Salmon Morrice
Admiral Salmon Morrice (1672–1740) was an early 18th century Royal Navy commander. Life. He was born on 11 April 1672 in Stepney to Captain William Morrice RN of Werrington in Devonshire (now part of Cornwall) and his wife Jane Salmon. He went into service in 1690, somewhat late by the standards of the day. This was as a First Lieutenant on HMS York. On this very large ship he served under three captains: Robert Deane, George Mees and James Killigrew, the latter being killed in his role. On HMS York he saw quite a bit of action: the  Battle of Beachy Head (1690); Battle of Barfleur (1692); capture of the French ship "La Marianne" (1693); capture of the privateer "Le Saint Antoine" (1693); capture of the Jacobite privateer "Prince of Wales" (1693). In April 1695 he was created commander of the newly completed 4-gun HMS Comet serving in Newfoundland. In February 196 he moved to the slightly larger HMS Carcass. In May 1697 he was promoted to captain and given command of the 18-gun HMS Royal Transport. This ship was gifted to the Russian Navy and from November 1698 to May 1699 Morrice took extended leave . He was then given command of HMS Newport a 24-gunner under command of Admiral Richard Coote and serving in the Americas and West Indies. In these duties he was placed in both Boston Harbour and New York Harbour and may have been involved in the capture of the pirate Captain Kidd. In October 1702 he took command of HMS Firm - a freshly captured French ship of 70 guns. This commission was as an Advice Prize (advance prize) as he was responsible for its capture in Vigo Bay. In July 1703 he moved to be Captain of HMS Advice (the  ship which took Captain Kidd to England for execution) and was part of the capture of the French privateer "La Saint Sulplice" in May 1704. He then before commanded HMS Romney from December 1705 serving in the North Sea. He changed again in March 1706 to the elderly but recently refitted HMS Monck standing at an impressive 64-guns. This served in the Mediterranean and North Sea and captured one French Navy vessel and one French privateer in the English Channel: "La Conquerante" (1709); and "Le Saint Francois D'Assise" (1710). On Christmas Day 1710 he moved to HMS Canterbury, a  60-gunner mainly based in the Channel and North Sea. The only significant action was the capture of "La Duchesse D'Aumont" in 1711. After four years in 1714 he was given a shore based command as Commander in Chief of Portsmouth Naval Docks (a fairly important role). He held this post for nine years. This may be linked to his purchase in 1712 of Northborne Manor near Betteshanger probably due to marriage (see below). In April 1723 he returned to sea as Captain and Commander of the huge but elderly HMS Sandwich - a 90-gunner. However, this ship was then  solely used as a guardship based at Blackstakes, a rock outcrop in the Medway. In February 1725 he moved to the faster HMS Nassau which had 70 guns but was only replacing HMS Sandwich as the guardship at Medway. In November 1726 he briefly moved to HMS Union another 90-gunner. However, this post was purely symbolic, as the ship was not in active duty at that point and was undergoing extensive works in Chatham Docks. After another 6 month interlude he was created Rear Admiral of the White on 21 April 1727 under Admiral Sir John Norris. This position  gave him command of central central section of the Fleet, which was divided into Red White and Blue sections. He served in both the Red (advance) and Blue (vanguard) sections before returning to be Vice Admiral of the White. As he was not assigned to a specific ship during his admiralcy it is hard to establish if he did or did not see active service. However, he did sail with the whole fleet in May 1727 in a delegation to Copenhagen. Morrice retired in June 1732 at the age of 60. He died in Betteshanger on 27 March 1741. His  tomb, lying in a small vault attaching the side of the local church, was sculpted by Peter Scheemakers. Family. He married Elizabeth Wright (1685-1733) daughter of William Wright, a Royal Navy Commissioner. Wright's position would have (and seems to have) enabled him to give his son-in-law "safer" posts and certainly posts less far from home in Betteshanger. They had two sons and four daughters including Wryght Morrice who married Sarah Peke and William Morrice (d.1758) who married Mary Chadwick daughter of Captain Robert Chadwick RN of Northsleet. William had a son also William who was a  Lt Colonel in the Dragoons and inherited the estate at Betteshanger. A nephew seems to have also been named Salmon Morrice (1688-1740).