Thomas Leeke Massie (20 October 1802 – 20 July 1898) was an officer of 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 rose to the rank of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

. ''Massie, Thomas Leeke (1802–1898), naval officer'' by

J. K. Laughton Sir John Knox Laughton (23 April 1830 – 14 September 1915) was a British naval historian and arguably the first to delineate the importance of the subject of Naval history as an independent field of study. Beginning his working life as a mathe ...

, rev. Roger Morriss,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

Life

He was born at Coddington Hall,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, on 20 October 1802. He entered the navy in October 1818 on board ,

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

in the Mediterranean of Sir Thomas Francis Fremantle, and later on of

Sir Graham Moore Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Sir Graham Moore, (1764–1843) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he took part in the Great Siege of Gibraltar during the American Revolutionary War. As captain of the frigate , he took part in the Batt ...

. In different ships he continued serving in the Mediterranean, being wrecked in on the coast of the

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottoman ...

on 25 January 1824. He was in at the demonstration against

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

under Sir Harry Burrard Neale, and was frequently engaged in boat affairs with Greek pirates. He was in at

Battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O. S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied fo ...

on 20 October 1827. He was rewarded with promotion to lieutenant on a death vacancy, on 11 November 1827. As a lieutenant he served mostly in the Channel, North Sea, and Lisbon station. He was for three years on the South American station with Captain

Robert Smart Admiral Sir Robert Smart, KCB, KH (September 1796 – 10 September 1874) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. Naval career Smart joined the Royal Navy and was promoted to lieutenant in 1820. Pro ...

in , and for two years in the Mediterranean as first lieutenant of with

Henry Byam Martin Sir Henry Byam Martin KCB (25 June 1803 – 9 February 1865) was a senior Royal Navy officer, and a watercolour artist. Naval career Martin was born in 1803, the second son of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas Byam Martin, comptroller of the ...

. On 28 June 1838,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's coronation, he was made commander; and in 1839 was, with some others, sent out to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

to assist in organising the Ottoman Navy. They were, however, recalled after about six months; and in March 1840 Massie was appointed (as second captain) to with Maurice Frederick Fitzhardinge Berkeley. In the ''Thunderer'' he took part in the operations on the coast of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in the summer and autumn of 1840, during the

Oriental Crisis of 1840 The Oriental Crisis of 1840 was an episode in the Egyptian–Ottoman War in the eastern Mediterranean, triggered by the self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan Muhammad Ali Pasha's aims to establish a personal empire in the Ottoman province of ...

, culminating in the capture of

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

, for which he was promoted to be captain on 17 March 1841. In April 1849 he was appointed to , which he commanded in the East Indies and China and during the

Second Anglo-Burmese War The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( my, ဒုတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ စစ် ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the Anglo-Burmese Wars, three wars fought between the Konbaung dy ...

. In September 1854 he commissioned , which during the latter part of 1855 and 1856 was on the North American station. He had no further service, but became rear-admiral on 7 November 1860, vice-admiral on 2 April 1866, and admiral on 20 October 1872, being placed on the retired list in 1866. He died at

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

on 20 July 1898.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Massie, Thomas Leeke 1802 births 1898 deaths Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–1841) British military personnel of the Greek War of Independence Military personnel from Cheshire British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Burmese War