Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Sir Alexander Holburn, 3rd Baronet (c. 1728 – January 22, 1772) (alternatively Holborne or Holburne) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

sea captain 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 ...

. He was the second son of the advocate Sir James Holburn, 2nd Baronet (grandson of Major General James Holborne of Menstrie) by his second wife Jean, the daughter of Alexander Spital of Leuchat. Alexander succeeded to the

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 on the death of his father in 1758 when he was killed at sea in 1756.

Naval career

Admiral Saunders, upon leaving the Mediterranean in 1757, took with him his chaplain, his

flag captain In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a " captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "Firs ...

Alexander Hood, and all six of his lieutenants, among whom was Alexander Holburn. Holburn was promoted to the rank of

in 1763.

Imprisonment

Before he could take command of his ship, Holburn was imprisoned for debt at the

King's Bench Prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from the Middle Ages until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were he ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, where he remained until shortly before his death. His wife, Maria Holburn, approached the Duke of Portland in 1766, in the hope of securing for Alexander a position. Holburn died childless, and the baronetcy passed to his cousin, Francis Holburn, 4th Baronet, son of Admiral Francis Holburn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holburn, Sir Alexander, 3rd Baronet Year of birth missing 1772 deaths 3 Royal Navy captains People imprisoned for debt