Philip Beaver | |
|---|---|
 'Captain Philip Beaver RN' byJohn Opie | |
| Born | 28 February 1766 Lewknor,Oxfordshire |
| Died | 5 April 1813(1813-04-05) (aged 47) AboardHMSNisus,Table Bay, South Africa |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1777 – 1813 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Commands | HMSBarfleur HMSDéterminée HMSAcasta HMSNisus |
| Battles / wars | Battle of Ushant Siege of Genoa Invasion of Java |
| Awards | Order of the Crescent |
Philip Beaver (28 February 1766 – 5 April 1813) was an officer of theRoyal Navy, serving during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He played a varied and active role in several notable engagements, and served under a number of the most notable figures of the Navy of the age.
Beaver was born inLewknor, inOxfordshire on 28 February 1766 to the Reverend James Beaver,curate of Lewknor. His father died when Philip was eleven, leaving the family impoverished. His mother accepted the offer ofJoshua Rowley, then captain ofHMSMonarch to take Philip to sea with him. Philip Beaver entered the Navy in October 1777, becomingmidshipman aboard theMonarch during 1778. Whilst in this post, he witnessed theBattle of Ushant on 27 July 1778. He remained with Rowley and accompanied him when Rowley took command ofHMSSuffolk in December 1778 and sailed her to theWest Indies. Rowley was then appointedrear-admiral and hoisted his flag in a number of ships, includingHMSConqueror,HMSTerrible andHMSPrincess Royal. Beaver followed him to each one, and in doing so served as part of fleets between 1779 and 1780 at times under the command of AdmiralsJohn Byron,Sir Hyde Parker andSir George Rodney. His ship then came under the overall command ofSir Peter Parker atJamaica, where Beaver spent the rest of thewar. He was promoted tolieutenant by his patron, Admiral Rowley, on 2 June 1783. He spent the next ten years living with his mother atBoulogne. His naval service during this period was limited to a few months in 1790 and in 1791, during the mobilizations in response to the Spanish and the Russian armaments.
Beaver returned to a more active form of service in 1791 when he participated in a colonization scheme intended to resettleBlack former slaves from the Americas withRichard Hancorn, commander ofHMSCalypso, on theisland of Bulama off the coast ofPortuguese Guinea.[1] He departed England on 14 April 1792, but the affair quickly ran into difficulties. The settlers were described as idle and dissipated. Beaver was in command of theHankey, a small ship with sixty-five men, twenty-four women, and thirty-one children, mostly seasick and all useless. Even after their arrival, discipline was non-existent, and the directors of the project quickly lost heart and returned to England. Beaver was left in command and spent the next eighteen months attempting to make the settlement a success. Even with the failure of the colonization project, he is considered the founder and first administrator ofBritish Guinea.[2] Most of the colonists died, including Hancorn, and the remainder abandoned the colony in November 1793 and made their way toSettler Town in what later became theColony of Sierra Leone. Beaver left too, and obtained passage back to England, arriving atPlymouth on 17 May 1794. He was later to publish an account of his experiences, entitledAfrican Memoranda in 1805, which contained his thoughts, which wereanti-slavery in nature.
By the time of his return, theFrench Revolutionary Wars had broken out and two months later Beaver was appointed as first lieutenant of the 64-gunHMSStately, under Captain Billy Douglas. She set sail for theWest Indies in March 1795, eventually meeting up with a squadron underSir George Elphinstone. Elphinstone retained theStately and used her as part of his conquest of the colony.Stately then sailed for theEast Indies, and was involved in the capture ofCeylon. She was reunited with Elphinstone's force offCape Agulhas on her return voyage. Beaver had by this time come to Elphinstone's attention, and he was impressed by Beaver's seamanship. Elphinstone subsequently moved Beaver onto his own ship, and the two returned to England in spring 1797.
By now first lieutenant of aflagship, Beaver looked forward to further promotion to his own command. He was to be disappointed however, by the time Elphinstone, by now Lord Keith, was appointed to command the Mediterranean Station a year later, Beaver had not received a promotion, and followed Keith as first lieutenant of the new flagship,HMSFoudroyant, later moving toHMSBarfleur. He appears to have clashed with the junior lieutenants under his command, as they seemed to him to be appointed for promotion rather than for duty. He broughtThomas Cochrane, then a junior lieutenant, to a court martial for disrespect. Cochrane was acquitted, but warned against flippancy. Beaver was told that the charge ought not to have been pressed. Beaver was made acommander on 19 June 1799, and Keith appointed him a few months later to serve aboard the flagship as acting assistantcaptain of the fleet. Beaver was placed in command of the bombardments as part of theSiege of Genoa in April and May 1800,[3] and the allied forces eventually forced the surrender of the French commanderAndré Masséna. He was sent home to England with the dispatches of the victory, but by the time he arrived theBattle of Marengo had been fought andGenoa had again fallen to the French. Beaver had hoped for a promotion after the victory, but this turn of events meant that it was not to be and he returned to Keith.
He was detained atGibraltar for a fortnight whilst making his return, and so took the opportunity to marry his young fiancée, Miss Elliott. He went on to rejoin Lord Keith, and was promoted tocaptain on 10 January 1801. He received the prestigious appointment to command the flagship, and took an active role in the operations on the coast ofEgypt from 1800 to 1801. He quickly tired of the monotony of maintaining a blockade and obtained permission to take the frigateHMSDéterminée toConstantinople with dispatches. TheSultan wanted to acknowledge Beaver's services, and offered him a large sum of money, which Beaver refused. He did however accept a diamond box for himself and a gold box for each of the lieutenants. Beaver was also rewarded with theOrder of the Crescent.
ThePeace of Amiens temporarily ended the war with France, and Beaver and theDéterminée were ordered home. TheDéterminée was paid off atPortsmouth on 19 May 1802, and Beaver was put in charge of the seafencibles ofEssex in July 1803. He was highly successful in these duties, and three years later returned to sea, having been appointed to command the 40-gun frigateHMSAcasta. He sailed her toLa Guaira where captured the French corvette Serpent at command of Paul de Lemanon. Immediately Beaver traveled toCaracas, brought news of the Spanish uprising against the Napoleonic invasion and the formation of the Juntas in defense of the King Ferdinand VII wrights. In this manner the Venezuelans were informed about that a change of alliances had taken place until May 1808, Spain and France had fought together against England; from then on, England and Spain fought together against the French. Beaver remaining in the West Indies until the capture ofMartinique in February 1809.[4] He returned to England and after a few months, was appointed to command the 38-gunHMSNisus, departing aboard her for the East Indies on 22 June 1810. He arrived on the station and joined the squadron under the command ofVice-AdmiralSir Albemarle Bertie. Beaver played a distinguished part in the capture ofMauritius in November 1810. Beaver and theNisus then moved to a squadron under Rear-AdmiralRobert Stopford and took part inthe conquest of Java in August and September 1811.[5] He spent nearly a year inMozambique and off the coast ofMadagascar, and received orders by the end of 1812 to return to England.
TheNisus was making her return voyage, when she put intoTable Bay towards the end of March 1813. Beaver had complained of a slight indisposition previously, but became seized by a violent inflammation of the bowels. He spent a few days in excruciating pain, before dying on 5 April 1813. He had been a highly efficient and professional officer, and had attracted the patronage of highly placed and influential senior officers. He was widely read, and had read the entireEncyclopædia Britannica during one cruise.[6] In common with many officers of the period, he was a strict disciplinarian, but was never charged with tyranny. His early death and the bankruptcy of his agent placed his family in financial difficulties, with his widow having to provide for six children. She became a matron ofGreenwich Hospital school.
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