Frederick Paul Irby
Encyclopedia
Rear Admiral
The Hon.
Frederick Paul Irby CB
(18 April 1779 – 24 April 1844) was a British Royal Navy
officer and Deputy Lord Lieutenant
of Norfolk
.
and his wife Christiana (née Methuen).
he was present at the Glorious First of June
in 1794. On 6 June 1797 he was promoted lieutenant and appointed to HMS Circe
, in which he was present at the Battle of Camperdown
. He was wrecked off the Texel
in HMS Apollo
on 7 January 1799. Promoted to commander on 22 April 1800, he became the captain of HMS Volcano
, a bomb vessel
, moving in 1801 to HMS Jalouse operating in the North Sea
.
on 14 April 1802, he appears to have been placed on half pay. He married Emily Ives Drake, sister of Lady Boston (and hence his sister-in-law), on 1 December 1803. He was appointed in command of a unit of the Sea Fencibles
in the Essex
District in 1805, and on 7 August 1807 his wife died giving birth to a son. He returned to sea to command HMS Amelia
in December 1807, serving under Rear Admiral Stopford on the Home Station. On 24 February 1809 he took part in the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne
, which drove three large French frigates aground and destroyed them, gaining the special approval of the Admiralty
. In 1811, in company with HMS Berwick
and HMS Niobe, he destroyed the French frigate Amazone near Barfleur
. He became the senior officer on the West Africa Squadron
in later the same year, and this ended in 1813 with the battle between Amelia and the French frigate Aréthuse
. Captain Irby was seriously wounded and after 1813 he saw no further active service.
, at Boyland Hall, near Norwich
, and on 23 January 1816 he married his second wife, Frances Wright. They had 3 sons and 4 daughters, including Leonard Howard Lloyd Irby, a famous ornithologist and Paulina Irby, a noted Victorian
lady traveller. In 1831 he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)
and in 1837 promoted to rear admiral
. He served as a Magistrate
and Deputy Lord Lieutenant
of Norfolk, and died on 24 April 1844 aged 65.
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
The Hon.
The Honourable
The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Frederick Paul Irby CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(18 April 1779 – 24 April 1844) was a British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
officer and Deputy Lord Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
.
Birth
Frederick Irby was born on 18 April 1779, the second son of Frederick, 2nd Baron BostonBaron Boston
Baron Boston, of Boston in the County of Lincoln, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1761 for the court official and former Member of Parliament, Sir William Irby, 2nd Baronet. He had earlier represented Launceston and Bodmin in the House of Commons...
and his wife Christiana (née Methuen).
Early Royal Naval career
He entered the Royal Navy on 2 January 1791, serving on the Home and North America and West Indies Stations. As a midshipman in HMS MontaguHMS Montagu (1779)
HMS Montagu, sometimes spelled Montague, was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 August 1779 at Chatham Dockyard....
he was present at the Glorious First of June
Glorious First of June
The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...
in 1794. On 6 June 1797 he was promoted lieutenant and appointed to HMS Circe
HMS Circe (1785)
HMS Circe was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1785 but not completed or commissioned until 1790...
, in which he was present at the Battle of Camperdown
Battle of Camperdown
The Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...
. He was wrecked off the Texel
Texel
Texel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark...
in HMS Apollo
HMS Apollo (1794)
HMS Apollo, the third ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a fifth-rate frigate of 38 guns launched in 1794 and wrecked in 1799....
on 7 January 1799. Promoted to commander on 22 April 1800, he became the captain of HMS Volcano
HMS Volcano
HMS Heron was originally the merchant vessel Jason, which the Admiralty purchased in 1804 for the Royal Navy for use as 16-gun ship-sloop under the name HMS Heron. During the Napoleonic Wars she served as a convoy escort on the Leeward Islands station. Then in 1810 the Admiralty had her converted...
, a bomb vessel
Bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannon —although bomb vessels carried a few cannon for self-defence—but rather mortars mounted forward near the bow and elevated to a high angle, and projecting their fire in a...
, moving in 1801 to HMS Jalouse operating in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
.
Post captain
Promoted post-captainPost-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
on 14 April 1802, he appears to have been placed on half pay. He married Emily Ives Drake, sister of Lady Boston (and hence his sister-in-law), on 1 December 1803. He was appointed in command of a unit of the Sea Fencibles
Sea Fencibles
The original Sea Fencibles were a naval militia established to provide a close-in line of defense to protect the United Kingdom from invasion by France during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...
in the Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
District in 1805, and on 7 August 1807 his wife died giving birth to a son. He returned to sea to command HMS Amelia
HMS Amelia (1796)
Proserpine was a 38-gun Hébé-class frigate of the French Navy captured by on 13 June 1796. The Admiralty commissioned Prosperine into the Royal Navy as the fifth rate, HMS Amelia...
in December 1807, serving under Rear Admiral Stopford on the Home Station. On 24 February 1809 he took part in the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne
Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne
The Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne was a limited frigate action that took place on 23 February 1809 off Les Sables-d'Olonne. Three ships of the line and two attached ships of the British squadron blockading the harbours of the Atlantic coast engaged a small French frigate squadron comprising...
, which drove three large French frigates aground and destroyed them, gaining the special approval of the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
. In 1811, in company with HMS Berwick
HMS Berwick (1809)
HMS Berwick was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 11 September 1809 at Blackwall.Berwick was broken up in 1821....
and HMS Niobe, he destroyed the French frigate Amazone near Barfleur
Barfleur
Barfleur is a commune in the Manche department in the Basse-Normandie region in north-western France.-Middle Ages:In the Middle Ages Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England....
. He became the senior officer on the West Africa Squadron
West Africa Squadron
The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron at substantial expense in 1808 after Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The squadron's task was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa...
in later the same year, and this ended in 1813 with the battle between Amelia and the French frigate Aréthuse
French frigate Aréthuse (1812)
The French frigate Aréthuse was a 46-gun 18-pounder frigate of the French Navy. She served during the Napoleonic Wars, took part in the conquest of Algeria and ended her days as a coal depot in Brest.-Cruise off West Africa, 1812-1813:...
. Captain Irby was seriously wounded and after 1813 he saw no further active service.
Later life
He settled in NorfolkNorfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, at Boyland Hall, near Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, and on 23 January 1816 he married his second wife, Frances Wright. They had 3 sons and 4 daughters, including Leonard Howard Lloyd Irby, a famous ornithologist and Paulina Irby, a noted Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
lady traveller. In 1831 he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
and in 1837 promoted to rear admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
. He served as a Magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
and Deputy Lord Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of Norfolk, and died on 24 April 1844 aged 65.