Rev Cooper Willyams (1762-1816) was Rector of Kingston and of Stourmouth in Kent; the first of these livings was presented to him by his friend Sir Egerton Brydges. His father was a commander in the Royal Navy, and in 1793 he enlisted as chaplain on the HMS Boyne for its voyage to the West Indies, under the command of Sir Charles Grey and Sir John Jervis. He described his experiences in The Campaign in the West Indies. In 1798 he became chaplain of HMS Swiftsure, a ship that formed part of Nelson’s squadron during the Battle of the Nile. and in 1796 he published Voyage up the Mediterranean in His Majesty’s Ship the Swiftsure: with a Description of the Battle of the Nile. He was a friend of Montagu Pennington.