Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Digby, Robert
DIGBY, ROBERT (1732–1815), admiral, son of Edward Digby, grandson of William, fifth baron Digby [q. v.], and younger brother of Henry, first earl Digby, was born on 20 Dec. 1732. In 1755 he was promoted to be captain of the Solebay frigate, and in the following year was advanced to command the Dunkirk of 60 guns, in which ship he continued till the peace in 1763, serving for the most part on the home station, and being present in the expedition against Rochefort in 1757 and in Quiberon Bay in 1759. He was M.P. for Wells (1757–61). In 1778 he was appointed to the Ramillies of 74 guns, which he commanded off Ushant 27 July 1778. Having been stationed in Palliser's division, he was summoned by Palliser as a witness for the prosecution, and thus, though his evidence tended distinctly to Keppel's advantage [see Keppel, Augustus, Lord; Palliser, Sir Hugh], he came to be considered as a friend of Palliser and of the admiralty, and, being promoted in the following March to the rank of rear-admiral, was ordered at once to hoist his flag on board the Prince George, so that he might—as was affirmed by the opposition—sit on Palliser's court-martial. During the summer of 1779 he was second in command of the Channel fleet under Sir Charles Hardy [q. v.], and in December was second in command of the fleet which sailed under Sir George Rodney for the relief of Gibraltar [see Rodney, George Brydges]. It was at this time that he was first appointed also governor of Prince William Henry, who began his naval career on board the Prince George. When, after relieving Gibraltar, Rodney, with one division of the fleet, went on to the West Indies, Digby, with the other, returned to England, having the good fortune on the way to disperse a French convoy and capture the Prothée of 64 guns. He continued as second in command of the Channel fleet during the summers of 1780 and 1781, and in the second relief of Gibraltar by Vice-admiral George Darby [q. v.] In August 1781 he was sent as commander-in-chief to North America. He arrived just as his predecessor [see Graves, Thomas, Lord] was preparing to sail for the Chesapeake in hopes, in a second attempt, to effect the relief of Cornwallis; and, courteously refusing to take on himself the command at this critical juncture, remained at New York while Graves sailed on his vain errand. Afterwards, when he had assumed the command, he removed into the Lion, a smaller ship, in order to allow the Prince George, as well as most of his other ships, to accompany Sir Samuel Hood to the West Indies [see Hood, Samuel, Viscount]. The tide of the war rolled away from North America, and in any case Digby had no force to undertake any active operations. His command was therefore uneventful, and he returned home at the peace. He held no further appointment, though duly promoted to be vice-admiral in 1787 and admiral in 1794, and living to see the end of the great war. He died on 25 Feb. 1814. He married in 1784 Mrs. Jauncy, the daughter of Andrew Elliot, brother of Sir Gilbert Elliot, third baronet, and of Admiral John Elliot [q. v.], and formerly lieutenant-governor of New York. She died on 28 July 1830, leaving no children.
[Charnock's Biog. Nav. vi. 119; Ralfe's Nav. Biog. i. 189; Beatson's Mil. and Nav. Memoirs, vols. iii. and vi.; Foster's Peerage.]