Captain Edward King (9 June 1774 – 25 September 1807) was a

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 ...

officer who represented

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

for several years in the

United Kingdom Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

. King was the third son of

Robert King, 2nd Earl of Kingston Robert King, 2nd Earl of Kingston (1754 – 17 April 1799) was an Anglo-Irish peer. He was styled Viscount Kingsborough between 1768 and 1797. Biography He was the eldest surviving son of Edward King, 1st Earl of Kingston and Jane Caulfeild. From ...

and the younger brother of

George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (9 April 1771 – 18 October 1839), styled Viscount Kingsborough from 1797 to 1799, was an Irish nobleman. He was the son of Robert King, 2nd Earl of Kingston of Mitchelstown Castle, who he succeeded in 1799. ...

and

Robert King, 1st Viscount Lorton General Robert Edward King, 1st Viscount Lorton (12 August 1773 – 20 November 1854), styled The Honourable from 1797 to 1800, was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician. He was notable for his strong support for anti-Catholic policies and his clos ...

. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

from 1781 to 1788 and at Harrow in 1789. He entered the

and was commissioned a lieutenant on 12 June 1796. From May to August 1801, he commanded the brig-sloop ''Charger''. King's family was one of several with electoral interests in

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

. In 1799, their rivals, the pro-Unionist Mahons, had used his brother Robert's anti-Union stance to obtain the Lord Lieutenant's backing against him and take the

seat in the Parliament of Ireland at a by-election for Lt.-Col. Thomas Mahon, eldest son of the family. After the Union, the administration wished to remain on good terms with the Kings; they declined to support Mahon, and Edward was returned at the 1802 election without a contest. He was promoted commander on 29 April 1802, and commanded the ship-sloop ''Argus'' from June 1803 until becoming post-captain on 8 May 1804. In 1805, he took command of the

sixth-rate In the rating system of the 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 ...

''Ariadne''. He had recently returned to ''Ariadne'', on blockading duty off of

Gravelines Gravelines (, ; ; ) is a commune in the Nord department in Northern France. It lies at the mouth of the river Aa southwest of Dunkirk. It was formed in the 12th century around the mouth of a canal built to connect Saint-Omer with the sea. As ...

, when the Dutch flotilla joining the proposed invasion of England broke out of

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

. ''Ariadne'' and her consorts drove three or four of the thirty-two gun-vessels ashore, but they were badly outgunned by the shore forts and the four prams accompanying the gun-vessels. The ''Ariadne''s squadron was joined early in the morning of the 18th by the frigate ''Vestal'', which had heard the firing, and they renewed the attack on the flotilla off

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, without notable results. Early in 1806, King was appointed to command the frigate HMS ''Alexandria''. His elder brothers put him forward again that year as a candidate for Roscommon, although he was away at sea escorting convoys. The Mahon interest had revived, and Lord Hartland put up his second son, Col.

Stephen Mahon Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

, as a candidate. Mahon's interest proved too strong, and King withdrew from the contest without a poll. King died on 25 September 1807 at a naval hospital in St Ann's,

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, and was buried at St Michael's.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Edward 1774 births 1807 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Roscommon constituencies (1801–1922) People educated at Eton College People educated at Harrow School Royal Navy officers Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars UK MPs 1802–1806 Younger sons of earls