Burney, James, 1750-1821

James Burney was born on June 13, 1750, in London, England, the son of the composer and music scholar Charles Burney (1726-1814) and his first wife, Esther Sleepe (c. 1725–1762), the brother of correspondent Susanna Burney (1755-1800), schoolmaster and scholar Charles Burney (1757-1817), the novelist and diarist Frances “Fanny” Burney (1752-1840) and half-brother of the novelist Sarah Burney (1772-1844).

He was an English Rear-Admiral and author. At the age of ten, he was sent to sea to act as a captain's servant on Princess Amelia. By the age of fifteen, he was a midshipman on the Aquilon. He spent most of his life sailing the seas on various ships. Burney accompanied Captain Cook on his last two voyages and witnessed Cook's killing in Hawaii in 1779. At the end of 1784, he fell seriously ill and departed for England. He became a prolific naval author. His first project was to edit an edition of William Bligh's A Voyage to the South Sea in HMS Bounty (1792). His major work was A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean, published in five volumes (1803-1817). In 1809, Burney was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1785, he married Sarah "Sally" Payne (1752–1832). He died on November 17, 1821, in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England.