Keith, Markham, and Royal Navy continuity

Lord Keith brought experience spanning the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, and the wars with France. His biography also distinguishes the viscountcy that ended at his death from the British and Irish baronies inherited by his eldest daughter Margaret, which ended at hers. John Markham, like Perrée, was born in 1761, but had served in the Royal Navy since 1775, when he was fourteen. He spent those years learning to navigate and fight naval ships, while most of Perrée's earlier experience came from merchant service. Markham later became an admiral, MP for Portsmouth, and First Naval Lord under St Vincent. Their careers show the difference between general seagoing experience and sustained preparation for naval command. A hypothetical comparison suggests that Markham might have found a way around orders to leave only fifteen rounds per gun aboard a squadron still expected to provide fire support. That imagined response contrasts with Perrée's literal obedience; it is not an incident attributed to Markham's actual service.