Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 30.djvu/297

 nine years in commission, was paid off, and Keats, after a few months on shore, hoisted his flag on board the Implacable (July 1810), with Captain George Cockburn [q. v.], in which he was sent to take command of the squadron off Cadiz, and to assist in the defence of that place, then threatened by the French. On 1 Aug. 1811 he was advanced to be vice-admiral, and having remained on the Cadiz station for upwards of a year, he joined Sir Edward Pellew off Toulon, with his flag on board the Hibernia of 120 guns. His health had been for some time much broken, and in October 1812 he was compelled to resign his command and return to England. In the following spring he was appointed governor of Newfoundland and commander-in-chief of the ships on the station, with an intimation that as soon as his health permitted he should be moved to a more active command. The peace, however, prevented this, and after three years of comparative rest Keats returned to England. On the death of Sir [q. v.] in 1821 he was appointed governor of Greenwich Hospital. On 27 May 1825 he attained the rank of admiral. He died on 5 April 1834, and was buried in the mausoleum of the hospital, his funeral being, at the express desire of the king, conducted with all military honours, and attended by the lords of the admiralty, the naval officers of the king's household, and very many other naval officers. Sir [q. v.], himself one of the pall-bearers, noted ‘the pall borne by six full admirals; a very solemn and imposing ceremony’ (Hotham MS.).

A bust by Chantrey was placed in the chapel of the hospital by William IV, with an inscription recording their early service together, as well as the king's ‘esteem for the exemplary character of a friend, and his grateful sense of the valuable services rendered to his country by a highly distinguished and gallant officer.’ Keats's fame was built up by countless minor excellencies rather than by any achievement of transcendent brilliance. The writer of the memoir in the ‘United Service Journal’ says: ‘It may be questioned whether the great nautical talents he possessed were ever called into full play; for we, who knew him well, have no scruple in placing him at the very head of our naval phalanx, having shown himself second to none in gallantry, genius, or talent.’ Keats married in 1820 Mary, eldest daughter of Francis Hurt of Alderwasley in Derbyshire, but left no issue.



KEBLE, JOHN (1792–1866), divine and poet, was born at Fairford, Gloucestershire, on 25 April 1792. His father, also John Keble, was vicar of Coln St. Aldwins, a neighbouring village, but resided at Fairford in a house of his own. His mother, Sarah, was daughter of John Maule, incumbent of Ringwood, Hampshire. Their family consisted of two sons and three daughters, John being the second child and eldest son. John and his younger brother [q. v.] were educated solely by their father, who taught them so well that they both obtained scholarships at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, a college of which he himself had been scholar and fellow. John Keble was elected in December 1806. The undergraduates and bachelor scholars of Corpus lived on the most familiar terms, and many of the friendships formed by Keble at college were lifelong; Sir [q. v.], his future biographer, Charles Dyson, George Cornish, and Thomas Arnold were his chief associates. In 1811 Keble won double first-class honours, and was elected to a fellowship at Oriel, where he was brought into contact with a set of men who gave the intellectual tone to the university. Copleston was provost, Davison a leading tutor, and Whately was elected fellow at the same time as Keble. In 1812 Keble won the university prizes for the English and the Latin essays. He resided at Oxford, taking private pupils, and in 1813 was appointed public examiner in the classical school. In 1816 he was examiner for responsions, and in 1818 he became college tutor at Oriel. In 1821 he was again appointed public examiner, and held that office until 1823, when he resigned his tutorship; and on the death of his mother in May 1823 he left Oxford and resided with his father and two surviving sisters at Fairford.

On Trinity Sunday 1815 Keble had been ordained deacon, and in 1816 priest, by the Bishop of Oxford (Dr. Jackson). His first clerical work was the sole charge of two small contiguous parishes, East Leach and Burthorpe, Gloucestershire. After leaving Oxford he undertook in addition the curacy of Southrop. The entire population of the three parishes did not exceed one thousand, and the income derived from them was only 100l. There was a good house at Southrop, and there, without receiving any remuneration except a moderate contribution towards the household expenses, Keble sometimes had pupils, among whom were Robert Wilberforce, Hurrell Froude, Isaac Williams, and