John Kingcome

Sir John Kingcome, KCB was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station.

Naval career

Kingcome joined the Royal Navy in 1808 and was present at the destruction of the French ships during the Battle of the Basque Roads the following year. He also served in the First Anglo-Burmese War from 1824 to 1826.
Promoted to captain in 1838, he commanded HMS [Belleisle (1819)|HMS Belleisle] during the First Opium War in 1841. He later took charge of HMS Simoom and HMS [St George (1840)|HMS St George] and then commanded HMS [Royal William (1833)|HMS Royal William] in the Baltic Sea during the Crimean War. He was promoted to rear-admiral of the blue in 1857, and advanced to rear-admiral of the white in 1860, and to the red in 1863. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station in 1862, promoted to rear-admiral in 1864, and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1865. He was placed on the retired list in 1866 and was made full admiral on the retired list in 1869.
Kingcome Inlet on the British Columbia Coast is named after him as are other placenames in the area.