IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0064 CHN
Held at: National Maritime Museum
Title: Christian family papers
Date(s): 1797-1828
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 6 boxes and 9 folders
Name of creator(s): Christian | Sir | Hugh Cloberry | 1747-1798 | Knight | Rear Admiral
Christian | Hood Hanway | 1784-1849 | Rear-Admiral Of The White
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian, father of Hood Hanway Christian, entered the navy in circa 1761, being promoted to Lieutenant in 1771. Serving mostly in the Channel and Mediterranean, in 1778 he was appointed Captain of HMS SUFFOLK, which carried Commodore Rowley's broad pennant to North America, seeing action of Grenada in 1779 and Martinique in 1780. Moving on to the HMS FORTUNEE he participated in the actions off the Chesapeake, 1781, St Kitts and Dominica in 1782. He returned home during the peace, and did not find employment again until 1790, as second captain on board the HMS QUEEN CHARLOTTE with Lord Howe. In 1795 he was advanced to Rear-Admiral of the Blue, and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the West Indies Station, with his flag in the HMS PRINCE GEORGE, but the fleet was scattered in a storm and limped back to Spithead. He did not arrive in Barbados until April 1796, having been invested with the Order of the Bath, where he undertook the conquest of St. Lucia with Sir Ralph Abercromby. In 1797 he was sent to the Cape of Good Hope as second in command, being promoted to commander-in-chief in 1798, a few months before his death. Hood Hanway Christian was the eldest son of Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian. He joined the navy in 1792 as a volunteer and served on the ships of his father until 1798, serving in both the West Indies and the Cape of Good Hope. He then moved on to HMS GARLAND, HMS BOADICEA (taking part in the attack on the Spanish batteries of the Isle d'Aix) in 1799, and on to HMS QUEEN CHARLOTTE, the flagship of Lord Keith in the Mediterranean. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1800, serving onboard HMS PHEONIX, taking part in the reduction of Genoa. In 1806, after serving with distinction in Rear Admiral Rainier's flag ship HMS TRIDENT, he received a post dated commission, returning home to captain HMS HEROINE, which was part of the Walcheron expeditionary armament. From 1811 to 1814, he was the captain of HMS IRIS, which was based off northern Spain, and from which he actively helped Spanish patriots. This culminated in the capture of the fortress at Castro, of which he was appointed governor. From 1824 to 1828 he served as Commodore on the Cape of Good Hope Station.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
The papers relating to Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian all date from 1798 when he was second in command of the Cape of Good Hope station. They include official correspondence relating mainly to the day to day running of the station but particulaly to the mutiny and subsequent Court Martial concerning the East Indiaman, PRINCESS CHARLOTTE. The papers relating to Sir Hugh's son, Hood Hanway Christian, are more extensive. Apart from an order book from 1812, when Christain was the governor of the Spanish fort at Castro, they are mostly official correspondence from the period 1824-1828. These relate to the supression of the slave trade and various disciplinary proceedings together with correspondence from the Navy Board. There is a small amount of personal correspondence including letters from Sir Richard Keats and Sir Edward Pellew.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
In transit - item unavailable from May to August 2011.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Finding aids:
Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The papers were purchased by the Museum in 1978.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Edited by Sarah Drewery, Jun 2011.
Date(s) of descriptions: 2011-04-19