Edward Thornbrough
Admiral Sir Edward Thornbrough, GCB (27 July 1754 – 3 April 1834) was a senior, long-serving veteran officer of the British Royal Navy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. He saw action in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, being wounded several times and once captured by American forces after a shipwreck. During the wreck, his conduct towards American prisoners aboard his ship was considered so exemplary that the American authorities later released him without parole or exchange.
Sir Edward Thornbrough | |
|---|---|
Admiral Edward Thornborough (Samuel Lane, 1821) | |
| Born | 27 July 1754 Plymouth Dockyard, Devon |
| Died | 3 April 1834 (aged 79) Bishopsteignton Lodge, Devon |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1761 to 1818 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | The Downs Cork Station Portsmouth Command |
| Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War • Battle of Bunker Hill • Action in Cape Ann Harbour • Capture of Nymphe • Wreck of HMS Blonde French Revolutionary Wars • Glorious First of June • Invasion of Quiberon Bay • Battle of Donegal Napoleonic Wars |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
During the later conflict, Thornbrough won praise for taking his frigate into the thick of the action at the Glorious First of June, towing the shattered HMS Bellerophon to safety after she was isolated by several French ships of the line. Later, Thornbrough became a senior admiral in both the Channel Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet under Cuthbert Collingwood, who held him in high esteem. He retired in 1818 and settled in Devon with his third wife, dying in 1834.