Thomas Cochrane

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas John Cochrane, (5 February 1789 – 19 October 1872) was a Royal Navy officer. After serving as a junior officer during the French Revolutionary Wars, he captured the French ship Favourite off the coast of Dutch Guiana and then took part in various actions including the capture of the Virgin Islands from Danish forces, the capture of the French island of Martinique and the capture of the French archipelago of Îles des Saintes during the Napoleonic Wars. He also took part in the burning of Washington and the attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812.

Cochrane went on to serve as colonial governor of Newfoundland and then as Member of Parliament for Ipswich before becoming Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China Station and then Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.

Early career

Born the son of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and Maria Cochrane (daughter of David Shaw and widow of Sir Jacob Wheate, 5th Baronet), Cochrane joined the Royal Navy in June 1796. He was appointed as a first class volunteer to the fifth-rate HMS Thetis on the North American Station and, having been promoted to midshipman, transferred to the third-rate HMS Ajax in the Channel Squadron early in 1800. In HMS Ajax, he saw action supporting French Royalist exiles at Quiberon in spring 1800, escorting troops for an abortive landing at Belle Île in May 1800 and taking part in the equally unsuccessful Ferrol Expedition in August 1800, before landing troops in Egypt in preparation for the more successful Battle of Alexandria in March 1801 during the French Revolutionary Wars. At the time, military officers were appointed to direct colonies that did not yet have representative government. He directed the construction of Government House, located between Fort William and Fort Townshend, which has since been designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. He split the colony into three judicial districts over each of which he placed a chief justice and two puisne judges and reinvigorated the poor relief system by building roads.

Although Cochrane had opposed the introduction of representative government to the colony, a new constitution was granted in 1832 and he was appointed as the first civil governor. He went on to be second-in-command of the East Indies and China Station in July 1841 during the First Opium War and, having been promoted to rear admiral on 23 November 1841, he became Commander-in-chief of that station, with his flag in the third-rate HMS Agincourt in 1844. including the destruction of the forts at Brunei in July 1846. He was promoted to vice admiral on 14 January 1850 and became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in 1852. Promoted to full admiral on 31 January 1856, he was appointed Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom on 16 May 1863 and then promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 12 September 1865.

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 18 April 1839, advanced to Knight Commander on 29 October 1847, and finally to Knight Grand Cross on 18 May 1860.

Cochrane died at Quarr Abbey House on the Isle of Wight on 19 October 1872 and was buried in the family mausoleum at Kensal Green Cemetery in London. His wife died at Quarr Abbey House on 27 May 1901. She was also buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, interred in the mausoleum alongside her husband. Survivors present at her funeral included her brother Major Cuffe, her son Lieutenant Thomas Belhaven Henry Cochrane (deputy governor of the Isle of Wight), her husband's two daughters by his first marriage, and their daughter Minna Cochrane.

Family In January 1812, Cochrane married Matilda Lockhart-Ross, daughter of Lieutenant General Sir Charles Ross. They had two sons, including Alexander Dundas Ross Cochrane, and two daughters.

After the death of his first wife, he married Rosetta Wheler-Cuffe (daughter of Sir Jonah Denny Wheler-Cuffe, 1st Baronet) in January 1853; they had two sons (including Thomas Belhaven Henry Cochrane) and two daughters (including Dame Anne Cochrane).