Charles Elphinstone Fleeming Admiral Charles Elphinstone Fleeming ( 18 June 1774 – 30 October 1840 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . He commanded a succession of smaller vessels during the early years of the wars , achieving some successes against French cruisers , merchants and privateer s , before losing his ship on one operation . Combining his naval career with periods of political activity he took part in only one major fleet operation , the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805 , but spent several years as a Member of Parliament . Connected by birth to a major noble landowning family several of his children went on to inherit or marry into titles and rank in the British peerage . Charles himself died an Admiral of the Blue with extensive Scottish estates . Family and early life . Born Charles Elphinstone in 1774 , he was the son of John Elphinstone , the 11th Lord Elphinstone , and his wife Anne Ruthven . He entered the Navy and by March 1794 and the age of 20 had reached the rank of commander aboard the sloop . He moved aboard the 26 - gun on 7 October 1795 and commanded her until her loss in 1797 while attempting to cut some French merchantmen out under the batteries at Puerto Plata , on Saint - Domingue . He was then appointed to the 50 - gun in March 1798 which he commanded initially in the North Sea , but departing for the Cape of Good Hope on 6 December that year . He spent the rest of the war on the East Indies station , stepping down in December 1802 following the Peace of Amiens . He briefly entered politics during this period , having been elected Member of Parliament for the constituency of UK Parliament constituency on 13 January 1802 . He had assumed the name Fleeming on the death of his grandmother , the only surviving child of John , 6th Earl of Wigtoun , and his succeeding to the family ' s estates . Napoleonic Wars . With the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803 Elphinstone returned to active service , commanding the 40 - gun HMS " Egyptienne " from April that year . While Fleeming was in command the " Egyptienne " took the 16 - gun " Epervier " on 27 July , and the 14 - gun privateer " Chiffonette " on 30 August 1803 . Serving aboard the " Egyptienne " as a midshipman during this time was future - Admiral Charles John Napier . The two were on bad terms , that would later lead to Napier challenging Fleeming to a duel . The two met at the appointed time , but were reconciled by their seconds , and did not fight . The two were not fully reconciled as friends though until some years later . Fleeming and the " Egyptienne " supported Vice - Admiral Robert Calder ' s fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre on 22 July 1805 . " Egyptienne " did not participate in the fighting herself , but while reconnoitring in advance of the fleet she captured a Danish merchant brig . After the battle she took the disabled Spanish 74 - gun " Firme " into tow . After the battle , Admiral Robert Calder requested a court - martial to review his decision not to pursue the enemy fleet after the engagement . Fleeming was one of the witnesses . The court martial ruled that Calder ' s failure to pursue was an error of judgement , not a manifestation of cowardice , and severely reprimanded him . On 2 October " Egyptienne " captured the French brig - sloop " Acteon " , under Capitaine de Frégate Depoge , off Rochefort . She was armed with 16 6 - pounder guns and had a crew of 126 men . The navy took " Acteon " into service under her own name . On 20 November " Egyptienne " captured the 12 - gun Spanish letter of marque " Paulina " . The chase took nine hours , during which the " Paulina " threw eight of her guns overboard . She was out of Pasajes ( Spain ) , on her way to cruise the West Indies . By late December Fleeming had left " Egyptienne " and was at Calder ' s court - martial . Fleeming then moved to command in 1806 , with the Mediterranean Fleet in 1807 , and in 1811 . He was appointed a Colonel of Royal Marines on 12 August 1812 , and reached flag rank with a promotion to rear - admiral on 4 December 1814 . He was appointed commander - in - chief at Gibraltar in 1814 and became the first Master of the Royal Calpe Hunt . Later life . Fleeming continued to rise through the ranks after the end of the wars with France . He was made a vice - admiral on 19 July 1821 , was in command at the West Indies by 1828 , and became an admiral in 1837 . He had been re - elected three times as MP for Stirlingshire before his naval career intervened , but returned to politics during his retirement from active service , regaining the seat in 1832 and holding it until 1835 . Fleeming married 16 year old Doña Cataline Paulina Alesandro de Jiminez in June 1816 in the Cathedral of Santa Cruz in Cadiz ; he was 42 . The marriage produced a son , John , who was born on 11 December 1819 , and four daughters . One daughter , Clementina , married Cornwallis Maude , 1st Earl de Montalt and became a celebrated photographer . John meanwhile inherited the title of Lord Elphinstone in 1860 after the death without issue of John Elphinstone , 13th Lord Elphinstone . Another daughter , Anne Elizabeth , who was born off Venezuela aboard Fleeming ' s flaship , in 1828 , married William Cunningham Bontine of Gartmore and Ardoch , and had three sons , the eldest of which was the author , adventurer and politician Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham . Fleeming was Commander - in - Chief , The Nore from 1834 to 1837 and briefly Commander - in - Chief , Portsmouth from April to November 1839 . He succeeded Sir Thomas Hardy as Governor of Greenwich Hospital in September 1839 , holding the position until his death from influenza at Leamington on 30 October 1840 at the age of 66 . He was buried in Leamington parish church on 7 November .