Skynner was born in 1766 at the vicarage (now known as Glebe House) in
Easton-on-the-Hill in
Northamptonshire the son of the local vicar, Reverend John Skynner (1725-1805), and his wife, Sara Lancaster. He was named after his paternal uncle Captain Lancelot Skynner who had been killed on
HMS Bideford on 4 April 1760, fighting a superior force of French frigates. In 1779 Skynner joined the
Royal Navy as a
midshipman on the newly launched
HMS Brilliant, serving in the
English Channel under Captain John Ford. In May 1780 the ship went to the
Leeward Islands to protect them from a Spanish fleet. On return to England he transferred still under Ford to
HMS Nymphe, a 36-gun frigate newly captured from the French and held at
Portsmouth. In February 1793 he was put on
HMS Aimable and was briefly on
HMS Theseus before joining
HMS Boyne under Admiral
Sir John Jervis. In April 1794 he transferred to the 18-gun
HMS Zebra. In January 1795 Skynner was given his first ship to command, the 44-gun
HMS Experiment which was mainly used as a storage and supply ship in the
West Indies. On 16 September he was promoted to
post-captain in January 1796 was given command of the 76-gun
HMS Ganges. In March he was made captain of
HMS Beaulieu and took part in the capture of the island of
St Lucia in April/May. Still on
Beaulieu, in August with
HMS Mermaid they jointly made a successful attack on the French man-o-war
La Vengeance off
Basseterre. In May 1799 Skynner was given command of
HMS Lutine. This 32-gun frigate largely served escort duties in the North Sea. Its fateful voyage related to the conveyance of £1.2 million of gold bullion from England to Germany to support a bank crash there. The ship sank in a storm in the North Sea near
Vlieland on 9 October, and Skynner and the crew were drowned. The treasure was never recovered but the ship's bell was found in a search in 1858. Skynner's body washed ashore and was buried in a small cemetery on
Vlieland. ==Recognition==