Sir Thomas Adams, 6th Baronet ( bpt. 17 February 1738 – April 1770) was an officer in 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 served during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. Born into a prominent and long-standing London family, Adams inherited a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

cy when young, and went on to have a successful career at sea. He was promoted to lieutenant during the Seven Years' War, and within two years was commanding a ship of his own. He was captain of several frigates, and went out to the East Indies with one. He had some success against French and Spanish shipping, capturing

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, before being sent to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

after the end of the war. Here he made the acquaintance of Constantine Phipps and the naturalist

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

, and also met the future explorer

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

, who was conducting surveys of the Newfoundland coast at the time of Adams' visit. Adams returned to Britain and was given command of a new ship. He returned to North America with her, but died while in command of her. The baronetcy he had inherited became extinct on his death.

Family and early life

Thomas was baptised in Old St. Pancras Church on 17 February 1738.The Environs of London: Pancras 1795 Adams was the son of Sir Robert Adams, a solicitor in 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 his second wife, Diana. Thomas was the eldest of two sons by his father's second marriage, having a younger brother named William. The Adams were an important London family, with Thomas' great-grandfather, Sir Thomas Adams, having served as

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

and a member of parliament, for which he was created a

. Robert Adams inherited the baronetcy on the death of his elder brother Charles, and when Robert died circa 1754, it passed to his son Thomas. Thomas was

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

on 17 February 1738 at

St Pancras Old Church St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church on Pancras Road, Somers Town, London, Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. Somers Town is an area of the ancient parish and later Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras, London, St ...

. Thomas Adams embarked on a naval career, and was commissioned as lieutenant on 8 June 1757, during the

. He was advanced to commander within a few years, taking over the

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch f ...

in November 1759. A further promotion followed on 17 August 1760, when he was advanced to

post-captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to dis ...

. After this he was appointed to command the 24-gun .

Command

Adams was employed on the home station, cruising against enemy warships and

s. He had relatively few successes during his time in command, though he did manage to capture the French privateer ''Brimborion'' off the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

on 8 August 1761. ''Brimborion'' was out of

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

, and was armed with one carriage gun and twelve

swivel gun A swivel gun (or simply swivel) is a small cannon mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rot ...

s and had a crew of 35. She had been cruising for two weeks and had captured two sloops and a

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

. Adams carried her into

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 ...

. After his arrival there he received orders to sail to the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

, departing England on 23 May and returning in July 1762. Adams was moved from command of ''Terpsichore'' shortly after his arrival, and instead appointed to the newly built 32-gun . He commanded her during the blockade of the

Basque Roads Basque Roads, sometimes referred to as ''Aix Roads'', is a roadstead (a sheltered bay) on the Biscay shore of the Charente-Maritime département of France, bounded by the Île d'Oléron to the west and the Île de Ré to the north. The port o ...

and on 29 November 1762 he captured the 10-gun Spanish vessel ''Pacto de Familia''. The signing of the Treaty of Paris in February 1763 ended the Seven Years' War and ''Boston'' was paid off in March. Adams was not long without a ship, having received an appointment that month to take over the 32-gun . ''Niger'' was initially employed off the west coast of Scotland, around the

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; ) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Counties of Scotland, Historically part of Buteshire, it is in the ...

, in 1764, and it was about this time that Adams appears to have married the Hon. Frances Warter-Wilson in

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 ...

. In early 1766 he was ordered to

. Also on board for the voyage were Constantine Phipps, and the

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, while Adams had

James Burney James Burney (13 June 1750 – 17 November 1821) was an English explorer and writer. He served as a rear-admiral who accompanied Captain James Cook on his last two voyages. He later wrote two books on naval voyages and a third on the game of whis ...

with him as his servant. The purpose of the journey was to transport a party of mariners to Chateau Bay to build a fort, to continue strengthening relations with the native population, and to survey some of the coast of Newfoundland. During his time in Newfoundland Adams met

, who was engaged in surveying the coast, and introduced him to Banks.

Later life

Adams returned to England in 1767 and paid off ''Niger''. He was without a ship until August 1769 when he recommissioned his former command, HMS ''Boston'', which had just completed a refit. He was sent out to North America again. He died in command of ''Boston'' while on the Virginia station in April 1770. His will was proven in November 1770, which described him as a bachelor, implying his wife had died. That he died without issue and that his younger brother William had presumably predeceased him, is shown by the fact that the baronetcy became extinct on his death.

Notes

a. Sources disagree on the date of his death. Burke's ''Genealogical and Heraldic History'' gives a date of 12 April, while Charnock's ''Biographia Navalis'' has 16 April.

Citations

References

*Biography. Association with James Cook. Royal Geographical Society of South Australi

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Thomas 1738 births 1770 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War Royal Navy captains