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 William Beauchamp-Proctor, 3rd Baronet (14 October 1781 – 14 March 1861) was an officer in 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 F ...

, who served during the

French Revolutionary The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

and

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 ...

Biography

Beauchamp-Proctor was born at Langley Hall,

Loddon, Norfolk Loddon is a small town and civil parish in Norfolk, England, about south-east of Norwich. The town lies on the River Chet, a tributary of the River Yare within The Broads. The name "Loddon" is thought to mean ''muddy river'' in Celtic in refer ...

, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Beauchamp-Proctor, 2nd Baronet, and Mary, the second daughter of Robert Palmer, of

Sonning Sonning is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river". Geogr ...

, Berkshire. His younger brothers were Colonel Richard Beauchamp-Proctor of the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

(d. 11 August 1850) and Captain Robert Beauchamp-Proctor of the Madras Artillery (d. 23 May 1813). His nephew, Edward Halhead Beauchamp-Proctor, also served as a naval officer. Beauchamp-Proctor entered the Royal Navy on 4 September 1794, with the rank of

able seaman An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...

, aboard the 32-gun frigate under Captain

Joseph Sydney Yorke Admiral Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke KCB (6 June 1768 – 5 May 1831) was an officer of the Royal Navy. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782 during the American Revolutionary War. He commanded at the defeat ...

. There was a family connection: Beauchamp-Proctor's grandfather

Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, 1st Baronet Sir William Beauchamp-Proctor, 1st Baronet (1722–1773) was an English politician. He served as a member of Parliament from Middlesex from 1747 to 1768. He was the first of the Proctor-Beauchamp baronets. Personal life He was born William Bea ...

was, through his second wife Laetitia Johnson's sister Agneta, a brother-in-law of

Charles Yorke Charles Yorke Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (30 December 172220 January 1770) was briefly Lord Chancellor, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. His father was also Lord Chancellor, and he began his career as a Member of Parliament. ...

, Joseph Sydney Yorke's father. On 22 August 1795, now a midshipman, he took part in the engagement off Norway between four Royal Navy frigates and two frigates and a cutter from the Navy of the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...

. ''Stag'' captured the 36-gun frigate ''Alliante'' with 240 men aboard, after an action of about an hour, in which the enemy lost between 40 and 50 men killed and wounded, and the British only 4 killed, and 13, including Beauchamp-Proctor, wounded. He continued to serve in the ''Stag'' on the home station until January 1798, when he joined the 98-gun ship , under Captain John Child Purvis, off Lisbon. The following July he moved to the frigate , under Captain Robert Gambier Middleton, in the Mediterranean, where he was lent for short periods to the frigates under Captain Henry Digby, and under Captain

George Cockburn Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet, (22 April 1772 – 19 August 1853) was a British Royal Navy officer. As a captain he was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797 during the French Revolutionary Wars an ...

. Beauchamp-Proctor was commissioned as acting-lieutenant aboard the ship , flagship of Admiral Lord Keith, in August 1800, and on 22 October was transferred to the frigate under Captain Thomas Stephenson. He received confirmation of his commission from the Admiralty on 25 February 1801, and then served in the Egyptian campaign, receiving the Turkish gold medal. He was promoted to commander on 29 April 1802, and in April 1803, was appointed to command of the

bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons ( long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounte ...

. In July and August 1804 he served under Captain

Robert Dudley Oliver Admiral Robert Dudley Oliver (31 October 1766 – 1 September 1850) was a senior officer of the British Royal Navy during the early nineteenth century, who served in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleon ...

in the bombardment of Le Havre, before being given command of the

brig-sloop In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

in August 1804. Beauchamp-Proctor spent the next six months in ''Saracen'', cruising in the Channel, before sailing for the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

in March 1805 aboard . On his arrival in July he was given acting-command of the 36-gun frigate , but was not confirmed in his post-rank until 5 September 1806. On 21 November 1808, at sunset, ''Dédaigneuse'' was stationed off the Isle de France when she encountered the French 36-gun frigate returning from a cruise in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. ''Dédaigneuse'' gave chase and by midnight the two ships were no more than half a mile apart. ''Dédaigneuse'' fired two or three shots from her bow-chasers, and then a full broadside, as ''Sémillante'' tacked. ''Dédaigneuse'' followed suit, but because of the lightness of the wind, the ship would not come round. A boat was lowered down to tow her round, and she was finally able to pursue the Frenchman, now some distance ahead. ''Dédaigneuse'' had lost a great deal of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, being very foul, and at best a bad working ship, so gradually dropped further astern. Beauchamp-Proctor eventually abandoned the chase at about 5 p.m, and soon afterwards ''Sémillante'' anchored in

Port Louis Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's ec ...

. ''Dédaigneuse'' continued to patrol the waters off the Isle de France until her water and provisions were almost expended, before sailing to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

to reprovision, and then sailed to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. When the commander-in-chief expressed himself dissatisfied with his conduct, Captain Beauchamp-Proctor requested a

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

, which was held aboard in Bombay harbour on 27 March 1809. Every officer of his ship gave strong evidence in the captain's favour, and the court acquitted him of all blame, laying responsibility squarely on the poor sailing qualities of ''Dédaigneuse''. Beauchamp-Proctor returned to Britain on sick-leave in November 1809, and despite never serving at sea again, received regular promotions; to rear-admiral in November 1846, to vice-admiral in September 1850, and in June 1857 to admiral, on the retired list. On 20 May 1812 he married Anne Gregory (1792-1859), the daughter of Thomas Gregory and Julia Elizabeth Brograve, and the niece and heir of Thomas Brograve, of Springfield Place, Essex, and granddaughter of

Sir Berney Brograve, 1st Baronet Sir Berney Brograve, 1st Baronet (10 October 1726 - 23 February 1797) was the eldest son and heir of Thomas Brograve (1691–1753) of Great Baddow, Essex, and his wife Juliana Berney. He was a descendant of Sir John Brograve (d. 1613), Attorney-Ge ...

. They had three sons and four daughters. Beauchamp-Proctor was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Norfolk in August 1820, and succeeded his father as third Baronet on 29 June 1827. He was nominated as High Sheriff for Norfolk in November 1831. Beauchamp-Proctor died on 14 March 1861, and he, alongside many other members of his family, was buried at the church of St Michael and All Saints, close to his family home.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beauchamp-Proctor, William, 3rd Baronet 1781 births 1861 deaths People from Loddon Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars High Sheriffs of Norfolk Deputy Lieutenants of Norfolk Royal Navy admirals

Biography

See also

References