George Elphinstone , 1st Viscount Keith George Keith Elphinstone , 1st Viscount Keith GCB ( 7 January 1746 – 10 March 1823 ) was a British admiral active throughout the Napoleonic Wars . Career . Fifth son of the 10th Lord Elphinstone , he was born in Elphinstone Tower , near Stirling , Scotland . Two of his brothers went to sea , and he followed their example by entering the Royal Navy in 1761 , in but then transferred to , then commanded by Captain John Jervis , afterwards Earl Saint Vincent . In 1767 , he made a voyage to the East Indies in the British East India Company ' s service , and put £2000 lent him by an uncle to such good purpose in a private trading venture that he laid the foundation of a handsome fortune . He became lieutenant in 1770 , commander in 1772 , and post captain in 1775 . Post - Captain . During the war in America he was employed against the privateers , and with a naval brigade at the occupation of Charleston , South Carolina . In January 1781 , when in command of the 50 - gun , he captured a Dutch 50 - gun ship which had beaten off a British vessel of equal strength a few days before . After peace was signed he remained on shore for ten years , serving in Parliament as member first for Dunbartonshire , and then for Stirlingshire . He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1790 . Admiral . When war broke out again in 1793 , he was appointed to the 74 - gun , in which he took part in the occupation of Toulon by Samuel Hood , 1st Viscount Hood . He particularly distinguished himself by beating a body of the French ashore at the head of a naval brigade of British and Spaniards . He was entrusted with the duty of embarking the fugitives when the town was evacuated . In 1794 he was promoted rear - admiral , and in 1795 he was sent to occupy the Dutch colonies at the Cape of Good Hope and in India . He had a large share in the capture of the Cape in 1795 , and in August 1796 captured a whole Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay . In the interval he had gone on to India , where his health suffered , and the capture at Saldanha was effected on his way home . When the Nore Mutiny broke out in 1797 he was appointed to the command , and was soon able to restore order . He was equally successful at Plymouth , where the squadron was also in a state of effervescence . At the close of 1798 , he was sent as second in command to St Vincent . It was for a long time a thankless post , for St Vincent was at once half incapacitated by ill - health and very arbitrary , while Horatio Nelson , who considered that Keith ' s appointment was a personal slight to himself , was peevish and insubordinate . In May 1799 , he was unable to counter Bruix ' expedition , mainly due to sparring among the British naval commanders . Keith followed the enemy to Brest on their retreat , but was unable to bring them to action . He returned to the Mediterranean in November as commander - in - chief . He co - operated with the Austrians in the siege of Genoa , which surrendered on 4 June 1800 . It was however immediately afterwards lost in consequence of the Battle of Marengo , and the French made their re - entry so rapidly that the admiral had considerable difficulty in getting his ships out of the harbour . The close of 1801 and the beginning of the following year were spent in transporting the army sent to recover Egypt from the French . As the naval force of the enemy was completely driven into port , the British admiral had no opportunity of an action at sea , but his management of the convoy carrying the troops , and of the landing at Aboukir , was greatly admired . He was made Baron Keith of the United Kingdom , an Irish barony having been conferred on him in 1797 . On the renewal of the war in 1803 he was appointed commander - in - chief in the North Sea , which post he held till 1807 . In February 1812 he was appointed commander - in - chief in the English Channel , and in 1814 he was raised to a viscounty . During his last two commands he was engaged first in overlooking the measures taken to meet a threatened invasion , and then in directing the movements of the numerous small squadrons and private ships employed on the coasts of Spain and Portugal , and in protecting trade . He was at Plymouth when Napoleon surrendered and was brought to England in by Captain Maitland ( 1777 – 1839 ) . The decisions of the British government were expressed through him to the fallen Emperor . Lord Keith refused to be led into disputes , and confined himself to declaring steadily that he had his orders to obey . He was not much impressed by the appearance of his illustrious charge and thought that the airs of Napoleon and his suite were ridiculous . Lord Keith died in 1823 at Tulliallan Castle , near Kincardine - on - Forth , Fife , his property in Scotland , and was buried in the parish church . Family life . He was twice married : in 1787 to Jane Mercer , daughter of Colonel William Mercer of Aldie ; and in 1808 to Hester Thrale , daughter of Henry Thrale and Hester Thrale , who is spoken of as ' Queeney ' in Boswell ' s " Life of Johnson " and Mme d ' Arblay ' s " Diary " . He had a daughter by each marriage , the second being Georgina Augusta Henrietta Keith , but no son . Thus the viscounty became extinct on his death , but the British and Irish baronies descended to his elder daughter Margaret ( 1788 – 1867 ) , who married the Comte de Flahault de la Billarderie , only to become extinct on her death . A portrait of him by Owen is in the Painted Hall in Greenwich and another by George Sanders in the National Maritime Museum , Greenwich . In fiction . In Patrick O ' Brian ' s Aubrey - Maturin series Lord Keith and his wife ' Queeney ' appear in several of the best - selling novels . Bibliography . There is a panegyrical " Life of Lord Keith " by Alex . Allardyce ( Edinburgh , 1882 ) ; and biographical notices will be found in John Marshall ' s " Royal Naval Biography " , i . 43 ( 1823 – 1835 ) , and the " Naval Chronicle " , x . I . ( D . H . ) .