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 ...
James McEdward O'Brien, 3rd Marquess of Thomond, GCH (1769–1855), styled Lord James O'Brien from 1809 to 1846, was a British naval officer.
O'Brien, born in 1769, was third son of
Edward Dominic O'Brien Captain Edward Dominic O'Brien (1735 - 1 March 1801) was an Irish law enforcement official and British Army officer.
Life
Edward Dominic O'Brien was the son of Capt. James O'Brien, M.P. for Youghal, and Mary Jephson. He was born in 1735 at Droghed ...
, captain in the army (d. 1801). His mother was Mary Carrick, and his uncle, Murrough O'Brien, was first
Marquess of Thomond
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman ...
. He inherited his title on the death of his brother
William O'Brien, 2nd Marquess of Thomond
William O'Brien, 2nd Marquess of Thomond, 6th Earl of Inchiquin, 1st Baron Tadcaster KP PC (I) (176521 August 1846) was an Irish peer. He succeeded by special remainder as Marquess of Thomond in 1808 on the death of his uncle Murrough O'Brien, ...
Naval career
As a captain's servant, he entered the navy on 17 April 1783 on board , stationed in the Channel. From 1786 to 1789 he was a
midshipman
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Af ...
in the
74-gun
The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...
''Pegasus'' and the 32-gun frigate, both commanded by the
Duke of Clarence
Duke of Clarence is a substantive title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the British Royal Family. All three creations were in the Peerage of England.
The title was first granted to Lionel of Antwerp, the second son ...
, under whom he also served with the Channel fleet in in 1790. 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 ...
he joined, in succession, on the home station,
second-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer gun ...
, the 38-gun
fifth-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower.
Rating
The rating system in the Royal ...
, and the 74-gun . In the latter ship he was present in
William Cornwallis
Admiral of the Red Sir William Cornwallis, (10 February 17445 July 1819) was a Royal Navy officer. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British commander at the siege of Yorktown. Cornwallis took part in a n ...
' celebrated retreat, 16 and 17 June 1795. On 5 December 1796 he was promoted to the command of the 14-gun
sloop
A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
. From 1800 to 1804 he commanded on 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 ...
station, where, on 24 June 1803, he made a prize of ''L'Enfant Prodigue'', a French national
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...
of sixteen guns, and in the spring of 1804 distinguished himself in forwarding the supplies at the capture of Surinam, as well as by defeating a projected expedition by the enemy against
Antigua
Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...
marquisate
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...
of
Thomond
Thomond (Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nenag ...
, and was henceforth known as Lord James O'Brien. From September 1813 until November 1815, he served 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 ...
in . He became a rear-admiral in 1825, a vice-admiral in 1837, a full admiral on 13 May 1847, and an
Admiral of the Red
The Admiral of the Red was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Admiral of the Fleet (see order of precedence below). The rank did not exist prior to 1805, as the admiral commanding the Red ...
in 1853. On the accession of
William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
, he was made a
lord of the bedchamber
Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...
, and nominated G.C.H. on 13 May 1831. He succeeded his brother,
William O'Brien
William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...
, on 21 August 1846 as the third Marquess of Thomond.
He died at his residence, near Bath, Somerset, on 3 July 1855, and was buried in the catacombs of St. Saviour's Church,
Walcot, Bath
Walcot is a suburb of the city of Bath, England. It lies to the north-north-east of the city centre, and is an electoral ward of the city.Carnanton,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
(she died on 14 February 1802); secondly, in 1806, while in the West Indies, Jane, daughter of Thomas Ottley, and widow of Valentine Horne Horsford of Antigua (she died on 8 September 1843); and, thirdly, on 5 January 1847, at Bath, Anne, sister of Sir C. W. Flint, and widow of Rear-Admiral
Francis William Fane
Rear-Admiral Francis William Fane (14 October 1778 – 28 March 1844) son of John Fane (1751–1824) was a British Royal Navy officer of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who served in several engagements while commissioned on the ...
.
O'Brien left no issue, and the marquessate of Thomond and the earldom of Inchiquin became extinct, but the barony of Inchiquin devolved to the heir male, Sir Lucius O'Brien, Bt, who became thirteenth Baron Inchiquin on 3 July 1855.
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...