Claim: John Thomas Briggs was appointed accountant-general of the navy in 1832, and in 1851 was knighted, of which, the modern female equivalent in the English language is a Dame.
Evidence: That board was abolished in 1832, and Briggs was appointed accountant-general of the navy. Sir John Thomas Briggs (4 June 1781 – 3 February 1865) was an English civil servant who was accountant-general of the Royal Navy. On 26 February 1851, Briggs received the honour of knighthood in acknowledgement of his long and efficient departmental service, from which he retired in February 1854. The modern female equivalent in the English language is Dame.