Vice-Admiral of the Blue Charles Cornwall (born Charles Cornewall; 1669 – 7 October 1718) was a Royal Navy officer and Whig politician who represented Bewdley and Weobley in the House of Commons of Great Britain between 1709 and 1718.
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Early life
Charles Cornewall was born in 1669, eldest of the eleven children of Robert Cornewall and Edith Cornwallis, and was baptised at Eye, Herefordshire, on 5 August 1669.
Naval career
Cornewall joined the navy in 1683 and was given his first command, the Sloop HMS Portsmouth, on 19 September 1692. The following year he was given command of the 44-gun HMS Adventure and sailed under the command of Admiral Edward Russell to the Mediterranean, where he would remain until 1696.
On 27 January 1695, Adventure was one of a squadron of six frigates under the command of Commodore James Killegrew aboard HMS Plymouth. The flotilla was spotted by two French warships, the 60-gun Content and the 52-gun Trident, who closed on them believing them to be merchant ships. They retreated on discovering their mistake and were pursued by the British ships, the ensuing firefight lasting through the night and into the next morning before the French ships were compelled to surrender. Killigrew was killed in the action, and Cornewall was appointed to command the Plymouth in his place.