Thomas Durell | |
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Born | 1685 St Helier, Jersey |
Died | August 23, 1741 55–56) at sea off Spithead, Hampshire, England | (aged
Allegiance | Great Britain |
Service/ | Royal Navy |
Years of service | 1697-1741 |
Rank | Post-captain |
Commands held | HMS Speedwell HMS Seahorse HMS Kent HMS Exeter HMS Scarborough HMS Strafford HMS Sunderland HMS Elizabeth |
Battles/wars | |
Relations |
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Captain Thomas Durell (1685-1741) was a British naval officer most famous for his role in the capture of the Spanish ship Princesa. [1] [2]
Thomas Durell was born in 1685 to John Durell, who was the Lieutenant-Bailiff of Jersey and Ann Dumaresq, who was the daughter of Elias Dumaresq, 3rd Seigneur of Augrès. [3]
Durell joined the Royal Navy in 1697 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1705 after passing the lieutenant's examination. [4] He was promoted to commander in 1716 and was later given command of the 42-gun HMS Speedwell. He was promoted to post-captain in 1720. [4]
After the Peace of Utrecht, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession, the British gained control of part of the Acadian lands in modern-day Nova Scotia.
Durell who was in command of HMS Seahorse under the orders of General Richard Philipps, who was the Governor of Nova Scotia, surveyed the coasts and harbours of the newly acquired colony. This service was vital to the British governors; Durell's surveys were later used to create maps of Nova Scotia and the greater area. [5] [6]
For Durell's services there is an island named in his honour near Canso, Nova Scotia named Durell's Island. [5] [7]
During the War of Austrian Succession, Durell took part in the action of 8 April 1740. Durell, who commanded HMS Kent, fought alongside Captain Covill Mayne who commanded HMS Lenox and Captain Lord Augustus Fitzroy who commanded HMS Orford. Together the ships fought at close range with the Spanish man of war Princesa, which was captured and became HMS Princess. [8] During the battle Durell injured his hand.
Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax was a Royal Navy base in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Established in 1759, the Halifax Yard served as the headquarters for the Royal Navy's North American Station for sixty years, starting with the Seven Years' War. The Royal Navy continued to operate the station until it was closed in 1905. The station was sold to Canada in 1907 becoming Her Majesty's Canadian Dockyard, a function it still serves today as part of CFB Halifax.
HMS Kent was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line built by Sir Henry Johnson of Blackwall in 1677/79. She served during the War of English Succession 1699 to 1697, participating in the Battle of Barfleur. She was rebuilt in 1697/99. She served during the War of Spanish Succession 1702 to 1712 and partook in the Battles of Vigo and Velez-Malaga. She partook in the Battle of Passaro then served during the short war with Spain, December 1718 to February 1720. She was rebuilt in 1722/26. She spent the next thirteen years as a guard ship at Portsmouth. In the 1740s she was off Cape Finisterre then in the West Indies. She returned home and was finally broken in 1744.
John Rous was a Royal Navy officer and privateer. He served during King George's War and the French and Indian War. Rous was also the senior naval officer on the Nova Scotia station during Father Le Loutre's War. Rous' daughter Mary married Richard Bulkeley and is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
HMS Princess was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had served for ten years as the Princesa for the Spanish Navy, until her capture off Cape Finisterre in 1740 during the War of the Austrian Succession.
The action of 8 April 1740 was a battle between the Spanish third rate Princesa under the command of Don Parlo Augustino de Gera, and a squadron consisting of three British 70-gun third rates; HMS Kent, HMS Lenox and HMS Orford, under the command of Captain Colvill Mayne of Lenox. The Spanish ship was chased down and captured by the three British ships, after which she was acquired for service by the Royal Navy.
The Battle off Halifax took place on 28 May 1782 during the American Revolutionary War. It involved the American privateer Jack and the 14-gun Royal Naval brig HMS Observer off Halifax, Nova Scotia. Captain David Ropes commanded Jack, and Lieutenant John Crymes commanded Observer. The battle was "a long and severe engagement" in which Captain David Ropes was killed.
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Lord Augustus FitzRoy was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the War of the Austrian Succession, and was involved in the capture of the Spanish ship of the line, Princesa, a major prize in the war. He was also the father of Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain.
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The Dumaresq family was a patrician family in the Channel Islands with a particularly strong presence in Jersey. The family would hold many offices and positions throughout the history of Jersey from the 13th century.
Admiral Thomas Dumaresq was an officer in the British Royal Navy that rose to the rank of Admiral. Dumaresq was notable for his role as Captain of HMS Repulse in the Battle of the Saintes during the American Revolutionary War.
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HMS Success was a 20-gun Royal Navy ship launched in 1740 as the first government contract for the Blaydes Yard in Hull. She had a crew of 140 men. She had several famous commanders over her lifetime.
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Elias Dumaresq, 3rd Seigneur of Augrès was born to Abraham Dumaresq, 2nd Seigneur of Augrès and Susan de Carteret daughter of Philippe de Carteret I, 2nd Seigneur of Sark and his wife Racheal Paulet. He was a Royalist and a Jurat of the Royal Court.
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