Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Sir Richard Bickerton, 1st Baronet (23 June 172725 February 1792) was a British naval officer who finished his career as a rear admiral 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 ...

and was ennobled as the first Baronet Bickerton of Upwood. He served in several naval engagements, and died

Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. Between 1845 and 1896, this offic ...

in 1792. His son Richard Hussey Bickerton, who likewise rose to flag rank in the Royal Navy, succeeded to the baronetcy following his death.

Naval career

Richard Bickerton was born on 23 June 1727 in

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. Histor ...

, the third son of a Lieutenant in the

4th Dragoon Guards The 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Arran's Regiment of Cuirassiers. It was renamed as the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards in 1788 and service for two centuries, inclu ...

. Educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, he joined the navy in 1739 and served aboard , , ''St George'', , and , before being commissioned as a

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 8 February 1746 at the age of 18. He served as a Lieutenant aboard the 60-gun fourth rate ''Worcester'' in 1748. On 2 August 1758 he was appointed Master and Commander of the

fireship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

''Etna'', and then on 21 August 1759 promoted to the rank of Captain and appointed to command the 74-gun third rate ''Culloden''. However, he was swiftly removed into the much smaller 20-gun sixth rate ''Glasgow'', in command of which he sailed on 25 April 1760 for the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. Returning to England in 1761, he commanded the similar 20-gun ''Lively'' for a short while. In 1767 Bickerton was appointed to command the 30-gun fifth rate ''Renown'', again for employment to the West Indies. At the start of 1771 he took command of the 74-gun third rate ''Marlborough'', remaining in this post for nearly three years. He was knighted on 24 June 1773. He subsequently commanded the Royal yacht ''Princess Augusta'', and from October 1776 the 74-gun third rate ''Terrible''; while aboard the latter he captured the American privateer ''Rising States'' on 15 April 1777 while cruising off

Ushant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of govern ...

. He was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

of Upwood on 29 May 1778, and while still commanding the ''Terrible'' distinguished himself at the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778. In early 1780 Bickerton took command of the new 74-gun ''Fortitude'', and later was re-appointed to the Royal yacht ''Princess Augusta'', before hoisting his broad pendant — as a

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

— aboard the 80-gun ''Gibraltar'' in January 1782. He sailed from England on 6 February 1782 in command of a squadron of six third rates and two frigates, escorting a convoy to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In the Indian Ocean, he joined the fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, and took part in the Battle of Cuddalore on 20 June 1783. Returning to England upon the conclusion of hostilities, he hoisted his broad pendant aboard the 50-gun fourth rate ''Jupiter'' for a brief period as Commander-in-Chief on the

Leeward Islands Station The Leeward Islands Station originally known as the Commander-in-Chief at Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands was a formation or command of the Kingdom of Great Britain and then the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed at English Harbour, Antigua, L ...

in 1786. Bickerton reached flag rank on 24 September 1787, when he was appointed Rear Admiral of the Blue, and was promoted to Rear Admiral of the White on 21 September 1790, at that time flying his flag aboard the 90-gun second rate ''Impregnable''. In the General Election of 1790, he was elected to the British House of Commons as

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 o ...

for

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, retaining that seat until his death from an apoplectic fit on 25 September 1792. At the time of his death he was

, flying his flag in the 98-gun second rate ''St. George''.

Family

In 1758 Bickerton had married Mary Anne Hussey, and the marriage produced two sons and two daughters, the former including Richard Hussey Bickerton, an equally successful naval officer who became the 2nd Baronet upon his father's death, and rose even further in the Navy's ranks to finish as Admiral of the Red.

Naval career

Family

References

Further reading