Sir Robert Holmes The Swashbuckling, Action-Packed Life of an Intrepid Cava

Somehow, against all odds, this fearless soldier-sailor survived both the Civil War and then four years at sea with Prince Rupert (fighting for the lost royalist cause) enduring both capture by hostile natives and two shipwrecks. With the Restoration came reward and controversy: as an irascible friend of King Charles II, his personal actions at sea started two wars with the then-mighty Dutch – in one of which Holmes sank 150 enemy ships in a single action. As Captain-Governor of the Isle of Wight for 24 years, he became immensely wealthy through profiteering, and made Yarmouth his main home – choosing to be interred in its church beneath his striking marble statue.