Faulknor family The Faulknor family was an English family from Northamptonshire , of which several generations served as officers in the Royal Navy . William Faulknor . William Faulknor ( d . 25 February 1725 ) first appears as fourth lieutenant of the " Royal William " in 1695 . On 17 March 1707 , he was promoted to the rank of captain , and given command of the 80 - gun ship of the line . He afterwards commanded a frigate , and in 1715 was appointed to command of the 80 - gun , flagship of Admiral Sir John Norris , commander of the Baltic fleet . In 1720 he commanded the 90 - gun ship . In 1722 he was , for a short time , Master Attendant of Woolwich Dockyard , then served as Lieutenant - Governor of Greenwich Hospital until his death on 25 February 1725 ( N . S . ) Samuel Faulknor ( I ) . Samuel Faulknor ( d . 5 October 1744 ) was the son of William Faulknor . He commanded the 100 - gun ship in 1736 , and also the 100 - gun before being appointed commander of the , flagship of Admiral Sir John Norris , in early 1741 . On 28 July 1744 " Victory " sailed with a fleet of British and Dutch ships from St . Helen ' s for Lisbon . During the voyage they captured six French ships . On 3 October the fleet was dispersed in a gale , and on the next night " Victory " was lost with her entire crew . It was believed that " Victory " struck the Casquets rocks off Alderney , but in 2009 a wreck identified as " Victory " was found by Odyssey Marine Exploration nearly 62 miles from where the ship was supposed to have sunk . Samuel Faulknor ( II ) . Samuel Faulknor ( d . 28 May 1760 ) was the son of Samuel Faulknor . He distinguished himself as the commander of the sloop in 1746 , and was afterwards made post . On 21 April 1746 , Faulknor was appointed to the 20 - gun frigate , and afterwards the frigate , in which he sailed to Jamaica . During a hurricane on 11 September 1751 , the " Fox " was lost , but Faulknor , and the greater part of his crew were saved . He returned to England in mid - 1752 , and was first appointed to the 20 - gun ship , and then to the " Lyne " , also of 20 guns , in early 1755 . Within months he took command of the 60 - gun , and distinguished himself on various occasions , particularly on 17 April 1758 , when he chased two French frigates , and three storeships , until he captured the " Grand St . Pierre " ; and on 27 March 1759 , off Lisbon , he attacked four large French ships , and took the East Indiaman " Duc de Chartres " . He died on 28 May 1760 . Robert Faulknor the elder . Robert Faulknor the elder ( d . 9 May 1769 ) was also the son of Samuel Faulknor . Robert entered the Navy while still a boy , and in 1741 , aged only 15 , served during the siege of Carthagena . He was seriously wounded there — sixteen splinters of bone were taken from his ankle — but was promoted to lieutenant soon afterwards . He later served in the Battle of Minorca on 20 May 1756 , and was a witness at Admiral Byng ' s subsequent court - martial . Soon after Faulknor was promoted to the rank of commander in a sloop - of - war , and in 1757 , was advanced to post - rank , and commanded the 68 - gun ship " Marlborough " , for a short time . In August 1761 Faulknor was in command of the seventy - four , and sailing in company with the frigate ( 36 ) off Vigo , northern Spain , when they engaged the French seventy - four , and the 36 - gun frigates " Malicicuse " and " Ermine " . " Bellona " fought and captured " Courageux " in a fierce action lasting just 55 minutes , while " Brilliant " engaged the frigates . Faulknor was appointed to command the in 1763 . In poor health after a fall from a horse whilst hunting , he then lived in Bath , and afterwards in Dijon , central France , where he died on 9 May 1769 . Jonathan Faulknor the elder . Jonathan Faulknor ( d . 24 June 1795 ) was another son of Samuel Faulknor . He was promoted to lieutenant on 24 August 1753 , and to commander on 28 September 1758 , and commanded the bomb ketch , under Commodore Keppel , in the Gorée expedition . On 9 July 1759 , he appears as captain of the 20 - gun ship in the West Indies . In 1767 he was appointed to command of the 74 - gun ship , flagship of Rear - Admiral Sir John Moore . Faulknor was next appointed to the 74 - gun in 1777 ; and in 1778 sailed under the flag of Admiral Keppel , as second captain of the 104 - gun . In 1782 he was appointed to the 98 - gun , and sailed with Lord Howe ' s fleet to the relief of Gibraltar . He afterwards continued in the " Princess Royal " as a guardship at Portsmouth ; and was appointed to the 74 - gun on the same service . Faulknor was promoted to the rank of rear - admiral of the white on 24 September 1787 ; rear - admiral of the red on 21 September 1790 ; vice - admiral of the blue , 1 February 1793 ; vice of the white , 12 April 1794 ; vice of the red , 12 July 1794 ; and finally admiral of the blue on 1 June 1795 . On receiving his last promotion , he travelled to London from his home in Havant to be presented to the King . On the morning of 23 June 1795 he was struck with a fit of apoplexy , and died the next day . Robert Faulknor the younger . Robert Faulknor the younger ( 1763 – 1795 ) was the son of Robert Faulknor the elder . He entered the Navy in 1777 and served under William Cornwallis in several ships during the American War , receiving promotion to lieutenant in 1780 . After several periods on half - pay he was appointed commander of the 16 - gun sloop on the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War in 1793 . After an attack on Fort Royal , Martinique , Faulknor was made post and given command of the 28 - gun frigate . He then took part in the invasion of Guadeloupe . Faulknor was in command of the frigate when she captured the French frigate on 6 January 1795 . Faulknor was killed during the action . Jonathan Faulknor the younger . Jonathan Faulknor the younger was the son of Jonathan Faulknor the elder . In 1789 he married Rebecca , daughter of Lieutenant - General Horatio Spry ( 1730 – 1811 ) of the Cornish Spry family . He died in 1809 with the rank of rear - admiral of the red . He was the father of Commander Jonathan Faulknor , R . N . , and Lieutenant Augustus Spry Faulknor , and the grandfather of Colonel Jonathan Augustus Spry Faulknor .