This life story of John James Kennedy takes as its theme his medals, which are in the possession of the author, Kennedy’s great grandson.
John Kennedy, Born 1821
NAVAL OFFICER DURING THE CRIMEAN WAR
John James Kennedy was born at Waterford in Southern Ireland, where his father was the Archdeacon of the Cathedral. At the early age of 12 he decided to join the Royal Navy and entered the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth in June 1833. As a Midshipman he took part in the first opium war of 1840 and subsequently spent time on the South African station off the Cape of Good Hope. At the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 he was serving as a Lieutenant in the Mediterranean fleet. In 1854 he was promoted to Commander, ‘for courage and endurance displayed by him whilst serving in the Naval Brigade in the trenches before Sebastopol’. In February 1855 he was appointed as Commander of HMS Agamemnon, the first ship of the line to be designed for screw and sail. Kennedy’s subsequent career was with the coast guard services, at that time a branch of the Royal Navy. His final posting in September 1868 was to the Valiant for three years coast guard duty before retiring as a Captain in 1871. During retirement he progressed to Vice Admiral.
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Source: Contributed to Lives Retold in 2021 by James Trelawny Day, the author of this life story and great grandson of John James Kennedy. The article was originally published in the March 2006 issue of the Genealogists’ Magazine and is archived here with acknowledgement and thanks.