Sir George Bowyer | |
|---|---|
.jpg) George Bowyer as a post-captain | |
| Born | Baptised 3 May 1740 Denham, Buckinghamshire |
| Died | 6 December 1800 Radley Hall,Oxfordshire |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Branch |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1751–1800 |
| Rank | Admiral of the Blue |
| Commands | HMS Swift HMS Sheerness HMS Burford HMS Albion HMS Irresistible HMS Bellona HMS Boyne |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Naval Gold Medal |
AdmiralSir George Bowyer, 5th and 1st Baronet (3 May 1740 – 6 December 1800), was aRoyal Navy officer and politician of the eighteenth century. He participated in theSeven Years' War, fighting at theBattle of Minorca,Raid on Rochefort, andSiege of Louisbourg as a junior officer. Promoted tocommander in 1761, his first command, thecutterHMS Swift, was captured by the French in June of the following year. Acquitted by his subsequentcourt martial, Bowyer was promoted topost-captain in October 1762.
During theAmerican Revolutionary War he commanded theship of the lineHMS Albion and fought in theBattle of Grenada andBattle of Martinique, and also played a key role in a skirmish with Admiralde Guichen's fleet on 15 May 1780 where he drew the fire of fifteen enemy ships at once. Promoted torear-admiral in 1793, Bowyer fought at the battle of theGlorious First of June on 1 June 1794 where he lost a leg. Unable to continue serving actively, he was rewarded for his service with abaronetcy and became an admiral in 1799. In the same year he also inheritedhis brother's baronetcy. Bowyer died in December 1800.
George Bowyer was baptised atDenham, Buckinghamshire, on 3 May 1740, the third son ofSir William Bowyer, 3rd Baronet, and his wife Anne, the daughter ofSir John Stonhouse, 3rd Baronet.[1]Bowyer joined theRoyal Navy as a captain's servant on board thefrigateHMS Glory, commanded by CaptainRichard Howe, on 11 May 1751. As a follower of Howe's he transferred with him to the brand newpost shipHMS Dolphin on 16 July 1752. InDolphin Bowyer served off the coast of West Africa, where in 1753 they investigated the martial intentions of the pirates ofSallee, on theLeeward Islands Station and in theMediterranean Fleet before transferring to theship of the lineHMS Princess Louisa as amidshipman on 30 October 1755.[2][1][3] He served inPrincess Louisa during theBattle of Minorca on 20 May 1756.[1][3]
Bowyer subsequently transferred to the ship of the lineHMS Lancaster on 12 November and then to the ship of the lineHMSRoyal Anne on 20 April 1757 in which he took part in theRaid on Rochefort in September while serving in theEnglish Channel. He passed his exam forlieutenant on 6 February 1758 and was promoted to that rank on 13 February and sent to theWest Indies to serve on the ship of the lineHMS Nottingham as her third lieutenant. As such he fought at theSiege of Louisbourg between 6 June and 27 July, before becoming the second lieutenant ofNottingham on 25 August. On 31 January 1760 he leftNottingham to re-join his mentor Howe on the ship of the lineHMS Magnanime as her fourth lieutenant.[1][3]
Bowyer was promoted tocommander on 4 May 1761 and given as his first command the newly capturedcutterHMS Swift, which had been the FrenchprivateerLe Comte de Valence.[Note 1][1][5] He patrolled off the southern coast of England until 30 June 1762 whenSwift was attacked and captured by the French privateerManley offUshant.[1][4] The French ship had been much larger than Bowyer's command, and at the subsequentcourt martial (held after the loss of any Royal Navy ship) he was acquitted, 'having done everything in his power for escaping the enemy' before being captured.[1]
Swift was Bowyer's only command as a commander because on 28 October 1762 he was promoted topost-captain. He was given command of the frigateHMS Sheerness at the same time and served in her in the Mediterranean until 17 December 1763 when hepaid her off, theSeven Years' War having ended. Bowyer stayed unemployed until theAmerican Revolutionary War began, when on 31 October 1776 he was given command of the ship of the lineHMS Burford in which he served off the coast of Ireland.[6][1][3] He leftBurford to recommission the ship of the lineHMS Albion on 4 May 1778; on 9 June he sailed her to North America before travelling to the West Indies on 13 December as part of the fleet of Vice-AdmiralJohn Byron.[7] As part of the fleet Bowyer fought at theBattle of Grenada on 6 July 1779.[1][3]
Having afterwards joined the fleet of AdmiralSir George Rodney inAlbion, Bowyer fought in a number of actions against the French admiralde Guichen.[1][3] The first of these was theBattle of Martinique on 17 April 1780 where Rodney attempted to concentrate multiple ships against each French vessel; Bowyer understood this order but it was confused by many others and he was ordered away from attacking in the correct way by Rear-AdmiralHyde Parker.[Note 2] The battle ended indecisively.[1][9] On 15 May the two fleets collided again after a fluke change in the wind allowed the French tocross the T in front of the British.Albion and Bowyer were sailing at the front of the British column and received the concentrated fire of fifteen French ships as they sailed towards them, eventually turning to run parallel along the French line with the rest of the fleet's vanguard. Bowyer took part in a similar action again on 19 May where the two fleets played a game of cat and mouse in an attempt to gain a strong tactical advantage.[1][3][10]
Bowyer left the West Indies and returned to England on 24 December 1781, staying unemployed until 20 March 1783 when he was given command of the ship of the lineHMS Irresistible in theMedway. Here the vessel served as aguardship, with Bowyer being made acommodore for the purpose. Bowyer leftIrresistible and reverted to his rank as a post-captain on 22 June 1785, going onhalf pay.[1] His next command came on 3 October 1787 when he recommissioned the ship of the lineHMS Bellona but this commission was cut short and he paid her off on 7 December.[1][11] Bowyer was appointed aColonel of Marines, an honorary position for post-captains, on 24 September 1787 and received his next command, the brand new ship of the lineHMS Boyne, at the beginning of theSpanish Armament on 18 August 1790. The crisis having abated, Bowyer leftBoyne on 10 January 1791; she was his last command as a post-captain.[1][12]
_-_The_Battle_of_the_First_of_June%2c_1794_-_BHC0469_-_Royal_Museums_Greenwich.jpg)
Bowyer was promoted torear-admiral on 1 February 1793. He was sent to join theChannel Fleet under the now Admiral Howe, raising hisflag in the ship of the lineHMS Prince with CaptainCuthbert Collingwood as hisflag captain, on 10 March.[1][13][3] He transferred with Collingwood to the ship of the lineHMS Barfleur whenPrince was paid off in December 1793, staying in the Channel.[Note 3] On 1 June 1794 the fleet fought the battle of theGlorious First of June, with Bowyer being heavily engaged with the enemy from 29 May. Bowyer commanded the first division of the centre of the fleet during the battle, having under his commandBarfleur and the ships of the lineHMS Invincible,HMS Arrogant,HMS Culloden,HMS Theseus, andHMSGibraltar.[15][1] At around 10 a.m. on 1 June itself Bowyer had his leg shot off by enemy fire, being caught by his flag captain as he fell.[16] He was carried down to the ship's surgeon where the leg was amputated; Collingwood took over in his stead for the remainder of the battle.[17] Bowyer officially leftBarfleur in August.[3]
Bowyer was rewarded for his part in the victory, being made abaronet on 16 August and receiving aNaval Gold Medal.[Note 4][1] Having lost his leg, for which he received a pension of £1,000 a year, Bowyer was no longer able to actively serve in the navy, but was promoted tovice-admiral on 4 July of the same year and toadmiral on 14 February 1799.[Note 5][20][1][3]
While already a baronet in his own right, Bowyer succeeded to the family baronetcy held by his brotherWilliam when the latter died in April. Having inheritedRadley Hall from his uncleSir James Stonhouse, 10th Baronet, in April 1792, Bowyer lived there until his death on 9 December 1800.[Note 6][1][22] He was buried at the local parish church on 16 December.[1]
Bowyer becamemember of parliament forQueenborough in 1784. The Queenborough parliamentary seat was controlled by theAdmiralty and he dedicated his political time to naval affairs while generally supportingWilliam Pitt the Younger's faction. Bowyer made his maiden speech in parliament on 18 June defending the state of the navy and would go on to make nine other speeches, all related to the navy. He also joined the parliamentary committee considering the defences ofPortsmouth andPlymouth in 1785 and on 18 April of that year voted in favour of Pitt's parliamentary reform bill focused onrotten boroughs. He gave up his seat in 1790.[1][23]
Bowyer married Margaret Downing (née Price; died 1778), the widow ofSir Jacob Downing, 4th Baronet, on 11 November 1768. There were no children from the union. Again while in between commands, Bowyer married Henrietta Brett (1753–1845), the daughter of AdmiralSir Peircy Brett, on 4 June 1782.[1] Together they had three sons and two daughters:[24]
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forQueenborough 1784–1790 With:John Clater Aldridge | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of England | ||
| Preceded by | Baronet of Denham Court 1799–1800 | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of Great Britain | ||
| New creation | Baronet of Radley 1794–1800 | Succeeded by |