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Isaac Coffin was born on May 16, 1759 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, the son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Barnes) Coffin. He was a descendant in the fifth generation from Tristram Coffyn who emigrated to Massachusetts in 1642 and settled in Nantucket in 1660. His father was the King’s Cashier of the Customs at Boston and was a man of great wealth.
When eight years old Isaac was sent to the Boston Latin School where he excelled in nautical science and in the school sports.
Isaac entered the Royal Navy at the age of fourteen and was assigned to the brig Gaspee, then commanded by Lieutenant William Hunter. He advanced rapidly and in 1778 was made a lieutenant and placed in command of the cutter Placentia. In 1783 June he became captain of the Shrewsbury of 74 guns. A month later he refused to receive three youthful lieutenants appointed by Rodney. He was tried by court martial for contempt and disobedience but was acquitted. The end of the war found the royalist Coffin family scattered and his father dead of the gout.
Coffin went to England, had his prize money invested judiciously, and spent much of his time in France. In 1786 he was appointed to the Thisbe to take Lord Dorchester and his family to Quebec. Upon his return it was discovered that he had failed to comply with a technicality that currrent abuse had made obsolete and he was suspended. Resenting what he considered unjust treatment, he went to Flanders and joined the Brabant patriots against Austria. An appeal set aside his suspension and restored his rank. Coffin had seriously crippled himself while rescuing a sailor who had fallen overboard; a further injury incapacitated him for active service and he became resident commissioner at Corsica and later at Lisbon.
In April 1804 he was appointed rear admiral and the following month was created a baronet. By regular seniority he became a full admiral in 1814. In 1818, through the influence of Lord Darlington, Coffin was returned to Parliament for the borough of Ilchester. He remained there seven years and distinguished himself by his rough, salty humor and his Latin quotations. He was deeply interested in America and his visits were frequent. He sent many English race-horses to improve the American breed. He imported rare fruits and plants and brought the first European turbot to New England waters.
Coffin was recognized for his service in the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He took part in many naval engagements especially of the American war, notably in Rodney’s brilliant victory over De Grasse in April 1782. His most notable philanthropy was the Coffin school at Nantucket. Started in May 1827, it was first restricted to the descendants of Tristram Coffyn but was later opened to the children of Nantucket. Coffin was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1832.
In March 1811 Coffin married Elizabeth Browne, the only daughter of William Greenly of Titley Court in Herefordshire. Coffin had wished for an heir to his title and his fortune, but his jovial manners and rough humor so distressed his father-in-law and his wife’s habit of writing sermons far into the night so distressed him that a separation was soon arranged.
