Thomas Ussher

Thomas Ussher
Portrait of Sir Thomas Ussher by Andrew Morton
Born	1779 Dublin, Ireland
Died	6 January 1848 (aged 68–69) Queenstown, Ireland
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1791–1848
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	HM hired armed cutter Nox HM hired armed cutter Joseph HM hired armed brig Colpoys HMS Redwing HMS Leyden HMS Hyacinth HMS Euryalus HMS Undaunted HMS Duncan Commander-in-Chief at Cork Station
Battles/wars	French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars

Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Ussher KCH CB (1779 – 6 January 1848) was an Anglo-Irish officer of the British Royal Navy who served with distinction during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and who in 1814 conveyed Napoleon Bonaparte into exile in Elba.

Thomas Ussher was born in Dublin, the son of Henry Ussher, the Andrews Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College, and Mary Burne. The Usshers were originally a Norman family named Nevill, one of which having come to Ireland with King John, took the surname Ussher from his official position.

Thomas Ussher entered the Royal Navy on 27 January 1791 at the age of 12 as a midshipman on board the 24-gun sixth-rate Squirrel, under the command of Captain William O'Bryen Drury. He served in Irish waters, then took part in an expedition to the Bight of Benin.

In September 1793 he joined the 74-gun Invincible under Captain The Hon. Thomas Pakenham. Invincible was present in the battle of the Glorious First of June, 1794, during which Ussher took part in the capture of the French 80-gun ship Juste, subsequently serving aboard her for a year in the English Channel. In October 1795 he was transferred to the Prince George (98), the flagship of Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian, for an expedition to the West Indies. The first attempt was aborted after violent storms forced the fleet to return to port. A second attempt in November aboard Glory (98) was also frustrated by bad weather, and Ussher finally sailed in March 1796 aboard the Thunderer (74). On the outward passage, he was transferred with Sir Hugh to the frigate Astraea.