his part of the extended programme, had gone to the West Indies, where he was to be joined by Villeneuve, with the fleet from Toulon. Villeneuve was, however, driven back by stress of weather, and Missiessy, after a fruitless attack on Dominica and levying a contribution on St. Kitts, returned to Europe, while Cochrane, unable to get any exact information, had visited Madeira, Barbadoes, and Jamaica, and had returned to Barbadoes, having been meantime apointed commander-in-chief at the Leeward lands. He was still at Barbadoes, with his flag in the Northumberland, when Nelson arrived there on 4 June in his pursuit of Villeneuve, who, in a second attempt, had succeeded in getting out of the Mediterranean. Nelson now took the Northumberland under his orders, retaining her with him during his ineffectual cruise in the West Indies, but leaving her behind when he sailed on his return voyage. In the following year, when Sir John Thomas Duckworth followed the French squadron to the West Indies, Cochrane again joined the main fleet, and, as second in command, had a very important share in the battle of St. Domingo (6 Feb. 1806), when the Northumberland's loss amounted to a hundred killed and wounded, or nearly one-third of the whole. For his services on this occasion Cochrane was made a knight of the Bath, was presented with the freedom of the city of London, and a sword of honour. Cochrane continued as commander-in-chief at the Leeward Islands, and after the capture of Guadeloupe in January 1810 was appointed governor of that island, which post ne held till 1814, when he was appointed to the command of the North American station. Here, with his flag in the Tonnant of 80 guns, he was employed during the next year in directing the operations along the coast, more especially the unsuccessful attempts against Baltimore and New Orleans, in which, however, he had no active share. At the peace he returned to England, where he remained unemployed till 1821, when he was appointed commander-in-chief at Plymouth. This was the end of his active service. He died suddenly in Paris on 26 Jan. 1832, and was buried in Pere-la-Chaise.
He attained the rank of vice-admiral on 25 Oct. 1809, admiral on 12 Aug. 1819, and was made G.C.B. in June 1815, on the reconstitution of the order. He married in 1788 Maria, widow of Captain Sir Jacob Waite, bart., R.N., by whom he had several children.
[Marshall's Roy. Nav. Biog. i. 257; United Service Journal, 1832, pt. i. 372.]
COCHRANE, ARCHIBALD, ninth Earl of Dundonald (1749–1831), naval officer and chemical manufacturer, born on 1 Jan. 1749, was the son of Thomas Cochrane, the eighth earl, of Dundonald. Archibald was in his youth in the navy, in which he became acting lieutenant. A cruise on the coast of Guinea gave the young man a distaste for the naval profession, and on his return home he obtained a commission in the army, joining the 104th regiment, which he after a time also relinquished. He succeeded to the title on the death of his father, 27 June 1778; but the ancient inheritance of the Cochranes had been wasted, and Archibald was so poor that he was unable to equip his son for sea until the Earl of Hopetoun advanced him 100l. Although his circumstances were somewhat improved by a second marriage, he expended so much money on his manufacturing pursuits that the family were compelled to return to Scotland. About this time he made extensive experiments for improving the mode of preparing hemp and flax for the manufacture of sailcloth. The admiralty appears to have adopted Dundonald's process; but the inventor derived no benefit from his patent. His son states that 'the unentailed estates were absorbed by extensive scientific pursuits,' that is, in attempts to apply imperfect scientific knowledge to manufacturing processes.
Dundonald was an active-minded young man, and found himself in the midst of a society full of the recent great discoveries made by Cavendish, Priestley, Black, and others. He is said to have been on intimate terms with those philosophers; but his only thought was to retrieve the fortunes of the family by applying the discoveries of that day. While staying with his relations on the Tyne, he became acquainted with the alkali manufacturers; the manufacture was then carried on by employing the ashes of various marine plants. Attempts were being made by continental chemists to prepare carbonate of soda by the decomposition of common salt. Le Blanc, in 1781, patented a process for effecting this by a mixture of sulphate of soda, carbonate of lime, and charcoal calcined together, and Dundonald's attention was attracted to this new process. He was now residing in Newcastle, and he formed an intimate acquaintance with Messrs. Losh and Doubleday, who were employing a process, not very successfully, resembling, in many respects, that of Le Blanc. At the suggestion of Dundonald, and at his expense, Mr. Losh made inquiries at Paris. On Losh's return from France the Walker Chemical Company was formed and a new manufactory esta-
