[1784-1848]
James Hall appears to have been closer to Captain James King than any of his other Commanding Officers. Not only did he ask him to become godfather to his second son William, an act which indirectly led to the surname of King-Hall [PAGE1011], but he also corresponded with him in the 1820s and after he retired in 1836 practiced near James King's home in Kent for a while.
James King, was the youngest son of the 2nd Earl of Kingston, an Irish peer. He was born in 1784 and joined the Navy in 1797. This proved to be a prudent moment for the young man remove himself from Society and go to sea. In Hyde Park on the 1st Sept 1797 his father had a duel with his daughter's lover, Henry Fitzgerald, who was also his wife's illegitimate nephew. Having missed each other six times they were arrested and prevented from doing each other any further immediate harm. The action then moved to Co Cork in Ireland where, in December, James King's father and elder brother found Fitzgerald, the lover, at an inn near the family seat at Mitchelstown. In the ensuing struggle Fitzgerald was shot dead by the father. Both father and son were tried for murder and acquitted. The father, who had inherited his title in November, chose to be tried by his fellow peers in the House of Lords.
These family disturbances seem to have had no serious effect on the career of James King. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1804, Commander in 1806 and he was made a Post Captain, at the age of 25, in 1809. Even by the standards of the day this was remarkable progress and showed that the Kingston family still had Influence.
James King was appointed in command of HMS Jason in June 1809 and spent the next few years in the Mediterranean, on the North American Station and in Home Waters. In the autumn of 1814 Jason was paid off in Devonport. James King was placed on half pay and never went to sea again.
In 1815, perhaps inspired by Princess of Wales' promise of a Bishopric he married Caroline, the 2nd daughter of The Most Rev Euseby Cleaver, Lord Archbishop of Dublin.
In 1824 he bought Angley, a 300 acre estate in West Kent near Sissinghurst. There he settled down to the life of country gentleman and died, much respected by all, on the 11th February 1848.