squadron under George Anson on his voyage around the world, though Byron made it only to southern Chile, where his ship was wrecked. He returned to England with the captain of HMS Wager. He was governor of Newfoundland following Hugh Palliser, who left in 1768. He circumnavigated the world as a commodore with his own squadron in 1764-1766. He fought in battles in The Seven Years' War and the American Revolution. He rose to Vice Admiral of the White before his death in 1786.

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Samuel Wallis was a British naval officer and explorer of the Pacific Ocean.

Philip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in two of the Royal Navy's circumnavigation expeditions in 1764–66 and 1766–69.

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Events from the year 1767 in Great Britain.

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Purea, Tevahine-'ai-roro-atua-i-Ahurai, also called Oborea, was a queen from the Landward Teva tribe and a self-proclaimed ruler of all Tahiti. Queen Purea is known from the first famous European expeditions to Tahiti. She ruled as chieftainess of her tribe area in 1767-1768, when she was encountered by the expedition of Samuel Wallis.

Captain Archibald Cochrane was a Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century, who served in the Napoleonic Wars. His most noticeable activity came early in his career when he was employed as a midshipman aboard his brother, Commander Thomas Cochrane's ship HMS Speedy. Aboard Speedy, Cochrane participated in the engagement and capture of the Spanish frigate Gamo, which was more than three times the size of the British ship. Although captured by the French shortly afterwards, Cochrane's career continued successfully and he was promoted to lieutenant in 1804, sailing to the East Indies on HMS Victor and rapidly gaining promotion to post captain in the frigate HMS Fox. In 1811, Cochrane returned to Europe and did not serve again, retiring to Sunderland and dying in 1829.

The Bounty Bible is a Bible that is thought to have been used on HMS Bounty, the ship famed for the Mutiny on the Bounty.

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Baigent, Elizabeth (2004), "Robert Pitcairn", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22317
1 2 3 van den Boogaerde, Pierre (2011), Shipwrecks of Madagascar, Strategic Book Publishing, pp. 96–97, ISBN 9781612043395

External links

Iain Sommerville (2003), "Robert Pitcairn", Welcome to Burntisland

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[DNB-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Baigent, Elizabeth (2004), "Robert Pitcairn", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22317

[SoM-2] 1 2 3 van den Boogaerde, Pierre (2011), Shipwrecks of Madagascar, Strategic Book Publishing, pp. 96–97, ISBN 9781612043395

Robert Pitcairn
Born	(1752-05-06)6 May 1752 Burntisland, Fife, Scotland, Great Britain
Died	c. 1770 At sea / Uncertain
Occupation	Midshipman
Parent(s)	John Pitcairn Elizabeth Dalrymple