Henry Codrington

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry John Codrington KCB (17 October 1808 – 4 August 1877) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he saw action during the Greek War of Independence and was present at the Battle of Navarino. He later undertook a survey of enemy positions prior to the bombardment of Acre during the Egyptian–Ottoman War.

As a captain, Codrington provided refuge on board ship for Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his family who were fleeing from revolutionary forces and then commanded in the Baltic Sea during the Crimean War. He went on to be Admiral superintendent of Malta Dockyard and then Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.

Early career

Born the son of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington and Jane Hall. His great grandfather was Sir William Codrington, 1st Baronet of Dodington Park.

Codrington joined the Royal Navy in February 1823. He was initially appointed to the fifth-rate at Portsmouth and then transferred to the fifth-rate HMS Sybille at Deptford in July 1824. Promoted to midshipman, he transferred to the fifth-rate in August 1824 and took park in operations against pirates later in the year, supporting the blockade of Algiers by British forces; he then served in the British squadron off Greece, during the Greek War of Independence.

Promoted to commander on 20 October 1831, Codrington became commanding officer of the sloop in the Mediterranean Fleet in June 1834. Codrington became Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard, with his flag in the first-rate , in July 1858. Promoted to vice admiral on 24 September 1863, he was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 13 March 1867. Promoted to full admiral on 18 October 1867, he became Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in November 1869. and died at his home at Eaton Square in London on 4 August 1877. This notorious legal case, the Codrington Affair, was fictionalisd by Emma Donoghue in The Sealed Letter (2008). The novel was joint winner of the 2009 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction.

He married Catherine Aitchison (née Compton) in August 1869; they had one daughter.

Anne Codrington, his eldest daughter married Henry Finch-Hatton, later 13th Earl of Winchilsea in 1882, had issues include Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea, who married wealthy American heiress and the big-game hunter Denys Finch-Hatton.