Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir Charles Carter Drury, (27 August 1846 – 18 May 1914) was a Canadian-born senior of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

who served as Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel from 1903 to 1907.

Naval career

Born in

Rothesay, New Brunswick Rothesay () is a town located in Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada. It is adjacent to the City of Saint John along the Kennebecasis River. Geography Located along the lower Kennebecasis River valley, Rothesay borders the city of Saint John ...

, Drury was the son of LeBaron Drury (1813–1882), British Consul and High Sheriff of

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

, by his wife Eliza Sophia Poyntz, daughter of Colonel James Poyntz (1796–1887), of the

30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot 30 (thirty) is the natural number following 29 and preceding 31. In mathematics 30 is an even, composite, pronic number. With 2, 3, and 5 as its prime factors, it is a regular number and the first sphenic number, the smallest of the form ...

. Drury joined the

in 1860 and was made a sub-lieutenant in 1865. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1868, to commander in 1878 and to captain in 1885. Drury was appointed

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

in 1895. Promoted to

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...

on 13 July 1899, Drury was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station from June 1902. He served there during the January 1903

Delhi Durbar The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by the British at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was ...

to commemorate the accession to the throne of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

, and was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

(KCSI) in the

1903 Durbar Honours The New Year Honours 1903, announced at the time as the Durbar Honours, were appointments to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India. The list was announced on the day of the 1903 Delhi Durbar held to celebrate the suc ...

. His time in the East Indies was cut short, however, as he was appointed Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel from August 1903. He was promoted to vice admiral in 1904, and became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet from 1907 before being promoted to

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

and becoming

Commander-in-Chief, The Nore The Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Nore Station or Nore Command. The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the Th ...

in 1908. He retired in 1911. Drury was Aide-de-camp to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

from 1897 to 1899.

Family

Drury married Francis Ellen Whitehead, daughter of

Robert Whitehead Robert Whitehead (3 January 1823 – 14 November 1905) was an English engineer who was most famous for developing the first effective self-propelled naval torpedo. Early life He was born in Bolton, England, the son of James Whitehead, ...

, of Beckett,

Shrivenham Shrivenham is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Faringdon. The village is close to the county boundary with Wiltshire and about east-northeast of Swindon. The 2011 Census recorde ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. She died at the residence of her father on 22 February 1900. His first cousin, Major General Charles William Drury, was the father of

Lady Beaverbrook Marcia Anastasia Aitken, Baroness Beaverbrook (''née'' Christoforides, previously Lady Dunn; 27 July 1909 – 28 October 1994) was a British philanthropist, an art collector, and racehorse owner. Early life and first marriage Born in Sutton, ...

Arms

References

External links

* , - , - , - 1846 births 1914 deaths Canadian knights Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Lords of the Admiralty People from Kings County, New Brunswick Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) {{Canada-mil-bio-stub