Robert Coote (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Robert Coote CB (1 June 1820 – 17 March 1898) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, China Station.
Robert Coote | |
|---|---|
 Grave of Robert Coote in Brookwood Cemetery | |
| Born | 1 June 1820 Geneva, Switzerland |
| Died | 17 March 1898 (aged 77) Dulwich, London |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1833–1885 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | HMS Volcano HMS Victory HMS Gibraltar HMS Arethusa Queenstown China Station |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath |
Background
Coote was a younger son of Sir Charles Coote, 9th Baronet, by Caroline Whaley, daughter of John Whaley, of Whaley Abbey, County Wicklow.[1]
Naval career
Educated at Eton College,[2] Coote joined the Royal Navy in 1833[3] and served on the coast of Syria in 1840.[2] He was made commander of the sloop HMS Volcano in 1851 while serving in the West Africa Squadron.[3] Promoted to captain in 1854, he commanded HMS Victory from 1860, HMS Gibraltar from 1864 and HMS Arethusa from 1867.[3] He became Commander-in-Chief, Queenstown in 1874[2] and Commander-in-Chief, China in 1878.[3] He retired in 1885.[2]
He is buried in Brookwood Cemetery in Woking Cemetery.[2] There is a memorial to him in St Catherine's Church in Tullamore in County Offaly.[4]
Family
Coote married Lucy Parry, daughter of the Arctic explorer Admiral Sir William Parry, in 1854. They had one son, Stanley Victor Coote, High Sheriff of Roscommon in 1900, and a daughter, Caroline Maud Coote, who married Major-General Cecil William Park. Coote died in March 1898, aged 77. His wife died in February 1906.[1]