Joseph Denman
| Joseph Denman | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 June 1810 |
| Died | 26 November 1874 (aged 64) |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/ |
 Royal Navy
|
| Years of service | 1823 - 1866 |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Commands held |
HMS Wanderer Pacific Station |
Rear Admiral Joseph Denman (23 June 1810 – 26 November 1874) was a British naval officer, most noted for his actions against the slave trade as a commander of HMS Wanderer of the West Africa Squadron.
Denman was born on 23 June 1810, the son of Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman, Lord Chief Justice and a noted abolitionist.
Joseph entered the Royal Navy on 7 April 1823, and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1831 and commander in 1835.
In 1834, Lieutenant Joseph Denman commanded a prize crew aboard the captured slave ship Maria da Gloria. He first sailed her to the Anglo-Brazilian Mixed Commission Court at Rio de Janeiro, which declined jurisdiction on the grounds that the ship was Portuguese, not Brazilian. Denman then had to sail back across the Atlantic to the Anglo-Portuguese court in Sierra Leone. Seventy-eight of the 400 or so slaves on board died during the back-and-forth, which also severely debilitated the survivors. Denman later testified before parliament about this voyage, stating that he had “witnessed the most dreadful sufferings that human beings can endure.”
On 26 December 1836 Commander the Honourable Joseph Denman commissioned the brig-sloop HMS Scylla for the Lisbon Station. He remained in command of her there until 17 November 1839.
In 1839 Denman took command of the West Africa Squadron’s brig-sloop, HMS Wanderer. On 5 April 1840, the Wanderer's boats seized the American slaver Eliza Davidson, which was subsequently condemned in British and Spanish Mixed Commission Court at Sierra Leone. On 12 May, Denman took the Josephina, a Portuguese schooner fitted for the slave trade, as a prize. On 3 June, he took the schooner São Paolo de Loando as prize. On 9 June he took another schooner fitted for the slave trade, the Maria Rosaria. On 3 July he took the Pombinha, out of Havanah, and fitted for the slave trade; on 29 December 1842, a prize court awarded Wanderer's crew a tonnage bounty and moiety of proceeds for Pombinha.
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