Thomas Manby Thomas Moore Manby ( 1 January 1769 – 13 June 1834 ) was a British naval officer who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars and later rose to the rank of rear admiral . He sailed with George Vancouver on his voyages of exploration , captained the " Bordelais " , the " Africaine " and the " Thalia " , and was the chief suspect in the " delicate investigation " into the morals of Caroline , princess of Wales . Childhood and early naval career . Manby was born in the village of Hilgay on the edge of the Norfolk Fens . His father , Matthew Pepper Manby , was lord of the manor of Wood Hall in Hilgay and a former soldier and aide - de - camp to Lord Townshend . Manby ' s elder brother was George William Manby , the inventor of life - saving devices including the Manby mortar . Lord Townshend arranged a position for the young Manby in the stationers of the ordnance department , but Manby dreamt of a life at sea and at the age of 14 resigned his post and embarked as a midshipman on board the 24 - gun " Hyaena " . After 2 years on the Irish station he joined the " Cygnet " and sailed to the Caribbean , returning on the " Amphion " , and then served on the 74 - gun " Illustrious " . Voyage with Vancouver . In 1790 , when he was 21 , Manby was appointed as master ' s mate on George Vancouver ' s ship " Discovery " . The Admiralty had ordered Vancouver to complete a survey of the north - west coast of America and take possession of disputed land at Nootka Sound on the island that is now Vancouver Island . " Discovery " was fitted out for exploration , complete with a plant frame on the quarterdeck to bring back specimens . Together with the brig " Chatham " , the " Discovery " left Plymouth 1 April 1791 . The two ships called at New Zealand , Tahiti and Hawaii before reaching the starting point for the American survey , the Strait of Juan de Fuca , almost exactly a year after setting out . Manby recorded first impressions of the coast : " It had more the aspect of enchantment than reality , with silent admiration each discerned the beauties of Nature , and nought was heard on board but expressions of delight murmured from every tongue . Imperceptibly our Bark skimmed over the glassy surface of the deep , about three Miles an hour , a gentle breeze swelled the lofty Canvass whilst all was calm below " . The " Discovery " and " Chatham " spent the next three summers surveying the north - west coast of America , passing the winters in Hawaii . They arrived at Nootka Sound in the autumn of 1792 and , when disputes arose with the Spanish , several officers were sent back to England to request instructions from the Admiralty . Manby was promoted to fill vacant places : firstly as master of the " Chatham " and then as lieutenant on the " Discovery " . The relationship between Manby and Vancouver was not however a harmonious one . Manby wrote that Vancouver : " is grown Haughty Proud Mean and Insolent , which has kept himself and his Officers in a continual state of wrangling . . . " French Revolutionary Wars . The expedition returned in 1795 , by which time England was at war with France . Manby spent the next year as a lieutenant in the 84 - gun " Juste " and then in early 1797 was appointed as commander of the 44 - gun " Charon " , guarding trade in Irish Sea and the Channel . During the two years he commanded the " Charon " , Manby provided protection to 4753 vessels , not one of which was lost , and he also captured a French privateer , the " Alexandrine " . Manby was promoted to post - captain rank 22 January 1799 , three weeks after his thirtieth birthday . Later that year he was appointed commander of the 24 - gun " Bordelais " , a former French privateer which was nicknamed the Coffin on account of her dangerous build . Manby had rescued his brother George Manby from debtor ' s prison , and he now took him on board his ship as a lay chaplain . On a trip to Ireland the " Bordelais " foundered on a sandbank ; Manby managed to refloat her by throwing everything possible overboard and they limped back to Plymouth . The incident brought home to George Manby the dangers of a lee shore in a storm and led to his invention of Manby ' s mortar , a life - line for sailors wrecked close to shore . Back in Plymouth , George Manby underwent an operation to remove slugs and rotting hat from his skull ( he had been shot by his wife ' s lover some years previously ) . Afterwards he appeared to be dying and decided that he " preferred to die at sea among sailors ( a consoling and compassionate class of man ) rather than be left in the care of a mistress of lodgings , to be hurried to my grave unnoticed and unknown " . So Manby took him back on board before setting off for duty around the Azores . During the trip the " Bordelais " captured a valuable coffee - laden French prize , and George Manby recovered his health . After a short period spent blockading the port of Flushing , the " Bordelais " was sent to the Caribbean , where she sank the French warship " Curieuse " . After the Treaty of Amiens temporarily brought a halt to hostilities between Britain and France , Manby was appointed to the " Juno " and returned to England where the ship was paid off . Napoleonic Wars . Manby was not out of commission for long . In October 1802 the Earl of St Vincent , first Lord of the Admiralty , sent for him and said ' I don ' t like to see an active officer idle on shore ; I therefore give you the Africaine , one of the finest frigates in the British navy ' . On leaving the " Juno " , Manby had visited his friend and patron , Lord Townshend , at Raynham Hall in Norfolk , and Lady Townshend had introduced him to Caroline , princess of Wales . While the " Africaine " was fitting out at Deptford Dockyard , Manby was a frequent visitor to Montagu House in Blackheath where the princess , who was estranged from her husband the prince of Wales , lived . Manby soon replaced Sir Sidney Smith in the princess ' s affections . She bought the soft furnishings for his cabin and asked the Admiralty to send the " Africaine " to attend her in the Downs when she rented a house at Ramsgate in the summer . War with France had resumed and the " Africaine " was called away from her royal duties to blockade the port of Hellevoetsluis , although Manby was able to visit the princess again the following summer when she took a house in Southend and the " Africaine " anchored off the Nore for a few weeks . After two years blockading Helvoetsluis , the " Africaine " joined Admiral Russell ' s squadron off the Texel and was badly damaged in a storm . Having refitted at Sheerness , Manby was ordered to escort a fleet of merchant ships to the Caribbean . On the return journey there was an outbreak of yellow fever on board . Three days out from Carlisle Bay the ship ' s surgeon and assistant were dead , and Manby had to take care of the sick . Acting on the instructions of a doctor who came alongside in a small boat from Saint Kitts , he treated them with calomel . By the time the " Africaine " reached England she had lost nearly one - third of her crew and officers , and had to spend forty days in quarantine off the Isles of Scilly . Manby had survived an attack of the fever and large doses of calomel , but his health never recovered . He had also received several serious wounds in action , and had suffered from rheumatic pains since his voyages with Vancouver . The " Africaine " was decommissioned and Manby was appointed to the frigate " Thalia " . He spent a year in command of a squadron off the Channel Islands and captured a French privateer , before being sent in 1808 to search for two French frigates off Greenland . The French frigates were not found , but Manby surveyed and named Port Manvers on the coast of Labrador before returning to England . It was to be his last voyage . He accepted medical advice to give up his ship and bought an estate in Northwold in Norfolk . In 1806 the king , at the request of his son the prince of Wales , ordered an inquiry into rumours that the princess of Wales had given birth to a child . A number of men were suspected of having had a relationship with the princess ( which was grounds for a charge of high treason ) , but it was Manby against whom the evidence was " particularly strong " . Manby was called before the commissioners of the inquiry and swore on oath that he never did " at Montagu House , Southend , Ramsgate , East Cliff , or anywhere else , ever sleep in any house occupied by , or belonging to , HRH the Princess of Wales " . The commissioners concluded that the main accusation against the princess was unfounded , but nevertheless they criticised her behaviour . The princess was defended by former attorney - general and future prime - minister Spencer Perceval , who dismissed the evidence of the princess ' s servants as ' hearsay representations ' . The gifts and letters from the princess to Manby were evidence only of her gratitude for Manby having taken two of her charity boys on board the " Africaine " , and his frequent visits were to keep the princess informed of their progress . If jugs of water and towels were left in the passage when Manby visited it was proof , Perceval argued , of the servants ' slovenliness and not of high treason . Perceval was ready to publish his defence in the form of a book when there was a sudden change of government , the princess was accepted at court , and the book was suppressed . After Perceval ' s assassination in 1812 the book was published and extracts , including Manby ' s testimony , were published in the " Times " . Retirement . Having given up his naval career on medical advice , Manby settled on an estate in Norfolk and in 1810 married twenty - year - old Judith Hammond . The marriage produced three daughters : Mary Harcourt Manby , Georgina Manvers Manby ( 1815 - 1900 ) , and Elizabeth Annabella Montgomery Manby . Sons - in - law included James Dawes , Baron de Flassans ( nephew of Sophie Dawes , Baronne de Feuchères ) , and the French diplomat and politician , ( husband of Georgina Manvers ) . Manby later moved to London and also had a country house in Christchurch , Dorset . He worked on a chart of the South Pacific which he hoped would prove that the peoples of the region had a common origin , and helped solve the mystery of the disappearance of La Pérouse ' s ships when he identified medals found by an English whaler in the South Pacific as having belonged to the explorer . He was promoted , by seniority , to rear admiral in 1825 . Manby died of an opium overdose in the George Hotel , Southampton , and was buried in South Stoneham .