Back ...

Captains of Deal Castle

Since it was first built by Henry VIII as part of the coastal defences, Deal Castle has had a Captain.  Until the early 1700s, the Captain commanded the Garrison but, since that time, the title has become, like many others, purely honorary.

Many of the Captains of the Castle have left their mark on the town, being commemorated in the names of streets and squares, as shown in the list below.  Capt. Francis Digby has the dubious honour of being remembered in the name of a public house near Broadstairs.

1540 Thomas Wingfield
1551 Thomas Boys
1569 John Baker
1572 Peter Hammond
1599 Matthew Bredgate
1611 Erasmus Finch
1611 William Byng
1625 Thomas Pulnetby
1643 William Batten
1648 Col. Rainsborough
1648 Capt. Wyne
1648 Re. Maj. Samuel Kemm
1648 Col. Nathaniel Rich
1653 Samuel Taverner
1660 William Byng
1661 Col. Silius Titus
1671 Capt. Francis Digby
1672 Francis, Lord Hawley
1673 Sir John Berry, Bt.
1690 Lt. Col. Sir John Granville Granville Road / Street
1690 Sir Francis Wheeler, Kt.
1745 John Norris
1777 Francis Godolphin Osborne, Marquis of Carmarthen
1786 George Augustus, 9th Lord North
1802 Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington
1838 William Wellesley-Pole, Lord Maryborough
1843 James Andrew Brown Ramsey, Earl of Dulhousie
1847 Richard Charles Francis Meade, Earl of Clanwilliam Clanwilliam Road
1879 John Robert Townshend, Earl of Sydney Sydney Road
1890 Farbor Herschell, Baron Herschell Square / Road
1899 Rt. Hon. Lord George Francis Hamilton, P.C. Hamilton Road
1923 Field Marshal, The Earl of Ypres, John French
1925 Field Marshall, Lord Allenby Allenby Avenue
1927 Rufus Isaacs, Marquis of Reading
1934 Field Marshall, Lord Birdwood Birdwood Avenue
1951 - Interregnum
1972 General Sir Norman Tailyour, K.C.B., D.S.O.
1980 Maj. Gen. Ian Harrison