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Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth

Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother Israel Pellew also pursued a naval career.

The Viscount Exmouth
Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, portrait by James Northcote, 1804
Born(1757-04-19)19 April 1757
Dover, England
Died23 January 1833(1833-01-23) (aged 75)
Teignmouth, Devon, England
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1770–1820
RankAdmiral
Commands heldCommander-in-Chief, East Indies
Mediterranean Fleet
Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
Battles/warsAmerican War of Independence
French Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars
Second Barbary War
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
RelationsIsrael Pellew (brother)

Childhood

Pellew was born at Dover, the second son of Samuel Pellew (1712–1764), commander of a Dover packet,[1] and his wife, Constantia Langford.[2]

The Pellew family was Cornish, descended from a family that came originally from Normandy, but had for many centuries been settled in the west of Cornwall. Edward's grandfather, Humphrey Pellew (1650–1721), a merchant and ship owner, son of a naval officer, resided at Flushing manor-house in the parish of Mylor. Part of the town of Flushing was built by Samuel Trefusis, MP for Penryn; the other part was built by Humphrey Pellew, who was buried there. He also had a property and a tobacco plantation in Maryland. Part of the town of Annapolis stands on what was, before the American Revolution, the estate of the Pellews.[citation needed]

On the death of Edward's father in 1764 the family removed to Penzance, and Pellew was educated for some years at Truro Grammar School.[1][3] He was a pugnacious youth, which did not endear him to his headmaster. He ran away to sea at the age of 14, but soon deserted because of unfair treatment to another midshipman. Pellew described himself as "pock-marked, ugly, uninteresting and uneducated"; a naval historian adds that he was "tough, brave, skilful, lucky, and unscrupulous".[4]

Early career

1770s

In 1770, Pellew entered the Royal Navy on board HMS Juno[1] with Captain John Stott, and made a voyage to the Falkland Islands. In 1772, he followed Stott to the Alarm, and in her was in the Mediterranean for three years. In consequence of a high-spirited quarrel with his captain, he was put on shore at Marseilles where he found an old friend of his father's in command of a merchant ship. He was able to get a passage to Lisbon and so home.

He was later in HMS Blonde, under the command of Captain Philemon Pownoll, which took General John Burgoyne to America in the spring of 1776. In October, Pellew and midshipman Brown were detached for service in the Carleton tender on Lake Champlain, under Lieutenant Dacres. During the Battle of Valcour Island on 11 October, Dacres and Brown were both severely wounded, and the command devolved on Pellew. Pellew extricated the vessel from a position of great danger by his personal gallantry. As a reward for his service, he was immediately appointed to command the Carleton. In December, Lord Howe promised him a commission as lieutenant when he could reach New York, and in the following January Lord Sandwich wrote promising to promote him when he came to England. In the summer of 1777, Pellew and a small party of seamen were attached to the army under Burgoyne, and he was present in the fighting at Saratoga,[1] where his youngest brother John was killed. He and the rest of the force were taken prisoner. After the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, he was repatriated.

He returned to England and was promoted on 9 January 1778 to be lieutenant of the Princess Amelia guardship at Portsmouth. He wanted to be appointed to a seagoing ship, but Lord Sandwich considered that he was bound by the terms of the surrender at Saratoga not to undertake any active service. Towards the end of the year, he was appointed to the Licorne which went out to Newfoundland in the spring of 1779, returning in the winter, when Pellew was moved into the Apollo with his old captain Pownoll. On 15 June 1780, the Apollo engaged a large French privateer, the Stanislaus, off Ostend. Pownoll was killed by a musket-shot, but Pellew continued the action and dismasted the Stanislaus, driving her on shore where she was protected by the neutrality of the coast. On the 18th, Lord Sandwich wrote to him: "I will not delay informing you that I mean to give you immediate promotion as a reward for your gallant and officer-like conduct." On 1 July, he was accordingly promoted to the command of the sloop Hazard, which was employed for the next six months on the east coast of Scotland and was then paid off.

Peacetime service

In March 1782 Pellew was appointed to the Pelican,[1] a small French prize, so small indeed that he used to say "his servant could dress his hair from the deck while he sat in the cabin."[citation needed] On 28 April while cruising on the coast of Brittany, he engaged three privateers and drove them on shore. In special reward for this service, he was promoted to post rank on 25 May[1] and, ten days later, was appointed to the temporary command of the Artois,[1] in which he captured a large frigate-built privateer on 1 July.

From 1786 to 1789, he commanded the frigate Winchelsea under the Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland,[1] returning home each winter by Cadiz and Lisbon. Afterwards, he commanded the Salisbury on the same station as flag-captain to Vice-Admiral Milbanke. In 1791, he was placed on half-pay and tried his hand at farming on Treverry Farm near Helston, a property owned by his brother who was a senior customs officer of Flushing. This met with indifferent success, during which time he attempted to sell a bull, only to find that it was in the ownership of a neighbouring farmer.

The Russians offered him a command in the Russian navy but Pellew declined the offer. He was still struggling with the difficulties of his farm when the revolutionary government of France declared war on Great Britain on 1 February 1793.

Wartime service

Pellew immediately applied for a ship and was appointed to the Nymphe, a 36-gun frigate which he fitted out in a remarkably short time. He had expected a good deal of difficulty in manning her and had enlisted some 80 Cornish miners who were sent round to the ship at Spithead. He put to sea with these and about a dozen seamen, plus officers who were obliged to help in the work aloft. He filled his complement of crew by pressing from the merchant ships in the Channel, but with very few seasoned navy men. On 18 June, Nymphe sailed from Falmouth on the news that two French frigates had been seen in the Channel.

At the action of 18 June 1793, Nymphe fell in with the Cléopâtre, also of 36 guns and commanded by Captain Jean Mullon, one of the few officers of the ancien régime who still remained in the French navy. After a short but very sharp action, Cléopâtre's mizzenmast and wheel were shot away, making the ship unmanageable, and it fell foul of the Nymphe. Pellew's crew boarded her in a fierce rush and captured her. Mullon was mortally wounded, and died trying to swallow his commission, which in his dying agony he had mistaken for the code of secret signals. The code thus fell intact into Pellew's hands, and was forwarded to the Admiralty. Cléopâtre was the first frigate taken in the war and was brought to Portsmouth. The Earl of Chatham presented Pellew to the king on 29 June, and the king knighted him.[1]

Pellew transferred to HMS Arethusa in December 1793. In 1794, Arethusa was part of the western squadron of frigates based at Falmouth under Sir John Borlase Warren. On 23 April, the squadron engaged a French squadron to the southwest of Guernsey, the stronger British force quickly overpowering their opponents in an action where Arethusa played the primary role in fighting the Pomone, at the time the largest frigate in service. Pomone surrendered after an engagement that lasted less than half an hour. The French had suffered between 80 and 100 casualties; Arethusa had only three dead and five wounded. Warren's squadron went on to destroy one frigate and capture another. They also drove ashore the corvettes Alerte and Espion, both of which had been Royal Navy sloops. Pellew refused to burn either ship, as they contained wounded men, and the French later refloated Espion. The squadron also captured many vessels from French coastal convoys.

Service in the French Revolutionary War

 
Sir Edward Pellew by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1797

By 1794, he was commodore of the Western Frigate Squadron. In 1795, he took command of HMS Indefatigable, the ship with which he is most closely associated. The squadron also comprised the frigates HMS Argo, HMS Concord, HMS Révolutionnaire, and HMS Amazon.[5]

He was a good swimmer and noted for saving the lives of several seamen who had fallen overboard. The most striking life-saving event was on 26 January 1796 when the East Indiaman Dutton was carrying more than four hundred troops, together with many women and children, when it ran aground under Plymouth Hoe. Due to the heavy seas, the crew and soldiers aboard were unable to get to shore. Pellew swam out to the wreck with a line and, with help from young Irishman Jeremiah Coghlan, helped rig a lifeline that saved almost all aboard. For this feat he was created a baronet on 18 March 1796.[6]

On 13 April 1796, off the coasts of Ireland, his squadron captured the French frigate Unité, and the Virginie nine days later.

His most noted action was the action of 13 January 1797, cruising in company with HMS Amazon, when the British sighted the French 74-gun ship of the line Droits de l'Homme. Normally, a ship of the line would over-match two frigates, but by skillful sailing in the stormy conditions, the frigates avoided bearing the brunt of the superior firepower of the French. In the early morning of 14 January, the three ships were embayed on a lee shore in Audierne Bay. Both the Droits de l'Homme and Amazon ran aground, but Indefatigable managed to claw her way off the lee shore to safety.[1]

Pellew was also responsible for pressing young violinist and composer Joseph Antonio Emidy who had been playing in the Lisbon Opera orchestra.

Admiralcy and peerage

 
Engraving of Edward Pellew, Lord Exmouth

Pellew was promoted to rear admiral in 1804. He was then appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. It took six months to sail out to Penang, so he took up the appointment in 1805.

When in February 1808 Pellew was at sea in his flagship, HMS Culloden, he heard of the outbreak of war between the United Kingdom and Denmark. He immediately sailed to the Danish settlement at Tranquebar, taking it by surprise. When Admiral Drury arrived to replace Pellew as C-in-C, East Indies, and to seize Tranquebar, he found that he was too late. Pellew's seizing the moment gained him some £40,000–50,000 in prize money.[7]

Following his return from the east in 1809, he was appointed to the position of Commander-in-Chief, North Sea from 1810 to 1811[8] and Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, from 1811 to 1814,[1] and again from 1815 to 1816.[9]

 
Painting of the Bombardment of Algiers by George Chambers Sr.

In 1814, he was made Baron Exmouth of Canonteign. In 1816, he led an Anglo-Dutch fleet against the Barbary states. Victory at the Bombardment of Algiers secured the release of the 1,200 Christian slaves in the city.[1] For this action, he was created 1st Viscount Exmouth on 10 December 1816.[1] Following his return to England, he became Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth from 1817 to 1821,[10] when he effectively retired from active service. He continued to attend and speak in the House of Lords. In 1832, he was appointed Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom and Admiral of the Red Squadron of His Majesty's Fleet, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, also of the Royal and distinguished Order of Charles III of Spain, of the Military Order of William of the Netherlands, of the Royal Sicilian Order of St. Ferdinand and Merit, of the Order of St Maurice and St Lazarus of Sardinia, Knight of the Most Honourable and Most Ancient Order of the Annunziata of the Royal House of Savoy, High Steward of Great Yarmouth, and one of the Elder Brethren of the Hon. Corporation of the Trinity House.

He bought Bitton House in Teignmouth in 1812 and it was his home until his death in 1833. He was buried in Christow on the eastern edge of Dartmoor on 30 Jan 1833. A note on the parish burial record states, "No Singing, No Sermon". The museum in Teignmouth has a comprehensive collection of artefacts that belonged to him.[11]

Marriage and family

On 28 May 1783, Pellew married Susan Frowde.[1] They had four sons and two daughters. These children were:[12]

  • Emma Mary Pellew (18 January 1785 – March 1835). Married Captain Lawrence Halsted in December 1803.
  • Pownoll Bastard Pellew, later 2nd Viscount Exmouth (1 July 1786 – 2 December 1833)
  • Julia Pellew (28 November 1787 – 26 December 1831)
  • Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew, later an admiral and knight (13 December 1789 – 28 July 1861)
  • George Pellew, Dean of Norwich (3 April 1793 – 13 October 1866)
  • Edward William Pellew, later a minister (3 November 1799 – 29 August 1869), whose daughter Frances Helen Pellew married Sir Louis Mallet[13]

Geographical namesakes

 
Bust of Pellew (1814) by Bertel Thorvaldsen in Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen

The Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands situated in the Gulf of Carpentaria were named after Pellew by Matthew Flinders, who visited them in 1802. Other Australian geographical features include Cape Pellew (adjacent to the islands) and Exmouth Gulf.

Point Pellew, Alaska was named after Pellew by Captain George Vancouver during his expedition in 1794.[14]

Palau (formerly the Pellew or Pelew Islands), east of the Philippines, is often said to be named for Edward Pellew, but it was called that by Captain Henry Wilson in 1783 which was well before Pellew came to prominence. It appears to be an anglicization of the indigenous name Belau.

There is also a building named after him in HMS Raleigh, where Naval basic training is conducted, that is used as sleeping quarters for new recruits. Additionally, a Sea Cadet Unit in Truro is called T.S. Pellew.

A building at Wyvern Barracks in Exeter, Devon is used as a temporary billet and a training facility for the Army Cadet force as well as other units. It was handed over to the army from the navy. However, it retains the name Pellew House in memory of Sir Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth.

Fictional appearances

Pellew is featured as the Captain of Indefatigable in some of C. S. Forester's fictional Horatio Hornblower novels. In the television adaptations, he is portrayed by Robert Lindsay and given a more prominent role. He appears as a midshipman in the novel Jack Absolute by Chris Humphreys. Pellew is the name of a minor character in several of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey–Maturin novels, including The Reverse of the Medal and The Surgeon's Mate. He has a small role as a captain in the American Revolution in Rabble in Arms, a historical novel by Kenneth Roberts. He appears in Alexander Kent's Adam Bolitho novel Relentless Pursuit, which partially relates to Pellew's expedition against the Barbary States. He also appears in the twenty-second Thomas Kydd novel, To The Eastern Seas by Julian Stockwin.

Arms

Coat of arms of Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth
 
 
Crest
Upon the waves of the sea the wreck of the Dutton East Indianman upon a rocky shore off Plymouth garrison all Proper.
Escutcheon
Gules a lion passant guardant in chief two chaplets of laurel Or on a chief of augmentation wavy a representation of Algiers with a British Man-of-War before it all Proper.
Supporters
Dexter a lion rampant guardant Or navally crowned Azure resting the dexter paw upon a decrescent Argent, sinister a male figure representing slavery trowsers Argent striped Azure the upper part of the body naked holding in the dexter hand broken chains Proper the sinister arm elevated and holding a cross Or.
Motto
Deo Adjuvante (over the crest), Algiers (under the shield) [15]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Edward Pellew at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21808. Retrieved 3 April 2011. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ "Samuel Pellew (1712–1765)". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  3. ^ Nicholas Carlisle, A concise description of the endowed grammar schools in England, vol. 1 (1818), p. 151
  4. ^ The Command of the Ocean. A naval history of Britain 1649-1815. Nicholas A. M. Rodger. Penguin, 2006, p. 386.
  5. ^ Campagnes, thriomphes, revers, désastres et guerres civiles des Français de 1792 à la paix de 1856, F. Ladimir et E. Moreau. Librairie Populaire des Villes et des Campagnes, 1856 Tome 5, pp.42-43
  6. ^ Moseley, Brian (11 January 2011). . The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Sunday's Post". Bury and Norwich Post: Or, Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, and Ely Advertiser (Bury Saint Edmunds, England),16 August 1809; Issue 1416.
  8. ^ A New Biographical Dictionary, of 3000 Cotemporary Public Characters, British and Foreign, of All Ranks and Professions. G. B. Whittaker. 1835. p. 36.
  9. ^ Parkinson, pp. 417, 470.
  10. ^ "Dix Noonan Webb". Dnw.co.uk. 12 June 1991. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  11. ^ . Devonmuseums.net. 2006. Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
  12. ^ Lodge, Edmund (1844). The Peerage of the British Empire as at Present Existing. London: Saunders and Otley. p. 216.
    and Burke's Peerage (99th ed.). 1949. p. 732., for dates of death that occurred after Lodge was published.
  13. ^ "Frances Helen Pellew (1835–1917)". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  14. ^ Orth, Donald J., "Dictionary of Alaska Place Names", page 747, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1967.
  15. ^ Burke's Peerage. 1838.

References

  • Adkins, Roy; Adkins, Lesley (2007). The War for All Oceans. London: Abacus. ISBN 978-0-349-11916-8.
  • Mahan, A.T. (1902) "Pellew: The Frigate Captain and Partisan Officer" in: Types of Naval Officers: drawn from the history of the British Navy; Chapter VII. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Available on Project Gutenberg – accessed 10 June 2007
  • Osler, Edward (1854) Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth. London: Geo. Routledge & Co., 235 p., Available on Project Gutenberg – accessed 10 June 2007
  • Parkinson, C. Northcote (1934) Edward Pellew, Viscount Exmouth, Admiral of the Red. London: Methuen & Co., 478 p.
  • Taylor, Stephen (2012) Commander: The Life and Exploits of Britain's Greatest Frigate Captain, Faber

External links

  • Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Exmouth
  • Edward Pellew (1757–1833) at Three Decks - Warships in the Age of Sail.
  • Hutchinson, John (1892). "Edward Pellew" . Men of Kent and Kentishmen (Subscription ed.). Canterbury: Cross & Jackman. pp. 99–100.
  • "Pellew, Edward" . Royal Naval Biography. Vol. 1, part 1. 1823. pp. 209–228.
  • "Exmouth, Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 73–73.
  • Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth Wikipedia audio article on YouTube
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Barnstaple
1802–1804
With: William Devaynes
Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station
(jointly with Thomas Troubridge)

1804–1809
Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, North Sea
1810–1811
Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet
1811–1814
Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet
1815–1816
Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
1817–1821
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom
1832–1833
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Viscount Exmouth
1816–1833
Succeeded by
Baron Exmouth
1814–1833
Baronetage of Great Britain
New creation Baronet
(of Treverry)

1796–1833
Succeeded by

edward, pellew, viscount, exmouth, admiral, april, 1757, january, 1833, british, naval, officer, fought, during, american, independence, french, revolutionary, wars, napoleonic, wars, younger, brother, israel, pellew, also, pursued, naval, career, viscount, ex. Admiral Edward Pellew 1st Viscount Exmouth GCB 19 April 1757 23 January 1833 was a British naval officer He fought during the American War of Independence the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars His younger brother Israel Pellew also pursued a naval career The Viscount ExmouthEdward Pellew 1st Viscount Exmouth portrait by James Northcote 1804Born 1757 04 19 19 April 1757Dover EnglandDied23 January 1833 1833 01 23 aged 75 Teignmouth Devon EnglandAllegiance United KingdomService wbr branch Royal NavyYears of service1770 1820RankAdmiralCommands heldCommander in Chief East IndiesMediterranean FleetCommander in Chief PlymouthBattles warsAmerican War of IndependenceFrench Revolutionary WarsNapoleonic WarsSecond Barbary WarAwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the BathRelationsIsrael Pellew brother Contents 1 Childhood 2 Early career 2 1 1770s 2 2 Peacetime service 2 3 Wartime service 3 Service in the French Revolutionary War 4 Admiralcy and peerage 5 Marriage and family 6 Geographical namesakes 7 Fictional appearances 8 Arms 9 Notes 10 References 11 External linksChildhood EditPellew was born at Dover the second son of Samuel Pellew 1712 1764 commander of a Dover packet 1 and his wife Constantia Langford 2 The Pellew family was Cornish descended from a family that came originally from Normandy but had for many centuries been settled in the west of Cornwall Edward s grandfather Humphrey Pellew 1650 1721 a merchant and ship owner son of a naval officer resided at Flushing manor house in the parish of Mylor Part of the town of Flushing was built by Samuel Trefusis MP for Penryn the other part was built by Humphrey Pellew who was buried there He also had a property and a tobacco plantation in Maryland Part of the town of Annapolis stands on what was before the American Revolution the estate of the Pellews citation needed On the death of Edward s father in 1764 the family removed to Penzance and Pellew was educated for some years at Truro Grammar School 1 3 He was a pugnacious youth which did not endear him to his headmaster He ran away to sea at the age of 14 but soon deserted because of unfair treatment to another midshipman Pellew described himself as pock marked ugly uninteresting and uneducated a naval historian adds that he was tough brave skilful lucky and unscrupulous 4 Early career Edit1770s Edit In 1770 Pellew entered the Royal Navy on board HMS Juno 1 with Captain John Stott and made a voyage to the Falkland Islands In 1772 he followed Stott to the Alarm and in her was in the Mediterranean for three years In consequence of a high spirited quarrel with his captain he was put on shore at Marseilles where he found an old friend of his father s in command of a merchant ship He was able to get a passage to Lisbon and so home He was later in HMS Blonde under the command of Captain Philemon Pownoll which took General John Burgoyne to America in the spring of 1776 In October Pellew and midshipman Brown were detached for service in the Carleton tender on Lake Champlain under Lieutenant Dacres During the Battle of Valcour Island on 11 October Dacres and Brown were both severely wounded and the command devolved on Pellew Pellew extricated the vessel from a position of great danger by his personal gallantry As a reward for his service he was immediately appointed to command the Carleton In December Lord Howe promised him a commission as lieutenant when he could reach New York and in the following January Lord Sandwich wrote promising to promote him when he came to England In the summer of 1777 Pellew and a small party of seamen were attached to the army under Burgoyne and he was present in the fighting at Saratoga 1 where his youngest brother John was killed He and the rest of the force were taken prisoner After the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga he was repatriated He returned to England and was promoted on 9 January 1778 to be lieutenant of the Princess Amelia guardship at Portsmouth He wanted to be appointed to a seagoing ship but Lord Sandwich considered that he was bound by the terms of the surrender at Saratoga not to undertake any active service Towards the end of the year he was appointed to the Licorne which went out to Newfoundland in the spring of 1779 returning in the winter when Pellew was moved into the Apollo with his old captain Pownoll On 15 June 1780 the Apollo engaged a large French privateer the Stanislaus off Ostend Pownoll was killed by a musket shot but Pellew continued the action and dismasted the Stanislaus driving her on shore where she was protected by the neutrality of the coast On the 18th Lord Sandwich wrote to him I will not delay informing you that I mean to give you immediate promotion as a reward for your gallant and officer like conduct On 1 July he was accordingly promoted to the command of the sloop Hazard which was employed for the next six months on the east coast of Scotland and was then paid off Peacetime service Edit In March 1782 Pellew was appointed to the Pelican 1 a small French prize so small indeed that he used to say his servant could dress his hair from the deck while he sat in the cabin citation needed On 28 April while cruising on the coast of Brittany he engaged three privateers and drove them on shore In special reward for this service he was promoted to post rank on 25 May 1 and ten days later was appointed to the temporary command of the Artois 1 in which he captured a large frigate built privateer on 1 July From 1786 to 1789 he commanded the frigate Winchelsea under the Commander in Chief Newfoundland 1 returning home each winter by Cadiz and Lisbon Afterwards he commanded the Salisbury on the same station as flag captain to Vice Admiral Milbanke In 1791 he was placed on half pay and tried his hand at farming on Treverry Farm near Helston a property owned by his brother who was a senior customs officer of Flushing This met with indifferent success during which time he attempted to sell a bull only to find that it was in the ownership of a neighbouring farmer The Russians offered him a command in the Russian navy but Pellew declined the offer He was still struggling with the difficulties of his farm when the revolutionary government of France declared war on Great Britain on 1 February 1793 Wartime service Edit Pellew immediately applied for a ship and was appointed to the Nymphe a 36 gun frigate which he fitted out in a remarkably short time He had expected a good deal of difficulty in manning her and had enlisted some 80 Cornish miners who were sent round to the ship at Spithead He put to sea with these and about a dozen seamen plus officers who were obliged to help in the work aloft He filled his complement of crew by pressing from the merchant ships in the Channel but with very few seasoned navy men On 18 June Nymphe sailed from Falmouth on the news that two French frigates had been seen in the Channel At the action of 18 June 1793 Nymphe fell in with the Cleopatre also of 36 guns and commanded by Captain Jean Mullon one of the few officers of the ancien regime who still remained in the French navy After a short but very sharp action Cleopatre s mizzenmast and wheel were shot away making the ship unmanageable and it fell foul of the Nymphe Pellew s crew boarded her in a fierce rush and captured her Mullon was mortally wounded and died trying to swallow his commission which in his dying agony he had mistaken for the code of secret signals The code thus fell intact into Pellew s hands and was forwarded to the Admiralty Cleopatre was the first frigate taken in the war and was brought to Portsmouth The Earl of Chatham presented Pellew to the king on 29 June and the king knighted him 1 Pellew transferred to HMS Arethusa in December 1793 In 1794 Arethusa was part of the western squadron of frigates based at Falmouth under Sir John Borlase Warren On 23 April the squadron engaged a French squadron to the southwest of Guernsey the stronger British force quickly overpowering their opponents in an action where Arethusa played the primary role in fighting the Pomone at the time the largest frigate in service Pomone surrendered after an engagement that lasted less than half an hour The French had suffered between 80 and 100 casualties Arethusa had only three dead and five wounded Warren s squadron went on to destroy one frigate and capture another They also drove ashore the corvettes Alerte and Espion both of which had been Royal Navy sloops Pellew refused to burn either ship as they contained wounded men and the French later refloated Espion The squadron also captured many vessels from French coastal convoys Service in the French Revolutionary War Edit Sir Edward Pellew by Sir Thomas Lawrence 1797 By 1794 he was commodore of the Western Frigate Squadron In 1795 he took command of HMS Indefatigable the ship with which he is most closely associated The squadron also comprised the frigates HMS Argo HMS Concord HMS Revolutionnaire and HMS Amazon 5 He was a good swimmer and noted for saving the lives of several seamen who had fallen overboard The most striking life saving event was on 26 January 1796 when the East Indiaman Dutton was carrying more than four hundred troops together with many women and children when it ran aground under Plymouth Hoe Due to the heavy seas the crew and soldiers aboard were unable to get to shore Pellew swam out to the wreck with a line and with help from young Irishman Jeremiah Coghlan helped rig a lifeline that saved almost all aboard For this feat he was created a baronet on 18 March 1796 6 On 13 April 1796 off the coasts of Ireland his squadron captured the French frigate Unite and the Virginie nine days later His most noted action was the action of 13 January 1797 cruising in company with HMS Amazon when the British sighted the French 74 gun ship of the line Droits de l Homme Normally a ship of the line would over match two frigates but by skillful sailing in the stormy conditions the frigates avoided bearing the brunt of the superior firepower of the French In the early morning of 14 January the three ships were embayed on a lee shore in Audierne Bay Both the Droits de l Homme and Amazon ran aground but Indefatigable managed to claw her way off the lee shore to safety 1 Pellew was also responsible for pressing young violinist and composer Joseph Antonio Emidy who had been playing in the Lisbon Opera orchestra Admiralcy and peerage Edit Engraving of Edward Pellew Lord Exmouth Pellew was promoted to rear admiral in 1804 He was then appointed Commander in Chief East Indies It took six months to sail out to Penang so he took up the appointment in 1805 When in February 1808 Pellew was at sea in his flagship HMS Culloden he heard of the outbreak of war between the United Kingdom and Denmark He immediately sailed to the Danish settlement at Tranquebar taking it by surprise When Admiral Drury arrived to replace Pellew as C in C East Indies and to seize Tranquebar he found that he was too late Pellew s seizing the moment gained him some 40 000 50 000 in prize money 7 Following his return from the east in 1809 he was appointed to the position of Commander in Chief North Sea from 1810 to 1811 8 and Commander in Chief Mediterranean from 1811 to 1814 1 and again from 1815 to 1816 9 Painting of the Bombardment of Algiers by George Chambers Sr In 1814 he was made Baron Exmouth of Canonteign In 1816 he led an Anglo Dutch fleet against the Barbary states Victory at the Bombardment of Algiers secured the release of the 1 200 Christian slaves in the city 1 For this action he was created 1st Viscount Exmouth on 10 December 1816 1 Following his return to England he became Commander in Chief Plymouth from 1817 to 1821 10 when he effectively retired from active service He continued to attend and speak in the House of Lords In 1832 he was appointed Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom and Admiral of the Red Squadron of His Majesty s Fleet Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath also of the Royal and distinguished Order of Charles III of Spain of the Military Order of William of the Netherlands of the Royal Sicilian Order of St Ferdinand and Merit of the Order of St Maurice and St Lazarus of Sardinia Knight of the Most Honourable and Most Ancient Order of the Annunziata of the Royal House of Savoy High Steward of Great Yarmouth and one of the Elder Brethren of the Hon Corporation of the Trinity House He bought Bitton House in Teignmouth in 1812 and it was his home until his death in 1833 He was buried in Christow on the eastern edge of Dartmoor on 30 Jan 1833 A note on the parish burial record states No Singing No Sermon The museum in Teignmouth has a comprehensive collection of artefacts that belonged to him 11 Marriage and family EditOn 28 May 1783 Pellew married Susan Frowde 1 They had four sons and two daughters These children were 12 Emma Mary Pellew 18 January 1785 March 1835 Married Captain Lawrence Halsted in December 1803 Pownoll Bastard Pellew later 2nd Viscount Exmouth 1 July 1786 2 December 1833 Julia Pellew 28 November 1787 26 December 1831 Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew later an admiral and knight 13 December 1789 28 July 1861 George Pellew Dean of Norwich 3 April 1793 13 October 1866 Edward William Pellew later a minister 3 November 1799 29 August 1869 whose daughter Frances Helen Pellew married Sir Louis Mallet 13 Geographical namesakes Edit Bust of Pellew 1814 by Bertel Thorvaldsen in Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen The Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands situated in the Gulf of Carpentaria were named after Pellew by Matthew Flinders who visited them in 1802 Other Australian geographical features include Cape Pellew adjacent to the islands and Exmouth Gulf Point Pellew Alaska was named after Pellew by Captain George Vancouver during his expedition in 1794 14 Palau formerly the Pellew or Pelew Islands east of the Philippines is often said to be named for Edward Pellew but it was called that by Captain Henry Wilson in 1783 which was well before Pellew came to prominence It appears to be an anglicization of the indigenous name Belau There is also a building named after him in HMS Raleigh where Naval basic training is conducted that is used as sleeping quarters for new recruits Additionally a Sea Cadet Unit in Truro is called T S Pellew A building at Wyvern Barracks in Exeter Devon is used as a temporary billet and a training facility for the Army Cadet force as well as other units It was handed over to the army from the navy However it retains the name Pellew House in memory of Sir Edward Pellew 1st Viscount Exmouth Fictional appearances EditPellew is featured as the Captain of Indefatigable in some of C S Forester s fictional Horatio Hornblower novels In the television adaptations he is portrayed by Robert Lindsay and given a more prominent role He appears as a midshipman in the novel Jack Absolute by Chris Humphreys Pellew is the name of a minor character in several of Patrick O Brian s Aubrey Maturin novels including The Reverse of the Medal and The Surgeon s Mate He has a small role as a captain in the American Revolution in Rabble in Arms a historical novel by Kenneth Roberts He appears in Alexander Kent s Adam Bolitho novel Relentless Pursuit which partially relates to Pellew s expedition against the Barbary States He also appears in the twenty second Thomas Kydd novel To The Eastern Seas by Julian Stockwin Arms EditCoat of arms of Edward Pellew 1st Viscount Exmouth Crest Upon the waves of the sea the wreck of the Dutton East Indianman upon a rocky shore off Plymouth garrison all Proper Escutcheon Gules a lion passant guardant in chief two chaplets of laurel Or on a chief of augmentation wavy a representation of Algiers with a British Man of War before it all Proper Supporters Dexter a lion rampant guardant Or navally crowned Azure resting the dexter paw upon a decrescent Argent sinister a male figure representing slavery trowsers Argent striped Azure the upper part of the body naked holding in the dexter hand broken chains Proper the sinister arm elevated and holding a cross Or Motto Deo Adjuvante over the crest Algiers under the shield 15 Notes Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Edward Pellew at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press 2004 doi 10 1093 ref odnb 21808 Retrieved 3 April 2011 Subscription or UK public library membership required Samuel Pellew 1712 1765 Ancestry com Retrieved 25 October 2019 Nicholas Carlisle A concise description of the endowed grammar schools in England vol 1 1818 p 151 The Command of the Ocean A naval history of Britain 1649 1815 Nicholas A M Rodger Penguin 2006 p 386 Campagnes thriomphes revers desastres et guerres civiles des Francais de 1792 a la paix de 1856 F Ladimir et E Moreau Librairie Populaire des Villes et des Campagnes 1856 Tome 5 pp 42 43 Moseley Brian 11 January 2011 The Dutton and Captain Edward Pellew The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History Archived from the original on 28 September 2013 Retrieved 12 February 2015 Sunday s Post Bury and Norwich Post Or Suffolk Norfolk Essex Cambridgeshire and Ely Advertiser Bury Saint Edmunds England 16 August 1809 Issue 1416 A New Biographical Dictionary of 3000 Cotemporary Public Characters British and Foreign of All Ranks and Professions G B Whittaker 1835 p 36 Parkinson pp 417 470 Dix Noonan Webb Dnw co uk 12 June 1991 Retrieved 3 April 2011 Teignmouth amp Shaldon Museum Devonmuseums net 2006 Archived from the original on 2 May 2008 Retrieved 2 December 2007 Lodge Edmund 1844 The Peerage of the British Empire as at Present Existing London Saunders and Otley p 216 and Burke s Peerage 99th ed 1949 p 732 for dates of death that occurred after Lodge was published Frances Helen Pellew 1835 1917 Ancestry com Retrieved 25 October 2019 Orth Donald J Dictionary of Alaska Place Names page 747 U S Government Printing Office 1967 Burke s Peerage 1838 References Edit Cornwall portalAdkins Roy Adkins Lesley 2007 The War for All Oceans London Abacus ISBN 978 0 349 11916 8 Mahan A T 1902 Pellew The Frigate Captain and Partisan Officer in Types of Naval Officers drawn from the history of the British Navy Chapter VII London Sampson Low Marston amp Company Available on Project Gutenberg accessed 10 June 2007 Osler Edward 1854 Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth London Geo Routledge amp Co 235 p Available on Project Gutenberg accessed 10 June 2007 Parkinson C Northcote 1934 Edward Pellew Viscount Exmouth Admiral of the Red London Methuen amp Co 478 p Taylor Stephen 2012 Commander The Life and Exploits of Britain s Greatest Frigate Captain FaberExternal links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edward Pellew 1st Viscount Exmouth Hansard 1803 2005 contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Exmouth Edward Pellew 1757 1833 at Three Decks Warships in the Age of Sail Hutchinson John 1892 Edward Pellew Men of Kent and Kentishmen Subscription ed Canterbury Cross amp Jackman pp 99 100 Pellew Edward Royal Naval Biography Vol 1 part 1 1823 pp 209 228 Exmouth Edward Pellew 1st Viscount Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 10 11th ed 1911 pp 73 73 Edward Pellew 1st Viscount Exmouth Wikipedia audio article on YouTubeParliament of the United KingdomPreceded byJohn ClevlandRichard Wilson Member of Parliament for Barnstaple1802 1804 With William Devaynes Succeeded byWilliam DevaynesViscount EbringtonMilitary officesPreceded byPeter Rainier Commander in Chief East Indies Station jointly with Thomas Troubridge 1804 1809 Succeeded byWilliam O Bryen DruryPreceded bySir Richard Strachan Commander in Chief North Sea1810 1811 Succeeded bySir William YoungPreceded bySir Charles Cotton Commander in Chief Mediterranean Fleet1811 1814 Succeeded bySir Charles PenrosePreceded bySir Charles Penrose Commander in Chief Mediterranean Fleet1815 1816 Succeeded bySir Charles PenrosePreceded bySir John Duckworth Commander in Chief Plymouth1817 1821 Succeeded bySir Alexander CochraneHonorary titlesPreceded byThe Lord de Saumarez Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom1832 1833 Succeeded bySir Edward ThornbroughPeerage of the United KingdomNew creation Viscount Exmouth1816 1833 Succeeded byPownoll PellewBaron Exmouth1814 1833Baronetage of Great BritainNew creation Baronet of Treverry 1796 1833 Succeeded byPownoll Pellew Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Edward Pellew 1st Viscount Exmouth amp oldid 1144705490, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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