430:, who also provided the detail for Symonds' over 200 designs for the Navy) allowed Symonds to create larger and larger wooden warships. These were able not only to defeat an enemy by weight of fire (as the Navy had long been able to do) but also to pursue them and force battle. Despite his feeling that steam was only an adjunct to a sailing navy rather than the future of naval propulsion (based on his correct assertion that the a wooden warship's stern would be weakened by adding a steam screw), Symonds did also produce some steam paddle-wheel designs.
449:" in 1844, 1845 and 1846. Outside factors such as individual captains' political bias or stowage's influence on how well a ship sailed were underappreciated in these trials - the success of Symonds' designs depended on the skill of their captains (they handled badly under clumsy ones, or ones opposed to him, but very well under skilled commanders) - whilst his larger ships were fast but unsuited to use as gun platforms due to rolling too rapidly. They did, however, handle well in all but the worst weather. Nevertheless, in the face of the Tory
456:'s institution of a "Committee of Reference" in 1846 to oversee Symonds and modify his designs according to the Board's wishes, a command to make a radical alteration to his design for a new 90 gun ship, and loss of most of his Whig support even on their return to power in July 1846, Symonds resigned his role in October 1847 (despite retaining the Duke of Portland's continued support), and was succeeded by Sir
40:
437:(closed in 1832), and the "traditional" school led by Master Shipwrights from the Royal Dockyards. Autocratic in office, demanding obedience and support from subordinates and superiors alike and taking any criticism or suggested alteration to his designs as a personal slight, he turned on his opponents in the pamphlet
394:
and the weight of guns that could be carried). (However, with the decline in the sailing navy, most of
Symonds' huge wooden sailing designs - larger, heavier-rigged, wider-beamed, more spacious for working their guns and heavier armament than ever before - became obsolete with the decline of sail
389:
Ship-design was no longer the important part of
Surveyor's role that it had been, and so Symonds was its first holder to have been an amateur ship-designer rather than a professional shipwright. Nevertheless, the observations and experience gained in such design allowed him to introduce radical
373:
and the vague wording of the instructions given him) he also began to meddle in ship design, forcing the Navy to adopt his designs despite much opposition to this, to his appointment being a political one rather than one based on aptitude, and to his position as a favourite of the king (who, for
292:(in which experiences of being outsailed by French ships left him with an obsession for speed, wide beams and sharp design in his later designs for sailing ships) and showing fine seamanship, he was promoted no further (though between 1819 and 1825 he was captain of the port at
484:, and was buried at the Protestant Cemetery at the latter. His will required the publication of a biography in his favour – this repeated the arguments over his sailing-ship designs despite the Navy's having long abandoned sail by this date.
410:). In 1840 he privately published a book of sketches of men-of-war and yachts, under the title "Naval Costume". He also travelled much overseas, accurately observing the timber resources and navies of foreign powers such as the Russian
342:, who appointed Symonds to the royal yacht and granted him his captaincy on 5 December the same year. Sailing trials in 1827 and 1831 were won by Symonds' entries, and (with Clarence's accession as William IV, the Whig abolition of the
390:
changes to ship design, such as widening Navy ships' beams and making their bottoms more wedge-shaped (to decrease the amount of ballast needed and to increase stability, speed,
480:
the following year, he and his third wife from then on lived abroad, principally in Malta and Italy, for reasons of his health. He died at sea in 1856, en route from Malta to
880:
433:
However, Symonds' "empirical" school of shipbuilding came into conflict both with the "scientific" school led by the new class of professional naval architects and the first
309:
418:
Fleets (whose inefficiency at a time of increased Anglo-Russian tension proved a useful observation). This informed his reporting of
British oak supplies from the
885:
816:
308:(who left his estate to his best friend's widow, Symonds' sister), in 1821 Symonds built an experimental yacht, which was copied by the rich yachtsman
900:
527:
195:
369:, the Whig First Lord of the Admiralty. He was intended to control the Navy's dockyards and shipbuilding programme, but (thanks to his title of
521:
266:
190:
175:
492:
On 21 April 1808, William married
Elizabeth Saunders Luscombe, daughter of Matthew Luscombe of Plymouth. They had one daughter and four sons:
890:
771:
677:
426:, improved timber supplies and (along with a new means of construction invented by the talented Chief Clerk in the Surveyor's Office,
321:
895:
312:, who aided his publication of a pamphlet on naval architecture. Vernon also convinced the Admiralty to employ Symonds as a
248:
from 9 June 1832 to
October 1847, and took part in the naval reforms instituted by the Whig First Lord of the Admiralty Sir
851:
Book Review: Shipping, Technology, and
Imperialism: Papers Presented to the Third British-Dutch Maritime History Conference
453:
288:
mutiny, he was promoted to lieutenant on 14 October 1801. However, despite service at sea for the whole duration of the
622:
Royal
Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario, Massey Library, bound plans relating to system of classifying ships
476:, was convinced by the Duke of Portland to take Symonds back on, as the Queen's naval Aide-de-Camp. Becoming a retired
446:
320:, by standing his surety with a bond of £20,000 should Symonds fail in his designs, and by then introducing him to the
20:
910:
762:
556:. After her death, he married a third and final time, in 1851, to Susan Mary, daughter of the Rev. John Briggs.
796:
Memoirs of the Life and
Services of Rear-Admiral Sir William Symonds ...: Surveyor of the Navy from 1832 to 1847
717:
905:
850:
649:
617:
Modern
English Biography: containing many thousand concise memoirs of persons who have died since the year 1850
366:
915:
434:
383:
225:
161:
503:
499:
285:
249:
185:
920:
496:
Theresa
Aubrina Symonds (1808 – 19 January 1872), married Daniel Smith Bockett, and had 18 children
399:
548:
on 10 November 1817, William remarried on 10 March 1818, Elizabeth Mary, daughter of Rear-Admiral
925:
743:
845:
403:
338:'s Cabinet in April 1827, he then promoted Symonds as a designer to the Lord High Admiral, the
317:
47:
855:
689:
635:
39:
794:
536:(1816–1883), who stayed in New Zealand after his brother William's death; Symonds Street in
875:
870:
379:
370:
241:
211:
8:
233:
97:
442:
305:
469:
351:
270:
222:
165:
821:
180:
833:
758:
549:
511:
415:
375:
289:
281:
151:
68:
825:
533:
473:
457:
450:
419:
407:
335:
200:
111:
864:
641:
325:
277:
545:
477:
441:(1844). Determined to prove Symonds' designs to be failures, the new Tory
411:
634:
472:(civil) on 1 May 1848, and in June 1853 James Graham, having again become
391:
507:
840:
374:
example, omitted to inform the Admiralty of his intention to make him a
350:'s ministry) he was taken on to design a 50 gun frigate, which he named
704:
653:
510:, but was drowned in November 1841 when a boat carrying him across the
481:
423:
343:
339:
245:
123:
228:(24 September 1782 – 30 March 1856, aboard the French steamship
502:(1810–1841), eldest son, who became an army captain, a member of the
427:
365:
Symonds was appointed the Surveyor of the Navy on 9 June 1832 by Sir
347:
330:, 1832) was later bought by the Admiralty for adaptation as a 10 gun
537:
515:
313:
237:
101:
567:
The last sailing battlefleet: maintaining naval mastery, 1815–1850
72:
574:
Memoirs of the life and services of Admiral Sir William Symonds
553:
324:
in December 1826. Of his two yacht designs for the Duke, one (
799:. Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts. p. 43.
293:
619:, 6 vols. (privately printed, Truro, 1892–1921); repr.(1965)
331:
269:(1731–1792) and his second wife, and first went to sea on,
406:
in ships (something first suggested for the Royal Navy by
640:
764:
A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : M–Addenda
586:
Cape Town University Library, Walker manuscripts (MSS)
881:
Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
299:
716:
378:but still went ahead with it, on 15 June 1836 at
862:
705:ten pound island book company, Maritime List 171
678:Complete List of Royal Society Fellows 1660-2007
468:Despite his fall from grace, he was granted an
793:Symonds, Sir William; Sharp, James A. (1858).
592:University of Nottingham Library, Portland MSS
745:The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society
820:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
792:
265:Symonds was the second son of naval captain
886:Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
757:
632:
398:During his time in office, he also took on
395:and were later converted to steam-screw.)
38:
581:A history of Welbeck Abbey and its owners
19:For other people with the same name, see
747:, Volume XII, 1842, pages xxxvii-xxxviii
595:British Library, Martin MSS and Peel MSS
589:NMM, Minto MSS · TNA: PRO, Admiralty MSS
901:Military personnel from Bury St Edmunds
817:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
44:Sir William Symonds, by Edward Morton,
863:
786:
304:Using a minor legacy from Admiral Sir
841:http://www.pdavis.nl/Experimental.htm
814:Lambert, Andrew. "Symonds, William".
673:
671:
284:on 23 June 1795 and during the 1797
891:Companions of the Order of the Bath
813:
605:National Archives, Ellenborough MSS
13:
668:
522:Sir Thomas Matthew Charles Symonds
14:
937:
633:O'Byrne, William Richard (1849).
360:
300:Experiments in naval architecture
276:, in September 1794. Serving in
528:Julian Frederick Anthony Symonds
21:William Symonds (disambiguation)
643:A Naval Biographical Dictionary
559:
524:(1811–1894), Royal Navy officer
506:and Deputy Surveyor-General of
772:Department of Internal Affairs
751:
737:
709:
698:
694:, Volume 208, June 1860, p838.
683:
1:
544:After Elizabeth's death from
463:
260:
896:Fellows of the Royal Society
834:UK public library membership
770:. Vol. II. Wellington:
725:. 26 January 1872. p. 8
661:
514:capsized. Symonds Street in
435:School of Naval Architecture
316:designer, with promotion to
143:(rank granted on retirement)
92:Aboard the French steamship
7:
626:
610:Great Britain and sea power
384:Fellow of the Royal Society
10:
942:
807:
690:Obituary George Rennie in
583:, 2 vols. (1938–9), vol. 2
530:(1813–1852), Army surveyor
504:Royal Geographical Society
500:William Cornwallis Symonds
402:'s suggestion of creating
250:James Robert George Graham
186:William Cornwallis Symonds
18:
487:
334:. When Portland entered
207:
171:
157:
147:
137:
129:
117:
107:
78:
55:
37:
30:
692:The Gentleman's magazine
636:"Symonds, William"
846:Falmouth Packet archive
404:watertight compartments
255:
911:People who died at sea
826:10.1093/ref:odnb/26893
447:Experimental Squadrons
48:Henry Wyndham Phillips
906:Surveyors of the Navy
445:sent out successive "
382:). He also became a
166:Companion of the Bath
130:Years of service
16:British Navy surveyor
552:, of Trinity Manor,
439:Facts versus Fiction
371:Surveyor of the Navy
242:Surveyor of the Navy
212:Surveyor of the Navy
164:, knighthood, civil
916:Royal Navy admirals
600:Before the ironclad
579:A. S. Turberville,
540:is named after him.
534:John Jermyn Symonds
518:is named after him.
234:Strait of Bonifacio
220:Sir William Symonds
98:Strait of Bonifacio
32:Sir William Symonds
723:Morning Advertiser
612:, 1815–1853 (1963)
443:Board of Admiralty
357:after his patron.
306:William Cornwallis
832:(Subscription or
470:Order of the Bath
454:Lord Ellenborough
380:St James's Palace
217:
216:
59:24 September 1782
933:
921:Knights Bachelor
837:
829:
801:
800:
790:
784:
783:
781:
779:
769:
759:Scholefield, Guy
755:
749:
741:
735:
734:
732:
730:
720:
713:
707:
702:
696:
687:
681:
675:
657:
647:
638:
608:C. J. Bartlett,
340:Duke of Clarence
322:Duke of Portland
280:'s fleet at the
181:Mary Anne Whitby
119:
89:
87:
66:
64:
42:
28:
27:
941:
940:
936:
935:
934:
932:
931:
930:
861:
860:
856:Portrait of him
831:
810:
805:
804:
791:
787:
777:
775:
774:. pp. 355f
767:
756:
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738:
728:
726:
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688:
684:
676:
669:
664:
629:
562:
550:Philip Carteret
512:Manukau Harbour
490:
466:
376:Knight Bachelor
363:
302:
290:Napoleonic Wars
282:Battle of Groix
263:
258:
208:Other work
199:
194:
189:
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179:
142:
91:
85:
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69:Bury St Edmunds
67:
62:
60:
51:
45:
33:
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
939:
929:
928:
926:Symonds family
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918:
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785:
761:, ed. (1940).
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736:
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584:
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565:A. D. Lambert,
561:
558:
542:
541:
531:
525:
519:
497:
489:
486:
474:First Sea Lord
465:
462:
458:Baldwin Walker
451:First Sea Lord
420:forest of Dean
408:Samuel Bentham
386:in June 1835.
362:
361:Naval surveyor
359:
336:George Canning
301:
298:
267:Thomas Symonds
262:
259:
257:
254:
215:
214:
209:
205:
204:
201:Jermyn Symonds
196:Julian Symonds
191:Thomas Symonds
176:Thomas Symonds
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112:United Kingdom
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90:(aged 73)
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57:
53:
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43:
35:
34:
31:
15:
9:
6:
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3:
2:
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631:
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607:
604:
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598:D. K. Brown,
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585:
582:
578:
575:
572:J. A. Sharp,
571:
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429:
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421:
417:
413:
409:
405:
401:
400:George Rennie
396:
393:
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377:
372:
368:
358:
356:
355:
349:
345:
341:
337:
333:
329:
328:
323:
319:
315:
311:
310:George Vernon
307:
297:
295:
291:
287:
283:
279:
278:Lord Bridport
275:
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268:
253:
251:
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243:
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141:Rear admiral
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95:
82:30 March 1856
81:
77:
74:
70:
58:
54:
49:
41:
36:
29:
26:
22:
815:
795:
788:
776:. Retrieved
763:
753:
744:
739:
727:. Retrieved
722:
711:
700:
691:
685:
652:– via
642:
616:
609:
599:
580:
573:
566:
560:Bibliography
546:tuberculosis
543:
491:
478:rear admiral
467:
438:
432:
397:
388:
367:James Graham
364:
353:
326:
303:
272:
264:
229:
219:
218:
148:Battles/wars
93:
46:1850 (after
25:
876:1856 deaths
871:1782 births
729:14 February
680:, page 345.
650:John Murray
508:New Zealand
865:Categories
836:required.)
778:21 January
654:Wikisource
615:F. Boase,
482:Marseilles
464:Retirement
424:New Forest
344:Navy Board
261:Early life
246:Royal Navy
124:Royal Navy
108:Allegiance
86:1856-03-31
63:1782-09-24
662:Footnotes
428:John Edye
416:Black Sea
352:HMS
348:Earl Grey
327:Pantaloon
318:commander
271:HMS
252:in 1832.
172:Relations
133:1794–1856
718:"Deaths"
627:See also
538:Onehunga
516:Auckland
422:and the
314:corvette
286:Spithead
238:Sardinia
183:(sister)
178:(father)
118:Service/
102:Sardinia
808:Sources
392:stowage
244:in the
96:in the
84: (
73:Suffolk
61: (
830:
645:
602:(1990)
576:(1858)
569:(1991)
554:Jersey
488:Family
412:Baltic
354:Vernon
273:London
240:) was
158:Awards
120:branch
100:, off
768:(PDF)
294:Malta
203:(son)
198:(son)
193:(son)
188:(son)
152:Groix
780:2014
731:2019
414:and
346:and
332:brig
256:Life
138:Rank
79:Died
56:Born
822:doi
296:).
230:Nil
226:FRS
162:FRS
94:Nil
867::
721:.
670:^
648:.
639:.
460:.
236:,
232:,
223:CB
71:,
828:.
824::
782:.
733:.
656:.
88:)
65:)
50:)
23:.
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