Memorial at the Old English Cemetery, Livorno, Italy commemorating Captain Morgan Kempthorne RN d. 1681.
Location
Old English Cemetery, Via Giuseppe Verdi, Livorno, Italy, Rest of the World
Transcript
Hoc tumulantur sub marmore / spolia gloriosa Morgani Kempthorne / Praefecti navis bellicae regis Angliae scilicet Halcyonis / cum hac sola strenuo animo in hostes Christianorum immanes insigni erigens / nihilque numero territus cum septem Turcarum navibus fortiter prudenterq pugnavit / globo tandem ferreo medium perrumpente corpus immortalis gloriae diademate navali / quod sibi triumphantium Romanorum iustar comparaverat / coronatus / victricem animam exhalavit / anno MDCLXXXI die XXII May aetatis vero suae XXVII' [Under this marble are buried the glorious remains of Morgan Kempthorn, Commander of the Royal English War Ship Kingfisher. With this vessel alone, among the terrible enemies of the Christians, with raised standards, with courageous spirit and not at all deterred by their overpowering numbers, he fought with increasing courage and prudence against seven Turkish ships, until his body, crowned with the naval diadem of immortal glory, which can be justly compared to that of the victorious Romans, pierced in the middle by a cannon ball, exhaled his victorious soul on 22 May 1681 at the exact age of 27.]
Details
Vessel: Kingfisher
People
Age: 27
Date of Death: 22/5/1681
Cause of Death: War casualty
Rank / Occupation: Captain RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Extra
Bibliography: G.G. Milner-Gibson Cullum; Francis Campbell MaCauley 'The inscriptions in the old British cemetery of Leghorn' (Leghorn, 1906) p.30.