A portrait of Cloudesley Shovell at the museum in Rochester, Kent, where he was an MP.

Sir Cloudesley Shovell (c. November, 1650 – 22 October or 23 October 1707), English admiral, was baptised at Cockthorpe in Norfolk, in 1650. Rising through the officer ranks he became a popular British hero, whose celebrated naval career was brought to an end in a disastrous shipwreck in the Isles of Scilly. Member of Parliament for Rochester, Kent, from 1695 until his death. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 1 - John V is crowned King of Portugal March 26 - The Acts of Union becomes law, making the separate Kingdoms of England and Scotland into one country, the Kingdom of Great Britain. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Admiral (disambiguation). ... Holt is a market town in the county of Norfolk, England. ... Norfolk (IPA: //) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ... St Martins taken from the helicopter to Penzance View from Tresco, the second largest member of the Isles of Scilly For the area of Surrey, see Scilly Isles, Surrey. ... Rochester is a small town in Kent, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ... The Kent coat of arms For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation). ...

Spelling of his name

There are many different versions used for the spelling of both his Christian name and surname. He used the spelling Cloudesley Shovell in his will written on 20 April 1701 when he was fifty. Both his father and his widow also spelt their surname as Shovell in their wills. Despite this, the memorial in Westminster Abbey where he is buried used the version Shovel, and thus may have given rise to this other version. The Christian name Cloudesley was often indistinctly signed which may have given rise to variety of spellings used by subsequent biographers. is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 18 - Frederick I becomes King of Prussia. ... The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often mistaken for one), in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ...

Life in the English Navy

Shovell went to sea as a cabin boy under the care of his kinsman Sir Christopher Myngs. Sir Christopher Myngs (1625 - 1666), British admiral and pirate, came of a Norfolk family. ...

He set himself to study navigation, and, owing to his able seamanship and brave and open-hearted disposition, became a general favourite and obtained quick promotion. In 1674 he served as lieutenant under Sir John Narborough in the Mediterranean, where he burned four men-of-war under the castles and walls of Tripoli, belonging to the pirates of that place. He was present as captain of HMS Edgar (70 guns) at the first fight at Bantry Bay, and shortly afterwards was knighted. Sir John Narborough (d. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... Tripoli (Arabic: طرابلس Tarābulus) is the capital city of Libya. ... This article is about maritime piracy. ... Captain is a rank or title with various meanings. ... Combatants France England Commanders Château-Renault Earl of Torrington Strength 39 men-of-war 19 ships of the line Casualties No ships lost , 40 killed 93 wounded. ... A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ...

In 1690 he convoyed William III across St George's Channel to Ireland; the same year he was made Rear-Admiral of the Blue, and was present at the Battle of Beachy Head on July 10. In 1692 he was appointed Rear Admiral of the Red, and joined Admiral Russell, under whom he greatly distinguished himself at La Hougue, by being the first to break through the enemy's line. Not long after, when Admiral Russell was superseded, Shovel was put in joint command of the fleet with Admiral Killigrew^[1]and Sir Ralph Delaval. In 1702 he brought home the spoils of the French and Spanish fleets from Vigo, after their capture by Sir George Rooke, and in 1704 he served under Sir George Rooke in the Mediterranean and cooperated in the taking of Gibraltar. William III of England (The Hague, 14 November 1650 – Kensington Palace, 8 March 1702; also known as William II of Scotland and William III of Orange) was a Dutch aristocrat and a Protestant Prince of Orange from his birth, Stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic from 28... Relief map of the Irish Sea. ... The term Rear Admiral originated from the days of Naval Sailing Squadrons, and can trace its origins to the British Royal Navy. ... Combatants France England United Provinces Commanders Anne Hilarion de Tourville Earl of Torrington Strength 75 ships 56 ships Casualties None 7 Dutch ships lost The naval Battle of Beachy Head or Bataille de Béveziers took place on 30 June 1690 near Beachy Head, a promontory near Eastbourne, on the... is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The word admiral comes from the Arabic term amir-al-bahr meaning commander of the seas. ... Categories: People stubs | 1653 births | 1727 deaths | Peers | Royal Navy admirals | Lords of the Admiralty ... Combatants France England United Provinces Commanders Anne Hilarion de Tourville Edward Russell Strength 44 ships (3,142 guns) 98 ships (8,980 guns) Casualties 15 ships burnt 2 ships sunk The related naval battles of Barfleur and La Hougue took place between 27 May and 3 June 1692 (17-23... Admiral Sir Ralph Delaval (c. ... Location Location of Vigo Coordinates : Time Zone : General information Native name Vigo (Galician) Spanish name Vigo Nickname La Ciudad Olvica (The Olive City) Postal code 36xxx Website http://www. ... Admiral Sir George Rooke, 1650–1709 by Michael Dahl, painted c. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ...

A memorial marks the spot at Porthellick Cove where Cloudesley Shovell's body was washed ashore after the wreck of HMS Association.

In January 1704 he was named Rear-Admiral of England, and shortly afterwards commander-in-chief of the British fleets. He co-operated with the Earl of Peterborough in the capture of Barcelona in 1705, and commanded the naval part of the unsuccessful attempt on Toulon in October 1707. When returning with the fleet to England his ship, HMS Association, at 8pm on October 22 (November 2, by the modern calendar), struck on the rocks near the Isles of Scilly along with several other ships, and was seen by those on board HMS St George to go down in three or four minutes' time, not a soul being saved of 800 men that were on board. In total, 1,400 sailors were lost from his squadron. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... HMS Association was the flagship of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell which sank off the Isles of Scilly in 1707 in one of the worst maritime disasters in British history. ... The Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is a now honorary office generally held by a senior (possibly retired) Royal Navy admiral. ... Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough, 1st Earl of Monmouth (c. ... Location Coordinates : Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name Barcelona (Catalan) Spanish name Barcelona Nickname Ciutat Comtal (City of Counts) Postal code 08001–08080 Area code 34 (Spain) + 93 (Barcelona) Website http://www. ... Combatants Britain Austria United Provinces Savoy France Spain Commanders Victor Amadeus II of Savoy Prince Eugene of Savoy René de Froulay de Tessé Strength 35,000 15,000 Casualties 10,000 dead or wounded Unknown The Battle of Toulon took place in 1707 in the War of the Spanish Succession. ... HMS Association was the flagship of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell which sank off the Isles of Scilly in 1707 in one of the worst maritime disasters in British history. ... is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... St Martins taken from the helicopter to Penzance View from Tresco, the second largest member of the Isles of Scilly For the area of Surrey, see Scilly Isles, Surrey. ... Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS St George, after Saint George, the patron saint of England: HMS St George, a 60 gun ship built in 1622 and sunk in 1697 as a blockship. ...

The body of Sir Cloudesley Shovell was cast ashore next day, and was buried in Westminster Abbey^[2][3]. The Council of the Scilly Isles plan to commemorate the three-hundredth anniversary of the disaster in 2007^[4]. The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often mistaken for one), in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ...

Legends of the disaster

It is said that he was alive, at least barely, when he reached the shore at Porthellick Cove, but was murdered by a woman for the sake of his priceless emerald ring. The murder came to light many years later when the woman, on her deathbed, confessed his murder to a clergyman and produced the stolen ring which was returned to Shovell's heirs.

It is also said that a common sailor on his ship tried to warn them that they were off course, either because he was a native of the Scilly Isles and knew a distinct smell of the land or he had been keeping his own log (which is a variant appearing in the late 19th century), but Shovell had him hanged at the yardarm for inciting mutiny. While it is not at all unlikely that a sailor might have debated the vessel's location and feared for its fate (such debates were common upon entering the English Channel as noted by Samuel Pepys in 1684), there is no evidence that the man was hanged in contemporary documents. Regardless, assuming this sailor did exist and was not hanged, he was equally dead by drowning with the rest of the crew of the Association a few hours later. Samuel Pepys, FRS (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for his diary. ...

Longitude

The disastrous wrecking of the fleet in home waters brought great consternation to the nation. Clearly, something better than dead reckoning was needed to navigate in dangerous waters. This led to the Longitude Act which offered a large prize for anyone who could find a method of determining longitude accurately at sea. After many years the consequence of the prize was that accurate marine chronometers were produced which became used throughout the world for navigation at sea. Dead reckoning (DR) is the process of estimating ones current position based upon a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon measured velocity, time, heading, as well as the effect of currents or wind. ... The longitude prize was a prize offered by the British government through an Act of Parliament in 1714 for the precise determination of a ships longitude. ... The longitude prize was a prize offered by the British government through an Act of Parliament in 1714 for the precise determination of a ships longitude. ... Longitude is the east-west geographic coordinate measurement most commonly utilized in cartography and global navigation. ... A marine chronometer is a timekeeper precise enough to be used as a portable time standard, used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation. ...

It is not certain that the navigational error leading to the shipwrecks was purely one of longitude although this was the common story in the latter half of the 20th century. Some revisionists have argued that the wreck was caused more by an error in latitude than longitude.

Politician and benefactor

Shovell also served as MP for the city of Rochester in Kent from 1695 until his death. During that time he was a great benefactor to the city, providing at his own expense the fine decorated plaster ceilings in the Guildhall and the market bell, clock and decorated brick facade for the Butchers' Market, (now the Corn Exchange). All these gifts survive, except the clock which, by 1771, had deteriorated so badly that a replacement was installed by Rochester Corporation. Rochester is a small town in Kent, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ... The Kent coat of arms For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation). ...

Family

The unusual Christian name of Cloudesley was derived from his maternal grandmother, who was Lucy Cloudisley daughter of Thomas Cloudisley. His father, John Shovel a gentleman, died in 1653 when Cloudesley was three. He left £100 to each of three sons, Nathaniel, Thomas and Cloudesley. Cloudesley's widowed mother, Anne Jenkinson, remarried to John Flaxman.

Cloudesley married Elizabeth Hill and had two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne. Elizabeth married first the first Baron Romney. The title of Earl of Romney was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1801. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Life and Glorious Actions of Sir Cloudesley Shovl (1707); Burnet's Own Times; various discussions in Notes and Queries, 5th series, vols. x. and xi.; and TH Cooke, Shipwreck of Sir Cloudesley Shovel (1883).
• Memoirs of Sir Cloudesley Shovel, Knt. Rear-Admiral of England, Etc. From Lives of the Admirals by John Campbell, Publ. 1744. public domain transcript
• The murder of a naval hero, Memories page, Medway News, by Stephen Rayner, 9 September 2005.
• Sir Cloudesley Shovell: Stuart Admiral, by Simon Harris, Spellmount 2000. ISBN 1-86227-099-6

1. ^ ODNB identifies this Admiral as Henry Killigrew(c.1652–1712), not his brother Admiral James Killigrew (died 1695) in the article on Henry Killigrew by J. K. Laughton, revised J. D. Davies [1] accessed 14 May 2007
2. ^ For more detail on the wreck and its salvage in the 20th century, see McBride, Peter and Larn, Richard (1999) Admiral Shovell's treasure; ISBN 0-9523971-3-7 (hardback) ISBN 0-9523971-2-9 (paperback). This includes much detailed information, such as a Shovell family tree.
3. ^ Westminster Abbey website-page showing Shovell's tomb
4. ^ Council of the Scilly Isles website.

Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... Gilbert Burnet (September 18, 1643-March 17, 1715) was a Scottish divine and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. ... Notes and Queries (originally subtitled a medium of inter-communication for literary men, artists, antiquaries, genealogists, etc) is a correspondence magazine where scholars and interested amateurs exchange miscellaneous knowledge. ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Dictionary of National Biography (or DNB) is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history. ...

External links

• A Biographical Memoir of Sir Cloudesly Shovel Originally printed in the March, 1815, issue of The Naval Chronicle
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article by John B. Hattendorf, ‘Shovell, Sir Cloudesley (bap. 1650, d. 1707)’, Oxford University Press, 2004 [2], accessed 14 May 2007