Rawlin Champernowne, was the lieutenant in HMS Solebay when James Cook joined at Leith near Edinburgh in 1757. 

Champernowne had become a lieutenant on 16 November, 1756.  After Solebay, he did not pursue a naval career, and succeeded to the family estate in 1766.

Champernowne was from an old Devon family that owned Dartington Hall near Totnes. 

He married Agnes Trist in 1770, and they had a daughter, Margaret.  His will acknowledges two illegitimate children by two other women.  He died in 1774.

John Robson

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 18, volume 48, number 3 (2025).