Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir Henry John Leeke, KCB, KH, DL (1 September 1792 – 26 February 1870) 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 F ...

officer who went on to be

Third Naval Lord The post of Controller of the Navy (abbreviated as CofN) was originally created in 1859 when the Surveyor of the Navy's title changed to Controller of the Navy. In 1869 the controller's office was abolished and its duties were assumed by that of ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Dover and Deputy Lieutenant of

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

Career

Leeke was born on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

Samuel Leeke Samuel Leeke (1754–1806) JP of Havant, was Deputy Lieutenant for the Hampshire a major landowner and magistrate who died joining others in quelling a riot. He was the son of Samuel Leeke, of Portsmouth. Samuel Leeke snr had been bequeathed ...

, a deputy lieutenant of Hampshire, and his wife, Sophia, daughter of Capt. Richard Bargus, R.N. He younger brother was

William Leeke William Leeke (27 November 1797''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975'' – 6 June 1879) was a British Army officer and clergyman, known for his published reminiscences of the Waterloo Campaign, which form a primary source for man ...

, known for his reminiscences of his service as an ensign at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

.William Loney RN
/ref> His godfather was Lord

Henry Paulet Lord Henry Paulet KCB (31 March 1767 – 28 January 1832) was an officer in the Royal Navy who saw service in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born into the British nobility as a younger son o ...

. Leeke entered the navy in September 1803 aboard the Royal ''William'', as a first-class volunteer. He steadily rose through the ranks until reaching the rank of commander on 1814. In 1818, while in command of HMS ''Myrmidon'' he captured a Portuguese slave-vessel, and freed

Samuel Ajayi Crowther Samuel Ajayi Crowther ( – 31 December 1891), was a Yoruba linguist, clergyman, and the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa. Born in Osogun (in what is now Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, Nigeria), he and his family were captured by slave raide ...

, who later became Bishop of

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesHMS ''Queen'', in which he served as

flag-captain In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First ...

to Admiral Sir John West, in 1845 and of HMS ''San Josef'' in 1847 and, having been promoted to rear admiral in 1854, he became

in 1859. His promotion to vice-admiral came in 1860, and to admiral in 1864. In 1859, he was elected as

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

for

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

. He was knighted in the

Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name ...

in 1836, appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1857, and knighted in that order in 1858.

Family

Leeke married Augusta Sophia (d. 1861), the second daughter of James Dashwood in 1818. They had at least two children. Following Augusta's death, Leeke married (in 1863) Georgiana Lucy Cecilia, only daughter of Revd. Geoffrey Hornby. His eldest and only surviving son, Henry Edward Leeke, died on 2 May 1885, aged 59."Death Notices", ''The Times'', 12 May 1885, p. 1, column 1.

References

External links

*
National Archives, Sir Henry Leeke, ID P17067
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Leeke, Henry John 1792 births 1870 deaths Royal Navy admirals Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1859–1865 Royal Navy West Africa Squadron personnel Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dover Lords of the Admiralty