• About
  • Ahentafel index
  • Books
    • Champions from Normandy
    • C F C Crespigny nee Dana
    • Pink Hats on Gentle Ladies: second edition by Vida and Daniel Clift
  • Index
    • A to Z challenges
    • DNA research
    • UK trip 2019
    • World War 1
    • Boltz and Manock family index
    • Budge and Gunn family index
    • Cavenagh family index
    • Chauncy family index
    • Cross and Plowright family index
    • Cudmore family index
    • Dana family index
    • Dawson family index
    • de Crespigny family index
    • de Crespigny family index 2 – my English forebears
    • de Crespigny family index 3 – the baronets and their descendants
    • Edwards, Ralph and Gilbart family index
    • Hughes family index
    • Mainwaring family index
      • Back to 1066 via the Mainwaring family
    • Sullivan family index
    • Young family index

Anne's Family History

~ An online research journal

Anne's Family History

Category Archives: Northumberland

Remembering Captain Gordon Skelly

22 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by Anne Young in Canada, navy, Northumberland, Skelly, Yorkshire

≈ 1 Comment

My sixth great grandfather Gordon Skelly was a Captain of the Royal Navy. He died on 22 June 1771, 250 years ago today.

He was born in 1741 at Warkworth, Northumberland, England to the Reverend John Skelly and Lady Betty Skelly née Gordon, daughter of Alexander the second Duke of Gordon.

He first joined the merchant navy in 1755, when he was about 14 years old. From 1757, probably as a midshipman, Skelly served on HMS Devonshire, a 66-gun third rate ship of the line. The commanding officer was William Gordon (1705 – 1769); it sounds as though they were related. William Gordon later became a Rear-Admiral and Commander-in-Chief, The Nore.

In June 1758 Skelly saw action at the Siege of Louisbourg and at the Capture of Quebec in September 1759. He kept a journal from 1757 to 1759. This account seems to hold considerable importance to historical collectors. It was sold in 2003 for $US141,900.

Burning of the French ship Prudent and capture of Bienfaisant, during the siege of Louisbourg in 1758, Richard Paton. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Skelly’s journal has the title “A Journal of two Voyages to North America. In his Majesty’s Ship ye Devonshire, From June 1757 to December 1759. Containing the Expedition against Louisbourgh under the Admirals Holburne and Boscowen; with the Reduction of some places of less note after the Surrender of Louisbourgh in the year 1758. The transactions during the winter at Hallifax in 1759–The arrival of Admiral Saunders with a Fleet against Quebec…to the Surrender of Quebec, and our return to England….“. Skelly recorded the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, on 13 September 1759. Just outside the walls of Quebec City, “the whole line of the enemy soon gave way, ours pushing on with their bayonets till they took to their heels and were pursued with great slaughter to the walls of the town.”

“Slipping and stumbling the men went on” The British under General Wolfe climbing the heights of Quebec, 1759. Illustration by J. R. Skelton for the book Our Empire Story by H. E. Marshall. Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

Gordon Skelly passed his lieutenant’s examination on 5 August 1761 and was commissioned as lieutenant on 1 October 1761. He served on several ships, among them HMS Baltimore, where from 10 October 1762 to 3 December 1762 he kept the Lieutenant’s logbooks.

On 10 January 1771 Skelly was appointed commander of the Royal Navy 10 gun sloop Lynx, stationed at Shields in north-east England. He and seven others were drowned there when the ship’s longboat was overturned by breakers when crossing the harbour bar.

Newcastle Courant 29 June 1771 page 2. Image (and subsequent newspaper image) retrieved through FindMyPast.com.au and reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive.
Leeds Intelligencer 2 July 1771
Entrance to Shields Harbour from The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1 by William Findon retrieved from Project Gutenberg

Gordon Skelly married Dorothy Harrison on 6 June 1766 at Yarm, Yorkshire, the ceremony conducted his father the Reverend John Skelly, Vicar of Stockton.

They had three children:

  • Gordon 1767–1828
  • Dorothy 1768–1840, mother of Sophia Mainwaring née Duff
  • Andrew 1772–1785

His granddaughter Sophia née Duff (1790 – 1824) married Rowland Mainwaring (1783 – 1862).

Wikitree:

  • Gordon Skelly (1741 – 1771)
Follow Anne's Family History on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Categories

  • . Surnames (537)
    • Atkin (1)
    • Bayley, Bayly, Baillie (3)
    • Beggs (11)
    • Bertz (3)
    • Bock (1)
    • Boltz (18)
    • Branthwayt (1)
    • Bray (2)
    • Brown (1)
    • Budge (7)
    • Cavenagh (22)
    • Cavenagh-Mainwaring (23)
    • Champion de Crespigny (147)
      • apparently unrelated Champion de Crespigny (5)
      • CdeC 18th century (3)
      • CdeC Australia (22)
        • Rafe de Crespigny (10)
      • CdeC baronets (10)
    • Chauncy (28)
    • Corrin (2)
    • Crew (4)
    • Cross (18)
      • Cross SV (7)
    • Cudmore (60)
      • Kathleen (15)
    • Dana (28)
    • Darby (3)
    • Davies (1)
    • Daw (3)
    • Dawson (4)
    • Duff (3)
    • Edwards (13)
    • Ewer (1)
    • Fish (8)
    • Fonnereau (5)
    • Furnell (2)
    • Gale (1)
    • Gibbons (2)
    • Gilbart (7)
    • Goldstein (8)
    • Gordon (1)
    • Granger (2)
    • Green (2)
    • Grueber (2)
    • Grust (2)
    • Gunn (5)
    • Harvey (1)
    • Hawkins (8)
    • Henderson (1)
    • Hickey (4)
    • Holmes (1)
    • Horsley (2)
    • Hughes (20)
    • Hunter (1)
    • Hutcheson (3)
    • Huthnance (2)
    • James (4)
    • Johnstone (4)
    • Jones (1)
    • Kemmis (2)
    • Kinnaird (4)
    • La Mothe (2)
    • Lane (1)
    • Lawson (3)
    • Leister (6)
    • Mainwaring (34)
    • Manock (14)
    • Massy Massey Massie (1)
    • Mitchell (4)
    • Morley (4)
    • Morris (1)
    • Movius (2)
    • Murray (6)
    • Niall (4)
    • Nihill (9)
    • Odiarne (1)
    • Orfeur (2)
    • Palliser (1)
    • Peters (2)
    • Phipps (3)
    • Plaisted (9)
    • Plowright (16)
    • Pye (2)
    • Ralph (1)
    • Reher (1)
    • Richards (1)
    • Russell (1)
    • Sherburne (1)
    • Sinden (1)
    • Skelly (3)
    • Skerritt (2)
    • Smyth (6)
    • Snell (1)
    • Sullivan (18)
    • Symes (9)
    • Taylor (4)
    • Toker (2)
    • Torrey (1)
    • Tuckfield (3)
    • Tunks (2)
    • Vaux (4)
    • Wade (2)
    • Way (13)
    • Whiteman (7)
    • Wilkes (1)
    • Wilkins (9)
    • Wright (1)
    • Young (29)
      • Charlotte Young (3)
      • Greg Young (9)
  • .. Places (376)
    • Africa (3)
    • Australia (172)
      • Canberra (10)
      • New South Wales (10)
        • Albury (2)
        • Binalong (1)
        • Lilli Pilli (2)
        • Murrumburrah (2)
        • Orange (1)
        • Parkes (3)
        • Wentworth (1)
      • Northern Territory (1)
      • Queensland (5)
      • Snowy Mountains (1)
      • South Australia (43)
        • Adelaide (30)
        • Glenelg (1)
      • Tasmania (9)
      • Victoria (104)
        • Apollo Bay (2)
        • Ararat (1)
        • Avoca (10)
        • Ballarat (14)
        • Beaufort (5)
        • Bendigo (3)
        • Bentleigh (2)
        • Betley (1)
        • Birregurra (1)
        • Bowenvale (1)
        • Bright (1)
        • Brighton (4)
        • Carngham (3)
        • Carwarp (1)
        • Castlemaine (3)
        • Charlton (2)
        • Clunes (1)
        • Collingwood (1)
        • Creswick (2)
        • Dunolly (2)
        • Eurambeen (4)
        • Geelong (6)
        • Heathcote (5)
        • Homebush (12)
        • Lamplough (3)
        • Lilydale (1)
        • Melbourne (12)
        • Portland (8)
        • Prahran (1)
        • Queenscliff (1)
        • Seddon (1)
        • Snake Valley (4)
        • St Kilda (1)
        • Talbot (4)
        • Windsor (1)
        • Yarraville (1)
      • Western Australia (2)
    • Belgium (1)
    • Canada (4)
    • China (3)
    • England (112)
      • Bath (5)
      • Cambridge (5)
      • Cheshire (2)
      • Cornwall (14)
        • Gwinear (1)
        • St Erth (9)
      • Devon (6)
      • Dorset (2)
      • Durham (1)
      • Essex (1)
      • Gloucestershire (10)
        • Bristol (1)
        • Cheltenham (5)
        • Leckhampton (3)
      • Hampshire (2)
      • Hertfordshire (2)
      • Kent (4)
      • Lancashire (3)
      • Lincolnshire (3)
      • Liverpool (10)
      • London (8)
      • Middlesex (1)
        • Harefield (1)
      • Norfolk (2)
      • Northamptonshire (11)
        • Kelmarsh Hall (5)
      • Northumberland (1)
      • Nottinghamshire (1)
      • Oxfordshire (6)
        • Oxford (5)
      • Shropshire (6)
        • Shrewsbury (2)
      • Somerset (3)
      • Staffordshire (11)
        • Whitmore (11)
      • Suffolk (1)
      • Surrey (3)
      • Sussex (4)
      • Wiltshire (4)
      • Yorkshire (3)
    • France (14)
      • Normandy (1)
    • Germany (22)
      • Berlin (12)
      • Brandenburg (2)
    • Guernsey (1)
    • Hong Kong (2)
    • India (11)
    • Ireland (40)
      • Antrim (2)
      • Cavan (3)
      • Clare (2)
      • Cork (4)
      • Dublin (9)
      • Kildare (2)
      • Kilkenny (4)
      • Limerick (6)
      • Londonderry (1)
      • Meath (1)
      • Monaghan (1)
      • Tipperary (5)
      • Westmeath (1)
      • Wexford (3)
      • Wicklow (1)
    • Isle of Man (2)
    • Jerusalem (3)
    • Malaysia (1)
    • New Guinea (3)
    • New Zealand (3)
    • Scotland (17)
      • Caithness (1)
      • Edinburgh (1)
    • Singapore (4)
    • Spain (1)
    • USA (9)
      • Massachusetts (5)
    • Wales (6)
  • 1854 (6)
  • A to Z challenges (244)
    • A to Z 2014 (27)
    • A to Z 2015 (27)
    • A to Z 2016 (27)
    • A to Z 2017 (27)
    • A to Z 2018 (28)
    • A to Z 2019 (26)
    • A to Z 2020 (27)
    • A to Z 2021 (27)
    • A to Z 2022 (28)
  • AAGRA (1)
  • Australian Dictionary of Biography (1)
  • Australian War Memorial (2)
  • Bank of Victoria (7)
  • bankruptcy (1)
  • baronet (13)
  • British Empire (1)
  • cemetery (23)
    • grave (2)
  • census (4)
  • Cherry Stones (11)
  • Christmas (2)
  • Civil War (4)
  • class (1)
  • cooking (5)
  • court case (12)
  • crime (11)
  • Crimean War (1)
  • divorce (8)
  • dogs (5)
  • education (10)
    • university (4)
  • encounters with indigenous Australians (8)
  • family history (53)
    • family history book (3)
    • UK trip 2019 (36)
  • Father's day (1)
  • freemason (3)
  • French Revolution (2)
  • genealogical records (24)
  • genealogy tools (74)
    • ahnentafel (6)
    • DNA (40)
      • AncestryDNA (13)
      • FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) (2)
      • GedMatch (6)
    • DNA Painter (13)
    • FamilySearch (3)
    • MyHeritage (11)
    • tree completeness (12)
    • wikitree (8)
  • geneameme (117)
    • 52 ancestors (22)
    • Sepia Saturday (28)
    • Through her eyes (4)
    • Trove Tuesday (51)
    • Wedding Wednesday (5)
  • gold rush (4)
  • Governor LaTrobe (1)
  • GSV (3)
  • heraldry (6)
  • illegitimate (2)
  • illness and disease (23)
    • cholera (5)
    • tuberculosis (7)
    • typhoid (7)
  • immigration (34)
  • inquest (1)
  • insolvency (2)
  • land records (3)
  • military (128)
    • ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day (7)
    • army (7)
    • Durham Light Infantry (1)
    • Napoleonic wars (9)
      • Waterloo (2)
    • navy (19)
    • prisoner of war (10)
    • Remembrance Day (5)
    • World War 1 (63)
    • World War 2 (18)
  • obituary (10)
  • occupations (43)
    • artist (7)
    • author (5)
    • aviation (3)
    • British East India Company (1)
    • clergy (2)
    • farming (1)
    • lawyer (8)
    • medicine (13)
    • public service (1)
    • railways (3)
    • teacher (2)
  • orphanage (2)
  • Parliament (5)
  • photographs (12)
    • Great great Aunt Rose's photograph album (6)
  • piracy (3)
  • police (2)
  • politics (17)
  • portrait (15)
  • postcards (3)
  • prison (4)
  • probate (8)
  • PROV (2)
  • Recipe (1)
  • religion (26)
    • Huguenot (9)
    • Methodist (4)
    • Mormon pioneer (1)
    • Puritan (1)
    • Salvation Army (1)
  • Royal family (5)
  • sheriff (1)
  • shipwreck (3)
  • South Sea Company (2)
  • sport (14)
    • cricket (2)
    • golf (4)
    • riding (1)
    • rowing (2)
    • sailing (1)
  • statistics (4)
    • demography (3)
  • street directories (1)
  • temperance (1)
  • Trove (37)
  • Uncategorized (12)
  • ward of the state (2)
  • Wedding (20)
  • will (6)
  • workhouse (1)
  • younger son (3)

Pages

  • About
  • Ahentafel index
  • Books
    • Champions from Normandy
    • C F C Crespigny nee Dana
    • Pink Hats on Gentle Ladies: second edition by Vida and Daniel Clift
  • Index
    • A to Z challenges
    • DNA research
    • UK trip 2019
    • World War 1
    • Boltz and Manock family index
    • Budge and Gunn family index
    • Cavenagh family index
    • Chauncy family index
    • Cross and Plowright family index
    • Cudmore family index
    • Dana family index
    • Dawson family index
    • de Crespigny family index
    • de Crespigny family index 2 – my English forebears
    • de Crespigny family index 3 – the baronets and their descendants
    • Edwards, Ralph and Gilbart family index
    • Hughes family index
    • Mainwaring family index
      • Back to 1066 via the Mainwaring family
    • Sullivan family index
    • Young family index

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow Anne's Family History on WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Anne's Family History
    • Join 294 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Anne's Family History
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...