Charles Edmund Kingsmill

Admiral SIR Charles Edmund Kingsmill, Kt., Royal Navy, Retired (7 July, 1855 – 15 July, 1935) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Charles Edmund Kingsmill was born on 7 July, 1855, in Guelph, Canada West (now Ontario), the son of John Juchereau Kingsmill and Ellen Diana, daughter of Sheriff Grange, of Guelph. He entered the Royal Navy as a Naval Cadet in 1869, joining the training ship H.M.S. Britannia at Dartmouth on 24 September. He left with six months' time out of a possible twelve towards the rank of Midshipman, with three months for a second class in study, and three months for a first class in seamanship.

Kingsmill was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant from the Victoria and Albert with seniority of 5 September, 1877.

Kingsmill spent about ten days in command of Cormorant in late 1889 after the death of Cdr. Jasper Edmund Thomson Nicolls and the commenced fifty-eight days of full paid leave before being appointed to command the gunboat H.M.S. Goldfinch on 5 February, 1890.

Kingsmill was warned to be more careful in navigating after grounding H.M.S. Goldfinch on a reef on 29 August, 1890. He received positive evaluations for the state of the vessel, but with the damning caveat: "but command is not quite his métier."

Kingsmill was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1891.

Captain

Kingsmill was promoted to the rank of Captain on 31 December, 1898. On 27 February, 1900, he was was appointed to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, on half pay for study. He was appointed to H.M.S. Victory, additional, on 12 June for a Signal Course. He was appointed in command of H.M.S. Gibraltar for the annual manœuvres from 10 July to 22 August. On 10 September 1900 he was appointed in command of the third-class cruiser Mildura on the Australian Station. In January, 1903, Vice-Admiral Sir Lewis A. Beaumont, the Commander-in-Chief on the station, wrote of Kingsmill: "A conscientious painstaking officer who will command well but never brilliantly." Beaumont's successor, Vice-Admiral Arthur D. Fanshawe, described Kingsmill in December, 1903, as: "A steady dependable officer, good judgment [sic] & physical qualities[.] Very good."

Relieved in command of Mildura on 23 December, 1903, he was appointed to H.M.S. Scylla for the voyage home. He was granted permission to take his full paid leave in Canada, which he took from 17 February, 1904, to 2 April. He then went on half pay, punctuated by an appointment to a Signal and Fleet Tactics Course on 6 June. From 18 July to 3 September he had temporary command of the battleship Resolution for "Fleet Tactics." On 24 September he was appointed to President for the War Course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

Kingsmill was appointed to the Majestic on 9 January, 1905. Vice-Admiral Lord Charles Beresford wrote of him in March, 1905: "Zealous[,] good officer[,] sound physique[,] good judgement[,] wants practice handling ship and Fleet." On 14 March, 1906, he was appointed in command of H.M.S. Dominion. He was sentenced to be severely reprimanded after a Court Martial on 4 March, 1907 found him guilty by default of stranding Dominion on 16 August, 1906. The Board opined that this sentence was too lenient.

Vice-Admiral Sir William H. May noted in March, 1907: "A capable officer[,] through the misfortune of putting his ship on shore I have not seen anything of him since July 06." He was appointed in command of H.M.S. Repulse on 8 May and superseded on 25 May, 1908.

On 12 May, 1908, Kingsmill was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral, vice Milne. That month he was allowed to accept the appointment of Commander of the Canadian Marine Service, and permitted to remain on the Active List for six months before deciding whether to retain the position. In accordance with the provisions of the Order in Council of 8 December, 1903, he was placed on the Retired List at his own request on 12 September.

He was advanced to the rank of Vice-Admiral on the Retired List on 17 May, 1913. On 3 April, 1917, he was advanced to the rank of Admiral.

Bibliography

• "Admiral Sir Charles Kingsmill" (Obituaries). The Times. Tuesday, 16 July, 1935. Issue 47117, col B, p. 18.
• Davison, Robert L. (2009). "A Most Fortunate Court Martial: The Trial of Captain Charles Kingsmill, 1907". The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du nord XIX: pp. 57-86.

Service Records

• The National Archives. ADM 196/87. Volume 2. f. 58.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/38. Volume 2. ff. 752, 755.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/19. Volume 7. ff. 353-354, 356.

Naval Appointments
Preceded by Jasper E. T. Nicolls	Captain of H.M.S. Cormorant 10 Nov, 1889 – 20 Nov, 1889	Succeeded by Arthur R. F. Bailey
Preceded by New Command	Captain of H.M.S. Goldfinch 5 Feb, 1890 – Aug, 1891[Inference]	Succeeded by Henry R. P. Floyd
Preceded by Conyers Lang	Captain of H.M.S. Archer 27 Aug, 1895	Succeeded by Charles H. Dare
Preceded by Harry L. F. Royle	Captain of H.M.S. Gibraltar 10 Jul, 1900 – c. Sep, 1900	Succeeded by Arthur H. Limpus
Preceded by Henry C. A. Baynes	Captain of H.M.S. Mildura 10 Sep, 1900 – 7 Dec, 1903	Succeeded by Charles W. Winnington-Ingram
Preceded by John E. Bearcroft	Captain of H.M.S. Resolution 18 Jul, 1904 – 3 Sep, 1904	Succeeded by Arthur Hayes-Sadler
Preceded by Charles E. Madden	Captain of H.M.S. Majestic 9 Jan, 1905 – 14 Mar, 1906	Succeeded by Robert G. Fraser
Preceded by John L. Marx	Captain of H.M.S. Dominion 14 Mar, 1906 – 1907	Succeeded by Arthur T. Stuart
Preceded by Sackville H. Carden	Captain of H.M.S. Repulse 8 May, 1907 – 25 May, 1908	Succeeded by Arthur T. Stuart
Preceded by New Appointment	Director of the Naval Service of Canada May, 1908	Succeeded by Walter Hose