Quick Facts
Biography
Edward Falkingham (c. 1683 – 18 September 1757) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He served for a time as Governor of Newfoundland.
Naval career
Falkingham received his first commission in 1703 when he was promoted to lieutenant. On 26 February 1713 he was promoted to the rank of captain in command of HMS Weymouth. Falkingham in charge of HMS Gibraltar, along with Commodore Thomas Kempthorne aboard of HMS Worcester, was charged with overseeing the enforcement of Treaty of Utrecht when it came to the fishing grounds of Newfoundland in 1715. A major concern to the merchants of England was the over-wintering of fisherman in Newfoundland and William Arnold, a New England trader, was suspecting of enticing those fisherman to over-winter in New England. Falkingham was assigned the duty of observing Arnold in the summer of 1715.
Falkingham went on to command various vessels in both the Baltic and the Mediterranean. In 1718 he commanded HMS Orford with distinction at the Battle of Cape Passaro, off the coast of Sicily.
On 5 May 1732, Falkingham was commissioned as Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland. Finding that there was only one prison, in St John's, Falkingham ordered the construction of other prisons in Ferryland, Bonavista and Carbonear. Falkingham retired from sea service in 1742, and when his health began to fail him in 1755, from the Navy altogether.