Joseph Ames (5 March 1619 – December 1695) was an English naval commander under the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

. Ames was born in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

on 5 March 1619. Brought up as a sailor from his youth, he was one of the commanders of a small Channel fleet watching the Dutch coast in 1641. In January 1653 he returned to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, with a large consignment of sugar, which had only recently been planted in the island, and in July of the same year he was present at the engagement with the Dutch off the Texel in which

Maarten Tromp Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp or Maarten van Tromp (23 April 1598 – 31 July 1653) was an army general and admiral in the Dutch navy during much of the Eighty Years' War and throughout the First Anglo-Dutch War. Son of a ship's captain, Tromp spe ...

was killed. "For eminent service in saving ye triumph fired in fight with the Dutch" on that occasion, a gold medal was awarded him by parliament. In succeeding years Ames was in command of several ships of war, and made repeated voyages to America and the West Indies. Under his care many royalist prisoners were transported to the colonies, and on 8 October 1655 he was the bearer of a young deer as a present to Cromwell from the president of the Providence Plantation in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. He withdrew from active service, according to his grandson, the bibliographer, about 1673, and retired to Yarmouth, where he died in December 1695. He was a member of the Presbyterian congregation of his native town. Several of his letters, addressed to the Admiralty commissioners under the Commonwealth, are preserved among the State papers of the time.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Joseph Royal Navy officers 1619 births 1695 deaths Military personnel from Great Yarmouth Royal Navy personnel of the First Anglo-Dutch War