Admiral of the Fleet Sir Francis William Austen, (23 April 1774 – 10 August 1865) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

officer and an elder brother of the novelist Jane Austen. As commanding officer of the sloop HMS ''Peterel'', he captured some 40 ships, was present at the capture of a French squadron, and led an operation when the French brig ''Ligurienne'' was captured and two others were driven ashore off

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

. On the outbreak of

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Austen was appointed to raise and organise a corps of

Sea Fencibles The Sea Fencibles were naval fencible (a shortening of ''defencible'') units established to provide a close-in line of defence and obstruct the operation of enemy shipping, principally during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The ...

at Ramsgate to defend a strip of the Kentish coast. He went on to be commanding officer of the

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

, in which he took part in the pursuit of the French Fleet to the West Indies and back and then fought at the

Battle of San Domingo The Battle of San Domingo was a naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars fought on 6 February 1806 between squadrons of French and British ships of the line off the southern coast of the French-occupied Spanish colonial Captaincy General of Santo Do ...

, leading the lee line of ships into the battle. He later commanded the third-rate and observed the

Battle of Vimeiro In the Battle of Vimeiro (sometimes shown as "Vimiera" or "Vimeira" in contemporary British texts) on 21 August 1808, the British under General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated the French under Major-Gene ...

from the deck of his ship before embarking British troops retreating after the

Battle of Corunna The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Bri ...

. He went on to be commanding officer of the third-rate and captured the United States privateer ''Swordfish'' during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. As a senior officer Austen served as Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station.

Early career

Born the son of the Reverend George Austen and Cassandra Austen (the daughter of the Reverend Thomas Leigh), Francis Austen joined the Royal Navy in April 1786. After graduating at the

Royal Naval Academy The Royal Naval Academy was a facility established in 1733 in Portsmouth Dockyard to train officers for the Royal Navy. The founders' intentions were to provide an alternative means to recruit officers and to provide standardised training, educa ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, he was appointed to the

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal ...

HMS ''Perseverance'' on the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

.Heathcote, p. 17 Promoted to midshipman in December 1789, he joined the

HMS ''Crown'' and then transferred to the fifth-rate HMS ''Minerva'' in November 1791. In HMS ''Minerva'' he took part in a blockade of the coast of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

Ligurienne vs HMS Petrel-Antoine Roux-p63

Promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 28 December 1792, Austen transferred to the sloop HMS ''Despatch'' and then returned to England at the end of 1793. In March 1794 he joined the sloop ''Lark'', a brig that was part of a fleet that evacuated British troops from

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

and Nieuwpoort after the French captured the Netherlands during the

.Poplawski, p. 62 In March 1795 HMS ''Lark'' was part of a squadron that escorted Princess

Caroline of Brunswick Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Caroline Amelia Elizabeth; 17 May 1768 – 7 August 1821) was Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821, being the estranged wife of King George IV. She was Pri ...

to England. Austen transferred to the fifth-rate HMS ''Andromeda'' in May 1795 and to the

second-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer gun ...

HMS ''Glory'' in Autumn 1795. In HMS ''Glory'' he escorted the troops of General

Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ir ...

destined for the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

in December 1795. He moved to the fifth-rate HMS ''Shannon'' in early 1796, to the fifth-rate HMS ''Triton'' in September 1796 and to the fifth-rate HMS ''Seahorse'' in March 1797. He then joined the second-rate HMS ''London'' in February 1798 and took part in the blockade of

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. After securing the patronage of Admiral

Lord Gambier Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, (13 October 1756 – 19 April 1833) was a Royal Navy officer. After seeing action at the capture of Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston during the Ameri ...

, he was promoted to commander on 3 January 1799 and became commanding officer of the sloop HMS ''Peterel'' in February 1799. In HMS ''Peterel'' he captured some 40 ships, was present at the capture of a French squadron in June 1799 and led an operation when the French brig ''Ligurienne'' was captured and two others were driven ashore off

in March 1800. He also took part in the blockade of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

in May 1800 and, having been promoted to captain on 13 May 1800, was present at the blockade of

Abu Qir Abu Qir ( ar, ابو قير, ''Abu Qīr'', or , ), formerly also spelled Abukir or Aboukir, is a town on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, near the ruins of ancient Canopus and northeast of Alexandria by rail. It is located on Abu Qir Penins ...

in August 1800.Heathcote, p. 18 HMS Canopus (1798)

Austen became Flag Captain to Lord Gambier, in the second-rate HMS ''Neptune'' in August 1801 and earned a reputation for seeing to the welfare and health of his men. On the outbreak of

he was appointed to raise and organise a corps of

at Ramsgate to defend a strip of the Kentish coast. He went on to be commanding officer of the

fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

HMS ''Leopard'', flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Louis, in May 1804 and then took part in the blockade of Boulogne. He next became commanding officer of the third-rate HMS ''Canopus'', a French ship of the line captured in the Battle of the Nile (as the ''Franklin''), early in 1805. In HMS ''Canopus'' he took part in the pursuit of the French Fleet, under the command of Admiral

Pierre-Charles Villeneuve Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve (31 December 1763 – 22 April 1806) was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and the Spanish fleets that were defeated by Nelson at the Bat ...

, to the West Indies and back in Summer 1805. Austen was temporarily detached from the fleet for convoy duty in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

and missed the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

. However, he did command HMS ''Canopus'' at the

, leading the lee line of ships into the battle, in February 1806. He went on to be commanding officer of the third-rate HMS ''St Albans'' in March 1807. On 13 July 1808, the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

gave Austen £420 with which to buy a piece of plate: this was a substantial gift (perhaps the equivalent of a year's salary) in thanks for his having safely convoyed to Britain from Saint Helena seven of their Indiamen, plus one extra (voyage chartered) ship. In HMS ''St Albans'' he observed the

from the deck of his ship in August 1808 and then embarked British troops retreating after the

in January 1809. Austen became Flag Captain to Lord Gambier, Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Squadron, in the

first-rate In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying ...

HMS ''Caledonia'' in September 1810.Heathcote, p. 19 He went on to be commanding officer of the third-rate HMS ''Elephant'' in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

in 1811 and took part in a blockade of the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

. In HMS ''Elephant'' he captured the United States privateer ''Swordfish'' in December 1812 during the

. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 4 June 1815.

Senior command

Promoted to rear admiral on 22 July 1830, Austen was advanced to

Knight Commander of the 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 medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

on 28 February 1837 and promoted to vice admiral on 28 June 1838. He became Commander-in-Chief,

North America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...

, with his flag in the third-rate HMS ''Vindictive'', in December 1844. His main role was to protect British commercial interests during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, which broke out in 1846, and to disrupt the activities of slave traders. Promoted to full admiral on 1 August 1848, he was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 18 May 1860 before being appointed

Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom The Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is a now honorary office generally held by a senior (possibly retired) Royal Navy admiral, though the current incumbent is a retired Royal Marine General. Despite the title, the Rear-Admiral of the Unit ...

on 5 June 1862 and then

Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom The Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom is an honorary office generally held by a senior Royal Navy admiral. The title holder is the official deputy to the Lord High Admiral, an honorary (although once operational) office which was vested in th ...

on 11 December 1862. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 27 April 1863. Austen died at his home Portsdown Lodge at Widley in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

on 10 August 1865 and was buried in the churchyard at St Peter and St Paul, Wymering,

Family

HMS Vindictive, Royal Naval Burying Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia

In July 1806 Austen married Mary Gibson (eldest daughter of John Gibson); they had ten children. Following the death of his first wife, he married Martha Lloyd (eldest daughter of the Reverend Noyes Lloyd) in July 1828; they had no children. Austen's siblings included Jane Austen, the novelist,

Cassandra Austen Cassandra Elizabeth Austen (9 January 1773 – 22 March 1845Cassandra Austen
". (n.d. ...

, the watercolor painter, and

Charles Austen Rear Admiral Charles John Austen CB (23 June 1779 – 7 October 1852) was an officer in the Royal Navy and the youngest brother of novelist Jane Austen. He served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and beyond, eventually ...

, a naval officer.

Footnotes

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Jane Austen's sailor brothers (thefreelibrary.com)
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Austen, Francis 1774 births 1865 deaths Austen family Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy admirals of the fleet Military personnel from Portsmouth People from Steventon, Hampshire Jane Austen Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812 Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars