John Wainwright C.B. was an officer in the Royal Navy. In 1806, he became captain of the frigate HMS Chiffonne and, in 1809, was the commodore of a squadron sent to suppress pirates in the Persian Gulf. After having led that joint-services expedition to ‘burn the Pirates out of the Gulf’, he was awarded a scimitar by a grateful emir and a gift ‘for plate’ by the Honourable East India Company. In recompense for the period without the opportunity to capture prizes, he was invited to escort on Chiffonne the 1810 Trade fleet from India to China, involving a lucrative ‘freight’ fee.