James Cumming

Admiral James Cumming (16 April 1738 – 19 August 1808) was a British Royal Navy officer. He sailed with John Byron as part of a circumnavigation of the world in 1764. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and eventually rose to the rank of Admiral before his death in 1808. Early life Born in Sandwich, England to a Naval family, he was the third son to James Cumming, A Lieutenant of Greenwich Hospital. He studied at the Royal Naval Academy and was commissioned Lieutenant in 1758. Voyage around the world In 1764, Cumming served as 1st Lieutenant on HMS Dolphin, on a circumnavigation of the world. Captain John Byron was secretly tasked with surveying the Falklands Islands, searching for the non-existent Pepys's Island, and finding a northeastern passage across North America. The two-ship expedition made landfall in Patagonia, where the crew made contact with indigenous people. Cumming, being the only other officer ashore within a close distance, became Byron's reference to the natives' supposed enormous size, due in part to his own tall stature. Cumming, who stood at 6'2", was described as being dwarfed over by the natives. Following the voyage, various accounts would be added to the already existing European lore of the 'Patagonian Giants'. Later on, it was implied through conversation to Captain Robert Scott, an uncle of Sir Walter Scott and close acquaintance of Cumming, that the descriptions of the giants were merely exaggerated.