James Sutherland

Posted by Anne on Thursday 4th of November 2021 11:33

James Sutherland was my 9th great grandfather. I have a family bible from my great aunt who, as a child, lived with her great aunt who spent her childhood in Happisburgh, Norfolk with Lieutenant/Captain James Sutherland's daughter Jane who was her great grandmother. Jane was born in 1771 in America, and returned to England before 1789 - she was married at Greenwich in 1789 and moved to Norfolk where she lived until 1856. This is key: Jane testified that her father James was on board the Royal George when it sank in 1783 in Portsmouth. Whether he survived is unknown and I would like to find the answer to this. He was in fact the one who wrote about the foundering of HMS Lichfield in 1758 - it was on the way to Senegal when it hit rocks off the Moroccan coast and the survivors were taken prisoner until a ransom was paid by the Royal Navy. They returned to England in 1760. There are other Lieutenant's journals from his subsequent assignments in the Naval archives. He spent time on RN ships in Jamaica, West Florida, patrolling the west coast of France, and Nova Scotia during the pre-revolutionary/Seven Years War years. His wife was a Huguenot who apparently was among a group rescued by one of the ships he was on. This anecdotal lore was passed down by family members, but may be useful in determining his fate.

Posted by Mike Gunnill on Thursday 1st of February 2018 21:09

Many thx.

Posted by Cy on Wednesday 31st of January 2018 08:24

It may be so, he is the only commissioned James Sutherland for which we have records and the dates fit.
I am currently working my way through all the ADM 6 warrant and commission books and will eventually get to the 1750's, so keep an eye out.

Posted by Mike Gunnill on Wednesday 31st of January 2018 08:13

Is this: Lt James Sutherland, of HMS Lichfield sank 1758 Morocco. Wrote a journal about his experiences during 17 months as a captive with other members of the crew. ????????