page_title: Henry Digby (Royal Navy officer)
section_title: Later life
hierarchical_section_title: Henry Digby (Royal Navy officer) / Later life
caption_attribution_description: English: Jane Elizabeth (Coke), Viscountess Andover
context_page_description: Admiral of the Blue Sir Henry Digby GCB was a senior British naval officer, who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in the Royal Navy. Born into a long-established naval family, his uncle was the famous Admiral Robert Digby, Henry went to sea at the end of the American Revolutionary War aged fourteen.
  As a lieutenant aboard HMS Pallas, he received a commendation for rescuing the crew of a burning ship. Promoted to commander in August 1795 and captain in December 1796, Digby established a reputation as an aggressive prize taker, capturing 57 ships in less than twenty months. His richest capture came in October 1799 when he assisted in the taking of the treasure ship, the Santa Brigida. He commanded HMS Africa at the Battle of Trafalgar, manoeuvring her into the French and Spanish fleet against orders, having been instructed by Nelson to avoid battle, fearing Digby's small ship of the line would be overwhelmed.
  In 1806 Digby married Lady Jane Elizabeth Coke, daughter of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, with whom he had three children. They moved to the estate in Dorset inherited from his uncle where the prize money amassed by Digby paid for a comfortable life.
context_section_description: On 17 April 1806, he married Lady Jane Elizabeth Coke, a renowned beauty, and daughter of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester. They had three children, the eldest son, Edward St Vincent, born 1806, became the 9th Baron Digby in 1856. Their daughter, born in 1807, was the scandalous adventuress, Jane Digby. Their youngest child, Rev. Hon. Kenelm Henry Digby, held the office of rector of Tittleshall, and Honorary Canon of Norwich.
  For his role at Trafalgar, Digby received a further £973 prize money and a proportion of a government grant amounting £2389 7s 6d, which together with the money accumulated from earlier successes paid for a large manor and a very comfortable life. In 1815 his uncle, Admiral Robert Digby, died leaving Henry the estate in Minterne Magna to which he retired with his family. Digby did not leave the Royal Navy, however, and continued to serve for many years, advancing by seniority through the ranks, making rear admiral in 1819 and vice admiral in 1830.He received the Order of the Bath in 1815 and served as High Sheriff of Dorset in 1835.
   Digby was appointed Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in 1840.
  He died in 1842 and was buried in the local churchyard with many of his family, where his tombstone can still be seen. At the time of his death he was a full admiral of the Blue  and had become a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
  Henry's great-great-granddaughter was the 20th-century socialite and diplomat Pamela Harriman, who grew up on the family estate in Dorset.
caption: Lady Jane Elizabeth Coke, widow of Charles Nevison Howard, Viscount Andover
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image ExifOffset": "38", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "848", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1138"}