b. 1811
d. 1887-11-15
Capt. Frederick Montresor was an officer of the Royal Navy. He was commissioned lieutenant
in 1835, promoted to commander in 1843, and promoted to captain on 29 April 1851.
From 23 November 1857 he commanded HMS
Calypso, a Sixth Rate wooden ship of 18 or 20 guns without steam power.
Calypso arrived in
Esquimalt on 13 August 1858. The colonial government had asked for a show of force to deal
with the influx of American miners in the
Fraser River area, but
Calypso lacked steam power to manoeuver in the river and was under orders to continue to
Hawaii. As a result,
Calypso left
Esquimalt on 25 August 1858.
As commodore, Montresor commanded the East Indies Station from 1862-65. He was promoted
to rear admiral on 20 March 1867, retired in 1870, and rose to admiral on the retired
list, before his death in 1887.
Barry M. Gough,
"Turbulent Frontiers" and British Expansion: Governor James Douglas, the Royal Navy,
and the British Columbia Gold Rushes, The Pacific Historical Review, Vol.41, No, 1 (Feb.1972) pp. 15-32. Peter Davis,
Mid-Victorian RN vessel HMS Calypso, accessed 30 April 2008. Peter Davis,
Biography of Frederick Byng Montresor R.N., accessed 30 April 2008.
VI 37.2.