Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Constantine Richard Moorsom (22 September 1792 – 26 May 1861) was a vice-admiral 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 commanded HMS ''Fury'' a ''Hecla''-class

bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (Naval long gun, long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but ...

which saw wartime service in the Bombardment of Algiers, an attack on

Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

in HMS ''Fury'' in August, 1816.The Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth
Edward Osler, p429, 1835 Moorsom was the son of Admiral Sir

Robert Moorsom Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom KCB (8 June 1760 – 14 April 1835) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. His very active service career was especia ...

, a veteran of

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * The Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England Trafalgar may also refer to: Places * Cape Trafalgar, a headland in ...

. Moorsom was on the roster of HMS ''Revenge'', his father's ship, when it was at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

. However records show that Constantine was actually at school at the time of the battle. Moorsom rose to be chairman of the

London & North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

Biography

Early life

Moorsom was born on 22 September 1792, the son of Admiral Sir

who was to be a

Knight Commander 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 a veteran of the

. His mother was born Eleanor Scarth.

Royal Navy

Moorsom entered the Royal Navy College in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

where he was awarded a first medal and three prizes for mathematics. His service was noted by not only his progression but the record of his innovation. Moorsom's younger brothers also joined the navy. Henry Moorsom was killed in 1826 whilst in command of the sloop . His other brother William Scarth Moorsom left the navy in 1832 and became a successful railway engineer after training with

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

. It is said that the brothers inherited their fathers talent for drawing and poetry. His sister, Maria Margaret, married in 1815 and had seven children with the Rev. Longueville Massell.Obituaries
Gentleman's Magazine, p322, retrieved 18 November 2008 His naval career started with his first posting to HMS ''Revenge'' which at the time was in the Atlantic off Portugal. The ship was involved in the defence of Cadiz. He became a lieutenant in 1816 after returning to England on board HMS ''Warspite''. He was then with until 1814 when he was rewarded with his own command of a sloop at

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

– HMS ''Goree''. He was with the boat a year then another year with HMS ''Terror'', before taking on the

, . He commanded HMS ''Fury'', a ''Hecla''-class

, in the Bombardment of Algiers, an attack on

in August, 1816. As a result of the bombardment slaves were released and Moorsom's use of his vessel was put under investigation. It was found that the ''Fury'' had fired twice as many mortars as any other boat and that this was due to the fitting which Moorsom had devised. His methods were adopted as standard practice. Moorsom became a post captain in 1818 and in 1822 his innovation came again to notice when he was put in command of HMS ''Ariadne''. ''Ariadne'' had been a problem vessel after she was converted into a corvette with the addition of a quarterdeck to her original frigate frame. This increased her draught and made her difficult to manage, however Moorsom redistributed the storage and not only reported that she was now seaworthy, he sailed her around the Cape of Good Hope to prove the point. He was briefly an acting Commodore in Mauritius, but in 1825 he served for two years as the captain of his father's flagship at Chatham. He took no further sea missions but rose through the ranks to rear-admiral. In 1843 he published an essay on the ''Principles of Naval Tactics'' which he updated three years later.

Abolitionist

In 1840, Moorsom attended the

World Anti-Slavery Convention The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London, on 12–23 June 1840. It was organised by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, largely on the initiative of the English Quaker Joseph Sturge. The excl ...

in London. It was held at the Freemasons Hall on 12 June 1840 The meeting was attended by leading

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

from around the world. The portrait above is taken from the commemorative painting where he can be seen behind the head of

Joseph Sturge Joseph Sturge (2 August 1793 – 14 May 1859) was an English Quaker, abolitionist and activist. He founded the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (now Anti-Slavery International). He worked throughout his life in Radical political actions ...

of the

Anti-Slavery International Anti-Slavery International, founded as the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1839, is an international non-governmental organization, international non-governmental organisation, registered charity and advocacy group, based in the Unit ...

, who organised the conference. The painting hangs in the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

Railways

Constantine also went into the railway business as company secretary at the same company where his brother, William, was engineer. He was elected to the board of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway in 1841 and almost immediately became its chairman. He remained in this position until his resignation just before the company became part of the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

in 1843.LNWR People
, London and North Western Railway Society, retrieved 18 November 2008 He served as a director of the

London & Birmingham Railway #REDIRECT Ampersand The ampersand, also known as the and sign, is the logogram , representing the grammatical conjunction, conjunction "and". It originated as a typographic ligature, ligature of the letters of the word (Latin for "and"). ...

from 1837 to 1839. He was promoted on 29 August 1851 to be a Rear-Admiral of the Blue. From 1852 until the time of his death on 26 May 1861, he was chairman of the

.Document summary
Salford University, retrieved 18 November 2008 During this time he also chaired a committee for the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief ...

on steamship performance. He died at Russell Square in London after becoming a vice admiral in 1857 and having fathered a large family with his wife Mary Maude of Silaby Hall in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, including the politician James Marshall Moorsom.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 106th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1999, p. 3093

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moorsom, Constantine Richard Royal Navy vice admirals People from Whitby 1782 births 1861 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the Bombardment of Algiers (1816) Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery British abolitionists Directors of the London and North Western Railway Military personnel from North Yorkshire