John Nicholson Inglefield

Who was John Nicholson Inglefield?

John Nicholson Inglefield was an officer in the British Royal Navy.

John Nicholson Inglefield was the son of a ship's carpenter, Isaac Inglefield, and his wife, a sister of the ship designer Thomas Slade,. According to Captain Inglefield himself his paternal family was of Lancashire origin and distantly connected to that of the Englefields.

Under the patronage of his maternal uncle, Thomas Slade, Inglefield joined the navy as a boy of 11 in 1759. In April 1766 he was rated able seaman aboard the Launceston: in May 1768 he was made lieutenant and moved into HMS Romney under the command of Sir Samuel Hood. This connection was to prove the most significant of Inglefield's career. Although Inglefield returned to the Launceston in October, by July 1769 he was back with Hood aboard the Romney and from that time forward his career was closely associated with his friend's. With him Inglefield left the Romney in December 1770, served in HMS Marlborough and HMS Courageux, and in 1778 in HMS Robust with Hood's brother Alexander. Aboard the Robust he was present at the First Battle of Ushant on 27 July.