Constantine Richard Moorsom Constantine Richard Moorsom ( 1792 – 1861 ) was a Vice - Admiral in the Royal Navy . He commanded HMS " Fury " a " Hecla " - class bomb vessel which saw wartime service in the Bombardment of Algiers , an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in HMS " Fury " in August , 1816 . Moorsom was the son of Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom , a veteran of Trafalgar . Moorsom was on the roster of HMS " Revenge " , his father ' s ship , when it was at the Battle of Trafalgar . However records show that Constantine was actually at school at the time of the battle . Moorsom rose to be chairman of the London & North Western Railway . Biography . Early life . Moorsom was born on 22 September 1792 , the son of Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom who was to be a Knight Commander of the Bath and a veteran of the Trafalgar . His mother was born Eleanor Scarth . Royal Navy . Moorsom entered the Royal Navy College in Portsmouth where he was awarded a first medal and three prizes for mathematics . His service was noted by not only his progression but the record of his innovation . Moorsom ' s younger brothers also joined the navy . Henry Moorsom was killed in 1826 whilst in command of the sloop . His other brother William Scarth Moorsom left the navy in 1832 and became a successful railway engineer after training with Robert Stephenson . It is said that the brothers inherited their fathers talent for drawing and poetry . His sister , Maria Margaret , married in 1815 and had seven children with the Rev . Longueville Massell . His naval career started with his first posting to HMS " Revenge " which at the time was in the Atlantic off Portugal . The ship was involved in the defence of Cadiz . He became a lieutenant in 1816 after returning to England on board HMS " Warspite " . He was then with until 1814 when he was rewarded with his own command of a sloop at Bermuda - HMS " Goree " . He was with the boat a year then another year with HMS " Terror " , before taking on the bomb vessel , . He commanded HMS " Fury " , a " Hecla " - class bomb vessel , in the Bombardment of Algiers , an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in August , 1816 . As a result of the bombardment slaves were released and Moorsom ' s use of his vessel was put under investigation . It was found that the " Fury " had fired twice as many mortars as any other boat and that this was due to the fitting which Moorsom had devised . His methods were adopted as standard practice . Moorsom became a post captain in 1818 and in 1822 his innovation came again to notice when he was put in command of HMS " Ariadne " . " Ariadne " had been a problem vessel after she was converted into a corvette with the addition of a quarter deck to her original frigate frame . This increased her draught and made her difficult to manage , however Moorsom redistributed the storage and not only reported that she was now seaworthy , he sailed her around the Cape of Good Hope to prove the point . He was briefly an acting Commodore in Mauritius , but in 1825 he served for two years as the captain of his father ' s flagship at Chatham . He took no further sea missions but rose through the ranks to rear - admiral . In 1843 he published an essay on the " Principles of Naval Tactics " which he updated three years later . Abolitionist . In 1840 , Moorsom attended the World Anti - Slavery Convention in London . It was held at the Freemasons Hall on 12 June 1840 The meeting was attended by leading abolitionists from around the world . The portrait above is taken from the commemorative painting where he can be seen behind the head of Joseph Sturge of the Anti - Slavery International , who organised the conference . The painting hangs in the National Portrait Gallery . Railways . Constantine also went into the railway business as company secretary at the same company where his brother , William , was engineer . He was elected to the board of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway in 1841 and almost immediately became its chairman . He remained in this position until his resignation just before the company became part of the Midland Railway in 1843 . He served as a director of the London & Birmingham Railway from 1837 to 1839 . He was promoted on 29 August 1851 to be a Rear - Admiral of the Blue . From 1852 until the time of his death on 26 May 1861 , he was chairman of the London & North Western Railway . During this time he also chaired a committee for the British Association on steamship performance . He died at Russell Square in London after becoming a vice admiral in 1857 and having fathered a large family with his wife Mary Maude of Silaby Hall in Durham .