According to various sources, Manley Dixon was born in either 1757 or 1760 into a military family: his brother
George W. Dixon became a
British Army Major-General serving with the
Royal Artillery. Joining the Navy at a young age, Dixon served throughout the
American Revolutionary War and by 1782 was a commander with the
sloop in the Caribbean and the following year took over . He saw little service during the peace of 1783–1793, although in 1790 he was promoted to
post captain. His daughter Frances Elizabeth Dixon was born in 1784 and his son
Manley Hall Dixon was born in 1786. In 1793 Dixon took command of the
sixth rate off
Ireland and later moved to the
frigate HMS Espion in the
Channel Fleet. In 1798, Dixon sailed in the 64-gun ship of the line for the Mediterranean Fleet under Vice-Admiral
Earl St Vincent based in the
Tagus. There he was assigned to the
blockade of
Cartagena and on 15 July 1798
fought an action against four Spanish frigates, successfully dividing the squadron and capturing the
Santa Dorothea. Later in the year,
Lion was attached to the squadron blockading
Valletta during the
Siege of Malta, remaining on the station for two years. In March 1800, the French ship of the line
Guillaume Tell attempted to break out of Valletta and was intercepted by a British squadron including
Lion. During the ensuing battle Dixon was heavily engaged and inflicted severe damage on his French opponent, which was eventually forced to surrender. In August 1802 during the
Peace of Amiens,
Lion returned to
Portsmouth and Dixon was briefly placed in reserve. his first wife Christiana Sophia Dixon died suddenly while at dinner with friends in
Deal. In 1812 he was transferred to the Brazilian station in and remained there until the end of the war, receiving a promotion to vice-admiral in 1813 and returning to Britain in 1815 on board . Entering semi-retirement, Dixon did not return to the Navy and although he was made a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in August 1819 and was promoted to full admiral in 1825, he never again commanded at sea. He was
Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth from 1830 to 1833. Admiral Dixon died in February 1837 of
influenza at his home in
Exmouth,
Devon. == References ==