Overview
Clotworthy Upton (1768–1822) was an officer in the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was the illegitimate son of Clotworthy Upton, 1st Baron Templetown. Upton joined the service at the age of eleven, as a captain's servant aboard . Despite passing his lieutenant's examination in 1790, he could not obtain a position in the Royal Navy and sought employment in the merchant fleet in 1791. Upton returned to military service in January 1801, when he was appointed Master and Commander of . It was in her that Upton fought at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.
During the Peace of Amiens, Upton was promoted to Post Captain and in December 1804, following the restoration of war with France in May 1803, was given command of . In 1807, he took part in the second battle of Copenhagen, aboard , which he commanded until 1813. He then commissioned for the war in North America. In 1818, Upton was appointed commissioner of the Royal Navy dockyard in Trincomalee. He died on the way home in 1822, having fallen ill, and was buried at sea.
Early life and career
Clotworthy Upton was born in 1768, the illegitimate son of Clotworthy Upton, 1st Baron Templetown, and his eventual wife, Elizabeth Boughton. At the age of eleven, he joined the Royal Navy as servant to captain Richard Kempenfelt, aboard . He passed his lieutenant's examination in 1790 but was unable to find employment within the service, and between 1791 - 1794 worked on merchant ships travelling to and from the Eastern World. One such journey, in 1792, was to Madras aboard the King George.
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