Alexander Schomberg Captain Sir Alexander Schomberg ( 1720 , London – 19 March 1804 , Dublin ) was an 18th - century Royal Navy officer . Life . His father , Meyer Löw Schomberg ( 1690 – 1761 ) , was a German - Jewish doctor and settled in England c . 1720 and set up a flourishing practice in Fenchurch Street , London . Two of Alexander ' s brothers followed their father ' s profession - the eldest , Isaac , and Ralph or Raphael - and two others ( Moses and Solomon ) went into the law , but Alexander instead opted for the navy . Like his brothers , however , he was brought up a Jew but attended St Paul ' s School , London , and renounced the Jewish faith by publicly receiving the sacrament according to the Anglican rites and thus being able to enter on public careers without impediment from the Test Act . Joining the Navy in 1743 as a midshipman under Captain Edward Pratten on HMS " Suffolk " ( 70 guns ) , he passed his examination for lieutenant on 3 December 1747 , entering the sloop " Hornet " on 11 December and transferring from there to " Speedwell " , another sloop , in the West Indies in spring 1750 . The latter ship , however , returned to England , and was paid off in July 1751 , with Schomberg and her other officers placed on half pay . Schomberg ' s next appointment came in February 1755 , under Captain Peter Denis on the " Medway " . This ship , however , was only in the home fleet and on the Bay of Biscay station and he was put on half pay again from June to October 1756 . He then was appointed to the " Intrepid " ( formerly the French ship " Serieux " , 64 guns ) , under Captain Pratten again . Promotion to captain eventually came on 5 April 1757 , briefly in command of the new frigate " Richmond " , then from the end of 1757 in command of HMS " Diana " , 32 guns . In the " Diana " he played a distinguished part in the taking of Louisburg in 1758 ( taking the fleet ' s commander in Edward Boscawen in close to reconnoitre the coast , covering the landing and taking command of a party of seamen landed to man the batteries ) and Quebec in 1759 / 60 ( bombarding the shore under Charles Saunders and repulsing a French attempt to regain the city ) , and was a close associate of James Wolfe . He was then sent back in 1760 with the news of the victories . There he was appointed to the " Essex " , with that ship taking part in the 1764 reduction of Belle Île , under Commodore Augustus Keppel and then serving in the Brest and Biscay fleet until the peace . At the peace of 1763 he received a commemorative gold medal for his service in Canada and married ( see below ) . At the end of 1770 he was appointed to the " Prudent " , which had been commissioned due to the dispute between Britain and Spain about the Falkland Islands and was paid off at the end of the dispute . In late 1771 he became captain of HMS " Dorset " , the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ' s yacht . Lord Sandwich , First Lord of the Admiralty opposed Alexander taking up this role , seeing it as virtually a retirement from active service , to no avail ( though he then prevented Alexander from re - entering active service when Alexander too came to this opinion , soon after taking up the role ) . Alexander was , however , knighted by the lord lieutenant in 1777 for his long and active service , though ( remaining " Dorset " ' s captain until 1804 - a yacht captain had to leave that post if he wished to be promoted to a flag rank ) he progressed no further than the top of the captains ' list as the most senior serving captain of the Navy , though he spent many years in that position . Also during this time he wrote " A sea manual recommended to the young officers of the Royal Navy as a companion to the signal book " ( 1789 ) , and had his second son , Alexander Wilmot , and his youngest son , Charles Marsh , serving under him on the " Dorset " . On his death , he was buried in the churchyard at St Peter ' s , County Dublin . Marriage and issue . In August 1763 , when peace came , he married Arabella Susannah Chalmers , only child of the Revd James Chalmers and Arabella , sister and heiress of Sir Edmond Alleyne , baronet , of Hatfield Peverel , perhaps with Hogarth ' s portrait commissioned and completed in time for the wedding . Alexander and Arabella ' s five children were baptized in the Christian faith .