Capt. Francis Digby

Summary

Son of George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol.

3 Annotations

Second Reading

Bill  •  Link

DIGBY, Francis,—was the second son of George, second earl of Bristol. He was appointed lieutenant of the Royal Charles in 1666, and promoted to the command of the Jersey in the same year. On the 15th of September he drove on shore, upon their own coast, and burnt, four large French vessels, one of them a frigate of thirty guns. In the following year he was removed into the Greenwich (in which ship he had the good fortune to take several very valuable prizes from the enemy), and in 1668 into the Montague. The high estimation in which he was held, as well in respect to bravery as prudence, procured him, on the first rumour of a second war with Holland, the command of the Henry, a second rate of seventy-two guns. His conduct was every way consonant to the nobleness of his birth, for being one of the seconds to the brave and unfortunate earl of Sandwich, he, like his worthy commander, perished, after having given proofs of intrepidity almost innumerable, any one of which would singly have been sufficient to have established the character of an hero. His body was deposited in the vault of his mother's family, at Cheneys in Buckinghamshire, in an open coffin, and is yet entire, except the loss of some teeth and toenails, which have been stolen.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1754

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Terry's link has died ... but here's a book summary for the same author with good information about Francis Digby and the rest of the gang:
http://jddavies.com/2016/02/29/th…

J.D. Davies is a serious historian who likes to write novels about the Anglo-Dutch Wars, plague and Great Fire. All very readable and fun.

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1666