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Administrative / biographical background
De Chair was born in Louiseville, Canada, in 1865 and entered the Royal Navy in 1878. He progressed to sub lieutenant before resigning to avoid being court marshalled for drunkenness in 1888. De Chair's service record is held by The National Archives and is available electronically on their website. Reference: ADM 196/42/276. The two log books were kept by De Chair as midshipman on the screw corvette HMS CLEOPATRA (1878) and the battleship HMS SULTAN (1870), as well as other vessels. The SULTAN was an early central battery ironclad, built at Chatham Dockyard. HMS CLEOPATRA was based at Hong Kong as part of the Flying Squadron. Created as part of the cuts of the Gladstone administration in 1869, which sought to reduce the number of ships on foreign stations, the Flying Squadron was a mobile training squadron that could be sent to show the flag where required.