Isaac Schomberg | |
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Born | 27 March 1753 London |
Died | 21 January 1813 Cadogan Place, Chelsea | (aged 59)
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() |
Years of service | 1770 to 1813 |
Rank | Royal Navy Captain |
Battles/wars | |
Other work | Naval historian |
Captain Isaac Schomberg (27 March 1753 – 21 January 1813) was a highly controversial officer of the British Royal Navy whose constant disputes with senior officers resulted in courts-martial, lawsuits and the eventual stagnation of his career. However, despite his contentious nature, Schomberg was a brave officer who gained distinction in several actions during the American Revolutionary and French Revolutionary Wars. He finished his career as a commissioner of the Navy and devoted most of the last fifteen years of his life to writing an influential history of naval operations in and around Britain.
Schomberg was born in London to Ralph Schomberg, son of Meyer Löw Schomberg both prominent physicians of German Jewish descent, although his father had converted to the Anglican faith in his youth. His mother was Elizabeth Crowcher, daughter of a wealthy merchant from Wapping.[1] One of ten children with seven uncles, Schomberg's family were very prominent in middle-class eighteenth century London and Isaac (not to be confused with his uncle Isaac Schomberg, a prominent doctor) grew up in a literary environment, his father a common contributor to medical and literary journals.