Admiral Sir Charles Ekins GCB (1768 – 2 July 1855) was an officer of 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 in the

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (; 1780–1784) was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, contemporary with the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on t ...

, the French Revolutionary and

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, and rose to the rank of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Life

Ekins was the son of Dr. Jeffery Ekins, dean of Carlisle, and nephew of Dr. John Ekins, dean of Salisbury (1768–1809), and was born presumably at

Quainton Quainton (formerly Quainton Malet)Plea rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40/647; 7th entry, with "North" in the margin; the defendant, Richard Longe is of Quenton Malet is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, where his father was then rector. He entered the

in March 1781, on board the 74-gun , under the command of the Hon.

Keith Stewart Vice admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral Keith Stewart (1739 – 3 March 1795) was a Scotland, Scottish Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons on two occasions. Having begun his naval career in around 1753, Stewart wa ...

. In ''Berwick'' he was present at the Battle of Dogger Bank on 5 August 1781, and afterwards went with Captain Stewart to , which was one of the fleet under Lord Howe that relieved

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

in 1782. After continuous service on the Mediterranean and home stations for the next eight years, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 20 October 1790. During the next five years he was mainly employed in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. Early in 1795 he came home in the 98-gun , bearing the flag of Sir John Jervis, and was in her when she was burnt at

Spithead Spithead is an eastern area of the Solent and a roadstead for vessels off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast, with the Isle of Wight lying to the south-west. Spithead and the ch ...

on 1 May. On 18 June he was promoted to the command of the sloop in the North Sea, from which he was appointed to , supposed to be at the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, but found, on his arrival, to have been condemned and broken up. He returned to England in command of ''Havik'', one of the Dutch prizes taken at the

capitulation of Saldanha Bay The capitulation of Saldanha Bay was the surrender to the British of a Batavian expeditionary force sent to recapture the Dutch Cape Colony in 1796. In 1795, early in the War of the First Coalition, French troops overran the Dutch Republic wh ...

. After his return to Britain, he was advanced to post rank 22 December 1796. In August 1797 he was appointed to the 28-gun HMS ''Amphitrite'', and in her was actively employed in the West Indies until March 1801, when, after a severe attack of yellow fever, he was sent home with despatches. From 1804 to 1806 he commanded the 40-gun ; and from 1806 to 1811 the 74-gun , in which he took part in the expedition against Copenhagen in 1807, in the operations on the coast of Portugal in 1808, and in the Baltic cruise of 1809. In September 1815 he commissioned the 74-gun , and commanded her in the bombardment of Algiers, on 27 August 1816, when he was wounded. He later, together with the other captains engaged, was nominated a

Companion of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His ...

, and by the

King of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, country's charter and Constitution of the Netherlands, constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and a ...

a knight 3rd class of the Order of William of the Netherlands. ''Superb'' was paid off in October 1818, and Ekins had no further service afloat; though he became in course of seniority rear-admiral on 12 August 1819, vice-admiral on 22 July 1830, and admiral on 23 November 1841; and was made a Knight Commander of the Bath on 8 June 1831, and a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath on 7 April 1852. He died at 69

Cadogan Place Cadogan Place is a street in Belgravia, London. It is named after Earl Cadogan and runs parallel to the lower half of Sloane Street. It gives its name to the extensive Cadogan Place Gardens, private communal gardens maintained for Cadogan re ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 2 July 1855. He married, in 1800, Priscilla, daughter of

Thomas Parlby Thomas Parlby (1727–1802) Stone Hall, Stonehouse, Plymouth, Stonehouse, in Plymouth "the big house overlooking Stonehouse Pool" (since demolished), was a civil engineering contractor described in his obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine as "Mas ...

(1727–1802) of Stone Hall, Plymouth, Devon.

Works

Ekins was the author of ''Naval Battles of Great Britain from the Accession of the illustrious House of Hanover to the Battle of Navarin reviewed'' (1824; 2nd edit. 1828). He wrote also a pamphlet on the round stem controversy in the form of a letter to Sir Robert Seppings (1824), and developed a system of maritime signalling (London: Thomas Curson Hansard, 1838).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekins, Charles 1768 births 1855 deaths Royal Navy admirals Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Knights Third Class of the Military Order of William Royal Navy personnel of the Bombardment of Algiers (1816)

Life

Works

See also

References