18th century naval officer- finished

[Richard Knott]

In his 1766 will Thomas Mather described himself as 'Commander of the ship Pitt of London' which appeared to take trade across the Atlantic.

On the entry for his likely marriage in 1761 he is described as Master of the King's ship Pelican, which is likely to be the ship HMS Pelican, bought in 1757 and being refitted in Portsmouth when he married in Plymouth. (I believe that Master was a rank between Captain and Lieutenant).

Can these be the same person? In other words, would someone in the RN be running a merchant vessel five years later?

Richard

[Andy J2022]

HMS Pelican was sold in 1763 and so its Royal Navy crew, including the officers would have been paid off and free to find other ships, either Naval and merchant, in which to serve. If the Navy didn't immediately have another command for him or he lacked the right patronage, he would have gone on half pay and might certainly have become the master of a merchant ship. However there was an HMS Pitt which was purchased by the Navy in 1763. It was an 8-gun cutter that foundered in the Atlantic in 1766, "coming from Africa". (source Wikipedia).

HMS Pelican (1757) was a sloop which would have been commanded by a Commander, whereas the Master might have been the navigator, effectively the second in command. Naval Captains commanded much larger ships. I don't think the terminology of command used on civilian ships was so precise.

1766 was of course the height of the American War of Independence (also known as the American Revolutionary War), so whether the Pitt he was commanding was civilian or Navy, it may well have been supporting the Royal Navy.

[Richard Knott]

Thank you; that's very useful.

Thomas' will was proved in 1767 so that pretty much proves they were the same people and that he stayed in the RN and drowned in 1766.

Richard