Charles Webber

Charles Webber (1722-1783), Rear-Admiral of the White, was a British naval commander who participated in the Battle of Toulon in 1744, the Capture of Quebec in 1759 and the Capture of Havana in 1762.

Origins Born on 29 August 1722 and baptised at St James Piccadilly on 11 September 1722, he was the second son of Robert Webber and his wife Mary. His father was an illegitimate son of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond (himself an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England) and one of his godfathers was his uncle Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond. His younger brother was the Reverend William Webber (1724-1790) who became a canon residentiary of Chichester Cathedral and chaplain to their cousin Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond. With Cuba secured, most of the British forces dispersed and on 25 September 1762 in Cerberus he sailed for Jamaica.

After leaving Cerberus in 1762, he does not seem to have held any seagoing command. In 1767 he bought a small estate in Havant in Hampshire, which became the family home after his marriage there in 1769 but was sold after his death.

Family On 27 July 1769 at Havant he married Anne Vining Heron (1748-1805) and she had five children: Anne Webber (1770-1825), who in 1793 married John Blair but had no children. Charles Webber (1773-1786), who died at sea unmarried. Robert Webber (1775-1830), Three days after the Admiralty's decision and six months and one day after the Admiral's death, she married William Smith, deputy to the 3rd Duke of Richmond as Treasurer of the Ordnance and brother of Anne Smith (1731-1806), her late husband's sister-in-law. Her youngest child James was made William's heir, with the last name Smith added, which suggests that he was not the Admiral's biological son.