Chatham Dockyard - Personalities

Personalities

• Peter Pett, of the family of shipwrights whose history is so closely connected to the Chatham dockyard, was appointed first "Master Shipwright" for Chatham in about 1545.
• King James I used Chatham dockyard for a meeting in 1606 with Christian IV of Denmark.
• The Commissioner of Chatham Dockyard held a seat and a vote on the Navy Board in London. Among the Commissioners were:
  • Sir Edward Gregory, who was the last civilian to hold the office, and retired in 1703.
  • Captain Charles Cunningham, retired 1829. His retirement led to the dockyard being placed temporarily under the inspection of Captain J M Lewes, Resident Commissioner at Sheerness.
  • Captain, (later Admiral), Sir Charles Bullen was the first Superintendent, being appointed in December 1831, and invested with the same power and authority as the former Commissioners, "except in matters requiring an Act of Parliament to be submitted by the Commissioner of the Navy".
• Billy Childish, artist, was an apprentice stonemason at the yard in 1976/77.