Sir Isaac Coffin , 1st Baronet Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin , 1st Baronet GCH ( 16 May 1759 – 23 July 1839 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . Coffin was born in Boston and served in the navy on a number of ships during the War of Independence . He fought at Cape Henry with Arbuthnot and at St . Kitts with Hood , eventually being promoted to command a number of small ships on the American coast . Despite his rise through the ranks , he clashed occasionally with the naval hierarchy , with the first incident occurring while still a newly commissioned commander aboard . An incident over unqualified lieutenants led to his court - martial , though he was acquitted . A more serious incident occurred after the end of the war with America , when Coffin was particularly active off the Canadian coast . A charge was brought of issuing false musters , and though the practice was endemic in the navy , led to his dismissal from the ship . The First Lord of the Admiralty , Lord Howe , then intervened to have him dismissed from the navy entirely , a decision that was later overturned by an inquiry , which set an important precedent . Restored to his rank , Coffin commanded several ships during the opening years of the wars with France , but the recurrence of an old injury forced him to move ashore . He spent the rest of the war commanding a number of dockyards , continuing to rise through the ranks , and being created a baronet for his good service . Retiring from active naval service towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars Coffin briefly changed his surname to Coffin - Greenly before reverting it , entered politics , and died with the rank of admiral in 1839 . Family and early life . Isaac Coffin was born in Boston , Massachusetts on 16 May 1759 , into what would prove to be a strong loyalist family . He was the fourth and youngest son of the paymaster of the customs in the port , Nathaniel Coffin . His father descended from Tristram Coffin , who immigrated to Massachusetts from Devon in 1642 . His mother was Elizabeth , the daughter of the merchant Henry Barnes , of Boston . He attended the Boston Latin School . He first appeared on the books of the 74 - gun as an able seaman in October 1771 , while " Captain " was at Boston under the command of Captain Thomas Symonds , and is recorded as having transferred to the brig under Lieutenant William Hunter at Rhode Island in May 1773 . However it is more likely that he did not enter the service until October 1773 , joining George Montagu , captain of . Montagu was the son of Rear - Admiral John Montagu , then commander in chief on the North American station . He later followed George Montagu aboard . Coffin was commissioned lieutenant on 18 August 1776 while serving aboard the brig under Lieutenant Edward Dod at Halifax , but was not able to take up the rank immediately . Instead he joined the 50 - gun as a midshipman in September 1776 , the " Romney " then being at Newfoundland . In June 1778 he moved aboard the 50 - gun , still as a midshipman . He finally received a posting as a lieutenant in October 1778 , aboard the cutter . He briefly served as a volunteer aboard Captain Thomas Pasley ' s ship , and from there moved in June 1779 to the armed ship " Pincon " , serving on the Labrador coast . The " Pincon " was wrecked in August 1779 , and in November he was moved aboard the 50 - gun under Captain Gideon Johnstone as her second lieutenant . The " Adamant " was then being completed at Liverpool , with Coffin helping to oversee work . He was involved in a number of accidents during the final phases of work , but was able to get her ready to sail to Plymouth under a jury - rig by June 1780 . He went out with " Adamant " to North America the following month as a convoy escort , and in February 1781 transferred to the 90 - gun , flagship of Rear - Admiral Sir Thomas Graves . Coffin ' s time aboard " London " was brief , and in March he moved aboard the 74 - gun , under Captain Swiney . " Royal Oak " was the flagship of Vice - Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot at the Battle of Cape Henry on 16 March , and Coffin acted as Arbuthnot ' s signal lieutenant . Commands . " Royal Oak " then returned to New York , but ran aground while passing from the North to the East River , and was badly damaged . She had to sail to Halifax for repairs , after which Arbuthnot returned to England . " Royal Oak " set sail to return New York in July , joining the fleet , now under Admiral Graves , on her journey . Here Coffin received news of his promotion to master and commander on 3 July , and on arriving in New York , took command of the sloop HMS " Avenger " . He was initially based in the North River , but in December he exchanged ships with Alexander Cochrane and took command of the 14 - gun sloop " Pacahunter " . While aboard the " Pacahunter " he was present during a great fire in St . John ' s , and helped to fight it , a service that earned him the thanks of the House of Assembly . His service aboard her was shortlived , for he and the entire ship ' s company volunteered to join Rear - Admiral Samuel Hood ' s flagship , the 90 - gun . Coffin was present at Hood ' s attack on the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse at Basseterre , the Battle of St . Kitts , on 25 January 1782 . Coffin then went on to Antigua to join his ship , travelling aboard Captain Hugh Cloberry Christian ' s , and in company with a frigate under Captain Henry Harvey . During the voyage the two ships ran into the French ship of the line " Triomphant " and the frigate " Braave " . The French fired upon the smaller British ships , but the latter were able to escape and arrived safely at St . John ' s . Coffin then went on to Jamaica where his friendship with Hood led to his promotion to post - captain on 13 June 1782 and an appointment to command the 74 - gun . Clash with Rodney . It was while commanding " Shrewsbury " at Jamaica that Coffin had the first of a number of run - ins with naval authority that was to mark his career . The commander of the fleet , Admiral George Brydges Rodney , ordered Coffin to take three lieutenants with insufficient sea time . Coffin refused , apparently unaware that the order had come from Rodney himself , arguing that as the boys had respectively only five , three and two years service , they were unqualified to serve as lieutenants . On learning that it was Rodney ' s express wish that the boys be taken on as lieutenants , Coffin grudgingly acceded , but Rodney came to hear of Coffin ' s initial refusal , and had him court - martialed on charges of disobedience and contempt . The trial was held at Port Royal on 29 July , with Coffin being acquitted of both charges , the court determining that ' the appointment of these officers by commission was irregular and contrary to the established rules of the service . ' Despite the verdict , the court did not have the power to suspend appointments made by the commander in chief , and Coffin was forced to write to the Admiralty on 20 September 1782 , requesting the lieutenants ' commissions be suspended . The Admiralty issued the recall of the commissions on 14 December , by which time Coffin had moved from " Shrewsbury " to take command of the 20 - gun . Coffin sailed " Hydra " back to England and paid her off in March 1783 . " Thisbe " and the Magdalen Islands . Coffin was left temporarily unemployed after the end of the American War of Independence , and spent some of his time in France , where he studied the French language . He returned to service in May 1786 with an appointment to command the 28 - gun . He was ordered to transport Lord Dorchester and his family to Quebec , and departed the Scilly Isles for the voyage across the Atlantic on 9 September . He arrived at the Gulf of Saint Lawrence on 10 October , and anchored at Quebec on 23 October . Coffin sailed for Halifax two days after arriving , reaching the port on 9 November , and spending the winter there . In 1787 he moved to operate in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and took a particular interest in the Magdalen Islands . He warned the governor ' s council that New Englanders were exploiting the fisheries in the gulf and were trading illegally with the inhabitants of the islands . Coffin , an American loyalist who had been deprived of his patrimony by the outcome of the War of Independence , was granted the islands in 1798 for his good service . His attempts to attract settlers or evict the squatters who had arrived from Saint Pierre and Miquelon were however unsuccessful . In an effort to exercise authority on his property Coffin had 1 Penny tokens made at Birmingham , England in 1815 . The British government felt this was overstepping his authority and revoked his grant of the island . His long association with his estates in Canada , and his business there led to one of his obituaries noting that by the time of his death ' he had crossed the Atlantic , on service or pleasure , no less than thirty times . ' Dismissal from the service . While at Halifax with " Thisbe " , Coffin entered four boys , including two of Lord Dorchester ' s sons , onto the ship ' s books as captain ' s servants . The boys did not serve on the ship , and were probably still at school . Though technically prohibited , the practice of entering boys onto ships ' books as a means of giving them false sea time , was widespread throughout the service , and many naval officers began their careers in this manner . Coffin was accused of knowingly signing false musters , and brought to trial by court - martial . The charge was maliciously motivated , but the court was compelled to examine the evidence . Coffin was tried aboard and the offence was proven . The offence technically required the defendant to be dismissed from the service , but considering the mitigating circumstances , the malicious nature of the charge and the fact that the practice was common in the navy , the court merely sentenced him to be dismissed from his ship . Coffin returned to Britain , whereupon the sentence came to the attention of the First Lord of the Admiralty , Lord Howe , who insisted that the full punishment required by the 31st Article of War be carried out . Coffin was duly dismissed from the navy , though he lodged an appeal against the decision . In the meantime Coffin emigrated to Flanders and travelled as a mercenary throughout Denmark , Sweden and Russia , in search of a commission . Meanwhile Coffin ' s case was considered by the judges of the admiralty , on the question of whether the Admiralty had the right to set aside the judgement of a court - martial . After considering the case , they recorded that though the judgement reached in the original court - martial had not been legal , ' . . . the punishment directed to be inflicted . . . upon persons convicted of the offence specified in the 31st Article of War . . . cannot be inflicted , or judgement thereupon be pronounced , or supplied by any other authority than that of the Court Martial which tried the offender . ' In other words , Howe ' s decision to overrule the sentence imposed by the original court - martial was ruled invalid , and Coffin was reinstated in the service , with the payment of arrears in his wages . The judgement defined the limits of Admiralty interference with courts - martial , and became a frequently cited precedent . Return to service , and French Revolutionary Wars . Coffin returned to active service during the Spanish Armament , taking command of the sixth rate in 1790 . At one point " Alligator " was anchored at the Nore when one of her sailors fell overboard . Coffin jumped into the water to rescue him , and succeeded in recovering the man before he drowned . Coffin experienced a serious rupture while carrying out the rescue , that would dog him in later life . From the Nore he moved to Spithead , and then to Ceuta , where " Alligator " briefly carried the flag of Admiral Philip Cosby . Superseded by the arrival of , " Alligator " was sent to cruise off Western Ireland . In 1792 Coffin returned to Canada , this time to bring Lord Dorchester home . " Alligator " was then paid off , and Coffin , finding himself temporarily unemployed , took the opportunity to tour parts of the continent . The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793 led to Coffin returning to service in command of the 36 - gun . He was initially ordered to take Lord Dorchester back to Canada , but the order was later cancelled , and Coffin was compelled to transfer most of his crew to , and then re - man " Melampus " . Having done so , he transported armaments and stores to Guernsey in preparation for the expedition under the Earl of Moira . He was then assigned to operate in the English Channel , departing Spithead in company with to join Sir James Wallace . While sailing down the Channel the two British ships encountered a French squadron consisted of five frigates , a corvette and a cutter . The British ships were able to outmanoeuvre the French , and escaped . It was about this time that Coffin began to feel the effects of his rupture , and after over - exerting himself one night , was taken seriously ill and obliged to quit his ship . For the next four months he was virtually crippled , and never again had a seagoing command . Dockyard service . Coffin was appointed regulating captain at Leith in Spring 1795 , and in October that year took up the post of navy commissioner at Corsica . His business took him at times to Naples , Florence and Leghorn , and after the British evacuation of the island in 1796 he went from Elba to Lisbon , where he remained for two years . Coffin was next appointed to serve at Minorca in 1798 , followed by the offer of the post at Sheerness . He went out to Halifax for six months prior to returning and taking up the post at Sheerness . Both here and at Halifax Coffin seems to have acted under the belief , strongly expressed at the time by Admiral the Earl of St Vincent , that the yard officers were corrupt . Jervis was a strong proponent of the reform of the civil administration of the navy , and Coffin acted to forcefully impose Admiralty regulations . In this he was perhaps influenced by his own experiences with Admiralty law and the rigid hierarchy within the navy , but managed to undermine the efficiency of the dockyards with his overzealous application of the regulations . He was heavily criticised at a local level , but retained Jervis ' s confidence , and was promoted to rear - admiral on 23 April 1804 . He so upset the dock workers that a threatening letter was sent after he ordered a worker to be pressed into the navy for insolence , eventually forcing him to reverse his decision . His reputation as an effective and energetic commissioner earned him the honour of being created a baronet " of the Magdelaine Islands in the Gulph of St . Lawrence , British North America " on 19 May that year , which was followed by being created admiral - superintendent at Portsmouth Dockyard . He remained at Portsmouth until being promoted to vice - admiral on 28 April 1808 , at which point he retired . Family and later life . Coffin started a family during his retirement , marrying Elizabeth Browne at Titley on 3 April 1811 . Elizabeth was the heiress of William Greenly , and Isaac briefly changed his surname to Coffin - Greenly on 11 February 1811 , but reverted to Coffin on 13 March 1813 . He was advanced to full admiral on 4 June 1814 and entered politics , being elected as Member of Parliament for Ilchester in 1818 , and holding the seat until 1826 . He was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1832 . He was a personal friend of Lord Nelson , at whose 1805 funeral he was a pallbearer . He was also a friend of the Duke of Clarence ( later William IV ) , and during the 1832 reform crisis was placed on the King ' s private list of those to be made peers . However , several Government ministers opposed his appointment on the grounds of his close association with his American relatives , and his name was dropped from the list . Coffin was a noted patron of charities , and a few weeks before his death donated a hundred pounds to the Royal Naval Charity , with the note that he did so ' fearful I might suddenly slip my wind , and in the hurry of my departure forget to order . . . £100 to be set aside . Elizabeth Coffin died on 27 January 1839 , with Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin dying sixth months later on 23 July 1839 , at the age of 80 . He was buried at Cheltenham , Gloucestershire . As he had no sons , the baronetcy became extinct upon his death .