Admiral Sir Thomas Rich, 5th Baronet (c.1733 – 6 April 1803) was a British naval officer and Member of Parliament. He was born the eldest son of Sir William Rich, 4th Baronet of Sonning, Berkshire and his wife, Elizabeth Royall. He joined the British

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 ...

and was commissioned

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 25 March 1758. He succeeded as 5th Baronet on the death of his father on 17 July 1762. In 1763 he commissioned the 6-gun cutter for service in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

until 1766. He was then promoted commander of the 14-gun sloop in March 1769 for service on the

North America 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 t ...

. This was followed by the command in North America of the 24-gun from February 1771 to 1773. In April 1775 he took command of the new 28-gun frigate and sailed to the

Mediterranean Sea 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 and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

, where in March 1778 he captured the 16-gun American vessel ''Hope''. The following year they drove a French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

ashore, captured an American schooner laden with tobacco and escorted supplies into the beleaguered port of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, remaining there for several months. Culloden Man of War

After the Moonlight Battle of 16 January 1780, when Rodney's fleet captured a number of Spanish vessels off Portugal as

prizes A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

, Rich was sent home in command of the captured 70-gun ''Princesa''. He took her out to the Leeward Islands in November and took part in the Battle of Fort Royal on 29 April 1781, returning to England after a difficult voyage in . In 1786 he was asked to recommission the 74-gun guard ship for three years, in 1790 the 74-gun and ''Culloden'' again in 1792. He entered Parliament in 1784 as the member for Marlow, sitting until 1790. He was promoted vice admiral on 1 June 1795 and advanced in retirement to admiral on 1 January 1801. He died in Sonning on 6 April 1803. He had married Ann, the daughter and co-heiress of Richard Willis of Digswell, Hertfordshire. They left no children, and the baronetcy became extinct on his death. Rich however had six illegitimate children with Elizabeth Burt, the daughter of a general. Two of their sons, George Frederick Rich and Charles Rich entered the navy, rising to the ranks of

post captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) addressed as captain ...

, and serving with Admiral Sir Edward William Campbell Rich Owen, who was the godson of Sir Thomas Rich. Sir Thomas's daughter Grace married Captain Anthony Abdy, while his youngest son

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

entered politics and was created a baronet in his own right in 1863.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Thomas, Sir 1730s births 1803 deaths Royal Navy admirals Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1784–1790 Baronets in the Baronetage of England