Nathaniel Day Cochrane

Nathaniel Day Cochrane
Bornc. (1780-11-22)22 November 1780
Québec, Province of Quebec
Died16 November 1844(1844-11-16) (aged 63)
Bathford, Somerset
AllegianceGreat Britain
United Kingdom
Service / branchRoyal Navy
Years of service1794–1814
RankRear-Admiral
Commands
Battles / wars

Nathaniel Day Cochrane (bapt. 22 November 1780 – 16 November 1844) was a British naval officer.

He was born in Québec, the illegitimate son of Paymaster Hon. John Cochrane, third (surviving) son of Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald, and Geneviève Dulan.[1] Nathaniel had a sister, Angelica, a brother, Colonel James Johnson Cochrane of the 3rd Guards, and a half-brother (probably) John Cochrane, a lawyer. This John Cochrane may have been John Cochrane the well-known chess master.[2]

Cochrane entered the Navy in 1794 and received a promotion to Lieutenant in 1800. In 1805 he was promoted to Commander and assumed command of Kingfisher. While on the West Indies Station he captured several vessels before bringing news to Sir John Thomas Duckworth's squadron that three French ships of the line had been sighted sailing towards Santo Domingo. He was posted with date of seniority of 26 March 1806, on his return to England with the news of the Battle of San Domingo (which his uncle Admiral Alexander Cochrane had fought in.) He subsequently commanded the frigates Alexandria and Orontes on the North Sea and Cape of Good Hope stations.[3] In 1812 he took command of the 74-gun third-rate ship of the line Asia, and remained her commander until 1814.

On 23 November 1841 he was promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Blue.[4]

Rear Admiral Cochrane died on 16 November 1844 at his brother's house at Bathford, Somerset.[5] He never married, but had an illegitimate daughter, Emily (born 1825; died a spinster 1919).

  1. ^ Cochrane, Alexander (1983). The fighting Cochranes : a Scottish clan over six hundred years of naval and military history. London: Quiller Press. p. 342. ISBN 978-0907621195. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  2. ^ Green, John (2007). "Descendants of Hosea Anderson of Aywick". green.gen.name. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  3. ^ Marshall, John (1827). Royal Naval Biography : or Memoirs of the services of all the flag-officers, superannuated rear-admirals, retired-captains, post-captains and commanders, whose names appeared on the Admiralty list of sea officers at the commencement of the year 1760, or who have since been promoted; illustrated by a series of historical and explanatory notes. With copious addenda. Vol. Supplement Part I. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  4. ^ "English News. Army & Navy. Naval Brevet". The Sydney Herald. 16 April 1842. p. 4.
  5. ^ "Obituary : Rear Admiral N.D. Cochrane". The Gentleman's Magazine. XXVI: 81. 1845. Retrieved 6 October 2013.