Robert Winthrop (7 DecemberThis date is from Winthrop, p. 13; Ward gives 7 September as birth date. 1764,

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

– 10 May 1832,

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

) was a scion of the New England Winthrop family of high colonial civil servants, and a Vice-Admiral of the Blue 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 ...

. Among his many feats of arms was taking possession of admiral

Samuel Story Samuel Story (2 October 1752 – 8 January 1811) was a vice admiral of the Batavian Republic Navy. He commanded the squadron that surrendered without a fight to the Royal Navy at the Vlieter incident in 1799. Early life Story was born in Maas ...

's squadron of the

Batavian Navy The Batavian navy ( nl, Bataafsche marine) was the navy of the Batavian Republic. A continuation of the ''Staatse vloot'' (Dutch States fleet) of the Dutch Republic. Though thoroughly reorganized after the Batavian Revolution of 1795, the navy e ...

after its surrender in the Vlieter Incident.Even in reputable contemporary and historical sources his name is often misspelled Winthorp, but after cross-checking with his postings there should be no doubt

Personal life

Winthrop was the youngest son of John S. Winthrop of New London, Conn. and Elizabeth Sheriffe Hay. He was a lineal descendant of governors John Winthrop of Massachusetts and

John Winthrop the Younger John Winthrop the Younger (February 12, 1606 – April 6, 1676) was an early governor of the Connecticut Colony, and he played a large role in the merger of several separate settlements into the unified colony. Early life Winthrop was born ...

of Connecticut, Chief Justice Wait Winthrop of Massachusetts, and John Winthrop (1681–1747) FRS, his grandfather. His family evidently had

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

sympathies as he was entrusted to the care of a maternal uncle, attached to the British forces in New York, after the death of his father in 1778 (he crossed the line under a flag of truce to join this relative). This relative secured a place 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 the Royal Navy, where his education was completed. Winthrop married Sarah Farbrace on 23 December 1804 in Dover. He had two sons and four daughters with her.

Career

The first recorded mention of Winthrop as a midshipman is aboard admiral Rodney's flagship during the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782. He was commissioned as a lieutenant (RN) in 1790 and in 1794 during the conquest of Martinique commanded a battalion of seamen attached to Prince Edward's brigade. In the Spring of 1796 he commanded the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

at the capture of

St. Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerin ...

. The same year he captured the French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

'' Athenienne'' near Barbados. He then received command of HMS ''Undaunted'', but was shipwrecked on the

Morant Cays The Morant Cays is an offshore island group 51 km Points of the compass#Compass point names, SSE off Morant Point, Jamaica. It is one of two offshore island groups belonging to Jamaica, the other one is the Pedro Bank#Cays, rocks and reefs, Pedr ...

on 27 August 1796. Winthrop received a commission as a post-captain on 16 December 1796. He received command of the frigate HMS ''Circe'' in December 1797, and was stationed in the North Sea. On 14 May 1798 HMS ''Circe'' took part in the

Expedition to Ostend The British expedition to Ostend took place on 18 May 1798 during the French Revolutionary Wars which was intended to destroy the gun-boats harboured in Ostend and destined to take part in the planned invasion of Britain. It also hoped to destroy ...

. Winthrop superintended the landing of troops so successfully that he was rewarded with the honor of conveying Sir Home Popham's dispatch to London. In the Summer of 1799 Winthrop (still commanding HMS ''Circe'') was put in charge of a squadron of frigates, comprising ''Jalouse'', , ''Espiegle'', and . On 27 June 1799 boats from these ships raided the Dutch island of Ameland, hoping to capture a number of Batavian gunboats. When this proved impossible, they cut out 12 Dutch merchantmen, lying in the

roadstead A roadstead (or ''roads'' – the earlier form) is a body of water sheltered from rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.United States Army technical manual, TM 5- ...

, despite heavy fire from shore batteries. In August 1799 HMS ''Circe'' was part of the fleet that supported the

Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland (or Anglo-Russian expedition to Holland, or Helder Expedition) was a military campaign from 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and ...

. Together with col. Maitland and lieutenant (RN) Collier, Winthrop was sent by admiral

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territo ...

as a parlimentaire to admiral Story commanding the Batavian squadron lying in the Texel roadstead. Due to sloppiness of the officers conducting the pilot boat in which they approached the Dutch fleet, the British parlimentaires were able to collect important information about the state of readiness and the morale of the crews. They also appear to have conspired with several Dutch officers to influence admiral Story and to foment a mutiny among the crew of the flagship ''Washington'', which later brought about the surrender of the squadron without firing a shot. After the surrender Winthrop took possession of the Batavian ships on behalf of admiral Mitchell in what has become known as the Vlieter Incident. In 1800 Winthrop received command of the frigate , which took part in the expedition against

Ferrol Ferrol may refer to: Places * Ferrol (comarca), a coastal region in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain * Ferrol, Spain, industrial city and naval station in Galicia, Spain ** Racing de Ferrol, an association football club * Ferrol, Romblon, municipality in ...

, but was beached in

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

Bay, after which she had to be destroyed by fire. On renewal of the war after the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...

captain Winthrop received command of the

Ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

(64). With this ship he drove the French

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

''Bayonnaise'' on the beach in Finisterre Bay on 28 November 1803, after which the crew burned the ship. Around 1805 Winthrop was given command of the frigate HMS ''Sybille'' with which he captured the French privateer ''Oiseau'' in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

on 3 May 1807. In the Summer of 1807 Winthrop was put in charge of the Dover district of the Sea Fencibles. On 12 August 1819 he attained the rank of Rear-Admiral of the White. In 1830 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral of the Blue. Winthrop died "of paralysis" on 10 May 1832 in Dover.Ward, p. 673

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

*Marshall, J. ''Robert Winthrop, Esq.'' in Royal Naval Biography, Vol. 1, parts 1 and 2 (1823), pp. 759–761 *Ward, George Atkinson, ''The Journal and Letters of Samuel Curwen, an American in England, from 1775 to 1783; with an Appendix of Biographical Sketches'' (Boston, 1864, 4th ed.), pp. 673–675 *Winthrop, Robert C., ''A short account of the Winthrop family'' (Cambridge, Mass. 1887), pp. 13–14 {{DEFAULTSORT:Winthrop, Robert 1764 births 1832 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy admirals