Admiral Robert Digby (20 December 1732 – 25 February 1815) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

officer who also served briefly as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP). He is the namesake of

Digby, Nova Scotia Digby is an incorporated town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is in the historical county of Digby and a separate municipality from the Municipality of the District of Digby. The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Bas ...

Naval career

Digby was the third son of Charlotte Fox and the Hon. Edward Digby (1693–1746), eldest son of William Digby, 5th Baron Digby.Admiral Digby Museum
/ref> He entered the navy aged twelve or thirteen, and became Captain of HMS ''Solebay'' at the age of 23 in 1755, rising to Second-in-Command of the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

in 1779. He was appointed in 1781 as

Admiral of the Red The Admiral of the Red was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Admiral of the Fleet (see order of precedence below). The rank did not exist prior to 1805, as the admiral commanding the Red ...

and given the command of the North American Station. After the surrender of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 1783, Digby helped to organise the evacuation of some 1,500

United Empire Loyalists United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America du ...

to the small port of Conway in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

. The settlement he led transformed the tiny village into a town, which in 1787 was renamed ''Digby''. The town's museum was also named the Admiral Digby Museum in his honor. He was recalled to home waters in 1787, was promoted to

Admiral of the Blue The Admiral of the Blue was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Admiral of the White (see order of precedence below). From 1688 to 1805 this rank was in order of precedence third; after 1805 ...

, and retired from the navy in 1794.

Family

His father died before inheriting the family's title,

Baron Digby Baron Digby is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Ireland and once in the Peerage of Great Britain, for members of the same family. Robert Digby, Governor of King's County, was created Baron Digby, of Geashill in the ...

(in the

peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divi ...

), and on the death in 1752 of the 5th Baron, the title passed to the admiral's oldest brother

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

. When Edward died in 1757, the title was inherited by their brother Henry, and Robert was elected to succeed Edward as MP for

Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada * Wells, British Columbia England * Wel ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, holding the seat from 1757 to 1761. (Because the family's title was in the peerage of Ireland, it did not confer a seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

, and did not disqualify the holder from election to the British House of Commons). He married Eleanor Jauncey (née Elliot), daughter of

Andrew Elliot Andrew Elliot (November 1728 – 25 May 1797) was a British merchant and official who served as the Acting and last British Governor of New York in 1783. Early life Elliot was born November 1728 in Edinburgh, the son of Sir Gilbert Elliot, ...

Lieutenant-Governor of New York The territory which would later become the state of New York was settled by European colonists as part of the New Netherland colony (parts of present-day New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware) under the command of the Dutch West India C ...

. They had no children.

Notes

References

* *

External links

List of Naval Battles – Robert DigbyAdmiral Digby museum
in Digby, Nova Scotia , - 1732 births 1815 deaths Royal Navy admirals Military history of Nova Scotia Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies 18th-century Royal Navy personnel British MPs 1754–1761

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, h ...

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