James Tait

Rear-Admiral James Haldane Tait (1771 – 7 August 1845) was a British naval officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Life

James Haldane was born in Glasgow the son of William Tait, a merchant in the Trongate. His mother Margaret Duncan was the sister of Admiral Adam Duncan. He joined the Royal Navy in March 1783 aged 12 as captain's servant on . He also saw service on his uncle's ship . On both ships they mainly remained in the Portsmouth area.

From 1787 he joined the Bombay Marine of the East India Company but on the rise of military tensions between Britain and Spain he rejoined the Navy in September 1790. He was now a midshipman on HMS Defence, an older and more battle-hardened ship than his earlier commissions. In October 1793 he transferred with the ship's captain, Captain G. Murray, to HMS Duke. In April 1794, when Murray was promoted to rear-admiral, he followed him to and sailed to North America.

Under Admiral Murray he served as an acting lieutenant to Captain Hardy on HMS Thisbe and had a brief spell with Captain Roddam Home on HMS Africa. He was commissioned as a full lieutenant on 6 July 1796. Whilst with Murray he saw action against the American fleet. As a lieutenant he moved to HMS Cleopatra. The Cleopatra saw great action in 1796 with Tait present: capturing the French ships Aurore, Hirondelle, Basque and Nouvelle Eugenie. His promotion to Rear-Admiral of the Blue was largely in retrospective recognition of his worth and he did not see any operational use of the rank.

He died on 7 August 1845. He is buried in St Cuthberts churchyard in central Edinburgh just west of Princes Street Gardens. The grave lies on the small mound to the south-west of the church, backing onto the upper vaults.

Family

He was married three times: firstly to Mary Duncan (probably his cousin); secondly Miss Stewart Cunninghame; and lastly to Marion Yule (d.1878). He had one son Alexander Duncan Tait (1813–1881)