surveyor, came from Newcastle and was according to family tradition, a trained carpenter. In August 1765 he was appointed purser in the sloop Carcass, which formed part of the flotilla commanded by...

legislative councillor, was born in Stanley on September 26, the only son of George and Isabel Bowles, née McKenzie. He was educated at the Government School in Stanley, where he spent two years in...

naval officer, was born on 30 September 1820 at Upper Deal, Kent, the second son of Captain Edward Boys, RN, and Elizabeth Boys, née Sayer. He joined the Edinburgh as a midshipman in 1837, and...

historian, was born in Bexley, Kent, the eldest of four children of James Lepard Boyson, a shipbroker, and his wife Alice Constance, née Duke. When she was two the family moved to Bordeaux in...

colonial secretary, was born on 5 January 1904, the son of Major Hugh Bradley and Nora Bradley, née Foster.

His father died when he was three and he was educated at Wellington and University...

was born in Carlow, Ireland, on 25 January 1846, the fourth of seven sons of the Rev William and Jane Brandon. They also had five daughters. Six of the seven brothers became ordained Anglican...

missionary, was a foundling adopted by the Rev and Mrs G Pakenham DESPARD, and taken out to live on Keppel Island in 1856 when he was 13. At the beginning of his life there his status was...

mariner and sealer, has a birth recorded in Perth, Tayside in 1797. Nothing is known of his early life or schooling, but his brother was master of a brig trading between Liverpool and Quebec. It...

magistrate. No information is available on Brooke's ancestry or place or date of birth, though his middle name suggests some link to the earls of Warwick, whose family name is Brooke. His position...

colonial secretary, was born in Bath on 18 July 1849 and entered the Royal Navy as naval cadet in 1862. He passed for lieutenant on 27 June 1870. On 20 September he 'ran' from the navy - ie went...

foreign secretary and baron, was born on 2 September 1914, son of George Brown, grocer's packer, and Rosina, née Mason. He was educated at local schools and ended his schooling at age 15. He took a...

explorer, was born in London on 1 August 1867 the son of Samuel Noble Bruce and his wife Mary (Sara), née Lloyd.

His father was at that time working in London as a physician, as William's...

ambassador and viscount, was born in Belfast on 10 May 1838, the son of James Bryce and Margaret Bryce, née Young. During a distinguished academic career, Bryce undertook several long journeys in...

see PIEDRA BUENA, Luis

colonial chaplain, was born on 9 June 1828 in Hampstead, London. He was educated at a private school to a sufficiently high standard to become tutor in a Church school at Bury St Edmunds. With...

master mariner and captain of MV Trepassey, was born to Willis and Miriam Burden (née Moores) in 1892, in Carbonear, Newfoundland. He came from a community of tough seamen and skilled ship...

naval officer and expedition leader, was born in Dyserth, Flintshire on 28 September 1927, the second son of Leonard Burley and his wife Edith, née Baker.

He was educated at Solihull School and...

artist, was born in Edinburgh in 1862, the son of William Burn-Murdoch and his wife Jessie, née Mack.

He was educated at Oliphants Collegiate School and the University of Edinburgh, going on to...

Spanish naval officer, was born at Ontaneda, Santander, on 1 April 1759, the son of Joaquín Antonio de Bustamante and Clara Ignacia Guerra de la Vega. He enrolled in the Spanish navy as a ...

see PIERCE-BUTLER

Yahgan Indian, was born about 1818 and bought for a pearl button by Captain Robert FITZROY in 1830 and given his nickname. With three other Indians, he was taken to England on board HMS Beagle....

naval officer and explorer, was born on 8 November 1723, the second son of William, fourth Baron Byron and his third wife Frances, née Berkeley. He joined the Navy in 1737, and as a midshipman...

governor, was born on 21 December 1827, the fourth son of Mathias Callaghan of Midleton, Co Cork and Charlotte Fitzgerald. He studied at Trinity College Dublin and at Lincoln's Inn in London. He...

foreign secretary, prime minister and baron, was born on 27 March 1912, son of James Callaghan, an Irish CPO in the navy. Educated at Portsmouth North Grammar School he entered the Inland Revenue...

see PASCUAL CALLEJAS, Juan