Joseph Ames (5 March 1619 – December 1695) was an English naval commander under the Commonwealth. Ames was born in Great Yarmouth on 5 March 1619. Brought up as a sailor from his youth, he was one of the commanders of a small Channel fleet watching the Dutch coast in 1641. In January 1653 he returned to Plymouth from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

, with a large consignment of sugar, which had only recently been planted in the island, and in July of the same year he was present at the engagement with the Dutch off the Texel in which

Maarten Tromp Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp (also written as ''Maerten Tromp''; 23 April 1598 – 31 July 1653) was a Dutch army general and admiral in the Dutch navy. Son of a ship's captain, Tromp spent much of his childhood at sea, including being capture ...

was killed. "For eminent service in saving ye triumph fired in fight with the Dutch" on that occasion, a gold medal was awarded him by parliament. In succeeding years Ames was in command of several ships of war, and made repeated voyages to America and the West Indies. Under his care many royalist prisoners were transported to the colonies, and on 8 October 1655 he was the bearer of a young deer as a present to

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

from the president of the Providence Plantation in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

. He withdrew from active service, according to his grandson, the bibliographer, about 1673, and retired to Yarmouth, where he died in December 1695. He was a member of the Presbyterian congregation of his native town. Several of his letters, addressed to the Admiralty commissioners under the Commonwealth, are preserved among the State papers of the time.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Joseph Royal Navy officers 1619 births 1695 deaths People from Great Yarmouth Military personnel from Norfolk Royal Navy personnel of the First Anglo-Dutch War