Robert Winthrop (1764 - 1832)
| Robert Winthrop | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 December 1764 New London, Connecticut |
| Died | 10 May 1832 Dover |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom |
| Service/ |
 Royal Navy
|
| Years of service | 1778-1832 |
| Rank | Vice-Admiral |
| Battles/wars |
American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars • Vlieter Incident Napoleonic Wars |
Robert Winthrop (7 December 1764, New London, Connecticut – 10 May 1832, Dover) was a scion of the New England Winthrop family of high colonial civil servants, and a Vice-Admiral of the Blue in the Royal Navy. Among his many feats of arms was taking possession of admiral Samuel Story's squadron of the Batavian Navy after its surrender in the Vlieter Incident.
Winthrop was the youngest son of John S. Winthrop of New London, Conn. and Elizabeth Sheriffe Hay. He was a lineal descendant of governors John Winthrop of Massachusetts and John Winthrop the Younger of Connecticut, Chief Justice Wait Winthrop of Massachusetts, and John Winthrop (1681-1747) FRS, his grandfather.
His family evidently had Loyalist sympathies as he was entrusted to the care of a maternal uncle, attached to the British forces in New York, after the death of his father in 1778 (he crossed the line under a flag of truce to join this relative). This relative secured a place as a Midshipman in the Royal Navy, where his education was completed.
Winthrop married Sarah Farbrace on 23 December 1804 in Dover. He had two sons and four daughters with her.
The first recorded mention of Winthrop as a midshipman is aboard admiral Rodney's flagship HMS Formidable during the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782.
He was commissioned as a lieutenant (RN) in 1790 and in 1794 during the conquest of Martinique commanded a battalion of seamen attached to Prince Edward's brigade
In the Spring of 1796 he commanded the sloop HMS Albacore (1793) at the capture of St.Lucia. The same year he captured the French privateer Athenienne near Barbados.
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