Sir William Jumper ( – 12 March 1715) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He rose to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

after service in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

and the War of the Spanish Succession. He is known for being one of the first to step onto land during the

Capture of Gibraltar The Capture of Gibraltar by Anglo-Dutch forces of the Grand Alliance occurred between 1 and 4 August 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Since the beginning of the war the Alliance had been looking for a harbour in the Iberian Penins ...

in 1704.

Jumper's Bastion Jumper's Bastion may refer to one of two adjacent bastions in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. They were both created in 1785 on the sites of previous constructions and named for a British Captain who was one on the first on shore dur ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

was named after him.

Life

Jumper was said for many years to have been born in Bandon, County Cork. His date of birth is unknown, but he was baptised on 8 January 1660 as the second son of William and Elizabeth Jumper of Weybridge in Surrey. Jumper spent ten years working for the

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trade, trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal House of Stuart, Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the West Africa, west coast of Africa. It was led by the J ...

off the coast of Africa, as an apprentice to John Love, one of their captains. In 1688 he was appointed to master's mate on by George Legge, Baron Dartmouth. The following year Jumper obtained a commission as a first lieutenant and is thought to have travelled to the Mediterranean with Vice-Admiral Henry Killigrew. In 1690 he married Elizabeth Willis, and Killigrew moved him to HMS ''Duke'' and the following year he earned his commission as a lieutenant of Killigrew's marines.J. K. Laughton, ‘Jumper, Sir William (bap. 1660, d. 1715)’, rev. Peter Le Fevre, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 3 May 2013
/ref> The Battle of Barfleur took place on 19 May 1692 and Jumper was there as the captain of the fireship as part of an Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford. The ''Hopewell'' was expended in an attempt to set light to the French ships, and later volunteered with a boat part that succeeded in firing the French ships. Jumper quickly moved through the command of several fire ships, joining in June 1692, in October 1692 and then the 44-gun in July 1693, before he was given the command of the new ship in March 1694. From 30 October 1698 he was flag captain to Sir Cloudesley Shovell aboard the 66-gun . He was with ''Swiftsure'' until 13 July 1699, and returned on 13 September and commanded her until January 1700. Jumper was appointed captain of the newly commissioned third rate ship of the line in 1701. Jumper was part of Sir George Rooke's fleet at the attack on Cadiz in 1702. In 1704 he was one of the first captains to set foot on land during the successful

capture of Gibraltar The Capture of Gibraltar by Anglo-Dutch forces of the Grand Alliance occurred between 1 and 4 August 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Since the beginning of the war the Alliance had been looking for a harbour in the Iberian Penins ...

. He and Captain Wilkes led troops whilst Edward Whitaker tried to obtain permission for a landing. Jumper was mentioned particularly by Whitaker and he was later honoured by having

in Gibraltar named after him. Jumper took part in the Battle of Málaga on 13 August 1704, sustaining injuries to his back and shoulders during the battle. Jumper was knighted in 1704. Also at this time, he owned a manor house in

Yelsted Yelsted is a hamlet in the Borough of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, England. In 1800, Edward Hasted noted that it was spelt ''Gillested''. It was a manor in the parish of Stockbury, the manor-house was owned by 'John de Savage', (grandson of ...

, Kent. After he died, his son William Jumper,

esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

owned the house. Jumper went out to the Mediterranean again in 1707, and narrowly avoided the fate of Sir Cloudesley Shovel and almost 2,000 of his men on their return home, when a substantial part of the fleet was shipwrecked on the Scilly Isles. Jumper arrived safely in Falmouth on 22 October 1707. He petitioned for a posting at home after this, and was appointed commissioner at Chatham Dockyard. In 1714 Jumper became resident Navy Commissioner at Plymouth and died on 12 March 1715.A Compendium of Irish Biography He was buried three days later at St Andrew's Church, Plymouth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jumper, William 1660s births 1715 deaths People from Weybridge Royal Navy officers British military personnel of the Nine Years' War British military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession