William Gordon Rutherford

William Gordon Rutherford
Born	1764 Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	1818 Greenwich Hospital
Buried at	St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, London , England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1778 - 1818
Rank	Captain
Unit	HMS Boyne HM Sloop Nautilus HMS Adventure HMS Dictator HMS Brunswick HMS Decade HMS Swiftsure
Other work	Captain of Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich

Captain William Gordon RutherfurdRN, CB (1765 – 14 January 1818) was an officer in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars whose career was almost entirely conducted in the West Indies except for a brief stay in European waters during which he commanded the ship of the line HMS Swiftsure at the battle of Trafalgar.

Rutherfurd was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States, to loyalist parents in 1764. His father was John Rutherfurd of Bowland Stow and his mother, Frances, was the widow of Gabriel Johnston the late governor. The family returned to Scotland and the young William was educated at University of St Andrew. The Rutherfurds moved to the Caribbean during the Revolution and in 1788 William was sent to sea aboard HMS Suffolk. Rutherfurd was a capable sailor and possessed a large amount of patronage. He joined the 98 gun, second rate, HMS Boyne, the flagship of Sir John Jervis in the West Indies, shortly after the outbreak of the French revolutionary wars and in 1793 he was promoted to acting lieutenant with his position being confirmed on 9 January 1794.

Rutherfurd was in the thick of the action during the 1794 West Indies campaign, serving with distinction as a junior officer in command of a landing party; storming forts on Martinique and taking part in operations in St Lucia and Guadeloupe. He received several accolades for his actions including, on 4 July, promotion to commander of the 16 gun sloop, Nautilus.

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