Family and Early Life
Dance was born in London on 20 June 1748, the son of James Dance and his wife Elizabeth. James Dance was a successful lawyer of the city, but shortly after the birth of Nathaniel, he abandoned his wife to live with an actress, and in time established himself as a successful actor and playwright in Drury Lane. Elizabeth Dance and her family were instead cared for by James's father, and Nathaniel's paternal grandfather, George Dance the Elder, a prominent architect for the City of London. Nathaniel lived with his grandfather until 1759, when he went to sea under the patronage of Nathaniel Smith, a high-ranking official in the Honourable East India Company. With Smith's support, Dance rose through the ranks of the service, having made eight voyages to India, as well as one to the Mediterranean and one to the West Indies by 1780. While making his ninth voyage to India he and his ship were captured by a combined French and Spanish fleet. Dance was taken to Spain, where he spent six months on parole. He became commander of the Lord Camden in January 1787, making another four voyages to India aboard her, before being appointed commander of a new ship, the Earl Camden, in which he sailed to China in January 1803.
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