The Naval History of the Faulknor Family
Captain William Faulknor (d. 25
February 1725) first appears as fourth lieutenant of the Royal William in 1695. On 17 March 1707, he
was promoted to the rank of captain, and given command of the 80-gun
ship
of the line Torbay. He afterwards commanded a
frigate, and in 1715 was appointed to command of the 80-gun Cumberland, flagship of Admiral Sir
John Norris,
commander of the Baltic fleet. In 1720 he commanded the 90-gun ship Sandwich. In 1722 he was, for a short
time, Master Attendant of Woolwich Dockyard, then served as
Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich
Hospital until
his death on 25 February 1725 (N.S.)
Clock House (Dockyard offices, 1783-4), the earliest surviving building on the Woolwich Dockyard site)
Captain Samuel
Faulknor 1700-1744 was
the son of William Faulknor. He commanded the 100-gun ship Britannia in 1736, and also the 100-gun Royal
Sovereign
before being appointed commander of the Victory, flagship of Admiral Sir John
Norris, in early 1741. On 28 July 1744 Victory sailed with a fleet of
British and Dutch ships from St. Helen's for Lisbon. During the voyage they
captured six French ships. On 3 October the fleet was dispersed in a gale, and
on the next night Victory was lost with her entire crew. It was believed
that Victory struck the Casquets rocks off Alderney, but in 2009 a wreck identified
as Victory was found by Odyssey
Marine Exploration
nearly 62 miles from where the ship was supposed to have sunk.
Captain Samuel
Faulknor born 1724 d.
28 May 1760 was the son of Samuel Faulknor. He distinguished himself as the
commander of the sloop Vulture in 1746, and was afterwards made post. On 21 April 1746, Faulknor was
appointed to the 20-gun frigate Amazon,
and afterwards the frigate Fox, in which he sailed to Jamaica.
During a hurricane on 11 September 1751, the Fox was lost, but Faulknor,
and the greater part of his crew were saved. He returned to England in
mid-1752, and was first appointed to the 20-gun ship Hind, and then to the Lyne,
also of 20 guns, in early 1755. Within months he took command of the 60-gun Windsor, and distinguished himself on
various occasions, particularly on 17 April 1758, when he chased two French
frigates, and three storeships, until he captured the Grand St. Pierre;
and on 27 March 1759, off Lisbon, he attacked four large French ships, and took
the East
Indiaman Duc
de Chartres. He died on 28 May 1760.
Robert
Faulknor 1726 - 1769 was
also the son of Samuel Faulknor. Robert entered the Navy while still a boy, and
in 1741, aged only 15, served during the siege
of Carthagena.
He was seriously wounded there—sixteen splinters of bone were taken from his
ankle—but was promoted to lieutenant soon afterwards. He later served in the Battle
of Minorca on 20 May 1756,
and was a witness at Admiral
Byng's
subsequent court-martial. Soon after Faulknor was promoted to the rank of commander in a sloop-of-war, and in 1757, was advanced to post-rank, and commanded the 68-gun ship Marlborough, for a short time. In August
1761 Faulknor was in command of the seventy-four Bellona, and sailing in company with the
frigate Brilliant (36) off Vigo,
northern Spain, when they engaged the French seventy-four Courageux, and the 36-gun frigates Malicicuse
and Ermine. Bellona fought and captured Courageux in a
fierce action lasting just 55 minutes, while Brilliant engaged the
frigates. Faulknor was appointed to command the Kent in 1763. In poor health after a
fall from a horse whilst hunting, he then lived in Bath, and afterwards in Dijon,
central France, where he died on 9 May 1769.
Capt Robert Faulknor married
Elizabeth Ashe.
Admiral Jonathan
Faulknor the elder 1731 - 1795
Married Mary Curry, from another Navy Family.
Jonathan Faulknor (d. 24 June
1795) was another son of Samuel Faulknor. He was promoted to lieutenant on 24
August 1753, and to commander on 28 September 1758, and commanded the bomb ketch Furnace,
under Commodore
Keppel, in the Gorée
expedition. On 9
July 1759, he appears as captain of the 20-gun ship Mercury
in the West Indies. In 1767 he was appointed to command of the 74-gun ship Superb, flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir
John Moore.
Faulknor was next appointed to the 74-gun Royal
Oak in 1777;
and in 1778 sailed under the flag of Admiral Keppel, as second captain of the 104-gun Victory. In 1782 he was appointed to the
98-gun Princess
Royal, and
sailed with Lord
Howe's fleet to
the relief
of Gibraltar. He
afterwards continued in the Princess Royal as a guardship at Portsmouth; and was appointed to the 74-gun
Triumph on the same service.
Faulknor
was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the white on 24 September 1787;
rear-admiral of the red on 21 September 1790; vice-admiral of the blue, 1
February 1793; vice of the white, 12 April 1794; vice of the red, 12 July 1794;
and finally admiral of the blue on 1 June 1795. On receiving his last
promotion, he travelled to London from his home in Havant to be presented to the King. On
the morning of 23 June 1795 he was struck with a fit of apoplexy, and died the next day.
He was survived by at least one
son, Jonathan, who died a rear-admiral of the red in 1809 At least one of
Jonathan Faulknor the younger's children also became an officer in the navy,
maintaining the family's long naval tradition. The
Gentleman's Magazine
eulogised that "In his death the country has lost a most gallant and
meritorious officer, and his family an excellent father and friend. His
well-known nautical abilities, and extensive knowledge in his profession, are
above panegyric, and his name will be revered to future age
He was the father of Commander
Jonathan Faulknor, R.N., and Lieutenant Augustus Spry
Faulknor, , and the grandfather of Colonel Jonathan Augustus Spry Faulknor
Bombay Native Infantry
Capt. Robert
Faulknor (1763–1795) was the son of Robert Faulknor the
elder. He entered the Navy in 1777 and served under William
Cornwallis in
several ships during the American
War, receiving
promotion to lieutenant in 1780. After several periods on half-pay he was appointed commander of
the 16-gun sloop Zebra on the outbreak of the French
Revolutionary War
in 1793. After an attack on Fort Royal, Martinique, Faulknor was made post and
given command of the 28-gun frigate Undaunted. He then took part in the invasion
of Guadeloupe.
Faulknor was in command of the frigate Blanche when she captured the French
frigate Pique on 6 January 1795. Faulknor was
killed during the action.
Rear
Admiral Jonathan Faulknor the younger was the son of Jonathan
Faulknor the elder. In 1789 he married Rebecca, daughter of Lieutenant-General Horatio Spry (1730–1811) of the Cornish Spry family. He died in 1809 with the rank
of rear-admiral
of the red.
General Jonathan Augustus Spry Faulknor was
born into a family rich in Royal Navy tradition and achievements. Despite this
Naval tradition he chose the Army. Without researching his direct family it is
not known whether he had brothers but it was usual for that period of landed
gentry for the eldest son to follow in his father's profession, the next eldest
went into Army or Navy service, next eldest often became a Reverend etc. From 1840 -1857 Faulknor was in the service of the East India Company. On 15 January 1857 (when a Captain) he married Kate Elizabeth Trotter, daughter of Assistant Commissary-General Alexander Trotter, in St Saviours Jersey, returning to his regiment just in time for the Indian Mutiny where his regiment remained loyal to the Crown.
His regiment at that time and for most of his career was the 6th Bombay Native Infantry (not to be confused with the 6th Bengal Native Infantry who did rebel and were responsible for many atrocities). The mutiny saw the abolition of the EIC and from 1858 all Indian regiments, Native or European, were accountable direct to the Crown.
The 6th Bombay Native Infantry Regiment consisted of 8 Companies with an Effective Establishment of 1 x Commandant (Colonel or Lieutenant Colonel), 1 x 2nd in Command (Lieutenant Colonel or Major), 1 x Wing Officer (Major or Captain), 1 x Adjutant (Captain or Lieutenant), 1 x Quarter Master (Captain or Lieutenant), 2 x Wing Subalterns (Lieutenants), 1 x Medical Office (Surgeon) and 712 Native soldiers consisting of 8 x Subedars (Captains), 8 x Jemadars (Lieutenants), 40 Havildars (Sergeants), 40 Naiks (Corporals), 16 x Drummers and 600 Sepoys (Privates). In addition the regiment had Non Effective Native Staff comprising 1 x Subedar Major (Major), 1 x Native Adjutant (Lieutenant), 1 x Drill Havildar, 1 x Drill Naik, 8 x Colour Havildars, 8 x Pay Havildars, 1 x Drum Major and 1 x Fife Major. Native Officers had authority over Indian troops only and were subordinate to their equivalent ranking British Commissioned Officers.
J.A.S. Faulknor served with the field force in the Scinde and Afghanistan from 1841-1844 and was present at the defeat and capture of Meer Shah Mahomed at Peer Aasee. He was also present at the siege and capture of the fort at Dwarka in November 1859 where his regiment combined with several ships of the Indian Navy and the 28th Gloucestershire Regiment in one of the final actions of the Indian Mutiny period. However, veterans of this action did not qualify for the medal for the Indian Mutiny because of the previously set time restrictions for the award. Good to see that nothing changes when it comes to qualifying criteria!
At some stage later in his career he spent time in Australia as he disappears from the Indian Army list and reappears years later with a promotion and with the note - ' Permitted to reside in India, England or Australia'. He died in 1898 having been placed on the unemployed supernumerary list of officers on 6 November 1885. [1]
[2]The history of the Faulkenors,
and their involvement in the Battles of the Royal Navy is to be found in the
Naval Chronicle.
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