Sir John Knox Laughton (23 April 1830 – 14 September 1915) was a British

naval historian Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large lan ...

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 mathematically trained civilian instructor for the

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 Fr ...

, he later became Professor of Modern History at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

and a co-founder of the Navy Records Society. A prolific writer of lives, he penned the biographies of more than 900 naval personalities for the '' Dictionary of National Biography''.

Family

Laughton was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

on 23 April 1830, the second son and youngest child of a former Master Mariner, James Laughton of Liverpool (1777–1859). In 1866, Laughton married his first wife, Isabella, daughter of John Carr of Dunfermline. They had two sons, Leonard and Arthur, and three daughters – Elsbeth, Mary and Dorothy. In 1886, Laughton married his second wife, María Josefa, daughter of Eugenio di Alberti, of

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, Spain; they had three sons and two daughters, one of whom was Dame

Vera Laughton Mathews Dame Elvira Sibyl Marie Mathews, ( Laughton; 25 September 1888 – 25 September 1959), known as Vera Laughton Mathews, was a British military officer and administrator. She was the second Director of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), serv ...

. Sir John Knox Laughton died at his home at Wimbledon on 14 September 1915, aged 85.

Academic career

Laughton was educated at the Royal Institution School, Liverpool, and then at

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

, graduating BA (34th wrangler) in 1852. He served with the Royal Navy as a civilian shipboard instructor teaching mathematics, science and navigation, and saw combat in the Baltic and Far East campaigns.Adamiak, Stanley J. 'The Foundations of Naval History: John Knox Laughton, the Royal Navy and the Historical Profession', Review of book by Professor Andrew Lambert, '' Journal of Military History'' Vol. 64, No. 4 (October 2000) pp. 1169–1170 In 1866 he finished his sea days by going ashore to teach at the Royal Naval College in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

. When the College moved to the new Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in 1873, Laughton moved with it to become Head of the Department of

Meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

and Marine Surveying. In the 1870s Laughton turned more and more to teaching and lecturing on history, delivering a now famous lecture to the

Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank ...

(RUSI) in 1874 on the importance of actually analysing historical events, rather than merely reporting events chronologically. This was a new idea at the time and would not have been seen then as stating the obvious, as perhaps it would today. John Hattendorf, ''The Caird Lecture, 2000: The Anglo-French Naval Wars (1689–1815) in twentieth century naval thought'' Journal for Maritime Research. http://www.jmr.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conJmrArticle.30/viewPage/2 – URL last accessed 3 April 2007 With this new approach, Laughton ‘acted as a catalyst for heentire intellectual development' of naval history as an independent discipline. During his time as a lecturer in naval history, Laughton was undoubtedly an influence on the more famous naval historian-strategists of his age – Alfred Thayer Mahan,

Julian Corbett Sir Julian Stafford Corbett (12 November 1854 at Walcot House, Kennington Road, Lambeth – 21 September 1922 at Manor Farm, Stopham, Pulborough, Sussex) was a prominent British naval historian and geostrategist of the late 19th and early ...

and Herbert Richmond. Mahan, who has been described as "one of Laughton's disciples", wrote of him that "He probably knows more naval history than any English speaking man living". R.J.B. Knight (2000) ''The Foundations of Naval History: John Knox Laughton, the Royal Navy and the Historical Profession'', Review of book by Professor Andrew Lambert in the Institute for Historical Research's ''Reviews in History'' series. (London: Institute for Historical Research) http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/paper/knight.html – URL last accessed 3 April 2007 In 1885 he left the Royal Navy to accept the position of Professor of Modern History at King's College, London. He succeeded in convincing the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

to allow limited public access to their archives. Together with Admiral Cyprian Bridge, Laughton co-founded the Navy Records Society in 1893. He was the Society's first Secretary, and was knighted for his work in 1907. Laughton died at the age of 85 on 14 September 1915 and was buried at sea in the

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from the decks of .

Legacy and influence

Laughton's contributions to naval history were largely forgotten until the pioneering work by Canadian naval historian Donald Mackenzie Schurman ''The Education of a Navy: The Development of British Naval Strategic Thought, 1867–1914'' (1965) resurrected his memory. Professor Andrew Lambert has since added to this with a work, ''The Foundations of Naval History: John Knox Laughton, the Royal Navy and the Historical Profession''. Unlike Mahan and Corbett, Laughton never wrote a major work, and the body of work that he did leave behind went out of print and until online editions became available was very difficult to come by. The measure of his significance comes by looking at the people he influenced and the institutions which he left behind after his death. Through 'long-term influence and personal contact' with other thinkers in the field and British admirals, he managed to sow the seeds in influential people’s minds that naval history was a subject worth studying, something which had relevance and bearing on modern naval affairs. The Navy Records Society remains a key part of the discipline of naval history. In recognition of his importance, King's College Department of War Studies has named its naval history chair as the ''Laughton Professor'', and naval historians in the department belong to the Laughton Unit ''.

Honours

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are ...

in 1907 * Chesney Gold Medal in 1910 * Professorship, granted in 1885 by King's College London

Works

* ''Physical Geography in Its Relation to the Prevailing Winds and Currents'' (London: Potter, 1873
read online
* ''Recollections of James Anthony Gardner 770–1846 Commander R. N. (1775–1814)'', ed. by Laughton and Sir

Richard Vesey Hamilton Sir Richard Vesey Hamilton (28 May 1829 – 17 September 1912) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he twice volunteered to take part in missions to search for Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition to find the Northwest Passa ...

(London: Navy Records Society, 1886
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* ''Studies in Naval History: Biographies'' (London:

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s, Green and Company, 1887
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* ''State Papers Relating to the Defeat of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an ar ...

, Anno 1588'' (London: Navy Records Society, 1894
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* '' Nelson'' (London:

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, 1895
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* '' Nelson and His Companions in Arms'' (London: G. Allen, 1896
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* ''Journal of Rear-Admiral Bartholomew James, 1752–1828'' (London: Navy Records Society, 1896
read online
* ''From

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

to Nelson: Twelve Sailors '' (London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1899
read online
* ''The Naval Miscellany'' (5 vols.) (ed., with William Gordon Perrin and Lloyd Christopher) ( Navy Records Society, 1902br>read online
* ''Sea Fights and Adventures, Described'' (London: G. Allen, 1907
read online
* ''Letters and Papers of Charles, Lord Barham, Admiral of the Red Squadron, 1758–1813'' (3 vols.) ( Navy Records Society, 1907–11
read online
* ''The Barker Collection: Mmanuscripts of and Relating to Admiral Lord Nelson, briefly noted by Sir John Knox Laughton'' (London:

Chiswick Press The Chiswick Press was founded by Charles Whittingham I (1767–1840) in 1811. The management of the Press was taken over in 1840 by the founder's nephew Charles Whittingham II (1795–1876). The name was first used in 1811, and the Press continue ...

, 1913
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References

External links

KCL Laughton Naval History Research Unit

by

R. J. B. Knight ''For the English cricketer, administrator, and schoolmaster, see Roger Knight '' Roger John Beckett Knight (born 11 April 1944) is a British naval historian of the 18th century, a former Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum at Greenw ...

Navy Records Society

Royal United Services Institute
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laughton, John Knox 1830 births 1915 deaths Academics of King's College London Academics of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Burials at sea English naval historians Knights Bachelor People associated with The National Archives (United Kingdom) Presidents of the Royal Meteorological Society English male non-fiction writers