Frederick Thomas Michell KCB (1788–1873) was a British commander in 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 ...

. He was also Mayor of

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...

from 1855 to 1858.

Life

He was born on 8 April 1788 in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

the son of Admiral Sampson Michell (1755-1809) and his wife Anne Shears (1755-1838). He was christened on 19 April at All Hallows on the Wall in Exeter (demolished in 1939). His younger brother was

Charles Collier Michell Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Collier Michell, Royal Guelphic Order, KH (29 March 1793 in Exeter – 28 March 1851 in Eltham, London), later known as Charles Cornwallis Michell, was a British soldier, first surveyor-general in the British Cape Colon ...

. In April 1800 he joined the

. He trained at the Royal Navy Academy in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

1800 to 1803. He then served in the Channel, African coast and Mediterranean on HMS ''Eurydice'' as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

. In 1805 in the latter he helped to capture the 6 gun Spanish privateer "Mestuo le Solidad" under Captain William Hoste. In 1806 he joined HMS ''Termagant'' and the newly-launched HMS ''Ocean'' under

Lord Collingwood Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as ...

. He became a Lieutenant in May 1807 on HMS Ocean and soon after moved to HMS ''Active''. In 1808 he was noted for his gallantry in the attack on the 16-gun brig-of-war "Friedland" in which he was wounded and received a compensation from the Patriotic Fund. From 1809 to 1815 he served on HMS ''Rhin''. During this period in 1809, his father died in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

and Frederick inherited his grandfather's estate. In 1815 he joined HMS ''Boyne'' the 100-gun HMS ''Queen Charlotte''. In the latter in 1816 he served at the Siege of Algiers and led the battering flotilla under Admiral

Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother Is ...

. In December 1826 he was made commander of HMS ''Rifleman'' in place of William Carleton. He was promoted to Captain in February 1830. In 1840 he became captain of HMS ''Magicienne'' and in August 1841 took command of HMS ''Inconstant''. In 1852 he took over the magnificent 100-gun HMS ''Queen'' and on this ship took part in first phase of the

Siege of Sebastopol A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

. In this major conflict the ship was set on fire three times and forced to withdraw. In 1855 he was senior officer under Lord Lyons and took the fleet to

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

in the eastern

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. The same year he was 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 regarde ...

and was elected Mayor of

and served this role for three years. In 1862 he was promoted to Vice Admiral. He retired in April 1866 aged 78.

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 ...

made him a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1867. In the same year he was also given the Order of the White Eagle. In 1872 he received an extra pension from Greenwich Hospital for long service. He died at North Gate House in

on 14 January 1873 aged 84.

Family

In 1821 he married 16 year old Jane ("Jenny") Prideaux Philips (1805-1824) in

St Breock St Breock ( kw, Nanssans) is a village and a civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The spelling St Breoke was also formerly in use. Geography St Breock village is 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Wadebridge immediately to the sou ...

in Cornwall. They had two daughters: Louisa Whitbread Michell (1822-1902) and Caroline who died in infancy in 1823. Jenny died of

Consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increasing to 2,899 at the 2011 c ...

in 1824. In May 1826 he married another 16 year old, Caroline Frances Prideaux (1810-1856) at

St Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, London. In the 1861 census (at North Gate in Totnes) he was living with two teenage sisters, Louisa (18) and Emily Fyson (16) of

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

who are described as his "Wards in chancery". His sister, Emma Carolina Michell, married Rev Sir John Stuart Page Wood. Their many children included Henry Evelyn Wood VC.

Artistic Recognition

A marble bust of Michell, in his capacity as mayor, stands in the Guildhall of Totnes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michell, Frederick Thomas 1788 births 1873 deaths Politicians from Exeter Admirals of the Royal Navy Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War Military personnel from Exeter Mayors of Totnes Royal Navy personnel of the Bombardment of Algiers (1816)