Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Plumridge, James Hanway
PLUMRIDGE, Sir JAMES HANWAY (1787–1863), vice-admiral, born in 1787, entered the navy in September 1799 on board the Osprey sloop on the home station. He afterwards served in the Leda in the expedition to Egypt, with Captain George Hope, whom he followed to the Defence, and in her he was present in the battle of Trafalgar. He was then for a few months in the Melpomene with Captain (afterwards Sir Peter) Parker (1785–1814) [q. v.], and again with Hope in the Theseus. On 20 Aug. 1806 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and served continuously during the war, in (among other ships) the Melpomene in 1809, and the Menelaus in 1810 (again with Parker) and in the Caledonia as flag-lieutenant to Sir Edward Pellew, afterwards Viscount Exmouth [q. v.] On 7 June 1814 he was promoted to the command of the Crocus sloop, and from her, in July, he was appointed to the Philomel, in which he went to the East Indies. In 1817 he returned to England as acting-captain of the Amphitrite. The promotion was not confirmed, and from 1818 to 1821 he commanded the Sappho brig at St. Helena, and afterwards on the Irish station. He was advanced to post rank on 9 Oct. 1822. From 1831 to 1835 he commanded the Magicienne frigate in the East Indies, from 1837 to 1841 was superintendent of the Falmouth packets, and from 1842 to 1847 was storekeeper of the ordnance. From 1841 to 1847 he was M.P. for Falmouth. In 1847 he was appointed to the Cambrian frigate for service in the East Indies, and on 13 Oct. was ordered to wear a broad pennant as second in command on the station. He returned to England towards the end of 1850, and on 7 Oct. 1852 was promoted to be rear-admiral. In 1854, with his flag in the Leopard, he commanded the flying squadron in the Baltic, and especially in the Gulf of Bothnia. In the following February he was appointed superintendent of Devonport dockyard, and on 5 July was nominated a K.C.B. On 28 Nov. 1857 he was promoted to be vice-admiral. He had no further service, and died at Hopton Hall in Suffolk on 29 Nov. 1863. He was three times married, and left issue.
[O'Byrne's Nav. Biogr. Dict.; Navy Lists; Times, 2 and 3 Dec. 1863; Earp's Hist. of the Baltic Campaign.]