John Hext

Hext was born on 14 October 1842 the eldest son of the Reverend J.H. Hext, who was vicar of Morval, Cornwall. he was appointed to . In 1872 he gained his first command, , a composite gunboat which was based at the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station. ==Ashanti War, Mediterranean and Portsmouth==

While in command of the Decoy he was involved in the Ashanti war, on 13 June 1873 he led the boat expedition at Eliman and also landed at Bootey where the boat-crews destroyed the native village. In 1875, he became commander of the sloop HMS Cruiser in the Mediterranean which became a training ship, With his new experience of training he was appointed to command the training ship HMS St. Vincent located at Portsmouth harbour. ==East Indies, Egyptian War, Anglo-Burmese War and Director of the Indian Marine==

He returned to sea duty in the East Indies on the sloop and was promoted to captain on 30 June 1882. He was involved in the Egyptian War of 1882 in the transport service at Suez, In February 1883 he was selected to be Director of Marine working for the Government of India; he originally was appointed for five years; he held the post for 15 years. and also promoted to rear-admiral on the retired list on 10 May, although he had been on the retired list since 1889. Hext returned to England as continued in his interest in Naval affairs and was one of the commissioners appointed to look at the administration of the Port of London. He died at home at Newton Abbot on 8 May 1924 aged 81. ==Family life==

Hext had married Lilian Mary Mitchell in 1874; she died in 1893. He married again in 1893 to Jean Davidson; she died in 1913. ==References==