Skeffington Lutwidge Skeffington Lutwidge ( 13 March 1737 – 15 / 16 August 1814 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy , who saw service during the American War of Independence , and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . He had a particular connection with Horatio Nelson , who served under Lutwidge as a midshipman on an expedition to the Arctic in in 1773 , and again in 1801 while a captain , when Lutwidge was commander in chief in the Downs . Lutwidge served for a considerable period and in a number of ships , in American waters during the War of Independence . During this time he captured a number of American privateers , and was involved in operations on Lake Champlain . He reached flag rank soon after the start of the French Revolutionary Wars , and served mainly in Home waters as commander in chief of some of the stations on the south coast . He retired from active service with the rank of admiral , and died in 1814 , shortly before the end of the Napoleonic Wars . He was the great - uncle of Lewis Carroll . Early life . Lutwidge was born on 13 March 1737 , the son of Thomas Lutwidge of Whitehaven and his second wife Lucy " nee " Hoghton . Lutwidge embarked on a career in the Navy , and is listed as a lieutenant in 1763 , taking command of the purchased cutter in April that year . He remained with her until 1765 , serving in the area of Liverpool . Arctic voyage . Lutwidge , by now a commander , commissioned the bomb vessel in June 1771 , and served in the Irish Sea until the " Carcass " was paid off in April 1773 . The " Carcass " was then refitted at Sheerness between March and April for a voyage to the Arctic , with Lutwidge retaining command . The expedition , under the overall command of Constantine Phipps , who commanded , sailed from the Nore on 10 June 1773 . The expedition sailed up to and around Spitsbergen , managing to reach within ten degrees of the North Pole , but was prevented from travelling further north by thick sea ice , and returned to Britain in September . Sailing with the " Carcass " was a young Horatio Nelson , whose position as a midshipman on the expedition had been arranged by his uncle , Maurice Suckling . Suckling and Lutwidge knew each other well , Lutwidge having served under Suckling on a number of occasions , including time spent acting against privateers in 1771 . Nelson was given the role of coxswain of Lutwidge ' s gig . Nelson managed to obtain command of the " Carcass " s cutter as the expedition progressed . Nelson and the bear . By 1800 Lutwidge began to circulate a story that while the ship had been trapped in the ice , Nelson had seen and pursued a polar bear , before being ordered to return to the ship . Lutwidge ' s later version , in 1809 , reported that Nelson and a companion had given chase to the bear , but on being questioned why , replied that " I wished , Sir , to get the skin for my father . " Nelson referred to Lutwidge as ' that good old man ' . Later commands . Lutwidge was appointed to command the 28 - gun sixth rate in August 1775 , and sailed to North America in March the following year . He played an active role in the American War of Independence , serving in the Saint Lawrence River between 1777 and 1778 . On 10 April 1777 he was made commodore and commander - in - chief of the British naval forces on Lake Champlain by Guy Carleton . He led the naval forces pursuing the Americans who were retreating from the fall of Fort Ticonderoga in July that year . Lutwidge was replaced in his role on 4 October 1777 by Captain Samuel Graves . Returning to sea - going service he captured the American privateer " Pompey " on 13 June 1778 . The " Triton " returned to Britain to be refitted and re - coppered in early 1779 , after which she returned to North America , capturing the American privateer " Gates " on 29 September 1779 . He was involved in the capture of a Spanish convoy on 8 January 1780 , and on the night of 16 and 17 January Lutwidge was part of Admiral George Rodney ' s fleet against Juan de Lángara at the Battle of Cape St . Vincent . His final duties with the " Triton " were to escort a convoy to Minorca and then to the Leeward Islands . Lutwidge then briefly took command of the 74 - gun third rate and sailed her back to Britain with American prisoners of war , paying her off after her arrival in March . He was almost immediately posted to the new fifth rate , and commissioned her in March . By September he was back on the North American station , re - capturing the 20 - gun on 29 July during his voyage across the Atlantic . The next two years were spent on the North American station , capturing a number of American privateers during this time , the " General Green " on 30 August 1781 , the " Raven " on 1 April 1782 and the " Diana " on 29 August 1782 . The " Perseverance " was paid off after the conclusion of the war . Lutwidge is next recorded as taking command of the third rate in November 1786 , the " Scipio " then being a guard ship on the River Medway . In December 1792 he commissioned the new third rate . With the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War he sailed in April 1793 to join the Mediterranean Fleet to join Admiral Samuel Hood . Flag rank and later life . By 1797 he had been advanced to Vice - Admiral and in July that year he hoisted his flag aboard the second rate , in his post as commander - in - chief at the Nore , before the " Sandwich " was paid off in September . Lutwidge moved his flag to the new guard ship , the third rate in October , shifting again to in 1799 . He became a vice - admiral of the red on 14 February that year , and by 1800 he was commander of the fleets in the Downs , where under his command in 1801 was his former midshipman of the " Carcass " Horatio Nelson , by now in command of . Lutwidge was advanced to admiral of the blue on 1 January 1801 , admiral of the white on 9 November 1805 , and admiral of the red on 31 July 1810 . He retired from active service and died at his estates at Holmrook on 16 August 1814 , at the age of 78 . A monument to his memory was raised in Irton , Cumbria parish church in the form of a stained glass window . He had married Catherine Harvey , but she predeceased him in 1810 , and they had no children to succeed him . A distant relation was his great - nephew Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known as Lewis Carroll . Skeffington Lutwidge ' s nephew , Major Charles Lutwidge , who sold the Holmrook estate to him , was the father of Carroll ' s mother Fanny .