Hugh Cloberry Christian

Christian, descended from residents of the Isle of Man, was born at Hook Norton, Oxfordshire in 1747. His father, Thomas Christian, was a captain with his own privateer, whilst his mother, Anne Penny was a poet. He followed his father into the navy in 1761, spending time in the English Channel and the Mediterranean, but few details of his early service survive, other than that he took his lieutenant's examination in 1767, and received his commission on 21 January 1771. He married Ann Leigh, resident of the Isle of Wight on 6 March 1775, and was promoted to master and commander in 1778. ==American War of Independence==

Christian received a further promotion to flag-captain on 8 December 1778 and took command of the 74-gun , flying the broad pennant of Commodore Joshua Rowley. The Suffolk arrived in the Leeward Islands on 12 February 1779, and Christian remained with Rowley in the West Indies, serving with Vice-Admiral John Byron at the Battle of Grenada on 6 July 1779. Rowley shifted his flag to the 74-gun after these clashes, and Christian was transferred to command the 38-gun , the frigate he had helped to capture in 1779. He was present at the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781, after which he returned to the West Indies. He and Fortunee formed part of Sir Samuel Hood's fleet, with Christian being present at the Battle of St. Kitts on 25 and 26 January 1782, attached to the centre division. He was still with Rodney's fleet when the Battle of the Saintes was fought against the Comte de Grasse on 9 to 12 April 1782. ==End of the war==

Christian sailed north from Jamaica on 21 July 1782 with Admiral Hugh Pigot's fleet, arriving at New York City on 5 September. The easing of tensions meant that Queen Charlotte was paid off at the end of the year, and Christian again found himself without a ship. ==French Revolutionary Wars==

The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in early 1793 provided Christian with further employment. Queen Charlotte was recommissioned, and he again became her second captain, still under Lord Howe. He was then appointed commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station in 1796, and was instructed to take a fleet out with a convoy of transports, carrying soldiers for operations against the French and Dutch colonies there. Attempts to cross the Atlantic The fleet did not leave Spithead until 16 November, the departure having been delayed until late in the season. Again the ships encountered severe gales that caused considerable damage, forcing nine of the warships and fifty of the merchantmen to struggle back to port on 29 January. Some of the convoy successfully made the crossing, while others were wrecked, or captured by enemy ships. Christian again shifted his flag, this time to the 74-gun , while he waited for repairs to his ships to be completed, and the merchantmen gathered to make a third attempt to reach the West Indies. While ashore he was invested as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath on 17 February 1796, and on 20 March he left Spithead again, bound for the West Indies. The third voyage was successful, and he arrived at Carlisle Bay, Barbados on 21 April. He joined with the forces of the station's current commander, Sir John Laforey several days later, and took over the command from him. Christian assembled his forces, and on 26 April sailed to invade St Lucia, with a detachment of troops under Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby. The invasion was successful and the island was surrendered to the British on 25 May. Christian went on to use his naval forces to support the reduction and capture of the islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada. ==Later years==

Christian was succeeded as commander in the West Indies by Rear-Admiral Henry Harvey, who had arrived in late June, and Christian returned to England in October aboard . He succeeded Admiral Thomas Pringle as the station commander in 1798, but died on 23 November that year at the age of 51. His wife, who had been seriously ill for sometime, died two months later, without having heard of her husband's death. Hugh Cloberry Christian had been created a peer, and chose the title of Lord Ronaldsway to honour his ancestor, Manx politician Illiam Dhone, but died before the patent reached him. He was buried at the Cape. He and his wife had two sons and three daughters; one son, Hood Hanway Christian, became a Rear Admiral. ==Notes==