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Rear Admiral Charles Henry May was the owner of Lee Ford from some time in the mid-1870s into the 1880s.  Of the available directories, he appears in the 1878 Harrod’s Directory, the 1878-9 White’s Directory (where he is described as an acting magistrate), and the 1882 Deacon’s Court Directory.   

The 1881 census informs us that he was born in Belfast and that he was a retired Vice Admiral aged 64; he had in fact only recently attained that rank in January 1881.  His family consisted of his wife Letitia aged 58 and there were three unmarried daughters still at home, Ada (26), Blanche (23) and Ethel (18).  The household also contained the children’s governess, five domestic servants, a coachman, and a game keeper.  The following information on his naval career was found largely in these sources (1, 2, 3). 

Charles May joined the navy in 1829 and passed his Lieutenant exam in 1836 but had to wait until 1843 for an appointment.  For part of this time (1841-3) he became a Mate on HMS Formidable which was re-commissioned that year.  On promotion to Lieutenant he moved to HMS Eurydice where he stayed till June 1846 when he moved into HMS Superb.  This was part of an experimental squadron at Portsmouth and did exercises involving practice night time landing of marines from Bantry Bay with exercises on land and also naval manoeuvres.  Superb was at Malta in the summer of 1848, later that year she was back at Portsmouth, and in 1851 was again in the Mediterranean. 

In 1852 Charles married Letitia Elizabeth Butson, daughter of Archdeacon James Butson, in Ballinasloe, Ireland.  In 1852 he was appointed to HMS Leander at Portsmouth which was also part of an experimental squadron.  It was around this time that the navy was converting many of their sailing ships to screw propulsion and Leander was one of these ships.  

In February 1854 he was promoted to Commander and joined HMS St. George as second in command.  The St George joined the French Fleet in June 1854 in the Baltic at Baro Sound as part of the war against Russia.  By the end of the year the Fleet had been driven out of the Baltic by the winter ice, and the British ships went first to Plymouth to refit and repair.  In May 1856 May transferred as second in command into HMS Duke of Wellington (the flag-ship of Rear Admiral Dundas) which was also in the Baltic until the end of the Russian War.  The ship moved via Portsmouth to the Mediterranean in the spring of 1857 and then returned to Portsmouth to become a depot ship. 

In 1859 he was briefly in HMS Pioneer which he commissioned at Portsmouth before it joined the Channel Squadron.  Another Commander took over in June when May was promoted to Captain.  

During February and March of 1862 he was involved as part of a naval committee that was appointed to inquire into the ranks and position of Masters in the Royal Navy (4). Masters had expressed discontent because they felt they did not hold sufficient relative rank as compared with other officers.  The Master was a rank of warrant officer who ranked with, but after, the lieutenants and it was a historic term for a naval officer trained in, and responsible for, the navigation of a sailing vessel.  Masters were renamed as navigating lieutenants in 1867 (perhaps as a result of the inquiry?). 

His next command appears to have been in HMS Canopus which was a “receiving ship”.  These ships were effectively old unseaworthy ships used in harbour to house newly recruited sailors before they are assigned to a crew.  Canopus had been at Devonport since 1860 and in April 1863 was commissioned for Harbour Service and as a Receiving Ship and Captain May was definitely in charge until May 1865 when he was transferred to HMS Scout which was sent to the Pacific.  His final command appears to have been HMS Defence, a broadside ironclad frigate, which he re-commissioned in January 1868 and commanded until March 1869.  

He retired from the service in February 1871 and was living in Tavistock at the time of that census.  The family consisted of three daughters and four sons, nearly all of whom were born in Ireland.  He received further promotions in retirement, to Rear Admiral in September 1876, and to Vice Admiral in January 1881 and during the 1870s moved to Lee Ford. 

By 1891 he had moved away from Budleigh to Weston House, Berry Pomeroy where he died in May 1894 at the age of 77 (5), his wife having pre-deceased him.  

Compiled and Researched by Roger Lendon, © 2012 

(1)Navy Lists

(2)http://home.wxs.nl/~pdavis/index.htm

(3)http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/

(4)Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons Vol. 47 (1866)

(5)Bath Chronicle & Weekly Gazette 31 May 1894

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