Sir Thomas Adams, 6th Baronet ( bpt. 17 February 1738 – April 1770) was an officer 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 ...

who served during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

. Born into a prominent and long-standing London family, Adams inherited a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

cy when young, and went on to have a successful career at sea. He was promoted to lieutenant during the Seven Years' War, and within two years was commanding a ship of his own. He was captain of several frigates, and went out to the East Indies with one. He had some success against French and Spanish shipping, capturing

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 ...

s, before being sent to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

after the end of the war. Here he made the acquaintance of Constantine Phipps and the naturalist

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...

, and also met the future explorer

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

, who was conducting surveys of the Newfoundland coast at the time of Adams' visit. Adams returned to Britain and was given command of a new ship. He returned to North America with her, but died while in command of her. The baronetcy he had inherited became extinct on his death.

Family and early life

Thomas was baptised in

Old St. Pancras Church St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church in Somers Town, London, Somers Town, Central London. It is dedicated to the Roman martyr Pancras of Rome, Saint Pancras, and is believed by many to be one of the History of Christianity ...

on 17 February 1738.The Environs of London: Pancras 1795 Adams was the son of Sir Robert Adams, a solicitor in the

city of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, and his second wife, Diana. Thomas was the eldest of two sons by his father's second marriage, having a younger brother named William. The Adams were an important London family, with Thomas' great-grandfather, Sir Thomas Adams, having served as

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

and a

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 ...

, for which he was created a

. Robert Adams inherited the baronetcy on the death of his elder brother Charles, and when Robert died circa 1754, it passed to his son Thomas. Thomas was

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

on 17 February 1738 at

St Pancras Old Church St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church in Somers Town, Central London. It is dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Pancras, and is believed by many to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England. The church i ...

. Thomas Adams embarked on a naval career, and was commissioned as lieutenant on 8 June 1757, during the

. He was advanced to commander within a few years, taking over the

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

in November 1759. A further promotion followed on 17 August 1760, when he was advanced to

post-captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...

. After this he was appointed to command the 24-gun .

Command

Adams was employed on the home station, cruising against enemy warships and

s. He had relatively few successes during his time in command, though he did manage to capture the French privateer ''Brimborion'' off the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

on 8 August 1761. ''Brimborion'' was out of

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

, and was armed with one carriage gun and twelve

swivel gun The term swivel gun (or simply swivel) usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun wi ...

s and had a crew of 35. She had been cruising for two weeks and had captured two

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 ...

s and a

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

. Adams carried her into

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. After his arrival there he received orders to sail to the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

, departing England on 23 May and returning in July 1762. Adams was moved from command of ''Terpsichore'' shortly after his arrival, and instead appointed to the newly built 32-gun . He commanded her during the blockade of the Basque Roads and on 29 November 1762 he captured the 10-gun Spanish vessel ''Pacto de Familia''. The signing of the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

in February 1763 ended the Seven Years' War and ''Boston'' was paid off in March. Adams was not long without a ship, having received an appointment that month to take over the 32-gun . ''Niger'' was initially employed off the west coast of Scotland, around the

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; sco, Isle o Arran; gd, Eilean Arainn) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Historically part of Butesh ...

, in 1764, and it was about this time that Adams appears to have married the Hon. Frances Warter-Wilson in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. In early 1766 he was ordered to

. Also on board for the voyage were Constantine Phipps, and the

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

, while Adams had

James Burney James Burney (13 June 1750 – 17 November 1821) was an English rear-admiral, who accompanied Captain Cook on his last two voyages. He later wrote two books on naval voyages and a third on the game of whist. Family Burney was born in London, ...

with him as his servant. The purpose of the journey was to transport a party of mariners to Chateau Bay to build a fort, to continue strengthening relations with the native population, and to survey some of the coast of Newfoundland. During his time in Newfoundland Adams met

, who was engaged in surveying the coast, and introduced him to Banks.

Later life

Adams returned to England in 1767 and paid off ''Niger''. He was without a ship until August 1769 when he recommissioned his former command, HMS ''Boston'', which had just completed a refit. He was sent out to North America again. He died in command of ''Boston'' while on the Virginia station in April 1770. His will was proven in November 1770, which described him as a bachelor, implying his wife had died. That he died without issue and that his younger brother William had presumably predeceased him, is shown by the fact that the baronetcy became extinct on his death.

Notes

a. Sources disagree on the date of his death. Burke's ''Genealogical and Heraldic History'' gives a date of 12 April, while Charnock's ''Biographia Navalis'' has 16 April.

Citations

References

*Biography. Association with James Cook. Royal Geographical Society of South Australi

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Thomas 1738 births 1770 deaths Royal Navy officers Baronets in the Baronetage of England Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War