Lord Amelius Beauclerk
Encyclopedia
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Lord Amelius Beauclerk, GCB
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...
, GCH
Royal Guelphic Order
The Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent . It has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the...
, FRS (23 May 1771 – 10 December 1846) 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
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
.
Early life
Beauclerk was born on 23 May 1771, the third son of Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St AlbansAubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans
Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans was the son of Admiral the 1st Baron Vere and a grandson of the 1st Duke of St Albans...
(1740–1802) and his wife, the former Lady Catherine Ponsonby (1742–1789), daughter of William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough
William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough
William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough PC PC was an Irish and English peer and member of the House of Lords, styled Hon. William Ponsonby from 1723 to 1739 and Viscount Duncannon from 1739 to 1758...
. He was baptised
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
at St Marylebone Parish Church
St Marylebone Parish Church
-First church:The first church for the parish was built in the vicinity of the present Marble Arch c.1200, and dedicated to St John the Evangelist.-Second church:...
, London on 15 June 1771.
He was entered on the books of the cutter HMS Jackal in June 1782, and in 1783 was appointed to HMS Salisbury, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral John Campbell
John Campbell (governor)
John Campbell was born in or before 1720, parish of Kirkbean, near Dumfries, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland and died 16 December 1790, at his house at Charles Street, Berkeley Square, London, England. Campbell was a British naval officer, navigational expert and colonial governor.Campbell joined the...
on the Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
station. Afterwards he served in the West Indies under Commodore Gardner
Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner
Admiral Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner was a British Royal Navy officer and peer of the realm. He became one of the Georgian era's most dashing frigate captains and, ultimately, a respected senior admiral.-Naval career:...
, and returned to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1789 as acting
Acting (rank)
An Acting rank, is a military designation allowing an commissioned- or non-commissioned officer to assume a rank—usually higher and usually temporary—with the pay and allowances appropriate to that grade. As such, an officer may be ordered back to the previous grade...
Lieutenant of HMS Europa
HMS Europa (1765)
HMS Europa was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 21 April 1765 at Lepe, Hampshire. She was renamed HMS Europe in 1778, and spent the rest of her career under this name....
. He was not confirmed as a Lieutenant until 21 September 1790, at the time of the Great Spanish Armament crisis
Nootka Crisis
The Nootka Crisis was an international incident and political dispute between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain, triggered by a series of events that took place during the summer of 1789 at Nootka Sound...
.
Promotion to Captain
In 1792 he went to the Mediterranean in the frigate HMS DruidHMS Druid (1783)
HMS Druid was a 32-gun Hermione-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1783 at Bristol. She served in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous small prizes. One of her commanders, Captain Phillip Broke, described Druid as a "point of honour ship",...
, and on 16 September 1793 was made captain
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
by Lord Hood
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was a British Admiral known particularly for his service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars...
and appointed to the command of HMS Nemesis
HMS Nemesis (1780)
HMS Nemesis was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Nemesis was first commissioned in January 1780 under the command of Captain Richard Bligh.- References :...
(28 guns). In March 1794 he was transferred to HMS Juno
HMS Juno (1780)
HMS Juno was a Royal Navy 32-gun Amazon-class fifth rate. This frigate served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Construction and commissioning:...
(32 guns), and attached to the squadron
Squadron (naval)
A squadron, or naval squadron, is a unit of 3-4 major warships, transport ships, submarines, or sometimes small craft that may be part of a larger task force or a fleet...
under Admiral Hotham
William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham
Admiral William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was the son of Sir Beaumont Hotham , a lineal descendant of Sir John Hotham....
, blockading Toulon
Siege of Toulon
The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon.-Context:...
. Juno took part in the action of 14 March 1795, which resulted in the capture of the French ships Ça Ira and Censeur
French ship Censeur (1782)
Censeur was a 74-gun Pégase-class ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1782. She served during the last months of the American War of Independence, and survived to see action in the French Revolutionary Wars. She was briefly captured by the British, but was retaken after a few months...
, and was one of the squadron, under Commodore Taylor, which convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
ed the homeward trade in the following autumn, when the Censeur was recaptured by the French off Cape St Vincent on 7 October 1796.
Frigate Commands
On his return to England, Lord Amelius was appointed to the frigate HMS DryadHMS Dryad (1795)
HMS Dryad was a fifth-rate sailing frigate of the Royal Navy that served for 64 years, at first during the Napoleonic Wars and then in the suppression of slavery. She fought in a notable single-ship action in 1805 when she captured the Proserpine, an action that would later earn her crew the Naval...
, of 44 guns and 251 men, and on the coast of Ireland, on 13 June 1796, captured the French frigate Proserpine, of 42 guns and 348 men, after a brilliant and well-managed action, in which Dryad lost only two killed and seven wounded, while Proserpine lost thirty killed and forty-five wounded. He also captured several privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
s. In 1800 he was appointed to Fortunée (40 guns), employed in the Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and in attendance on the King
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
at Weymouth.
Ship-of-the-Line Commands
Over the next ten years he commanded HM Ships MajesticHMS Majestic (1785)
HMS Majestic was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line launched on 11 December 1785 at Deptford. She fought at the Battle of the Nile, where she engaged the French ships Tonnant and Heureux, helping to force their surrenders...
, Saturn
HMS Saturn (1786)
HMS Saturn was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 22 November 1786 at Northam. She was present at the Battle of Copenhagen as part of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker's reserve....
, and Royal Oak
HMS Royal Oak (1769)
HMS Royal Oak was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 November 1769 at Plymouth.She fought at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781....
(all 74 guns) in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, and in 1809 had charge of the amphibious landing of Lord Chatham's
John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham
General John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, KG, PC was a British peer and soldier.-Career:He was the eldest son of William Pitt the Elder and an elder brother of William Pitt the Younger...
army at Walcheren
Walcheren Campaign
The Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Around 40,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains...
, and continued, during the operations on that coast, as second-in-command
Second-in-command
The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...
under Sir Richard Strachan
Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet
Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet GCB was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral.-Childhood:...
.
Admiral
On 1 August 1811 he was promoted to Rear-Admiral, but during that and the two following years he continued in the North SeaNorth 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...
, stretching in 1813 as far as the North Cape
North Cape
North Cape may refer to:*North Cape, Prince Edward Island*North Cape, New Zealand*North Cape, Norway, also known as Nordkapp*North Cape, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community...
in command of a small squadron on the look-out for the American Commodore Rogers
John Rodgers (naval officer, War of 1812)
John Rodgers was a senior naval officer in the United States Navy who served under six Presidents for nearly four decades during its formative years in the 1790s through the late 1830s, committing the greater bulk of his adult life to his country...
. In 1814 he commanded in the Basque Roads
Basque Roads
Basque Roads is a sheltered bay on the Biscay shore of the Charente-Maritime département of France, bounded by the Île d'Oléron to the west and the Île de Ré to the north...
, and conducted the negotiations for the local suspension of hostilities. On 12 August 1819 he was advanced to Vice-Admiral, and from 1824 to 1827 was Commander-in-Chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
at Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and on the coast of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. He became a full Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
on 22 July 1830, and was Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. In the nineteenth century the holder of the office was known as Commander-in-Chief,...
from 1836 to 1839.
Beauclerk was a fine professional officer who benefited from his family connections to secure early promotion. Port Beauclerc, Point Amelius, Point St. Albans, Beauclerc Island, Beauclerc Peak and Amelius Island, all in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, are named for him.
He died, unmarried, at his seat, Winchfield House, near Farnborough, Hampshire
Farnborough, Hampshire
-History:Name changes: Ferneberga ; Farnburghe, Farenberg ; Farnborowe, Fremborough, Fameborough .Tower Hill, Cove: There is substantial evidence...
, on 10 December 1846.
Honours and achievements
Beauclerk became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1809, and was given the honorary rankTitle of honor
An honorary title or title of honor is a title bestowed upon individuals or organizations as an award in recognition of their merits.Sometimes the title bears the same or nearly the same name as a title of authority, but the person bestowed does not have to carry any duties, possibly except for...
of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
of Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
on 31 July 1810. He was appointed to the KCB
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...
on 2 January 1815, GCH
Royal Guelphic Order
The Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent . It has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the...
on 29 March 1831, GCB on 4 August 1835, and First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to King William IV
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
on 4 August 1839. He was also the hereditary Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of Winchfield
Winchfield
Winchfield is a small village in the Hart District of Hampshire in the South-East of England. It is situated 1 mile south-west of Hartley Wintney, 8 miles east of Basingstoke, 2 miles north-east of Odiham and 38 miles west of London...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
.