Lord George Stuart, CB (1 Mar 1780 – 19 February 1841 at Balls Park,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

) was a

Rear-Admiral of the Blue The Rear-Admiral of the Blue was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Rear-Admiral of the White. Royal Navy officers currently holding the ranks of commodore, rear admiral, vice admiral and adm ...

in the

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 ...

Origin

He was from a side-branch of the Stuart family, descended from the Scottish King Robert II. He was the seventh son of John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute and his wife Charlotte Jane. He received the courtesy title Lord Stuart after his father became the first

Marquess of Bute Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute, John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute. Family history John Stuart ...

in 1796. Among his brothers were ''Charles Stuart'', who died in 1796 aboard HMS ''Leda'' and Captain William Stuart RN.

Life

After attending Eton College, he joined the

in November 1793 as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

. In 1795 he took part in the second voyage of under Captain William Robert Broughton, during which they went in search of

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...

to the Pacific coast of North America and later to Japan and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. After the wreck of HMS ''Providence'' on a coral reef at Miyako-jima, Stuart and 29 seamen finally returned to Great Britain on board an

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

in 1799. He was 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 sub ...

in 1800 and

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

in 1802. On 3 March 1804, he was appointed

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and took command of 44-gun frigate HMS ''Sheerness'' in the Indian Ocean; he was not aboard ''Sheerness'' when she sank in a heavy storm off Trincomalee on 7 January 1805. On 8 April 1806 as commander of the frigate HMS ''Duncan'' he captured the French privateer ''Île de France'' in the

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

. In 1807, he was appointed captain of the 32-gun frigate HMS ''l'Aimable'', with which he captured another French privateer. In the summer of 1808 ''l'Aimable'' escorted General Wellesley's army from

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

to Portugal. On 3 February 1809, he captured the French frigate ''Iris'' after a 28-hour pursuit in the North Sea. In July 1809 he assumed command of a light squadron at the mouth of the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

and on 7 July, a landing party destroyed French coastal batteries nearby and occupied the city for a short time. On 29 July, the French occupied the town of Geestendorf, on the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...

from

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

. Learning of this Captain Stuart decided to march cross-country and attack the town. He succeeded in this and re-took it. A few days later Duke Friedrich-Wilhelm of Braunschweig-Oel and his army arrived on the opposite bank of the Weser and, because the fortress at Geestendorf had been destroyed was able to embark there and escape destruction. In November 1810, Stuart became commander of the frigate HMS ''Horatio'', he occupied the Dutch Zierikzee in December 1813 and expelled the French forces from the island of

Schouwen Schouwen is the name of a former island of the Dutch province of Zeeland.Schouwen-Duiveland ...

. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

he commanded the new 58-gun ship . In 1815 he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

and later served as Naval Aide-de-camp of

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

. In 1837, he was promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Blue.

Family

He married Jane Stewart (died 1862), a daughter of Major General James Stewart, on 7 October 1800. The couple had several children, including * Emily Frances Stuart (died 1886) who married Charles Abbott, son of

Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden (7 October 1762 – 4 November 1832), was a British barrister and judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench between 1818 and 1832. Born in obscure circumstances to a barber and his wife i ...

* Elizabeth Jane Stuart (1803–1877) who married

John Townshend, 4th Marquess Townshend Rear Admiral John Townshend, 4th Marquess Townshend (28 March 1798 – 10 September 1863), known as John Townshend until 1855, was a British nobleman, peer, politician, and naval commander. Townshend was the son of Lord John Townshend, younger ...

* Henry Stuart (1808–1880) who married Cecilia Hammersley, daughter of Charles Hammersley

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, George Companions of the Order of the Bath 1780 births 1841 deaths

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

Royal Navy rear admirals Younger sons of marquesses People educated at Eton College Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812 Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Shipwreck survivors