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 ...

Richard Charles Mayne (7 July 1835 – 29 May 1892) 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 and explorer, who in later life became a Conservative politician. Richard Mayne was the son of Sir

Richard Mayne Sir Richard Mayne KCB (27 November 1796 – 26 December 1868) was a barrister and the joint first Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, the head of the London Metropolitan Police (1829–1868). With an incumbency of 39 years, he was a ...

KCB (the first joint commissioner of the Metropolitan Police) and the grandson of Judge Edward Mayne. Both his father and grandfather were graduates of

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. Richard Mayne 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 ...

. He was a scion of a family that settled at Mount Sedborough in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

during the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation (''plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the sett ...

and subsequently at Freame Mount,

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

in Ireland.

Royal Navy career

Exploration of British Columbia

In 1856 Lieutenant Mayne was attached to the Nautical Survey of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

and British Columbia. Mayne sailed with Captain

George Henry Richards Sir George Henry Richards (13 January 1820 –14 November 1896) was Hydrographer of the Royal Navy from 1863 to 1874. Biography Richards was born in Antony, Cornwall, the son of Captain G. S. Richards, and joined the Royal Navy in 1832. ...

on his expedition in HMS ''Plumper'' and also on HMS ''Hecate'' to survey the coast of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

(1857–1859), and there came to serve in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

under

Colonel Richard Moody Richard Clement Moody Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit of France (13 February 1813 – 31 March 1887) was a British governor, engineer, architect and soldier. He is best known for being the founder and the first Lieutenant ...

and was assigned the exploration and mapping of hitherto unknown parts of the colony. His journal of these activities is a classic source of British Columbia history, as are those of his

Royal Engineer The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

colleague Lieutenant

Henry Spencer Palmer Major General Henry Spencer Palmer (30 April 1838 – 10 February 1893) was a British Army military engineer and surveyor, noted for his work in developing Yokohama harbor in the Empire of Japan as a foreign advisor to the Japanese government B ...

Mayne Island Mayne Island is a island in the southern Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia. It is midway between the Lower Mainland of BC and Vancouver Island, and has a population of 995. Mount Parke in the south-central heart of the island is its high ...

in the

Gulf Islands The Gulf Islands are a group of islands in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia. Etymology The name "Gulf Islands" comes from "Gulf of Georgia," the original term used by George Vancouver in his ma ...

is named after him, and

Hecate Strait , image = HecateStrait(PittIsland).JPG , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = Hecate Strait and Pitt Island , image_bathymetry = Loc-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png , alt_bathymetry = , caption ...

for his vessel. For this work, in 1860, he was promoted to Commander and returned to England. In 1862 he was appointed to the command of HMS ''Eclipse'', for service in New Zealand, and took part in the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...

until severely wounded in 1863 and invalided home. For these services he was mentioned in despatches and promoted to the rank of Captain; and in 1867 received the Companionship of the Bath.

Straits of Magellan expedition

Mayne commanded HMS ''Nassau'' on the survey expedition to the Straits of Magellan, 1866–9. The naturalist on the voyage was

Robert Oliver Cunningham Robert Oliver Cunningham (27 March 1841 – 1918) was a Scottish naturalist. Birth and early life Cunningham was born on 27 March 1841, in Prestonpans, the second son of the Rev. William Bruce Cunningham (1806–78), Free Church of Scotland minis ...

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

requested the Lords of the Admiralty to ask Capt. Mayne to collect several boatloads of fossil bones of extinct species of quadrupeds. Admiral Sulivan had previously discovered an astonishingly rich accumulation of fossil bones not far from the Straits. These remains apparently belonged to a more ancient period, than the collection by Mr Darwin on HMS ''Beagle'' and by other naturalists and therefore of great interest to science. Many of these were collected with the aid of Hydrographer Capt. Richards R.N. and deposited in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

The Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

compiled advice to mariners of the Strait in 1871. Admiral Mayne was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and served on its council. He was the author of ''Four years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island''.

Marriage

In 1870 Captain Mayne married Miss Sabine Dent, a daughter of Sir Thomas Dent (1796–1872), founder of Dent & Co.,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, and his wife, Sabine Ellen Robarts, daughter of James Thomas Robarts (1784–1825), another influential opium merchant. Sabine Dent was the niece of

Lancelot Dent Lancelot Dent was a 19th-century British merchant resident for a period in Canton, China who dealt primarily in opium. He was christened on August 4, 1799, in Crosby Ravensworth, Westmorland, England, son of William and Jane (Wilkinson) Dent. ...

, of Flass House. After his marriage he only served a short term afloat in command of HMS ''Invincible''. He retired as a Rear-Admiral in 1879.

Political career

After retiring from the Navy, he unsuccessfully contested the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

constituency of Pembroke and Haverfordwest as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

at the 1885 general election, being defeated by a narrow margin by the Liberal candidate, H.G. Allen. In 1886, Allen was among the Liberal MPs who broke with Gladstone over Irish Home Rule. Shortly after the election was announced, Mayne arrived in the constituency launch his campaign. At a meeting at the Masonic Hall in Pembroke, he emphasised that he had consulted with Allen before travelling to the constituency and stated that he had a letter in his possession from Allen confirming his decision to retire. He was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) there the following year, serving until his death shortly before the 1892 general election., at Leigh Rayment's Peerage pages

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayne, Richard Charles 1835 births 1892 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Explorers of British Columbia Pre-Confederation British Columbia people Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation British Columbia People from County Fermanagh People from County Cavan Military personnel from Dublin (city) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Pembrokeshire constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 Royal Navy rear admirals Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society People educated at Eton College Irish explorers of North America 19th-century Anglo-Irish people