John Ferrier John Ferrier ( c . 1759 – 27 January 1836 ) was a British officer in the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . Ferrier was serving as a lieutenant during the American War of Independence , and was promoted to his first command after the conflict , a small cutter . He was advanced to post - captain shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars , but did not receive a ship for several years . Finally given the 64 - gun in 1796 , he was sent to the West Indies , where he spent five years before returning with a convoy of merchants and the thanks of the West Indian merchants . He then served under Horatio Nelson in the Channel during the blockade and raids on Boulogne , and then in the North Sea , receiving Nelson ' s praise for his service . With the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars Ferrier was active in the Channel in command of a 74 - gun ship , before being sent to the East Indies . He helped to escort a valuable convoy of East Indiamen , which had narrowly escaped from a French squadron , and spent four years on the station , frustrating French ambitions in the Persian Gulf and surviving an arduous voyage back to England through gales and aboard a leaky ship . Promoted to flag - rank in 1810 he was given an assignment with the fleet in the North Sea , flying his flag on a number of ships , before retiring ashore after the wars . He settled at Deal , Kent , and was a frequent visitor to the Duke of Wellington ' s residence , Walmer Castle , having made friends of the Duke and naval officers like Admiral Lord Exmouth during his career . He was promoted to the rank of admiral of the blue , and died in London in 1836 , two days after an operation to relieve an internal complaint . Early life . Details of Ferrier ' s early life are obscure , but he is thought to have been baptised John Lellesden Ferrier at St Peter ' s Church , Sandwich , Kent on 11 February 1759 , son of Samuel and Jane Ferrier . He was buried at St Peter ' s Sandwich on 3 February 1836 . The burial register records that he had been living at Deal in Kent and that he had been Admiral of the Blue . He is known to have received his commission as lieutenant in 1777 , during the American War of Independence , and to have served aboard the 32 - gun under Captain Henry Harvey . He is recorded as having commissioned the cutter in August 1786 for service in the North Sea , and was promoted to post - captain on 22 November 1790 . The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1792 did not immediately lead to further service for Ferrier , and it was not until 1796 that he received a ship , being appointed to command the 64 - gun in April that year . He commanded her for five years on the West Indies Station , before sailing back to Britain as a convoy escort for 155 merchants , all of which reached their destination safely . For his service he was rewarded with the thanks of the West Indian merchants , and a piece of plate . He then served in British waters as part of the squadron under Rear - Admiral Horatio Nelson during the blockade and raids on Boulogne in 1801 , and during Nelson ' s planning for an assault on Flushing in the autumn of that year . Nelson was pleased with Ferrier ' s services during this time , mentioning him in a letter to Earl St Vincent , " Captain Ferrier you do not know , therefore it becomes me to tell you , that his ship is in the very first order , and that he is a man of sense , and as steady as old Time himself ; I am much pleased with his regularity and punctuality . " Napoleonic Wars . " York " was paid off and in February 1802 Ferrier received an appointment to command the 74 - gun . There was no immediate service available after the signing of the Treaty of Amiens later that year , but on the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803 , " Albion " became the flagship of Rear - Admiral Sir James Saumarez on the Channel station . The squadron patrolled the Channel against French raiders , and on 28 May 1803 she captured the 40 - gun French frigate " Franchise " while in company with the 74 - gun ships and . " Albion " was then ordered to the West Indies where on 21 December she captured the 12 - gun privateer " Clarisse " . Ferrier then sailed for the East Indies , encountering a homeward - bound fleet of East Indiamen in February 1804 , in the Strait of Malacca . The fleet , under Commodore Nathaniel Dance , had narrowly escaped capture by a powerful French squadron under Rear - Admiral Charles - Alexandre Léon Durand Linois . Despite the massive French superiority Dance had successfully defended his convoy and by leading Linois to think that some of his merchants were actually warships , drove away the French at the Battle of Pulo Aura . Proceeding through the strait , Dance and his convoy came across Ferrier in HMS " Albion " , and accompanied by the 74 - gun , and were escorted as far as Saint Helena . They arrived safely there on 9 June 1804 . On another occasion , having been ordered back to England , Ferrier learnt that the French were attempting to establish themselves in the Persian Gulf with two ships of the line , four frigates and a number of armed vessels . He sailed to the Gulf at once to frustrate their aims , actions which earned him the thanks of the colonial Indian government . Ferrier then made the return voyage to England aboard the " Albion " in 1808 with a convoy of merchants , in which he " encountered the severest of weather " , a concern as the " Albion " was reportedly a " very defective ship " . Ferrier and his crew survived the arduous voyage , eventually reaching the Cape , where the commanding officer there , Vice - Admiral Albemarle Bertie noted that " Albion " was " a perfect wreck " . He reported that She has lost her mizzen mast and topmast ; nineteen of her main deck guns are thrown overboard also ; and the ship so leaky and opening so much that she required to be frapped together in three places . Captain Ferrier ' s verbal information was that if the gale continued a few hours longer , " Albion " must have foundered . " Albion " was lucky , several of her convoy were not so fortunate . Of the nine East Indiamen that had originally formed the convoy , three , " Glory " , " Experiment " and " Lord Nelson " , disappeared in the gales . While refitting at the Cape , Ferrier , as the senior officer on the station , presided over the court - martial of several mutineers aboard the recently arrived , commanded by Captain Robert Corbet . The day after the trial , Corbet himself was court - martialled on various charges brought by his crew , but was acquitted of most of them and allowed to retain command of his ship . Ferrier then left the Cape to continue his voyage , and on arriving in England " Albion " was " found by an official survey , to be literally lashed together ; and when her excessive defects were ascertained , it excited the astonishment and admiration of everyone who had an opportunity of examining the means Capt . Ferrier employed to enable his ship to withstand the tremendous gales of wind encountered during the voyage . " Flag rank and later life . Ferrier was promoted to rear - admiral on 31 July 1810 and hoisted his flag aboard the 74 - gun , and later in 1811 aboard the 74 - gun , both in the North Sea fleet during the blockades of the Dutch coast . He moved from " Defiance " to the 74 - gun , and finally to the 74 - gun in 1813 , serving under Admiral William Young off Flushing . Ferrier does not appear to have had any seagoing service after the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815 , and having been made a vice - admiral on 4 June 1814 , settled ashore at Deal , Kent . His obituary recorded that his public character " evinced great punctuality , naval skill , fortitude , resolution , and a steady perseverance , and to a degree which drew forth the admiration of all those with whom he served . " He was a good friend of Admiral Lord Exmouth , and the Duke of Wellington , whom he had met while serving in India . Ferrier was a frequent visitor to the Duke ' s residence at Walmer Castle , close to his home at Deal . His private life was remarked to be " most unassuming and unostentatious , influenced in all his actions by the very highest sense of honour , and he secretly exercised many acts of bounty and munificence . " He was promoted to the rank of admiral of the blue , but having been suffering for some time from an internal complaint , was advised to undergo an operation . He travelled to London in late January 1836 , and the operation was performed there on 25 January . There were complications , and the admiral died two days later , on 27 January at the age of 77 . He had married late in life , his wife surviving him . Notes . a . Corbet was a notorious disciplinarian , whose actions provoked dissent amongst his men on a number of occasions . Ten men were convicted of the charge of mutiny and received death sentences . Nine were recommended for mercy .