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 ...
Molyneux Shuldham, 1st Baron Shuldham ( – 30 September 1798) was an officer of the British
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 served for a time as colonial governor of
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
.
Family and early life
Molyneux Shuldham was born in Ireland c. 1717, and was the second son of the Reverend Lemuel Shuldham, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Molyneux of Ballymulvy, of
County Longford
County Longford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the Local government in the Republic ...
. Molyneux entered the navy in 1732 as captain's servant on board , with Captain
George Forbes (afterwards
Earl of Granard
Earl of Granard is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1684 for Arthur Forbes, 1st Viscount Granard. He was a lieutenant-general in the army and served as Marshal of the Army in Ireland after the Restoration and was later Lord ...
and governor of County Longford). He afterwards served in with Captain
Charles Fanshawe, and for upwards of four years in with
Fitzroy Henry Lee
Vice-Admiral Fitzroy Henry Lee (2 January 1699 – 14 April 1750) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as Commodore Governor of the Colony of Newfoundland.
Lee supposedly inspired the character "Hawser Trunnion" in Tobias Smollett's nove ...
. He passed his examination on 25 January 1739, being then described on his certificate as 'near twenty-two.' According to the statement in Charnock, he was not seventeen.
On 31 August 1739 he was promoted to be lieutenant of , one of the ships which went out to 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 ...
with Sir
Chaloner Ogle
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Chaloner Ogle KB (1681 – 11 April 1750) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After serving as a junior officer during the Nine Years' War, a ship he was commanding was captured by three French ships off Ostend i ...
, and took part in the
unsuccessful attack on
Cartagena in 1741. In 1742 he was first lieutenant of her when, on 21 September, she was set on fire in a drunken squabble between a marine and the purser's boy and burnt, with a large proportion of the ship's company. Shuldham, with the captain and other officers, was tried by court-martial on 15 October but was acquitted of all blame.
Command
He was promoted to commander of in
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
on 1 May 1744. On 9 November 1745 he was attacked and captured by two Spanish
privateer
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
s off the
Black River, after stiff resistance. Shuldham suffered mistreatment by privateers, but was compensated by the Spanish governor of
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.[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 ...](_bl ...<br></span></div>. After finally returning to England, he was promoted to be captain of on 12 May 1746, then employed on the coast of Scotland; in December 1748 he was appointed to , and in March 1749 to . In October 1754 he was appointed to , from which, in March 1755, he was moved to the 60-gun , going out to the <div class=)
, where, near
Martinique
Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
on 11 March 1756, she fell in with a French 74-gun ship and two frigates, which overpowered and captured her.
Seven Years' War
War had not then been declared, but hostilities had been going on for several months, as Shuldham very well knew, and the story that he mistook the enemy's ships of war for merchantmen would be but little to his credit if there was any reason to suppose it true. He, with the crew of the ''Warwick'', was sent to France, kept a prisoner at large at
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...
for nearly two years, and returned to England in a
cartel
A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...
on 16 March 1758. A court-martial acquitted him of all blame for the loss of the ship, and on 25 July 1758 he was appointed to , in which he joined Commodore
Sir John Moore in the West Indies and took part in the
reduction of Guadeloupe and its dependent islands, March to May 1759 under Commodore Moore.
In July he was moved by Moore into , which was lost on a reef of rocks at
Fort Royal
Fort-de-France (, , ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean.
History
Before it was ceded to France by Spain in 1635, the area of Fort-de-France was known as Ig ...
off
Martinique
Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
as she was standing in to engage a battery on 8 January 1762, when the island was attacked and reduced by Rear-Admiral
Rodney. In April Rodney appointed Shuldham to
HMS ''Marlborough'', from which a few days later he was moved by Sir
George Pocock
Admiral Sir George Pocock, KB (6 March 1706 – 3 April 1792) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the Seven Years' War.
Family
Pocock was born in Thames Ditton in Surrey, the son of Thomas Pocock, a chaplain in the Royal Navy. His grea ...
to , and again by Rodney after a few weeks to
''Foudroyant''. In mid-1763 he was transferred once more to a temporary command aboard , with which he returned to England in August 1763. Peace had been declared between England and France, and Shuldham was ashore on
half-pay
Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service.
Past usage United Kingdom
In the E ...
until December 1766, when he was appointed to , the
guardship
A guard ship is a warship assigned as a stationary guard in a port or harbour, as opposed to a coastal patrol boat, which serves its protective role at sea.
Royal Navy
In the Royal Navy of the eighteenth century, peacetime guard ships were usua ...
at
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 ...
. In November 1770 he transferred to , then commissioned in consequence of the expected rupture with Spain.
Governor of Newfoundland
On 14 February 1772 he was appointed commodore and commander-in-chief on the
Newfoundland Station
The Newfoundland Station was a formation or command of, first, the Kingdom of Great Britain and, then, of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. Its official headquarters varied between Portsmouth or Plymouth in England where a squadron of ships would s ...
, which office he held for three years. He was responsible for the construction of
Fort Townshend, which was completed in 1780. Shuldham visited
Chateau Bay on the
Labrador
Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...
coast and sent his lieutenant,
Roger Curtis
Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, 1st Baronet, Order of the Bath, GCB (4 June 1746 – 14 November 1816) was a Royal Navy officer who enjoyed an extensive career which was punctuated by a number of highly controversial incidents. ...
, to inspect the northern coast and the
Moravian missionaries.
Flag rank
On 31 March 1775 he was promoted to be
rear-admiral of the white
Rear-Admiral of the White was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Rear-admiral of the red (see order of precedence below). Royal Navy officers currently holding the ranks of commodore, rear ...
. At the general election in the following autumn he was returned to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
as member for
Fowey
Fowey ( ; , meaning ''beech trees'') is a port town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, ...
, and on 29 September, was appointed commander-in-chief on the coast of North America from the river
St. Lawrence to
Cape Florida
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area occupies approximately the southern third of the island of Key Biscayne, at coordinates . This park includes the Cape Florida Light, the oldest standing structure in Greater Miami. In 2005, it was r ...
. He went out with his flag in the 50-gun , arriving at
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
on 30 December after a passage of sixty-one days, having been promoted, on 7 December while on the way out, to be
vice-admiral of the blue
Vice-Admiral of the Blue was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Vice-Admiral of the White (see order of precedence below). Royal Navy officers currently holding the ranks of commodore, rear a ...
. His work was limited to covering the operations of the troops, and preventing the colonial trade. In July 1776, he escorted Admiral Howe into New York Harbor. He was replaced by
Lord Howe, and on 31 July, was created a peer of Ireland by the title of Baron Shuldham. Early in 1777 he returned to England, and from 1778 to 1783 was
Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. Between 1845 and 1896, this offi ...
. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 1777. He was promoted on 24 September 1787 to be
admiral of the blue
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 ...
, and on 1 February 1793 to be
admiral of the white.
He died at
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
in the autumn of 1798. His body was transported back to England aboard , which was also carrying many of the antique vases collected by
Sir William Hamilton. ''Colossus'' was wrecked in a gale on the
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...
, but while many of Sir William's vases were lost, Shuldham's body was recovered through 'heroic efforts'. He had married Margaret Irene, widow of John Harcourt of Ankerwycke Park but left no issue, and thus the title became extinct.
References
*
External links
Biography at Government House ''The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador''*
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuldham, Molyneux
1710s births
1798 deaths
Politicians from County Longford
Governors of Newfoundland Colony
Barons in the Peerage of Ireland
Peers of Ireland created by George III
Royal Navy admirals
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall
British MPs 1774–1780
Fellows of the Royal Society