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George Willes
British admiral of the Royal Navy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Admiral Sir George Ommanney Willes GCB (19 June 1823 – 18 February 1901) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.
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Early life
Born at Hythe, Hampshire in 1823, Willes was the son of Captain George Wickens Willes, RN, by his wife Anne Lacon, daughter of Sir Edmund Lacon, Baronet.[1] He was educated at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, and joined the Royal Navy in 1838.[2]
Naval career
Willes received his commission as Mate in 1842, and as Lieutenant in 1844,[1] his early career being uneventful until the outbreak of the Crimean War, when he took part in the bombardments of Odessa and of Sevastopol's Konstantin Battery in 1854.[2] In April that year he was promoted Commander, and in May 1856 Captain.[1] He was given command of the frigate HMS Chesapeake in 1859,[3] and of HMS Impérieuse in 1861. In both cases as Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies.[2] In this capacity he took part in the Battle of the Taku Forts during the Second Opium War.[4]
In 1864 he was made Captain of the ironclad warship HMS Prince Consort.[2]
He became Admiral-Superintendent at Devonport in 1876 and Commander-in-chief, China Station in 1881.[2] His last post was as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in 1886.[2] He retired in 1888.[2]
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Family
In 1855 he married Georgiana Matilda Josephine, daughter of William Joseph Lockwood and granddaughter of Sir Mark Wood, 1st Baronet. His younger brother was the cricketer Edmund Willes.[2][5][6]
See also
- O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). . . John Murray – via Wikisource.
References
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