Zachary Mudge Zachary ( variously Zacharia or Zechariah ) Mudge ( 22 January 1770 – 22 October 1852 ) was an officer in the British Royal Navy , best known for serving in the historic Vancouver Expedition . Family background . Mudge was one of 20 children of the noted physician , Dr . John Mudge , of Plymouth ; his mother was John ' s third wife , Elizabeth . Mudge ' s grandfather was clergyman Zachariah Mudge . The family included distinguished surveyors and mathematicians . His older half - brother was William Mudge , who developed the Ordnance Survey and was responsible for much of the early detailed mapping of Britain . His uncle Thomas Mudge was a famous horologist . In addition , the family was connected to the politically powerful Pitt family . Early naval career . Mudge entered the Navy on 1 November 1780 as a captain ' s servant aboard the 80 - gun ship , under the command of Captain John Jervis . He was aboard on 21 April 1782 when she captured , after an action of nearly an hour , the 74 - gun . Mudge then served as a midshipman aboard various ships on the Home and North American Station s ; firstly the " Pegase " and " Recovery " , commanded by Captain the Honourable George Cranfield Berkeley , then , Captain Charles Hope , , Captain George Palmer , , the flagship of Rear - Admiral Herbert Sawyer , and , Captain Robert Fanshawe . On 24 May 1789 he was promoted to lieutenant aboard , flagship at Jamaica of Rear Admiral Philip Affleck , and 26 November transferred to the , Captain Ford , at Plymouth . On 20 January 1790 , he returned to the " Perseus " , Captain John Gibson , on the Irish and Channel stations . Vancouver Expedition . On 15 December 1790 , Mudge joined as second lieutenant ; after the Nootka Crisis , he became her first lieutenant and George Vancouver captain . In addition to his other duties , Mudge had been asked to look after the 16 - year - old ( and future Baron ) Thomas Pitt , but was compelled to flog him when the latter used ship stores to purchase romantic favours in Tahiti . In 1791 , they voyaged to Tenerife , Cape Town , Australia , New Zealand , Hawaii and North America . In 1792 , they spent a season of exploring the west coast of America , and then put into Nootka Sound to implement the Nootka Sound Convention . The British and Spanish commanders had been given conflicting instructions , and the primary purpose of the mission could not be completed . Vancouver therefore sent Mudge back to England with dispatches , botanical samples and a request for further orders . He crossed the Pacific to China in the Portuguese - flagged trading vessel " Fenis and St . Joseph " , a 50 - foot open boat carrying 14 men , and from there proceeded home in an East Indiaman . In 8 February 1794 , Mudge joined as first lieutenant , under William Robert Broughton . They were sent to assist Vancouver but , reaching Monterrey , determined that he had left for England . They then surveyed the east coast of Asia . Later career . Mudge ' s career advancement had suffered from being away for more than six years . However , through the intercession of Lady Camelford ( Pitt ' s mother ) , he was promoted to commander on 24 November 1797 , and on 8 November 1798 he obtained command of the 16 - gun sloop on the North America station . He captured the French privateer cutters " Glaneur " ( 5 February 1799 ) and " Trompeur " ( 30 August 1800 ) , in the English Channel , but almost lost his ship in an encounter with an immense iceberg during a passage home from Halifax with despatches from the Commander - in - Chief HRH the Duke of Kent . Mudge was promoted to post - captain in 15 November 1800 , and on 1 April 1801 was appointed to command of sixth - rate . In early 1801 , he received the thanks of the British merchants and consuls at Lisbon and Oporto for safely convoying a fleet from Falmouth to Portugal , and also for vessels at Viana , laden with brandy , which he escorted back to England . He also captured the Spanish cutter " El Duides " , of 8 guns and 69 men , and the privateer lugger " Venture " , of 2 guns and 27 men , on 7 and 8 June 1801 , while off Vigo . Two days later , on 10 June , he captured the merchant ship " Wilhelm Georg Frederic " , and in July , with the assistance of the sloop , captured " El Cantara " , a Spanish privateer of 22 guns and 110 men , and her consort , a 10 gun lugger , near Cape Ortegal . " Constance " was subsequently engaged in conveying foreign soldiers from Lymington to the Elbe . On 23 September 1802 , he was given command of the fifth rate , and at the end of 1803 , was employed at the blockade of St . Domingo , where he captured or destroyed 24 enemy vessels in less than a month . Further captures included the French privateer " Les Deux Amis " , taken on 15 September 1804 , in company with the sloop , the French " Gracieuse " captured in October 1804 , and " Amitie " in June 1805 , each of 14 guns , and also the 4 - gun Dutch schooner " Nimrod " , the 3 - gun French privateer " Hazard " , as well as a large number of merchantmen . On 15 July 1805 " Blanche " encountered a French squadron consisting of the 40 - gun French frigate , the 22 - gun corvette " Department des Landes " , the 18 - gun , and the 16 - gun brig - corvette . " Blanche " resisted bravely , but she was reduced to a wreck . Mudge ordered her colours struck and she sank sometime later after the French set fire to her . Mudge was court - martialled on the question whether he had made his best defence ; he was not only acquitted , but complimented for " very able and gallant " conduct . From 18 November 1805 to May 1810 he commanded in the Bay of Biscay and at Lisbon . In her he captured the merchant Danish brig " Kiellestadt " in November 1806 , and the " Vigilante " in October 1807 , and also the French warships " Agile " on 29 May 1809 , and " Charles " on 29 January 1810 . Mudge ' s last command was of the 74 - gun on the Brazilian station from July 1814 to August 1815 . He saw no further active service , but was promoted to rear - admiral on 22 July 1830 , to vice - admiral on 23 November 1841 , and to admiral on 15 September 1849 . He died at Plympton on 26 October 1852 . Legacy . Point Mudge on Quadra Island is named for Zachary Mudge ; he was the first European to sight it from a nearby mountain . The " Memoirs of the Mudge family " was printed in 1883 in an edition of only 100 copies , edited by Stamford Raffles Flint . Mainly concerning Mudge ' s grandfather , theologian Zachariah Mudge , it also contains an account of Zachary Mudge ' s naval career . In 1855 a memorial window to Zachary Mudge ( the " Mudge Window " ) was placed in St Andrew ' s Church , Plymouth , England .