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, ...

George Stewart, 8th Earl of Galloway, (24 March 1768 – 27 March 1834), styled Lord Garlies between 1773 and 1806, was a British naval commander and politician.

Background

Garlies was the eldest son of

John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway, (13 March 1736 – 13 November 1806), styled Viscount Garlies from 1747 until 1773, was a British peer who became the 7th Earl of Galloway in 1773 and served as a Member of Parliament from 1761 to 1773. Early ...

, and

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

, daughter of

Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Baronet Sir James Dashwood, 2nd Baronet (1715–1779) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1740 to 1768. Early life He was the son of Robert Dashwood, and his grandfather from whom he inherited the baronetcy was Sir Robert D ...

, and attended

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 ...

before embarking on a career in the Royal Navy.

Military career

Garlies entered the navy at an early age, serving as a 13-year-old midshipman under the command of his uncle, Commodore

Keith Stewart Vice-Admiral Keith Stewart (1739 – 3 March 1795) was a Scottish Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons on two occasions. Having began his naval career in around 1753, Stewart was promoted to commander in 1761 an ...

at the Battle of Dogger Bank in August 1781, and also in the

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had end ...

in 1782. In 1789 he was promoted to lieutenant, serving in the frigate in the Mediterranean. He returned to England in early 1790, when appointed commander of the

fire ship 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 ...

. He was promoted to

post-captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), 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) ...

on 30 April 1793, and soon after was appointed to the frigate , serving in the West Indies, and being wounded while covering the landing of the army at Guadaloupe in April 1794, and was then sent with detachments of troops to accept the surrender of the islands of

Marie-Galante Marie-Galante ( gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Mawigalant) is one of the islands that form Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France. Marie-Galante has a land area of . It had 11,528 inhabitants at the start of 2013, but by the start of 2018 ...

and

La Désirade La Désirade is an island in the French West Indies, in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean. It forms part of Guadeloupe, an overseas region of France. History Archaeological evidence has been discovered that suggests that an Amerindian p ...

. In 1795 he took command of the frigate , and took Sir John Jervis out from England to assume command in the Mediterranean. Commanding a division of four frigates and a sloop, he engaged the Spanish ship of line '' San Francisco de Asís'' in the

action of 25 January 1797 The action of 25 January 1797 was a minor naval battle of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought in the Gulf of Cádiz. The Spanish third-rate ship of the line ''San Francisco de Asís'' was attacked and pursued for several hours by a British s ...

, in which he was forced to withdraw. He served in the area until the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797. After the battle ''Lively'' carried Sir

Robert Calder Admiral Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, (2 July 174531 August 1818) was a British naval officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. For much of his career ...

, with the account of the victory, and

Lord Minto Earl of Minto, in the County of Roxburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1813 for Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Baron Minto. The current earl is Gilbert Timothy George Lariston Elliot-Murray-Kynynm ...

, Viceroy of Corsica, and his suite, who were on board during the battle, back to England. Around November 1799 Garlies commissioned the frigate , and commanded her in the Channel and on the coast of Ireland until early 1801, making several captures and recaptures: * On 17 May 1800 ''Hussar'', the frigate ''Loire'' and the schooner recaptured the ship ''Princess Charlotte'', and captured the French schooner ''La Francoise''. * On 2 March 1801 ''Hussar'' captured the French schooner ''Le General Bessieres''. * On 12 April 1801 ''Hussar'' recaptured the ship ''James'' of Liverpool. In early 1801 Garlies moved into the , to serve on the blockade of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

, remaining there until the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...

in early 1802 brought a short-lived period of peace. Following the renewal of hostilities in May 1803 he commanded the ship , and sat on the Board of Admiralty in between May 1805 and February 1806. Galloway saw no further active service, but was promoted to Rear-Admiral on 31 July 1810; to Vice Admiral on 12 August 1819; and to Admiral on 22 July 1830.

Political career

Apart from his military career Garlies also sat as a

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 of ...

. He was first elected in 1790 for the constituency of

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

, and served until vacating his seat in favour of his brother

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

in February 1795. He returned to Parliament when elected MP for

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...

on 22 July 1805, and then sat for Haslemere after the 1806 election, but was shortly after obliged to quit his seat following the death of his father on 13 November, when he became the Earl of Galloway, and moved to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. He served as

Lord Lieutenant of Kirkcudbright Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

from 26 December 1794 to 1807, and from 1820 to 1828, and of

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...

from 28 March 1807 to 1828. On 30 May 1814 he was invested as a member of the

Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order. The ...

. He also served as vice-president of the Board of Agriculture in 1815.

Family

In April 1797 he married Lady Jane Paget, the daughter of

Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge (13 January 166330 August 1743), of Beaudesert, Staffordshire, and West Drayton, Middlesex, was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1695 until 171 ...

, and sister of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey. They had eight children: # Lady Jane Stewart (1798–1844), m.

George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough (27 December 1793 – 1 July 1857), styled Earl of Sunderland until 1817 and Marquess of Blandford between 1817 and 1840, was a British nobleman, politician, and peer. The great-grandfather of S ...

. # Lady Caroline Stewart (1799–1857) # Hon Randolph Stewart, later 9th Earl of Galloway (1800–1873) # Lady Louisa Stewart (1804–1889), m.

William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham (14 January 1798 – 11 February 1867), was a British peer with a large estate in the North Riding of Yorkshire. He was prominent in the affairs of the Royal Agricultural Society and owner of a prize-winn ...

. # Hon Arthur Stewart (1805–1806) # Hon Alan Stewart (1807–1808) # Lady Helen Stewart (1810–1813) # Vice Admiral Hon

CB (1814– 15 September 1879), m. Mary FitzRoy, daughter of

Charles Augustus FitzRoy Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, (10 June 179616 February 1858) was a British military officer, politician and member of the aristocracy, who held governorships in several British colonies during the 19th century. Family and peerage Charles was b ...

. Had issue, 9 daughters, and 1 son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galloway, George Stewart, 8th Earl of 1768 births 1834 deaths 8 Knights of the Thistle Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars UK MPs 1802–1806 Galloway, E8 British MPs 1790–1796 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Saltash Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1806–1807 Lords of the Admiralty