Rear-Admiral James Bisset (1760–1824) was a Scottish commander 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 ...

during the

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 ...

Life

He was born in 1760 the third son of Captain Thomas Bisset (1722–1763), and his wife Janet McArthur. Bisset was a friend and ally of

Captain Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

. When James' father died in 1763 when James was only three it is thought that he went to live with cousins in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. James joined the

in 1771 as a captain's servant to Cpt

John Bentinck Captain John Albert Bentinck, (29 December 1737 – 23 September 1775) was a Royal Navy officer, inventor and politician who represented Rye in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1761 to 1768. Family background He was a member of the ...

on HMS Centaur a guardship at

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 ...

. In October 1773 he was present when Bentinck entertained

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

on board and he famously demonstrated the calming of the water by pouring oil on it. He joined the sloop HMS Wasp in 1775 and stayed with this ship until commissioned as a Lieutenant on 10 February 1778, then joining

HMS Elizabeth Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Elizabeth''. Most of these ships have been named in honour of Queen Elizabeth I of England: * , also known as ''Great Elizabeth'', was a ship purchased in 1514 and wrecked later that year. ...

under Cpt Frederick Maitland. In 1767 Maitland had married Bisset's first cousin, Margaret Louisa Dick of Edinburgh. In 1791 he was commanding the 16-gun HMS Swallow moving to 14-gun HMS Falcon, based 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 ...

, the following year. In 1793 he saw action in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, capturing several privateers, and was promoted to Post Captain in October 1794. In 1795 he was given the far larger HMS Venerable, a 74-gun ship of the line, under Admiral Duncan in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. On 23 December 1805 he sat on the panel of judges at Admiral

Robert Calder Admiral Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, (2 July 174531 August 1818) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. For much of his career he w ...

's court-martial. In 1811 his wife lived at Carnegie Street in south

and in 1813 moved nearby to 174 Pleasance. In December 1813 he was promoted to rear admiral. His ultimate command was the highly prestigious 100-gun

HMS Sovereign HMS ''Sovereign'' may refer to the following English and Royal Navy warships: * , also known as ''Sovereign'', an English warship built in 1488, rebuilt in 1510, and in service until 1521 * , launched as ''Sovereign of the Seas'' in 1637, she wa ...

, which had famously seen action 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 ...

. He died in Edinburgh on 20th January 1824 and is buried in

New Calton Burial Ground New Calton Burial Ground is a burial ground in Edinburgh. It was built as an overspill and functional replacement to Old Calton Burial Ground and lies half a mile to its east on Regent Road in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the south-east slopes of Cal ...

.Tracing Your Edinburgh Ancestors, Alan Stewart He did not have any children.

References

1760 births 1824 deaths Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Burials at the New Calton Burial Ground {{Scotland-bio-stub