A mature portrait facing slightly to left in captain's full dress uniform of 1815–1825. Cole wears a black stock and a grey boat-cloak with a black collar over his right shoulder, and draws it across his body with his left hand. He wears the neck ribbon and star of his KCB and the gold medal given for his services in the Banda Islands. The background is lightly sketched in brown and blue-grey. The sitter joined the Navy as midshipman at the age of nine or 10. At a very young age he was present at Hood's action with the Comte de Grasse off Martinique on 29th April 1781, Graves's action with the same French fleet off the Chesapeake Capes on 5th September, Hood's second action with de Grasse off St Kitts on 25th January 1782 and Rodney's final defeat of de Grasse at the Battle of the Saints on 12th April that year. He remained at sea until the start of the French Revolutionary War when he was flag-captain to Lord Hugh Seymour before taking command of the frigate 'Southampton' in 1800. In 1804 he went as flag-captain to Sir Edward Pellew in the 'Culloden' to the East Indies. There he made his reputation in 1810 when he captured Neira, the principle Dutch spice island in the Banda group. For a time, on the death of Admiral Drury, he was commander-in-chief and later took a leading part in the capture of Java. He left the sea in 1814 after an almost unbroken service of 34 years and went into Parliament as MP of Glamorganshire in 1817. In 1828 he succeeded Sir William Hoste as captain of the 'Royal Sovereign' yacht.