SIR

See also:

• GEORGE
• GEORGE, 8TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (1787-1876)
• GEORGE, HENRY (1839—1897)
• GEORGE, LAKE
• GEORGE, SAINT (d. 303)

GEORGE

See also:

• COCKBURN, ALICIA, or ALISON (1713-1994)
• COCKBURN, HENRY THOMAS (1779–1854)
• COCKBURN, SIR ALEXANDER JAMES EDMUND
• SIR GEORGE COCKBURN

COCKBURN  , Bart . (1772-1853), British 'admiral, second son of Sir James Cockburn, Bart., and uncle of Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, was born in London . He entered the navy in his ninth year . After serving on the home station, and in the East Indies and the Mediterranean, he assisted, as captain of the " Minerve " (38) at the blockade of Leghorn in 1796, and fought a gallant action with the Spanish frigate " Sabina " (40) which he took . He was present at the battle of Cape St Vincent . In 1809, in command of the naval force on shore, he contributed greatly to the reduction of Martinique, and signed the capitulation by which that island was handed over to the English; for his services on this occasion he received the thanks of the House of Commons . After service in the Scheldt and at the defence of Cadiz he was sent in 1811 on an unsuccessful mission for the reconciliation of Spain and her American colonies . He was made rear-admiral in 1812, and in 1813–14, as second in command to Warren, he took a prominent part in the American War, especially in the capture of Washington . Early in 1815 he received the order of the Bath, and in the autumn of the same year he carried out, in the "Northumberland " (74), the sentence of deportation to St Helena which had been passed upon Bonaparte . In 1818 he received the Grand Cross of his order, and was made a lord of the admiralty; and the same year he was returned to parliament for Portsmouth . He was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral in 1819, and to that of admiral in 183'7; he became senior naval lord in 1841, and held office in that capacity till 1846 . From 1827 he was a privy councillor .

In 1851 he was made admiral of the

fleet, and in 1852, a year before his death, inherited the family baronetcy from his elder brother, being himself succeeded by his brother William, dean of York, who died in 1858 . See O'Byrne, Naval Biography; W . James, Naval History; Gentleman's Magazine for 1853 .