Charles Carter Drury (original) (raw)

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Royal Navy Admiral (1846–1914)

Admiral Sir Charles Carter Drury, GCB, GCVO, KCSI (27 August 1846 – 18 May 1914) was a British North American-born senior Admiral of the Royal Navy who served as Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel from 1903 to 1907.

Born in Rothesay, New Brunswick, Drury was the son of LeBaron Drury (1813–1882), British Consul and High Sheriff of Saint John, New Brunswick, by his wife Eliza Sophia Poyntz, daughter of Colonel James Poyntz (1796–1887), of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot.

Drury joined the Royal Navy in 1860 and was made a sub-lieutenant in 1865. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1868, to commander in 1878 and to captain in 1885.[1] Drury was appointed Commanding Officer of the battleship HMS Hood in 1895.[2]

Promoted to rear-admiral on 13 July 1899,[3] Drury was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station from June 1902.[4] He served there during the January 1903 Delhi Durbar to commemorate the accession to the throne of King Edward VII, and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI) in the 1903 Durbar Honours.[5][6] His time in the East Indies was cut short, however, as he was appointed Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel from August 1903.[7] He was promoted to vice admiral in 1904, and became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet from 1907 before being promoted to admiral and becoming Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in 1908.[8][9] He retired in 1911.[1]

Drury was Aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria from 1897 to 1899.

Drury married Francis Ellen Whitehead, daughter of Robert Whitehead, of Beckett, Shrivenham, Berkshire. She died at the residence of her father on 22 February 1900.[10]

His first cousin, Major General Charles William Drury, was the father of Lady Beaverbrook.

Coat of arms of Charles Carter Drury

1. ^ a b "ADMIRAL SIR C. C. DRURY.; Second Lord of Admiralty from 1903 Until 1908 Dies in London". New York Times. May 19, 1914. p. 9.
2. ^ HMS Hood
3. ^ "No. 27100". The London Gazette. 18 July 1899. p. 4444.
4. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36763. London. 9 May 1902. p. 10.
5. ^ "The Durbar Honours". The Times. No. 36966. London. 1 January 1903. p. 8.
6. ^ "No. 27511". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1903. p. 2.
7. ^ "Royal Navy Flag Officers 1904 – 1975". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
8. ^ Attending the Prince of Wales The Duke of York's Royal Military School
9. ^ Matron's Memories – the Gillingham naval orphans' home Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine Naval Historical Collectors & Research Association
10. ^ "Deaths". The Times. No. 36074. London. 24 February 1900. p. 1.
11. ^ "Grants and Confirmations of Arms Vol. J". National Library of Ireland. 1898. p. 397. Retrieved 31 December 2022.

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