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 ...

Smith Child (1730 – 1813) was an officer 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 ...

. He served in 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 ...

, the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

, rising to the rank of

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 ...

. He also established a

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

manufactory in

Tunstall, Staffordshire Tunstall is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, Engl ...

Biography

Born into a well-to-do family from Audley,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, Smith Child entered the Royal Navy in 1747 through a connection between his father (also named Smith Child) and

First Lord of the Admiralty First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible f ...

George Anson. Serving first aboard , he rose through the ranks, seeing service in the

supporting the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and the Siege of Pondicherry in 1760. In 1763 he established a

-manufactory in Tunstall, Staffordshire, and married Margaret Roylance of Newfield the following year, acquiring a significant estate from her family. They had two sons; one was lost at sea, and the other died two years before his father. By the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

he had been promoted to captain. He was in command of HMS ''Europe'' as part of Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot's fleet in the March 1781

Battle of Cape Henry The Battle of Cape Henry was a naval battle in the American War of Independence which took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 16 March 1781 between a British squadron under Vice-admiral Mariot Arbuthnot and a French squadron under Admira ...

, in which the British fought off a French fleet attempting to enter

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

, and again later that year in the critical

Battle of the Chesapeake The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1 ...

in early September, in which the British lost control of the bay, enabling the decisive Franco-American victory at Yorktown. In November 1795 he was given command of HMS ''Commerce de Marseille'', a French ship that had captured by the Royal Navy in the 1793

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Re ...

. The ship, originally a 118-gun three-decker, had been converted to a store and transport ship, and was loaded with 1,000 men and stores for transport 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 ...

. In somewhat poor condition, she was further damaged in a storm not long after sailing, and Child was forced to return to

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 ...

.Ward, p. 85James, p. 363 Child was promoted to

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 ...

in February 1799, but saw no further action. He died in 1813, two years after his son John. As a result, he willed his estate to his grandson, Smith Child. He is buried at St Margaret's Church in Wolstanton.The Potteries: Admiral Smith Child In 1893 a clocktower was erected in Tunstall commemorating his civic contributions.Cassell's Gazetteer, p. 241

Notes

References

*James, William
''The Naval History of Great Britain'', Volume 1
*Ward, John
''The borough of Stoke-upon-Trent''''Cassell's Gazetteer''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Child, Smith 1730 births 1813 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War British military personnel of the French and Indian War Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy vice admirals People from Audley, Staffordshire Military personnel from Staffordshire