Richard Delancey is the hero of a series of novels by historian

C. Northcote Parkinson Cyril Northcote Parkinson (30 July 1909 – 9 March 1993) was a British naval historian and author of some 60 books, the most famous of which was his best-seller ''Parkinson's Law'' (1957), in which Parkinson advanced Parkinson's law, stating t ...

. Delancey is a citizen of the Island of

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

who rises, through merit, through the Royal Navy, during its late 18th-century wars with America and France. According to Charles K. Rowley, during his retirement, in

, Parkinson lived on a street named after Richard Delancey, a military officer who served under the

1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

, and who died during the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. James A. Winnefeld, writing in the ''

Naval War College Review The ''Naval War College Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the United States Navy's Naval War College. It covers public policy matters of interest to the maritime services and was established in 1948. History Dur ...

'', wrote that Parkinson had "the naval historian's eye and ear for time and place". However, he said his characters were "wooden".

References

Literary characters introduced in 1973 Characters in British novels of the 20th century Fictional sailors {{Guernsey-stub