by Peter Scott Roberts

Throughout the 18th century and into the beginning of the 19th century, the Royal Navy became the most effective navy in the world. Under the outstanding leadership of great men such as Nelson, Collingwood, Anson, Bligh, and Cook, the British navy won almost every major sea battle it fought.

However, omitted from this illustrious list there were numerous others.

Among these was Admiral John Henry whose distinguished career deserves to be examined. The following narrative briefly cover his roots in Holyhead before entering the navy as a boy and his rise to prominence.

Although archival evidence appertaining to John Henry’s early life and career is somewhat sparse, it is nevertheless supported by secondary sources. This article attempts to further expand these sources and illuminate the life of a long forgotten local sailor.

The references for these sources are highlighted in the text.

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Ranking as one of Britain’s most prominent sailors of his time, John Henry was born in Holyhead on September 28th 1731.

Parts of a publication written by Lieutenant John Marshall in 1823, Marshall gave glimpses of John Henry’s naval career and continued to regularly update his publications in further supplements until 1835. An abridged version also appeared in ‘The Gentleman’s Magazine’, in the form of an obituary some six years later, following Henry’s death at Rolvenden in Kent in 1829. ¹

Whilst Marshall mentioned parts of Henry’s life, particularly his naval career, other aspects of his life remain untold or undiscovered. Both accounts mentioned that Henry entered the navy as a midshipman in 1744 but disappearing from the record until eighteen years later when he was noted as a senior Lieutenant aboard the ‘Hampton-Court‘.

Far from being complete the author of this narrative attempts to expand further on Marshal’s account

In a letter written by William Morris, a customs official at Holyhead, to his brother Richard who was a clerk at the Admiralty in London dated February 1756, William states the following: –

“I have some private reason for this enquiry. The young fellow whom I suppose is a lieutenant on board Captain Weller’s and who was his clerk and steward on board the Dorset yacht, is John Henry of this place.”

William goes on to remind Richard as to John Henry’s identity.

“You perhaps may remember his father, master of Peter’s brig at Dulas in time of yore’. Gwyddel oedd ei dad a briodws Gybi wraig.”

Translated:- ‘His father was Irish who married a Holyhead woman.’ ²

The ‘Dorset’ was a Royal Yacht commissioned in 1753 to convey the Lord Lieutenants and other dignitaries to and from Ireland. Her predecessor was the yacht ‘Dublin’ which had carried out those same duties since 1709. The captain of the ‘Dublin’ was Captain John Weller, who had been her commander since 1734. However, in 1751, John Weller resigned this position (thought to be through ill health as he died early in 1753) and his son, also called John Weller, was then appointed to take over as her commander. John Weller junior remained with the ‘Dublin’ until she was broken up in 1752 and, as aforementioned, took command of her successor, the ‘Dorset’ in 1753. He was later elevated to the rank of Rear Admiral and died in 1772.

Both vessels frequently visited Holyhead where Captain John Weller (senior) had forged a great friendship with William Morris as did his son, John (junior).

There were several ways that a young man could enter the navy as a midshipman, the most common being in the form of patronage in one form or another. Marshall gives no mention to Henry’s naval career from his entry into the navy in 1744 except that he had broken his thigh bone whilst serving as a young midshipman and prior to his appearance as a first Lieutenant aboard the ‘Hampton Court’ at Havana in 1762. It can only be assumed that John Henry began his naval career as a thirteen-year old midshipman aboard the yacht ‘Dublin‘ in 1744 possibly under the patronage of John Weller, senior.

In 1755 John Weller left the ‘Dorset‘ and took over the command of the ‘Assistance’, a fifty-gun man of war, with his clerk, (John Henry) leaving the vessel at the same time. ³

His training as a midshipman would have included a wide range of nautical skills and disciplines. Henry became a naval surgeon and later published a paper where he claimed that he had knowledge of how to cure various medical ailments. ⁴ It would be difficult to resist the thought that his interest in surgery was not influenced by his own experience after having his thigh broken by a hawser in 1746. John Henry received his commission on the 27th February 1757 but it is unclear whether or not he remained with John Weller. There can be no doubt that Henry was held in high esteem both professionally and socially by the Weller family and went on to marry Charlotte Stringer on the 8th October 1760. Charlotte was the granddaughter of John Weller senior, and niece of John junior.

Henry was also one of the executors of John Weller’s (junior) will. Following Weller’s death in 1772, Henry’s wife Charlotte, was one of the beneficiaries which included a quarter share in plantations, lands and property in Tasmania and a substantial amount of money. ⁵

Shortly afterwards, Henry purchased Sparks Farm in Rolvenden, Kent which he renamed ‘Sparkswood’. This property was close to Kingsgate, where the Weller family lived. Interestingly, the property, now renamed ‘High Chimneys’, still stands in the village today. ⁶

John Henry married Charlotte Stringer on 8th Ocober 1760 at St. Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney. The signatures of the witnesses are those of Nick (Nicholas) Weller, brother of John Weller (junior) and George Ball, Charlotte Stringer’s uncle. ⁷

Wherever Henry served after leaving the ‘Dorset’ in 1755 and, according to Marshall’s account, turning up as first lieutenant aboard the ‘Hampton Court’ in 1762, is unclear. The ‘Hampton Court’ at that time took part in the reduction of Havana, the Cuban capital. This conflict was part of the seven-year war between Britain and France and her Spanish allies.

The Cuban capital stands on the north-west coast of what was known as Spanish Cuba and was a primary port in the Spanish American colonies. It was from here that the Spanish regularly transported gold and silver from the Americas to Spain. The siege began on the 6th June and lasted until the 13th August 1762 when the Spanish capitulated but was later returned to Spain the following year under the Treaty of Paris.

Marshall, in his account quoted: –
“The expedition against the capital of Cuba, was one of the most daring and best conducted enterprises ever undertaken by any nation”.

Following the signing of the American Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July 1776, hostilities between Great Britain and the Loyalists began to intensify. Ten months later on 16th of May 1777, Henry was promoted by Lord Richard Howe, to the rank of ‘Commander and Commanding Officer’ of the ‘Vigilant’. ⁸ The ‘Vigilant’ operated out of New York and later Baltimore. During the Philadelphia campaign, Henry was highly praised by Sir William Howe for his excellent work in destroying enemy works on Mud Island. As a result he was posted captain on 22nd November 1777 ⁹ and given the rank of Captain and Commander of the ‘Fowey’.

On the 6th May 1778, Henry in co-operation with Major John Maitland led an operation to deal with enemy fortifications up the Delaware to Bordentown. Taking command of the ‘Hussar Galley’ and several other vessels they escorted a battalion of infantrymen aboard eighteen flatboats up the Delaware. Without taking any casualties, the operation was a total success, having destroyed the batteries and destroying nearly fifty enemy ships. ¹⁰

Despite being slightly irrelevant, another mariner with close ties to Holyhead, was a young twenty- year old lieutenant was given his first command of the ‘Hussar Galley’, on the 1st March 1780, his name was John Macgregor Skinner!! ¹¹

Returning to the ‘Fowey’ in July 1778 Henry became involved with escorting convoys between Rhode Island, Halifax and to New York. In 1779 he was in command of a small naval squadron anchored off Savannah. The siege of Savannah was to become the second deadliest battle of the Revolutionary War and where Henry greatly distinguished himself against the superior forces of the Comte d’ Estaing.

In May 1780 he took command of the captured frigate ‘Providence’ leaving New York for England in September with dispatches. At the end of December of that year he was appointed to take command of the ‘Renown’ of 50 guns. The ‘Renown’ had also taken part in the siege of Savannah and she too had returned to Plymouth for a refit and where she remained until Henry recommissioned her in March 1781. For almost the remainder of that year the ‘Renown’ resumed routine naval duties.

Joining Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt’s squadron on the 12th of December of that year,
Henry took part in the Second Battle of Ushant. This battle involved the squadron taking several prizes out of a heavy protected French convoy before returning to Portsmouth.

In June 1781, the ‘Renown’, accompanied by the ‘Diomede’ under Captain Thomas Lenox Frederick, escorted a large convoy bound for New York with victuals. Avoiding being captured by the French, Henry put into Halifax in the second week of August. Whilst remaining in North American waters Henry captured the American privateer ‘Grace’ on the 28th October 1782. The following year the conflict ended with the Treaty of Paris being signed on the 3rd September 1783. Whilst the future of the loyalist population was being decided, the ‘Renown’ remained in New York, flying the flag of the commander-in-chief, Rear-Admiral Hon. Robert Digby. The ‘Renown’ finally departed from American waters sailing from Halifax in the late spring of 1784 and arrived in Portsmouth in July the crew was paid off in Chatham in August.

Following France declaring war against Britain in February 1793, Henry commissioned the 74 gunned ‘HMS Irresistible’ and escorted a convoy of merchant vessels to the West Indies. Here he was involved with the reduction of the French islands and was where he terminated his active Naval career.

In 1794 he was elevated to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue.
In 1795 to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Red.
In 1799 to the rank of Vice-Admiral of the White.
In 1801 to the rank of Vice-Admiral of the Red.
In 1804 to the rank of Admiral of the Blue.
In 1808 to the rank of Admiral of the White.
In 1812 to the rank of Admiral of the Red. ¹²

Once again, it should be noted, John Henry out ranked Nelson by two ranks at the time of the battle of Trafalgar.

John Henry’s wife Charlotte, died on the 16th February 1816 and was buried in St Mary’s Church Rolvenden. John Henry died at ‘Sparkswood’ on the 6th August 1829 aged 98.

In part of his will ¹³, (kindly transcribed by Dr. Ruth Sellman of the National Archives, London), there is no mention of any surviving family at Holyhead or he chose to forget about them!. His bequests went to his goddaughter, Charlotte Coombe (the daughter of Richard Morris and Mary Kadwell of Rolvenden, baptised there in 1775), her husband the Rev John Richard Coombe and their daughter Charlotte Coombe (who subsequently married Major George Willcock of the East India Company). He also left bequests to Francis Weller (his wife’s cousin) and his son, Francis, and to Anne Georgiana Ball, widow of Rear Admiral Henry Lidgbird Ball (his wife’s nephew). The two trustees he nominated lived locally to him in Kent.

Throughout the 18th century the Royal Navy regularly vied with the French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese navies for maritime supremacy, before it eventually became the world’s largest and most powerful navy. Retaining that dominance enabled the navy to transport Britain’s armies to wherever and whenever they were needed. Another extremely important role that they played, was in protecting Britain’s shipping interests with its colonies. Trade between the Indian sub-continent and the South China Seas was regularly fought over by the East India Company but other trade routes which transported other commodities such as sugar from the Caribbean, cotton from America and furs from Canada were also important. Much of the wealth generated, particularly in the Caribbean and the Southern States were sadly dependant on the horrendous trading of slaves from the West coast of Africa.

Numerous sea battles were fought and won in the colonisation of the Caribbean, as they were in America before their declaration of independence in 1776.

Almost from time immemorial Holyhead has owed its living to the sea, with its sons having an almost hereditary sea faring aptitude bred into them. Therefore, it not surprising that Admiral John Henry, who played a fairly central role in the aforementioned activities, carried on that proud Holyhead tradition and was elevated to this prestigious rank at the peak of his profession.

The people of Holyhead can rightly feel a sense of pride in the achievements of Admiral John Henry.

Contributed by Peter Scott Roberts who wishes to acknowledge the help of Dr. Gareth Huws for his invaluable advice on research and editorial issues. May 2024.

© Holyhead Maritime Museum and Peter Scott Roberts.

References

1. Marshall, John. Royal Naval Biography; Or, Memoirs of the Services of All the Flag-Officers vol. 1. Page 64. London 1923. ↩︎
2. Morris, William. The Letters of Lewis, Richard, William and John Morris. Transcribed by John H. Davies M.A. Aberystwyth 1907. ↩︎
3. Public Records Office, ADM 6/18/215. ↩︎
4. Royal College of Surgeons of England. “ An account of the means by which Admiral Henry, of Rolvenden in Kent, has cured the rheumatism, a tendency to gout…….” J. Callow, London, 1816. ↩︎
5. Syrett, David, (Robert L. DiNardo, Ed.) Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy (Vol 1 + 2) Routledge; 1994. ↩︎
6. Hindley, Brian, current owner of ‘High Chimneys’ alias ‘Sparkeswood’ Rolvenden. ↩︎
7. Parish Records. St. Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney, Tower Hamlts England, October 1760. ↩︎
8. Public Records Office. ADM 6/21/491. ↩︎
9. Public Records Office. ADM6/22/186 ↩︎
10. ‘More than Nelson’ https://morethannelson.com/officer/john-henry/ (consulted June 2022) ↩︎
11. Roberts, Peter Scott, The Ancestry, Life and Times of John Macgregor Skinner R.N. p.51. ↩︎
12. Bonner-Smith, David/Di Nardo, Robert/ Syrett,David. https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=1656 (consulted June 2022) ↩︎
13. Public Record Office. PROB/1761. ↩︎