Astley Cooper Key

Astley Cooper Key
Sir Astley Cooper Key
Born	18 January 1821 London, England
Died	3 March 1888 Maidenhead, Berkshire, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1833 - 1885
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	North America and West Indies Station
Battles/wars	Crimea War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Admiral Sir Astley Cooper Key, GCB, ADC, FRS (18 January 1821 – 3 March 1888) was a Royal Navy officer who became First Naval Lord.

Naval career

Born the son of Charles Aston Key (1793–1849), a well-known surgeon, Key joined the Royal Navy in 1833.^[1] After distinguishing himself in active service abroad, on the South American Station (1844–1846), in the Baltic during the Crimean War (CB 1855) and China (1857), Key was appointed in 1858 a member of the Royal Commission on national defence, in 1860 Captain of the steam reserve at Devonport, and in 1863 captain of HMS Excellent and superintendent of the Old Royal Naval College.^[1]

He had a considerable share in advising as to the reorganization of administration, and in 1866, having become rear-admiral, was made Director of Naval Ordnance.^[1] On 4 June 1868, he was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society.^[2] Between 1869 and 1872 he held the offices of Superintendent of Portsmouth Dockyard and Superintendent of Malta Dockyard.^[1]

In 1872 he was made president of the projected Royal Naval College at Greenwich, which was organized by him, and after its opening in 1873 he was made a KCB and a vice-admiral. In 1876, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief on the North America and West Indies Station.^[1] Having become full admiral in 1878, he was appointed in 1879 principal ADC, and soon afterwards First Naval Lord, retaining this post till 1885.^[1] In 1882 he was made GCB.^[3] He died at Maidenhead on 3 March 1888.^[1]

Family

On 28 April 1856 at Gonville, Jersey, he married Charlotte Lavinia McNeil,^[4] daughter of Edmund Alexander McNeill and his wife Rose, née McNeile.^[5] Charlotte died on 30 December 1874.^[5] In October 1877 at Halifax he married Evelyn Bartolucci, niece of the Governor of Bermuda, Major-General J. H. Lefroy, the daughter of Vincenzo Bartolucci of Rome, and the granddaughter of General Bartolucci.^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Lambert 2004.
2. ^ "Lists of Royal Society Fellows". http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=1727. Retrieved 2006-12-15. 
3. ^ Chisholm 1911.
4. ^ Colomb, Vice-Admiral P. H. (1898). Memoirs of Admiral the Right Honble. Sir Astley Cooper Key, G.C.B., D.C.L., F.R.S., Etc.. London: Methuen & Co.. p. 271. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (MCMLXXVI). Burke's Irish Family Records. London: Burke's Peerage Limited. p. 899. 
6. ^ Colomb, Vice-Admiral P. H. (1898). Memoirs of Admiral the Right Honble. Sir Astley Cooper Key, G.C.B., D.C.L., F.R.S., Etc.. London: Methuen & Co.. p. 406. 

Attribution

• Lambert, Andrew, "Key, Sir Astley Cooper (1821–1888)", on the website of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (subscription or UK public library membership required), http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/15494 
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Key, Sir Astley Cooper". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

v t e Commanders-in-Chief and First Sea Lords of the Royal Navy Admirals of the Fleet (1690–1828) Edward Russell Sir George Rooke Sir Cloudesley Shovell Sir Stafford Fairborne Sir George Byng Sir John Norris Sir Chaloner Ogle James Steuart George Clinton The Lord Anson Sir William Rowley Sir Edward Hawke John Forbes The Earl Howe Sir Peter Parker Prince William, Duke of Clarence First Naval Lords (1828–1904) Sir George Cockburn Sir Thomas Hardy The Hon. George Dundas Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir William Parker Sir Charles Adam Sir James Dundas The Hon. Maurice Berkeley Hyde Parker The Hon. Maurice Berkeley The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas William Martin The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey Sir Alexander Milne Sir Sydney Dacres Sir Alexander Milne Sir Hastings Yelverton Sir George Wellesley Sir Astley Key Sir Arthur Hood Lord John Hay Sir Arthur Hood Sir Richard Hamilton Sir Anthony Hoskins Sir Frederick Richards Lord Walter Kerr First Sea Lords (1904–present) Sir John Fisher Sir Arthur Wilson Sir Francis Bridgeman Prince Louis of Battenberg The Lord Fisher Sir Henry Jackson Sir John Jellicoe Sir Rosslyn Wemyss The Earl Beatty Sir Charles Madden, Bt Sir Frederick Field The Lord Chatfield Sir Roger Backhouse Sir Dudley Pound The Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope Sir John Cunningham The Lord Fraser of North Cape Sir Rhoderick McGrigor The Earl Mountbatten of Burma Sir Charles Lambe Sir Caspar John Sir David Luce Sir Varyl Begg Sir Michael Le Fanu Sir Peter Hill-Norton Sir Michael Pollock Sir Edward Ashmore Sir Terence Lewin Sir Henry Leach Sir John Fieldhouse Sir William Staveley Sir Julian Oswald Sir Benjamin Bathurst Sir Jock Slater Sir Michael Boyce Sir Nigel Essenhigh Sir Alan West Sir Jonathon Band Sir Mark Stanhope