The grave of Admiral Ross Donnelly, Kensal Green Cemetery

Admiral Sir Ross Donnelly, KCB (1764 – 30 September 1840) was an Irish

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 ...

officer who is known for his service during the American War of Independence,

French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. He was first lieutenant on HMS ''Montagu'' at the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

and assumed command after the death of Captain James Montagu. Promoted to

post captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) addressed as captain ...

in June 1795, Donnelly was given in which he participated in the action of 12 May 1796.

Early life

Ross Donnelly was born in 1764, son of Francis Donnelly of Athlone, County Roscommon.

Career

He joined the

in the 1770s and served off the Eastern Seaboard of North America during the American War of Independence, seeing action at the

Siege of Charleston The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town (today Charleston), the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The Britis ...

. He was subsequently transferred to Newfoundland and, as a lieutenant, given command of the sloop HMS ''Morning Star'' for the remainder of the war. During the peace of 1783 to 1793, Donnelly joined the fleet of the

Honourable East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, serving as a mate before rejoining the Navy at the outbreak of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

. Donnelly was assigned to the 74 gun ship of the line HMS ''Montagu'' under Captain James Montagu and served in the Channel Fleet, joining the fleet under Lord Howe that participated in the

Atlantic campaign of May 1794 The Atlantic campaign of May 1794 was a series of operations conducted by the British Royal Navy's Channel Fleet against the French Navy's Atlantic Fleet, with the aim of preventing the passage of a strategically important French grain convoy t ...

and fought at the

. ''Montagu'' was heavily engaged with the French ship ''Neptune'' and Captain Montagu was killed in the early stages, command devolving on Donnelly. Donnelly commanded the ship with skill and was commended, but due to his rank was denied the rewards that went to the victorious captains. In June 1795, Donnelly was promoted to

and took command of the frigate HMS ''Pegasus'', serving with the North Sea Fleet and participating in the action of 12 May 1796 off the Dutch coast.Donnelly, Sir Ross
''

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 ...

'',

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 ...

and

Andrew Lambert Andrew Lambert (born 31 December 1956) is a British naval historian, who since 2001 has been the Laughton Professor of Naval History in the Department of War Studies, King's College London. Academic career After completing his doctoral resear ...

, (subscription required). Accessed 10 May 2012. Donnelly later took command of HMS ''Maidstone'' and in 1801 escorted a convoy from

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

to Britain before taking command of the frigate HMS ''Narcissus'' and charged with returning the ambassador to Algeria before carrying out astronomical observations in the Aegean Sea. From there he joined the Mediterranean Fleet where Admiral

Lord Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought a ...

would later hold him in high esteem, commending him in letters and placing several of his proteges under Donnelly's command. In 1805, he accompanied the expeditionary force which invaded the Cape of Good Hope and the

Rio de la Plata Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, where he was commended and rewarded on his return to Britain with command of the ship of the line HMS ''Ardent'' which he brought back to South America and continued serving in the campaign until its conclusion in 1807. In 1808, he took command of HMS ''Invincible'', but was forced into early retirement in 1810 due to

cataracts A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble w ...

. His eyesight slowly recovered over the next two years, and at the end of the war he was on the verge of commissioning the new ship of the line HMS ''Devonshire''.

Retirement and health

Postwar, Donnelly retired, although he remained in service and received steady promotions, becoming a full admiral in 1838. A year earlier he had been rewarded for his long service with a knighthood, becoming a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

. In November 1839, Donnelly suffered from heart trouble, followed by rapid decline in his mental health that within months became advanced dementia. By July 1840, a lunacy commission was held to inquire into the admiral's state of mind, which heard from witnesses who testified that Donnelly was forgetful, confused, and prone to fits of abuse directed at his staff, several of whom he dismissed only to mistake them for new servants when they returned. His doctor testified that of historical matters, including his naval exploits, Donnelly spoke with great accuracy. When asked the month, Donnelly himself correctly stated it was July, but when pressed to state whether July was in winter or summer, he retorted that the season depended on whether one was in the southern or northern hemisphere, causing much laughter. Donnelly became confused when asked about the number of children he had who were still living. He chastised some of his daughters, but praised his son, a solicitor in Sydney, whom he wanted to manage his estate. The commission declared him of unsound mind since 15 November 1839. He died on 30 September 1840 at his home at 30, Harley Street, London. He is buried in the overgrown north-west quadrant of the inner circle at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

in London.

Family

He was married and had eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood. His eldest daughter, Anne Jane (died 1855), married, on 18 April 1816, George Thicknesse-Touchet, 20th Baron Audley, and had issue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Ross 1764 births 1840 deaths 18th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish people Irish sailors in the Royal Navy 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 Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery