Admiral Sir Charles Holcombe Dare KCMG CB MVO (1854-1924) was an English Royal Navy officer. He commanded several ships and shore establishments before and during World War I, and was knighted by King George V.
Family[]
Dare was born on 9 November 1854[1] to Charles William Dare, a lawyer with a practice in London, and Anne Agnes (née Mew, from Newport, Isle of Wight) in North Curry, Somerset, one of four brothers and a sister.[2][3] Dare's grandfather, also Charles Holcombe Dare, was a Land Tax Commissioner for North Curry.[4] The family had connections in London and the Isle of Wight.[5] Dare married Emily Agnes Harper, a railway guard's daughter who, unusually for the time, brought an illegitimate daughter, Maud, to the marriage.[2]
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Early career[]
Dare enlisted in the Royal Navy as an officer cadet, first serving as a midshipman on HMS Monarch,[2] and was commissioned in 1868.[1] He was a sub-lieutenant until 1879, when he was promoted to lieutenant.[6] In 1893 he was promoted to commander.[7]
Command[]
On his promotion to commander, Dare was given command of HMS Lapwing, a Redbreast-class gunboat, one of the last built of composite materials.[8] In 1898, he was in command of HMS Archer, serving for a time in the Far East.[9] In 1900, he was promoted to full captain,[10] temporary on promotion, in command of the third class cruiser, HMS Bellona.[11] In 1903 he was given command of HMS Assistance to carry out sea trials off Sheerness; the first of her type, she was a "floating dockyard" designed to go to sea with the fleet, at a cost of £213,000[12] In December 1903 he was put in command of the new armoured cruiser HMS Berwick, seeing service with the 2nd Cruiser Squadron; in March 1904 she returned to Chatham from the West Indes for a refit.[13] In September the same year Dare was appointed to the Royal Victorian Order.[14] In 1906 he was in command of HMS Ramillies for six months, following which, in September, he was put in command of the Eastern Coastguard District until April 1909.[15]
In 1908 Dare was awarded a Good Service Pension of £150 per annum.[16]
Flag[]
In March 1909, Dare was promoted to Rear Admiral on the retirement of Rear Admiral Fegan, conforming to the Navy's regulations on the permitted number of serving senior officers.[17] Four months later, he placed himself on the retired list.[15][18] At this time he was living near Ipswich and a vice-president of Erwarton Quoit Club,[19] and made a speech on the occasion of the rector of Harkstead's 70th birthday.[20]
World War I[]
A few months after the outbreak of the war, Dare was made a captain in the Royal Naval Reserve and in 1915 took command of HMS ''Idaho'', the shore establishment at Milford Haven, to counter the threat from German U-boats to shipping, including convoys, in the area. At the end of the war, Dare paid tribute to all who had served at the Milford base.[21]
Post-war[]
Dare was knighted by King George V in May 1919, the citation reading: For valuable services in command of the important Auxiliary Patrol Base of Milford Haven since February 1915.[22]
Death[]
Admiral Dare died on 6 August 1924 in Shotley, near Ipswich, aged 69;[1] his death was reported in The Times.[23] His wife survived him and his estate was valued at £2,593.[1] His daughter, Maud G. Dare, left a family photograph album to The National Maritime Museum in 1915.[24]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "National Archives: ADM196/19: Dare, Charles Holcombe". http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7590047. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Eickelmann, Christine. The Mountravers Plantation Community, 1734 to 1834. University of Bristol. pp. 1143–1144. https://seis.bristol.ac.uk/~emceee/mountravers~part3chapter3.pdf. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ↑ "Death of a nonagenarian". Taunton Courier. British Newspaper Archive. 9 January 1918. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000527/19180109/055/0005. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ A collection of the public general statutes. Great Britain. 1838. p. 284. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=S2EMAQAAMAAJ&dq=Charles+Holcombe+Dare&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ The Court Magazine and Monthly Critic. 1847. p. 75. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4kAFAAAAQAAJ&dq=Charles+Holcombe+Dare&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Admiralty, 31 December 1879". London Gazette. 2 January 1880. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24797/page/2. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Admiralty, 29 December 1893". London Gazette. 29 December 1893. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26471/page/7581. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Today's Naval Intelligence". The Globe. British Newspaper Archive. 14 December 1893. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001394/18931230/066/0014. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Navy Appointments". The Globe. British Newspaper Archive. 23 August 1898. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001652/18980823/014/0002. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Admiralty". London Gazette. 17 July 1900. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27211/page/4433. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Naval Appointments". London Evening Standard. British Newspaper Archive. 18 July 1900. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000183/19000718/017/0004. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Floating workshop". Daily Telegraph & Courier. British Newspaper Archive. 17 August 1903. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001112/19030817/155/0008. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence". London Evening Standard. British Newspaper Archive. 29 March 1904. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000183/19040329/148/0006. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Royal Victorian Order: Member of the Fourth Class". London Gazette. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27711/page/5775/data.pdf. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "News". Dover Express. British Newspaper Archive. 23 July 1909. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000330/19090723/073/0008. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Royal Navy". Daily Telegraph & Courier. British Newspaper Archive. 8 May 1908. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001112/19080508/103/0005. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Admiralty, 12 March 1909". London Gazette. 16 March 1909. p. 2037. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28233/page/2037. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Admiralty, 15 July 1909". London Gazette. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28271/page/5463. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Quoits". Evening Star. British Newspaper Archive. 30 March 1909. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001708/19090330/025/0003. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Birthday celebration at Harkstead". East Anglian Daily Times. British Newspaper Archive. 28 April 1909. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001727/19090428/125/0005. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Pembrokeshire's front line role in the U-boat war". Western Telegraph. 11 November 2018. https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/17217924.pembrokeshires-front-line-role-in-the-u-boat-war/. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ↑ "Admiralty". Edinburgh Gazette. 30 May 1919. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/13451/page/1790. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ↑ "Death of Admiral Sir Charles Dare". Western Daily Press. British Newspaper Archive. 11 August 1924. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000264/19240811/082/0010. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ↑ "Personal album of Maud G. Dare". http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/538015.html. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
External links[]
The original article can be found at Charles Dare (Royal Navy officer) and the edit history here.