John Filmore ( – 24 May 1839) was an officer in the British Navy who commanded the African Station for a year, responsible for suppressing the slave trade.
Early years
John Filmore was born around 1788.
He joined the navy as a boy, enlisting as a midshipman on HMS ''
Sirius
Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...
'' under Captain
William Prowse
William Prowse CB (1752 – 23 March 1826) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Rising from humble origins and joining the navy as an a ...
, in which he fought in the
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
in 1805. During that battle he was sent on board one of the disabled ships that had been captured, taking charge of the vessel.
He was made a Lieutenant on 16 January 1808.
He soon became First Lieutenant of
HMS ''Crocodile'' under Captain
E.H. Columbine, assigned to the African station.
In an expedition of 1809 against Senegal he served under Columbine on the frigate
HMS ''Solebay''.
When Columbine died in 1811 he assumed command of the ''Crocodile''.
Filmore was appointed Commander with seniority as of 18 June 1811.
In the summer of 1822 he was appointed to the Ordinary at Plymouth.
African station
Filmore was sent again to the African station to command
HMS ''Bann'', a sloop of war.
He was appointed to this command on 30 May 1823.
Sir
Robert Mends, Commodore of the African Station, died at Cape Coast on 4 September 1823, and Lieutenant
Pringle Stokes
Pringle Stokes (23 April 1793 – 12 August 1828) was a British naval officer who served in HMS '' Owen Glendower'' on a voyage around Cape Horn to the Pacific coast of South America, and on the West African coast fighting the slave trade.
He th ...
took charge of the ship.
Filmore arrived as a passenger on the Swinger gun-brig in October 1823.
On hearing of the death of the commodore Filmore appointed himself to command the station and transferred to the frigate ''
Owen Glendower''.
Stokes returned to England.
On 4 December 1823 Captain
Percy Grace, who had been the senior commander on the African Station, returned from a long cruise in the
Cape Verde Islands
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and received an order from the Admiralty, sent to him by Filmore, ordering him to return to England.
Grace decided not to dispute the order, and after a stormy passage reached England on 7 February 1824.
In 1824 Filmore was made acting Captain of the ''Owen Glendower'' pending the appointment of his replacement, Captain
Hood Hanway Christian
Rear-Admiral Hood Hanway Christian (23 July 1784 – 31 August 1849) was a British naval officer who reached the rank of Rear-Admiral. He fought in several naval engagements during the Napoleonic Wars between 1800 and 1814. Later he was Commodor ...
, in September.
After twelve months, debilitated by fever, he resigned and returned to England.
Later years
The Admiralty did not confirm Filmore and promote him to Captain until August 1824, after his return to England.
He never fully recovered from the illness.
Filmore wife, Kate, died in London in 1837.
Filmore died on 24 May 1839 at the age of 50.
Notes and references
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Filmore, John
1839 deaths
Royal Navy officers
1788 births
Year of birth uncertain