- Admiral: British Navy
- 1st Baronet of the Magdelaine Islands in the Gulph of St. Lawrence
Biography
Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, 1st Baronet, GCH was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
Sir Isaac Coffin was born 16 May 1759 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States to Nathaniel Coffin (1725-1780) and Elizabeth Barnes (1724-1784) and died 23 July 1839 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom of unspecified causes. He married Elizabeth Browne Greenly (1772-1839) 1811 .
Coffin was born in Boston and served in the navy on a number of ships during the War of Independence. He fought at Cape Henry with Arbuthnot and at St. Kitts with Hood, eventually being promoted to command a number of small ships on the American coast. Despite his rise through the ranks, he clashed occasionally with the naval hierarchy, with the first incident occurring while still a newly commissioned commander aboard HMS Shrewsbury. An incident over unqualified lieutenants led to his court-martial, though he was acquitted. A more serious incident occurred after the end of the war with America, when Coffin was particularly active off the Canadian coast.
A charge was brought of issuing false musters, and though the practice was endemic in the navy, led to his dismissal from the ship. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Howe, then intervened to have him dismissed from the navy entirely, a decision that was later overturned by an inquiry, which set an important precedent. Restored to his rank, Coffin commanded several ships during the opening years of the wars with France, but the recurrence of an old injury forced him to move ashore. He spent the rest of the war commanding a number of dockyards, continuing to rise through the ranks, and being created a baronet for his good service. Retiring from active naval service towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars Coffin briefly changed his surname to Coffin-Greenly[1] before reverting it, entered politics, and died with the rank of admiral in 1839.
Marriage and Family
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Mary Coffin (1826-) | |||
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Ann Coffin (1746-1826) | |||
| Nathaniel Coffin (1749-1831) | |||
| Christian Coffin (1751-1826) | |||
| Elizabeth Coffin (1752-1826) | |||
| Seth Coffin (1753-) | |||
| Catherine Coffin (1765-) | |||
| Jonathan Perry Coffin (1755-) | |||
| John Coffin (1756-1838) | |||
| Isaac Coffin (1759-1839) | 16 May 1759 Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States | 23 July 1839 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom | Elizabeth Browne Greenly (1772-1839) |
References
- Genealogy of the Early Generations of the Coffin Family of New England - 1870 work by Silvanus Jenkins Macy (Author), Nathaniel Wheeler Coffin (Author), William S. Appleton (Author) - This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
- wikipedia:en:Sir Isaac Coffin, 1st Baronet - Wikipedia
- Isaac Coffin - disambiguation
- Coffin Family of Boston - Boston Brahmin
- Coffin in Suffolk County, Massachusetts