William Holburne (died 1 April 1760) (also known as William Holborne and William Holburn) 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 ...

. He entered the navy, and may have served aboard the 74-gun

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

, during her time with

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, ...

Sir Edward Hawke's fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre.

Career

Holburne was promoted to command a

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 ...

on 21 April 1747, and was further advanced to command HMS ''Prince Frederick'' on 15 April 1748. He was appointed to command HMS ''Ramillies'' in 1755, 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� ...

. ''Ramillies'' was part of a squadron commanded by William's brother, Commodore Francis Holburne. William took command of the 74-gun in 1755, and Francis shifted his pennant to her. William Holburne took command of the 80-gun , which formed part of the expedition to Louisbourg under his brother in 1757. He went to the Mediterranean in 1759, and served as part of Admiral Sir Edward Boscawen's fleet at the

Battle of Lagos The naval Battle of Lagos took place between a British fleet commanded by Sir Edward Boscawen and a French fleet under Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran over two days in 1759 during the Seven Years' War. They fought south west of the Gulf of C� ...

. During the battle Boscawen's flagship, was badly damaged and un-manoeuvrable. Boscawen therefore shifted his flag to Holburne's ''Newark''. Holburne did not command any more ships after ''Newark'', and died on 1 April 1760.

Family

William was son to

Sir James Holburn, 1st Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

, who started the Holborn Baronetcy. William was also a brother to

Sir James Holburn, 2nd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

and

Francis Holburne Admiral Sir Francis Holburne (1704 – 15 July 1771) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He served as commodore and commander-in-chief at the Leeward Islands during the War of the Austrian Succession and then took part in an operation to ca ...

, a naval officer who rose to

flag rank A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

, and uncle to

Sir Francis Holburn, 4th Baronet Sir Francis Holburn, 4th Baronet (1752–1820), was an English baronet and son of Admiral Francis Holburne. Francis Holburne inherited the family title from his cousin Sir Alexander Holburn, 3rd Baronet, in 1772. In 1786 he went on to marry Al ...

References

* Year of birth missing 1760 deaths Royal Navy officers Royal Navy personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War {{UK-navy-bio-stub