William Whetstone

William Whetstone
Sir William Whetstone by Michael Dahl
Died	1711
Allegiance	Kingdom of England
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1689 – 1707
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	HMS Portsmouth HMS Norfolk HMS York HMS Dreadnought HMS Yarmouth HMS Canterbury HMS Montagu Jamaica Station

Sir William Whetstone (died 1711) was an officer of the Royal Navy in the later 17th and early eighteenth century. He eventually rose to the rank of Rear Admiral, having spent his career serving with several distinguished figures.

Whetstone appears to have been born into a naval family, his father John Whetstone had probably been a naval officer. William established himself in Bristol, becoming a member of Bristol corporation and commanding a merchant ship, the Mary of Bristol, with which he carried out trading with Virginia and Barbados. His trading appears to have been in a wide variety of goods, including serge.

He appears to have married a woman named Sarah by 1677, and that year he took an apprenticeship that would last until 1684. This marriage produced two sons and two daughters, his eldest daughter, also named Sarah, married the naval officer Woodes Rogers. William's first wife died in 1698 and was buried in the church of St Nicholas's, Bristol, on 19 October 1698.

William entered navy service, being appointed on 30 July 1689 to command the hired ship Europa, and he spent the next two years conveying supplies to Ireland. He was then briefly appointed to command HMS Portsmouth from 3 February to 12 August 1691. Here he came to the attention of Admiral Edward Russell, who described him as ‘a good man’. He did not however exert himself on Whetstone's behalf, and William spent 1692 unemployed. He returned to active duty in 1693, at first as the part owner of the privateer Delavall, and later receiving a commission to command HMS Norfolk which was then being built at Southampton. She was launched on 27 March 1693, and Whetstone proceeded to man the ship. He was discharged from her on 23 May. A series of brief commands followed before he took command of HMS York from 13 July 1693 to 13 June 1695.