Septimius Arabin (1785–1855) was an admiral 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 ...

of Irish/French Huguenot descent.

Life

Septimus (or Septimius) Arabin was the 5th of the nine sons of Henry Arabin, a Dublin lawyer, industrialist (part owner of the Corkagh gunpowder mills) and political activist. His mother, Ann Favière Grant, was of Scottish/Huguenot extraction but grew up in Dublin. His paternal great-grandfather John Arabin raised the

57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot The 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of line infantry in the British Army, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot to form the Middlesex Regiment in 1881. His ...

at the onset of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. While several of his brothers became officers in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, Septimus preferred to join the

. In April 1799 he took part in the defence of the city of Acre against the French fleet as part of the Egyptian campaign. He was a cadet officer on the 74-gun HMS Tigre which had been captured from the French in 1795. In November 1802 he was ranked

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

and transferred to the newly-launched 50-gun HMS Antelope which was based 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 ...

protecting against the potential French invasion. In 1805 Arabin passed the Lieutenant's exam. In 1806 he was given the role of master's mate on the 74 gun HMS Pompee and was involved in major attacks on the Turkish fleet in February and March 1807 at the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

under Captain Richard Dacres. Arabin was promoted to Lieutenant in August 1807. In August 1807 he transferred to HMS Foudroyant. Eleven days later he took place in a major sea battle: The

Second Battle of Copenhagen The Second Battle of Copenhagen (or the Bombardment of Copenhagen) (16 August – 7 September 1807) was a British bombardment of the Danish capital, Copenhagen, in order to capture or destroy the Dano-Norwegian fleet during the Napoleonic Wars ...

which turned into a siege which lasted three weeks. In 1808 the Foudroyant spent many months patrolling off the South American coast. Still there in February 1810, Arabin transferred to HMS Theseus and in 1812 to

HMS Tremendous HMS ''Tremendous'' was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Edward Hunt, built to the lines of by William Barnard's yard at Deptford Green, and launched on 30 October 1784. French Revolutionary War service T ...

, both 74 gun ships, and both based off the English coast. Late in 1812 he transferred to HMS Hiberia (110 guns and a crew of almost 400) as their Flag Lieutenant. He was promoted to Commander on Hibernia in July 1814, but he was immediately placed on half pay. He remained in this status for 7 years eventually being given command of the sloop

HMS Argus Nine ships of the Royal Navy and one of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have been named ''Argus'', after Argus Panoptes, Argus, the hundred-eyed giant of mythology: * was a 10-gun sloop-of-war, sloop, originally a French privateer, captured in 1799 an ...

in July 1821, serving off

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

with a crew of 120 men. He was promoted to Captain and Commander in March 1823. In December 1825 he got a new (but final) command: the 28 gun HMS North Star. He retired with the rank of Rear Admiral in October 1846. He moved to the South of France on health grounds and died in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

he married Marie Rumbold (1788-1875) daughter of

Sir George Rumbold, 2nd Baronet Sir George Rumbold, 2nd Baronet (17 August 1764 – 15 December 1807) was a British diplomat who was ambassador to the Hanseatic League. Early life George Berriman Rumbold was born in Fort William, India, where his father Thomas Rumbold worked f ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arabin, Septimus Arabinus 1785 births 1855 deaths People from West Drayton Royal Navy admirals