Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Richard Charles Mayne (7 July 1835 – 29 May 1892) was a

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 ...

officer and explorer, who in later life became a Conservative politician. Richard Mayne was the son of Sir

Richard Mayne Sir Richard Mayne KCB (27 November 1796 – 26 December 1868) was a barrister and the joint first Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, the head of the London Metropolitan Police (1829–1868). With an incumbency of 39 years, he rem ...

KCB (the first joint commissioner of the Metropolitan Police) and the grandson of Judge Edward Mayne. Both his father and grandfather were graduates of

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. Richard Mayne was educated at Eton. He was a scion of a family that settled at Mount Sedborough in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

during the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ) was the organised Settler colonialism, colonisation (''Plantation (settlement or colony), plantation'') of Ulstera Provinces of Ireland, province of Irelandby people from Great ...

and subsequently at Freame Mount,

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

in Ireland.

Royal Navy career

Exploration of British Columbia

In 1856 Lieutenant Mayne was attached to the Nautical Survey of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

and British Columbia. Mayne sailed with Captain

George Henry Richards Sir George Henry Richards (13 January 182014 November 1896) was Hydrographer of the Royal Navy from 1863 to 1874. Biography Richards was born in Antony, Cornwall, the son of Captain G. S. Richards, and joined the Royal Navy in 1832. His eld ...

on his expedition in HMS ''Plumper'' and also on HMS ''Hecate'' to survey the coast of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

(1857–1859), and there came to serve in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

under Colonel Richard Moody and was assigned the exploration and mapping of hitherto unknown parts of the colony. His journal of these activities is a classic source of British Columbia history, as are those of his

Royal Engineer The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

colleague Lieutenant Henry Spencer Palmer.

Mayne Island Mayne Island is a island in the southern Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia. It is midway between the Lower Mainland of BC and Vancouver Island, and has a population of over 1300. Mount Parke in the south-central heart of the island is ...

in the

Gulf Islands The Gulf Islands is a group of islands in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia Coast, mainland coast of British Columbia. Etymology The name "Gulf Islands" comes from "Gulf of Georgia", the original term used by Geor ...

is named after him, and

Hecate Strait Hecate Strait (; Haida language: ''K̲andaliig̲wii'', also ''siigaay'' which means simply "ocean") is a wide but shallow strait between Haida Gwaii and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It merges with Queen Charlotte Sound to the south a ...

for his vessel. For this work, in 1860, he was promoted to Commander and returned to England. In 1862 he was appointed to the command of HMS ''Eclipse'', for service in New Zealand, and took part in the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars () took place from 1845 to 1872 between the Colony of New Zealand, New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori people, Māori on one side, and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. Though the wars were initi ...

until severely wounded in 1863 and invalided home. For these services he was mentioned in despatches and promoted to the rank of Captain; and in 1867 received the Companionship of the Bath.

Straits of Magellan expedition

Mayne commanded HMS ''Nassau'' on the survey expedition to the Straits of Magellan, 1866–9. The naturalist on the voyage was Robert Oliver Cunningham.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

requested the Lords of the Admiralty to ask Capt. Mayne to collect several boatloads of fossil bones of extinct species of quadrupeds. Admiral Sulivan had previously discovered an astonishingly rich accumulation of fossil bones not far from the Straits. These remains apparently belonged to a more ancient period, than the collection by Mr Darwin on HMS ''Beagle'' and by other naturalists and therefore of great interest to science. Many of these were collected with the aid of Hydrographer Capt. Richards R.N. and deposited in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

The Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of its h ...

compiled advice to mariners of the Strait in 1871. Admiral Mayne was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and served on its council. He was the author of ''Four years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island''.

Marriage

In 1870, Captain Mayne married Miss Sabine Dent, a daughter of Sir Thomas Dent (1796–1872) and his wife, Sabine Ellen Robarts, daughter of James Thomas Robarts (1784–1825), another influential opium merchant. Sabine Dent was a relation of

Lancelot Dent Lancelot Dent was a 19th-century British merchant resident for a period in Guangzhou, Canton, China who dealt primarily in opium. He was christened on August 4, 1799, in Crosby Ravensworth, Westmorland, England, son of William and Jane (Wilkinso ...

of Flass House. After his marriage, he only served a short term afloat in command of HMS ''Invincible''. He retired as a Rear-Admiral in 1879.

Political career

After retiring from the Navy, he unsuccessfully contested the Welsh constituency of Pembroke and Haverfordwest as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

at the 1885 general election, being defeated by a narrow margin by the Liberal candidate, H.G. Allen. In 1886, Allen was among the Liberal MPs who broke with Gladstone over Irish Home Rule. Shortly after the election was announced, Mayne arrived in the constituency launch his campaign. At a meeting at the Masonic Hall in Pembroke, he emphasised that he had consulted with Allen before travelling to the constituency and stated that he had a letter in his possession from Allen confirming his decision to retire. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) there the following year, serving until his death shortly before the 1892 general election., at Leigh Rayment's Peerage pages

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayne, Richard Charles 1835 births 1892 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Explorers of British Columbia Pre-Confederation British Columbia people Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation British Columbia People from County Fermanagh Military personnel from County Cavan Military personnel from Dublin (city) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Pembrokeshire constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 Royal Navy rear admirals Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society People educated at Eton College Irish explorers of North America 19th-century Anglo-Irish people Irish officers in the Royal Navy 19th-century Irish explorers Politicians from County Cavan