Cloudesley Shovell - Origin and Family

Origin and Family

The unusual Christian name of Cloudesley was the surname of his maternal grandmother Lucy Cloudisley, who was the daughter of Thomas Cloudisley. His father, John Shovell, a gentleman, was descended from a family who had property and standing in Norwich and his mother was descended from local gentry. Although not poor, the Shovells were by no means wealthy.

In 1653, when Cloudesley was three, his father died, leaving £100 to each of his three sons, Nathaniel, Thomas and Cloudesley. Cloudesley's widowed mother, Anne Jenkinson, remarried John Flaxman. In 1691 Cloudesley Shovell married Elizabeth, Lady Narborough (née Hill), the widow of his former commander, Rear Admiral Sir John Narborough. Through her, he had two stepsons (Sir John Narborough, 1st Baronet, and James Narborough) who both entered naval careers and died aged 23 and 22, in the sinking of HMS Association in 1707. Shovell and his wife had two daughters: Elizabeth and Anne. Elizabeth married first the 1st Baron Romney whilst Anne married John Blackwood. Elizabeth Shovell, the former Lady Narborough, is buried in St Paulinus Church, Crayford, where there is a memorial to her and her husband. Cloudesley Shovell is also mentioned on the memorial to his Narborough stepsons in Knowlton Church. Their memorial displays a rendition of the grounding of HMS Association.