Edward Pelham Brenton

Captain Edward Pelham Brenton was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who military career was relatively quiet, apart from involvement in the capture of Martinique in 1809. Brenton became famous in the aftermath of the war, when he published the Naval History of Great Britain from the Year 1783 to 1822 in 1823. The book was popular, but Brenton was criticised at the time and since for his failure to distinguish between fact and rumour as well as his partisan political leanings. In Brentons later life, he was heavily involved in charitable enterprises in the poorer areas of London with mixed success.

Brenton was born in 1774 in Rhode Island to Admiral Jahleel Brenton and his wife Henrietta. His elder brother, also named Jahleel, later became a celebrated naval commander and admiral. The Brentons were American loyalists and emigrated to Britain during the American War of Independence, where Edward joined the Royal Navy in 1788 aged 14. In the Navy, Brenton spent time serving in the East Indies and the Channel Fleet, being promoted to lieutenant in 1795 and serving in the North Sea and off Newfoundland until 1802, when he was promoted to commander. In 1802 he was captain of the 18gun shipsloop Lark, taking her from Jamaica to the Channel. In 1803 he married Margaret Cox and had many children.

Source: Wikipedia