Hastings Yelverton

Sir

Hastings Yelverton
Sir; Hastings Yelverton
	As depicted byJames TissotinVanity Fair,June 1877. Caption read "Spanish Ironclads"
Birth name	Hastings Reginald Henry
Born	8 March 1808; Kildare,Ireland
Died	24 July 1878(aged 70); Bath,Somerset
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1823–1877
Rank	Admiral
Commands	First Naval Lord; Mediterranean Fleet; Channel Squadron; HMSConqueror; HMSBrunswick; HMSArrogant; HMSAigle; HMSQueen
Battles/wars	Portuguese Civil War; Crimean War; Cantonal Revolution
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

AdmiralSir Hastings Reginald Yelverton,GCB(bornHastings Reginald Henry;21 March 1808^[1]– 24 July 1878) was aRoyal Navyofficer. As a junior officer he took part in a major action against pirates offCandiain June 1826 and was involved in protecting British interests during thePortuguese Civil Warduring the early 1830s. He saw action in theCrimean Waras Captain of one of the two ships that captured a Russianbarquebeneath the batteries atEkenäsin Finland in May 1854. Then in July 1873 he took part in the suppression of theCantonal RevolutioninCartagena.He becameFirst Naval Lordin September 1876 and in that role implemented a series of economies demanded by theDisraeli ministrybut was also involved in ordering the small, cheap and thoroughly unsuccessful ironcladAjax-class battleships.

Early career

Born the son of John Joseph Henry (ofStraffan) and Lady Emily Elizabeth FitzGerald (daughter ofWilliam FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster), Hastings Henry, as he then was, entered theRoyal Navyas a first-class volunteer aboard thefrigate HMSSibyllein theMediterranean Fleetin 1823.^[2]He took part in a major action against pirates offCandiain June 1826 and subsequently served as amidshipmanandmatein thebrig HMSColumbine,thefrigate HMSUndauntedand then thebattleship HMSSt Vincentin home waters.^[2]

Promoted lieutenant on 18 December 1830, Henry was posted to thesecond-rate HMSAsia,flagship ofSir William Parker,in September 1831.^[3]HMSAsiawas then based atLisbon,protecting British interests during thePortuguese Civil War.^[4]He joined thesixth-rate HMSRattlesnakeon theEast Indies Stationin December 1834.^[3]Promoted tocommanderon 28 June 1838, he joined thesloop HMSStyxatSheernessin August 1841 and then took command of the sloopDevastationin theMediterranean Fleetin September 1841.^[3]He became acting captain of thefirst-rate HMSQueenin the Mediterranean Fleet in May 1842 and acting captain of the fifth-rateHMSAiglealso in the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1843.^[3]He was promoted tocaptainon 5 September 1843 and, following his marriage toBarbara Rawdon-Hastings, Marchioness of Hastings(born Barbara Yelverton), assumed the surname of Yelverton on 3 January 1849.^[5]

Crimean service

Yelverton was given command of the steam screw frigateHMSArrogantin October 1853 and saw service in theCrimean War.^[2]In May 1854, HMSArrogantand the steam screw frigateHMSHeclacaptured a Russianbarquebeneath the batteries atEkenäsin Finland.^[6]Throughout much on 1855, Yelverton withHMSArrogantandHMSMagicienneoperated independently destroyingRuotsinsalmi sea fortressandSvartholm fortress,^[7]and was appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bathfor his services on 5 July 1855.^[8]In December 1856, he took command of the second-rateHMSBrunswickand a gunboat flotilla for further operations but the Crimean War ended before he saw any action.^[2]He went on to be Captain of the first-rateHMSConquerorin the Mediterranean Fleet in July 1856 andcomptroller-general of the coastguard in July 1859.^[3]

Higher command

Promotedrear admiralon 30 January 1863,^[9]Yelverton became second-in-command of the Mediterranean Station, hoisting his flag in the second-rateHMSRevengein June 1863 and then, from May 1865, in the broadside ironcladHMSCaledonia.^[3]

He went on to be Commander-in-Chief of theChannel Squadronin June 1866, and having been promoted tovice admiralon 29 May 1869, he was appointed byHugh Childers,thenFirst Lord of the Admiralty,to a committee to consider the new turret ship design.^[2]He was elevated toKnight Commander of the Order of the Bathon 2 June 1869.^[10]He was again given command of the Channel Squadron in July 1870 and then becameCommander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet,hoisting his flag in the battleshipHMSLord Warden,in October 1870.^[3]

In July 1873, he took part in the suppression of theCantonal RevolutioninCartagena.^[2]He was advanced toKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bathon 29 May 1875^[11]and promoted to fulladmiralon 30 July 1875.^[12]

Yelverton, by now suffering fromdeafness,becameFirst Naval Lordin September 1876 afterSir Geoffrey Hornbyrefused the post. In that role Yelverton implemented a series of economies demanded by theDisraeli ministrybut was also involved in ordering the small, cheap and thoroughly unsuccessful ironcladAjax-class battleships.^[2]Due to failing health, Yelverton resigned in November 1877 and died at the Grand Pump Hotel inBathon 24 July 1878.^[3]

Family

Yelverton married the widowedBarbara Rawdon-Hastings, Marchioness of Hastings,suo jureBarbara Yelverton, 20th Baroness Grey de Ruthyn(d. 1858) on 9 April 1845; their only child was born shortly thereafter - Hon. Barbara Yelverton (12 January 1849 – 1 October 1924), who married theJohn Yarde-Buller, 2nd Baron Churston.^[13]

References

^Boase, Frederic (1965).Modern English Biography.Frank Cass. p. 2132.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gAndrew Lambert (September 2004)."Yelverton, Sir Hastings Reginald (1808–1878)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50203.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h"William Loney RN".Retrieved29 December2012.
^Laughton, J. K. (2004). "Parker, Sir William, first baronet (1781–1866)". In rev. Andrew Lambert (ed.).Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21348.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
^"No. 20934".The London Gazette.9 January 1849. p. 73.
^Napier, Sir Charles (1857)."Chapter VI".The history of the Baltic campaign of 1854.London: Milner and Co.ISBN 978-1402185199.
^"History of War against Russia".Retrieved11 October2014.
^"No. 21743".The London Gazette.10 July 1855. p. 2654.
^"No. 22705".The London Gazette.6 February 1863. p. 646.
^"No. 23503".The London Gazette.2 June 1869. p. 3179.
^"No. 24213".The London Gazette.29 May 1875. p. 2851.
^"No. 24234".The London Gazette.6 August 1875. p. 3914.
^"thePeerage".Retrieved29 December2012.

Sources

William Loney RNCareer History

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Sydney Dacres	Commander-in-Chief, Channel Squadron 1866–1867	Succeeded by Frederick Warden
Preceded by Sir Thomas Symonds	Commander-in-Chief, Channel Squadron July 1870–October 1870	Succeeded by Sir George Wellesley
Preceded by Sir Alexander Milne	Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet 1870–1874	Succeeded by Sir James Drummond
Preceded by Sir Alexander Milne	First Naval Lord 1876–1877	Succeeded by Sir George Wellesley

[1] Boase, Frederic (1965).Modern English Biography.Frank Cass. p. 2132.

[odnb-2] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gAndrew Lambert (September 2004)."Yelverton, Sir Hastings Reginald (1808–1878)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50203.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)

[loney-3] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h"William Loney RN".Retrieved29 December2012.

[4] Laughton, J. K. (2004). "Parker, Sir William, first baronet (1781–1866)". In rev. Andrew Lambert (ed.).Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21348.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)

[5] "No. 20934".The London Gazette.9 January 1849. p. 73.

[6] Napier, Sir Charles (1857)."Chapter VI".The history of the Baltic campaign of 1854.London: Milner and Co.ISBN 978-1402185199.

[7] "History of War against Russia".Retrieved11 October2014.

[8] "No. 21743".The London Gazette.10 July 1855. p. 2654.

[9] "No. 22705".The London Gazette.6 February 1863. p. 646.

[10] "No. 23503".The London Gazette.2 June 1869. p. 3179.

[11] "No. 24213".The London Gazette.29 May 1875. p. 2851.

[12] "No. 24234".The London Gazette.6 August 1875. p. 3914.

[13] "thePeerage".Retrieved29 December2012.

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v t e First Sea Lordsof theRoyal Navy
Senior Naval Lords (1689–1771)	Arthur Herbert Sir John Chicheley Edward Russell Henry Priestman Earl of Orford Sir George Rooke Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Matthew Aylmer Sir George Byng Sir John Jennings Sir John Norris Sir Charles Wager Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Harry Powlett Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Vere Beauclerk Lord Anson Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen John Forbes Earl Howe Sir Charles Saunders Augustus Keppel Sir Peircy Brett Sir Francis Holburne
First Naval Lords (1771–1904)	Augustus Hervey Sir Hugh Palliser Robert Man George Darby Sir Robert Harland Sir Hugh Pigot John Leveson-Gower Lord Hood Sir Charles Middleton James Gambier Sir Thomas Troubridge James Gambier John Markham James Gambier Sir Richard Bickerton William Domett Sir Joseph Yorke Sir Graham Moore Sir William Johnstone Hope Sir George Cockburn Sir Thomas Hardy The Hon. George Dundas Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir William Parker Sir Charles Adam Sir James Dundas The Hon. Maurice Berkeley Hyde Parker The Hon. Maurice Berkeley The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas William Martin The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey Sir Alexander Milne Sir Sydney Dacres Sir Alexander Milne Sir Hastings Yelverton Sir George Wellesley Sir Astley Key Sir Arthur Hood Lord John Hay Sir Arthur Hood Sir Richard Hamilton Sir Anthony Hoskins Sir Frederick Richards Lord Walter Kerr
First Sea Lords (1904–present)	Sir John Fisher Sir Arthur Wilson Sir Francis Bridgeman Prince Louis of Battenberg The Lord Fisher Sir Henry Jackson Sir John Jellicoe Sir Rosslyn Wemyss The Earl Beatty Sir Charles Madden, Bt Sir Frederick Field The Lord Chatfield Sir Roger Backhouse Sir Dudley Pound The Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope Sir John Cunningham The Lord Fraser of North Cape Sir Rhoderick McGrigor The Earl Mountbatten of Burma Sir Charles Lambe Sir Caspar John Sir David Luce Sir Varyl Begg Sir Michael Le Fanu Sir Peter Hill-Norton Sir Michael Pollock Sir Edward Ashmore Sir Terence Lewin Sir Henry Leach Sir John Fieldhouse Sir William Staveley Sir Julian Oswald Sir Benjamin Bathurst Sir Jock Slater Sir Michael Boyce Sir Nigel Essenhigh Sir Alan West Sir Jonathon Band Sir Mark Stanhope Sir George Zambellas Sir Philip Jones Sir Antony Radakin Sir Ben Key