February 9

the B'Day of

Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet

He was a British Naval officer, serving during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as the Governor of Newfoundland during the War of 1812, and a member of the British House of Commons during his semi-retirement. One of the least known of the Age of Sail admirals of the Royal Navy, Duckworth, a vicar's son, achieved much in a naval career that began at the age of 11.

Serving with most of the great names of the Royal Navy during the later 18th and early 19th centuries, he fought almost all of Britain's enemies on the seas at one time or another, including a Dardanelles operation that would be remembered a century later during the First World War. He commanded at the Battle of San Domingo, the last great fleet action of the Napoleonic Wars. Overshadowed by other great British sailors, he died at his post, but in peace rather than in combat.