Herbert Clifford

Captain Herbert John Clifford (1789, Nova Scotia – 9 September 1855, Tramore, Waterford, Ireland) was an officer in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and the founder of the Loochoo Naval Mission (1843).[1] In 1818, he published Vocabulary of the Language Spoken at the Great Loo-Choo Island, in the Japan Sea, which "remained the single most important source on Ryukyuan in the West for decades."[2]

Capt. Herbert John Clifford (1789–1855)

Clifford's father was John Duke Clifford, and he moved from Cloonlurg, Sligo, Ireland to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and married Elizabeth (Collins) Clifford (1788). Captain Clifford was born the following year. He attended the Halifax Grammar School with General John Beckwith.[3]

He entered the navy in 1802. He was on board HMS Leander when it captured the French frigate Ville de Milan on 23 February 1805. On HMS Boadicea, he took part in the capture of the French frigate Africaine.

During the Napoleonic Wars, he fought in the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 and was at the Invasion of Isle de France and was chosen as the bearer of despatches to England.[4] In 1816, he went to Lord Amherst's Embassy to China, with Basil Hall. He then went to the Loo Choo Islands in 1816 and created a dictionary.[5]

Clifford became the founder of the mission to the Loo Choo Islands.[5] He worked with Bernard Jean Bettelheim. He worked as superintendent of the Coast Guard at Waterford, Ireland for 27 years (1823–1855) until his death at age 66.[3]

Legacy

Author Patrick O'Brian wrote about Captain Clifford on board HMS Boadicea is his novel The Mauritius Command.

Clifford wrote Loochoo Naval Mission (LNM): The Claims of Loochoo on British Liberality, London, 1850, 5th edition.

References
  1. O'Byrne, William R. (31 March 2019). "A naval biographical dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive". London, J. Murray – via Internet Archive.
  2. Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages: History, Structure, and Use edited by Patrick Heinrich, Shinsho Miyara, Michinori Shimoji
  3. Hill, George W. (George William) (31 March 2019). "Nova Scotia and Nova Scotians [microform] : a lecture delivered before the Literary and Debating Society of Windsor, N.S. and afterward at the Temperance Hall, Halifax, in behalf of the Athenæum". [Halifax, N.S.? : s.n.] – via Internet Archive.
  4. "A visit to Longwood". Napoleon.org.
  5. Hall, Basil; Clifford, Herbert John (31 March 2019). "Account of a voyage of discovery to the west coast of Corea, and the great Loo-Choo island : with an appendix, containing charts, and various hydrographical and scientific notices". London : John Murray – via Internet Archive.
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