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 Schomberg (1720 – 19 March 1804) was a

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 ...

officer who served in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

Life

His father, Meyer Löw Schomberg (1690–1761), was a German-Jewish doctor and settled in England c. 1720 and set up a flourishing practice in

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London, England, linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many cor ...

, London. Two of Alexander's brothers followed their father's profession – the eldest, Isaac, and Ralph or Raphael – and two others (

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

and

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

) went into the law, but Alexander instead opted for the navy. Like his brothers, however, he was brought up a Jew but attended St Paul's School, London, and renounced the Jewish faith by publicly receiving the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

according to the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

rites and thus being able to enter on public careers without impediment from the

Test Act The Test Acts were a series of penal laws originating in Restoration England, passed by the Parliament of England, that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Catholics and nonconformist Prote ...

. Joining the Navy in 1743 as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

under Captain Edward Pratten on HMS ''Suffolk'' ( 70 guns), he passed his examination for lieutenant on 3 December 1747, entering the sloop ''Hornet'' on 11 December and transferring from there to ''Speedwell'', another sloop, in the West Indies in spring 1750. The latter ship, however, returned to England, and was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

in July 1751, with Schomberg and her other officers placed on half pay. Schomberg's next appointment came in February 1755, under Captain

Peter Denis Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Denis, 1st Baronet (1713 – 11 June 1778) was an English naval officer and Member of Parliament. Life The son of Huguenot refugee, the Rev. Jacob Denis and his wife Martha Leach, Denis was educated at The King's School, ...

on the ''Medway''. This ship, however, was only in the

home fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

and on the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

station and he was put on half pay again from June to October 1756. He then was appointed to the ''Intrepid'' (formerly the French ship ''Serieux'', 64 guns), under Captain Pratten again. Promotion to captain eventually came on 5 April 1757, briefly in command of the new

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

''Richmond'', then from the end of 1757 in command of HMS ''Diana'', 32 guns. In the ''Diana'' he played a distinguished part in the taking of Louisburg in 1758 (taking the fleet's commander in

Edward Boscawen Admiral of the Blue Edward Boscawen, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (19 August 171110 January 1761) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He is known principally for his various naval commands during the 18th century and the engagements ...

in close to reconnoitre the coast, covering the landing and taking command of a party of seamen landed to man the batteries) and

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in 1759/60 (bombarding the shore under Charles Saunders and repulsing a French attempt to regain the city), and was a close associate of

James Wolfe Major-general James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of ...

. He was then sent back in 1760 with the news of the victories. There he was appointed to the ''Essex'', with that ship taking part in the 1764 reduction of

Belle Île Belle-Île (), Belle-Île-en-Mer (), or Belle Isle (, ; ) is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the ''département in France, département'' of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is from the Quiberon peninsula. Admini ...

, under Commodore Augustus Keppel and then serving in the Brest and Biscay fleet until the peace. At the peace of 1763 he received a commemorative gold medal for his service in Canada and married (see

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...

). At the end of 1770 he was appointed to the ''Prudent'', which had been commissioned due to the dispute between Britain and Spain about the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

and was paid off at the end of the dispute. In late 1771 he became captain of HMS ''Dorset'', the

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

's yacht. Lord Sandwich,

First Lord of the Admiralty First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible f ...

opposed Alexander taking up this role, seeing it as virtually a retirement from active service, to no avail (though he then prevented Alexander from re-entering active service when Alexander too came to this opinion, soon after taking up the role). Alexander was, however,

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

by the lord lieutenant in 1777 for his long and active service, though (remaining ''Dorsets captain until 1804 – a yacht captain had to leave that post if he wished to be promoted to a

flag rank A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

) he progressed no further than the top of the captains' list as the most senior serving captain of the Navy, though he spent many years in that position. Also during this time he wrote "A sea manual recommended to the young officers of the Royal Navy as a companion to the signal book" (1789), and had his second son, Alexander Wilmot, and his youngest son, Charles Marsh, serving under him on the ''Dorset''. On his death, he was buried in the churchyard at St Peter's, County Dublin. HMS Dorset royal yacht at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1787 2007BM5219 2500

HMS Dorset royal yacht at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1787 2007BM5219 2500

Marriage and issue

In August 1763, when peace came, he married Arabella Susannah Chalmers, only child of the Revd James Chalmers and Arabella, sister and heiress of Sir Edmond Alleyne,

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 ...

, of

Hatfield Peverel Hatfield Peverel is a village and civil parish at the centre of Essex, England. It is located 6 miles (10 km) north-east from Chelmsford, the nearest large city, to which it is connected by road and rail. The parish includes the hamlets ...

, perhaps with Hogarth's portrait commissioned and completed in time for the wedding. Alexander and Arabella's five children were baptized in the Christian faith.

References

* G. L. Green, ''The Royal Navy and Anglo-Jewry'' (1989) * J. Charnock, ed., ''Biographia navalis'', 6 (1798), 273 * G. W. Place, 'Parkgate and the royal yachts: passenger traffic between the north-west and Dublin in the eighteenth century', ''Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire'', 138 (1988), 67–83

External links

Portrait of Schomberg by Hogarth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schomberg, Alexander Royal Navy captains 18th-century English Jews 1720 births 1804 deaths Knights Bachelor Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War British military personnel of the French and Indian War People educated at St Paul's School, London Converts to Anglicanism from Judaism English people of German-Jewish descent Schomberg family