Sir Edmund Nagle
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Admiral Sir Edmund Nagle, KCB (1757 – 14 March 1830) was an Irish officer in
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 Fr ...
during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who is best known for his capture of the French frigate at the action of 21 October 1794 and his close association with
King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten ye ...
as a courtier from 1820 to his own death. He served as Commander-in-Chief at Leith, and on the Coast of Scotland and Commander-in-Chief on the Guernsey Station.


Life

Edmund Nagle was born in 1757 at Bloomfield,
County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
in the
Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label= Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from ...
. His father, Edmund Nagle Sr. died when his son was only six and Nagle was raised by relatives including the politician and philosopher
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
. In 1770, Nagle entered 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 Fr ...
in the
frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed an ...
and was present at the British occupation of the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
the following year. He served in the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
without seeing extensive action, on , , , and until he was captured in 1782 when commanding the small brig . He was recaptured in September by ''Warwick'', and at the end of the war entered the reserve after briefly commanding and . Nagle returned to active service in 1793 at the outbreak of 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, Pruss ...
and commanded first and then with a detached squadron of frigates from the
Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...
commanded by Commodore Sir Edward Pellew. It was with this force that ''Artois'' was cruising off the French Channel coast when the French frigate was discovered. The squadron gave chase, Nagle catching the larger French ship and fighting her until support arrived. ''Révolutionnaire'' surrendered, and in 1794 Nagle was made a
Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are ...
for his service in capturing her. He remained in command of ''Artois'' until 1797, when the frigate was wrecked on the French coast in pursuit of an enemy ship. In 1798, Nagle married a wealthy widow, Mary Blackman (''née'' Harnage) formerly the wife of John Lucie Blackman, father of
Sir George Harnage, 1st Baronet Sir George Harnage, 1st Baronet (1767–1836) was an English businessman and a director of the Bank of England. He was born George Blackman and changed his name in 1821 so that he could inherit the ancestral home of his wife, Mary (''née'' Harnage ...
of the Harnage baronets, and effectively retired from the sea. He had minor commands on board and and in 1803 took command of the
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 ...
, a coastal
fencible The Fencibles (from the word ''defencible'') were British regiments raised in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Frenc ...
force, based at
Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on t ...
. There he met Prince George, the naval officer striking up a close friendship with the playboy prince. Nagle, who was described by Burke as having "a spirited and pleasing simplicity in his manner", was often the butt of the prince's jokes, but the relationship bore dividends as Nagle was promoted rapidly, becoming a rear-admiral in 1805 and a vice-admiral in 1810 with spells of service at
Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
and
Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...
. In 1813, after a very brief tenure as absentee
Governor of Newfoundland The lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador () is the viceregal representative in Newfoundland and Labrador of the , who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, as ...
, Nagle was made an official aide-de-camp to the Prince. He became a 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) a ...
in 1815 and a full admiral in 1819. In 1820, when Prince George became King George IV, Nagle was appointed
Groom of the Bedchamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the monarch in early modern England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and in En ...
, and moved into the King's Royal residences, although also maintaining an estate at
East Molesey Molesey is a district of two twin towns, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames. East and West Molesey share a high street, and there is a second reta ...
in
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...
. He remained close to the King until his death at his private estate, just three months before the King also died. After the passage of the
Slave Compensation Act 1837 The Slave Compensation Act 1837 (1 & 2 Vict. c. 3) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on 23 December 1837. It authorised the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to compensate slave owners in the Brit ...
, Nagle was listed as a mortgagee of his stepson George Blackman's
slave plantation A slave plantation was an agricultural farm that used enslaved people for labour. The practice was abolished in most places during the 19th century. Slavery Planters embraced the use of slaves mainly because indentured labor became expensive ...
Boarded Hall, and so was issued compensation despite being deceased.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagle, Edmund 1757 births 1830 deaths Royal Navy admirals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Knights Bachelor People from Molesey