William Young (27 August 1761 – 11 February 1847) was an officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

who saw service during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and the French Revolutionary and

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. He should not be confused with his namesake and near contemporary Vice Admiral William Young. He served on several ships during the American War of Independence, rising steadily through the ranks. With the outbreak of war with Revolutionary France he was first engaged in recruiting seamen for the service, after which he became involved in the transport and logistics side of naval warfare, which was to remain his forte for the rest of his career. His service in the West Indies, in home waters and in the Mediterranean brought him to the attention of influential army and navy leaders, who helped him to find postings and be promoted. He mixed with royalty, garnering accolades for his services, and enjoyed the friendship of kings and dukes. Advanced 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 that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

in the years after the end of the war, he fathered a large family, and died in 1847 after seventy years of naval service, and with the rank of

Vice-Admiral of the blue Vice-Admiral of the Blue was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Vice-Admiral of the White (see order of precedence below). Royal Navy officers currently holding the ranks of commodore, rear a ...

Family and early life

Young was born in Borrowstoness, Scotland on 27 August 1761, the second son of David Young. William Young entered the navy on 16 May 1777 as an able seaman aboard the 50-gun , under Captain Thomas Dumaresq. The ''Portland'' was at this time the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, 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 ...

of Vice-Admiral James Young, commanding in the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

. Young was advanced to

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

during his time on the ''Portland'', and moved to the tender to the 32-gun . Here he participated in the capture of over 50 vessels, including several

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding 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 o ...

s of superior force. Young was then briefly aboard the 74-gun , based at Chatham under Captain Hugh Dalrymple, before returning to his old captain, Thomas Dumaresq, in May 1779 as master's mate aboard , a frigate armed

en flûte ''En flûte'' (French: "as a fluyt") is a French naval expression of the Age of Sail to designate the use of a warship as a transport with reduced armament.Willaumez, p. 294 Some warships, ships of the line or frigates, were occasionally used wi ...

and serving in home waters and in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. After leaving the ''Ulysses'', Young served aboard the 64-gun , the flagship of Sir Peter Parker at

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, before being promoted to an acting-lieutenancy on 5 February 1781. He went on to serve aboard , carrying the flag of Rear-Admiral Joshua Rowley, and then aboard the 32-gun under Captains the Honourable Thomas Windsor, Robert Montagu, and George Stoney. During this time he was sent to Jamaica in charge of a Spanish privateer captured near St. Domingo, and in February 1783 took part in a short action in which ''Fox'' captured the Spanish frigate ''Santa Catalina'', with the loss of four men killed and one wounded aboard ''Fox''.

French Revolutionary Wars

With the outbreak of war with Revolutionary France, Young was at first engaged in raising upwards of 1000 seamen through voluntary subscriptions from the merchants, bankers, and others of the

city of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, and in December 1794 he joined the navy's Transport department. He was the Principal Agent overseeing the embarking of the troops and civilians during the evacuation of

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

in May 1798, where his services brought him to the attention of Brigadier-General Thomas Maitland. Maitland recommended he be promoted to Acting-Commander, and Young received confirmation of the promotion on 3 July 1799. In October he was put in charge of the transports in the Downs and

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

and took them to the

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

, after which, in July 1800 he oversaw the embarkation of troops for the expedition to Ferrol, which he accompanied as Principal Agent. Young was appointed by Lord Keith to serve on his flagship, , on 17 November 1800. He was made

captain of the fleet Fleet captain (US) is a historic military title that was bestowed upon a naval officer who served as chief of staff to a flag officer. In the UK, a captain of the fleet could be appointed to assist an admiral when the admiral had ten or more shi ...

and given the task of overseeing the details of the shipping assembled at Port Mahon for the expedition to Egypt. Young went to Egypt with the expeditionary force, but became ill with repeated bilious attacks and was forced to return to Britain in June 1801. His service in the Mediterranean was noticed and praised by

Sir Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Trinidad in 1797. Rising to the rank of lieutenant general in the British ...

and Lord Keith, and on their recommendations Young was advanced to Post-rank on 29 April 1802. He was presented with the gold medal of the Turkish

Order of the Crescent The Imperial Order of the Crescent () was a chivalric order of the Ottoman Empire. History The order was instituted in 1799 by Sultan Selim III when he wished to reward Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Horatio Nelson, an Church of England, ...

and received a gold-hilted sword from the masters of the ships of the expedition.

Napoleonic Wars

With the resumption of hostilities in 1803 Young was sent to

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

by Lord St. Vincent to provide an escort to the Dukes of Cambridge and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. He was then employed under Rear-Admiral James Hawkins-Whitshed in fitting out gun-vessels at

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, embarking troops at

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, and establishing signal-posts on the south-west coast of Ireland, in preparation for a threatened French invasion. In October 1805 Young became the Inspecting Agent for Transports on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

, a post he held for the next 25 years, until his retirement in February 1830. During his time in the post he became friends with

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

, and the Dukes of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and

. On his retirement the different Transport-Lieutenants who had served under him presented him with a silver vase.

Later life

Young was advanced to rear-admiral on the retired list on 10 January 1837, and was restored to the active list on 17 August 1840. He was promoted to vice-admiral on 9 November 1846. Young had married Ann Spencer on 15 February 1789, with the union producing 13 children. His eldest son, William Hall Young, followed his father into the navy, and served as a midshipman in the West Indies, but died at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

in October 1809. His second son, George Frederick Young, was MP for Tynemouth and North Shields between 1832 and 1837. Young died at

Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark, London, England. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of ...

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

on 11 February 1847, after spending 70 years in the navy.

Notes

a. O'Byrne has the acting-lieutenancy accompanied with a posting to a 50-gun ship named ''Gratton''. No ship of this name appears in J. J. Colledge's ''

Ships of the Royal Navy ''Ships of the Royal Navy'' is a naval history reference work by J. J. Colledge (1908–1997); it provides brief entries on all recorded ships in commission in the Royal Navy from the 15th century, giving location of constructions, date of la ...

'', nor Rif Winfield's ''British Warships in the Age of Sail: 1714-1792''. This may be , which was in the West Indies at the time, though she was a 74-gun ship.

Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, William 1761 births 1847 deaths Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars People from Bo'ness Knights of the Order of the Crescent Military personnel from Falkirk (council area)