Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
NameCapt Hon John Rodney RN 
[60, Blantyre article, Vol II, p. 185], [54, His own co-article], [73, Blantyre article, Vol 2, p. 91]
[60, Blantyre article, Vol II, p. 185], [54, His own co-article], [73, Blantyre article, Vol 2, p. 91]Birth27 Feb 1765
Death9 Apr 1847
General3rd son. Chief secretary to government of Ceylon.
FatherGeorge Brydges Rodney Lord Rodney (<1719-1792)
MotherHenrietta Clies (ca1739-1829)
Notes for Capt Hon John Rodney RN
His death is not on FreeBMD.
DNB Main notes for Capt Hon John Rodney RN
Co-subject: Rodney, John
Dates: 1765-1847
Active Date: 1805
Gender: Male
Field of Interest: Public and Social Service, Civil Administration
Occupation: Chief secretary to government of Ceylon
Article
Rodney's elder son by his second wife, John Rodney 1765-1847, born on 27 Feb. 1765, affords a striking example of the abuse of favouritism. On 18 May 1778, at the request of Admiral John Byron [q.v.], he was admitted as a scholar in the Royal Academy at Portsmouth (Byron to the secretary of the admiralty, 20 April 1778, in Admiral's Despatches, North America, 7; secretary of the admiralty to Hood, 24 April 1778, in Secretary's Letters, 1778; Commission and Warrant Book). On 28 Oct. 1779 he was ordered to be discharged from the Academy, at Sir George Rodney's request, but not to any ship, ‘as he has not gone through the plan of learning, or been the usual time in the Academy’ (Minute on Sir G. Rodney's letter of 26 Oct. in Admiral's Despatches, Leeward Islands, 7). He was then entered on board the Sandwich, carrying his father's flag, and in her was present at the defeat of Langara, off Cape St. Vincent, at the relief of Gibraltar, and in the action of 17 April 1780. On 27 May his father, writing to the boy's mother, wrote with a customary exaggeration: ‘John is perfectly well, and has had an opportunity of seeing more service in the short time he has been from England than has fallen to the lot of the oldest captain in the navy. / He is now gone on a cruise in one of my frigates’ (Mundy, Life of Rodney, i. 296). On 30 July he wrote again: ‘John is very well, and has been kept constantly at sea to make him master of his profession. He is now second lieutenant of the Sandwich, having risen to it by rotation; but still I send him in frigates; he has seen enough of great battles. All he wants is seamanship, which he must learn. When he is a seaman he shall be a captain, but not till then’ (ib. i. 357). By 14 Oct. 1780, being then only fifteen, he was able to satisfy his father's requirements, and was promoted to be commander of the Pocahontas, and the same day to be captain of the Fowey. In compliment to his father these very irregular promotions were confirmed to their original date, on 22 May 1782 (Commission and Warrant Book). During 1781 he was captain of the Boreas frigate, and in April 1782 was moved to the Anson, in which he returned to England at the peace. In March 1795 he was appointed to the Vengeance, but in August, before she was ready for sea, he accidentally broke his leg. It had to be amputated, and he was superseded. In June 1796 he was appointed one of the commissioners of victualling, and in February 1799, on being passed over in the flag promotion, his name was removed from the list of captains. He continued a commissioner of victualling till August 1803, when he was appointed chief secretary to the government of Ceylon, in which office he remained till 1832 (Order in Council, 3 Dec.). He was then, on a memorial to the king in council, replaced on the navy list as a retired captain, and so continued till his death on 9 April 1847.
Dates: 1765-1847
Active Date: 1805
Gender: Male
Field of Interest: Public and Social Service, Civil Administration
Occupation: Chief secretary to government of Ceylon
Article
Rodney's elder son by his second wife, John Rodney 1765-1847, born on 27 Feb. 1765, affords a striking example of the abuse of favouritism. On 18 May 1778, at the request of Admiral John Byron [q.v.], he was admitted as a scholar in the Royal Academy at Portsmouth (Byron to the secretary of the admiralty, 20 April 1778, in Admiral's Despatches, North America, 7; secretary of the admiralty to Hood, 24 April 1778, in Secretary's Letters, 1778; Commission and Warrant Book). On 28 Oct. 1779 he was ordered to be discharged from the Academy, at Sir George Rodney's request, but not to any ship, ‘as he has not gone through the plan of learning, or been the usual time in the Academy’ (Minute on Sir G. Rodney's letter of 26 Oct. in Admiral's Despatches, Leeward Islands, 7). He was then entered on board the Sandwich, carrying his father's flag, and in her was present at the defeat of Langara, off Cape St. Vincent, at the relief of Gibraltar, and in the action of 17 April 1780. On 27 May his father, writing to the boy's mother, wrote with a customary exaggeration: ‘John is perfectly well, and has had an opportunity of seeing more service in the short time he has been from England than has fallen to the lot of the oldest captain in the navy. / He is now gone on a cruise in one of my frigates’ (Mundy, Life of Rodney, i. 296). On 30 July he wrote again: ‘John is very well, and has been kept constantly at sea to make him master of his profession. He is now second lieutenant of the Sandwich, having risen to it by rotation; but still I send him in frigates; he has seen enough of great battles. All he wants is seamanship, which he must learn. When he is a seaman he shall be a captain, but not till then’ (ib. i. 357). By 14 Oct. 1780, being then only fifteen, he was able to satisfy his father's requirements, and was promoted to be commander of the Pocahontas, and the same day to be captain of the Fowey. In compliment to his father these very irregular promotions were confirmed to their original date, on 22 May 1782 (Commission and Warrant Book). During 1781 he was captain of the Boreas frigate, and in April 1782 was moved to the Anson, in which he returned to England at the peace. In March 1795 he was appointed to the Vengeance, but in August, before she was ready for sea, he accidentally broke his leg. It had to be amputated, and he was superseded. In June 1796 he was appointed one of the commissioners of victualling, and in February 1799, on being passed over in the flag promotion, his name was removed from the list of captains. He continued a commissioner of victualling till August 1803, when he was appointed chief secretary to the government of Ceylon, in which office he remained till 1832 (Order in Council, 3 Dec.). He was then, on a memorial to the king in council, replaced on the navy list as a retired captain, and so continued till his death on 9 April 1847.