Sir Thomas Adams , 6th Baronet Sir Thomas Adams , 6th Baronet ( bpt . 17 February 1738 – April 1770 ) was an officer in the Royal Navy who served during the Seven Years ' War . Born into a prominent and long - standing London family , Adams inherited a baronetcy when young , and went on to have a successful career at sea . He was promoted to lieutenant during the Seven Years ' War , and within two years was commanding a ship of his own . He was captain of several frigates , and went out to the East Indies with one . He had some success against French and Spanish shipping , capturing privateer s , before being sent to Newfoundland after the end of the war . Here he made the acquaintance of Constantine Phipps and the naturalist Joseph Banks , and also met the future explorer James Cook , who was conducting surveys of the Newfoundland coast at the time of Adams ' visit . Adams returned to Britain and was given command of a new ship . He returned to North America with her , but died while in command of her . The baronetcy he had inherited became extinct on his death . Family and early life . Adams was the son of Sir Robert Adams , a solicitor in the city of London , and his second wife , Diana . Thomas was the eldest of two sons by his father ' s second marriage , having a younger brother named William . The Adams were an important London family , with Thomas ' great - grandfather , Sir Thomas Adams , having served as Lord Mayor of London and a Member of Parliament , for which he was created a baronet . Robert Adams inherited the baronetcy on the death of his elder brother Charles , and when Robert died circa 1754 , it passed to his son Thomas . Thomas was baptised on 17 February 1738 at St Pancras Old Church . Thomas Adams embarked on a naval career , and was commissioned as lieutenant on 8 June 1757 , during the Seven Years ' War . He was advanced to commander within a few years , taking over the ketch in November 1759 . A further promotion followed on 17 August 1760 , when he was advanced to post - captain . After this he was appointed to command the 24 - gun . Command . Adams was employed on the home station , cruising against enemy warships and privateer s . He had relatively few successes during his time in command , though he did manage to capture the French privateer " Brimborion " off the Isles of Scilly on 8 August 1761 . " Brimborion " was out of Dieppe , and was armed with one carriage gun and twelve swivel gun s and had a crew of 35 . She had been cruising for two weeks and had captured two sloop s and a snow . Adams carried her into Plymouth . After his arrival there he received orders to sail to the East Indies , departing England on 23 May and returning in July 1762 . Adams was moved from command of " Terpsichore " shortly after his arrival , and instead appointed to the newly built 32 - gun . He commanded her during the blockade of the Basque Roads and on 29 November 1762 he captured the 10 - gun Spanish vessel " Pacto de Familia " . The signing of the Treaty of Paris in February 1763 ended the Seven Years ' War and " Boston " was paid off in March . Adams was not long without a ship , having received an appointment that month to take over the 32 - gun . " Niger " was initially employed off the west coast of Scotland , around the Isle of Arran , in 1764 , and it was about this time that Adams appears to have married the Hon . Frances Warter - Wilson in Dublin . In early 1766 he was ordered to Newfoundland . Also on board for the voyage were Constantine Phipps , and the botanist Joseph Banks , while Adams had James Burney with him as his servant . The purpose of the journey was to transport a party of mariners to Chateau Bay to build a fort , to continue strengthening relations with the native population , and to survey some of the coast of Newfoundland . During his time in Newfoundland Adams met James Cook , who was engaged in surveying the coast , and introduced him to Banks . Later life . Adams returned to England in 1767 and paid off " Niger " . He was without a ship until August 1769 when he recommissioned his former command , HMS " Boston " , which had just completed a refit . He was sent out to North America again . He died in command of " Boston " while on the Virginia station in April 1770 . His will was proven in November 1770 , which described him as a bachelor , implying his wife had died . That he died without issue and that his younger brother William had presumably predeceased him , is shown by the fact that the baronetcy became extinct on his death . Notes . a . Sources disagree on the date of his death . Burke ' s " Genealogical and Heraldic History " gives a date of 12 April , while Charnock ' s " Biographia Navalis " has 16 April .