Admiral Sir Wilmot Hawksworth Fawkes, (22 December 1846 – 29 May 1926) was a

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 ...

officer who went on to be

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 ...

Naval career

Fawkes joined the

in 1860 and by 1867 had been promoted to

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 served mainly in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

on and . In 1872 he matriculated at St John's College, Cambridge, but did not graduate. In 1880, he was promoted to commander and served on on the

North America and West Indies station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...

. After a few years, he returned to England to command of the royal yacht , a post he held for two years. Promoted to captain in 1886, he was given command of before going on to be Naval Advisor to the Inspector General of Fortifications in 1891. He then took command of on the

China station The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 18 ...

, returning to England in 1897 to be Private

Naval Secretary The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy officer who advises the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on naval officer appointing (and General Officers). Their counterpart in the British Army is the Military Secretary. The Royal Air Force equi ...

to the

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

in 1897. On 1 January 1899, he was appointed an aide-de-camp to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. He was appointed in command of the new battleship which he commissioned in December 1899 for service in the Mediterranean Fleet, but in late 1900 was back in England as Private Secretary to

Lord Selborne Earl of Selborne, in the County of Southampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1882 for the lawyer and Liberal politician Roundell Palmer, 1st Baron Selborne, along with the subsidiary title of Viscount Wo ...

. Promoted to rear admiral on 1 January 1901, he was invested as a Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(CVO) by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

on 11 August 1902 for his part in organizing the

fleet review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

held at

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

on 16 August 1902 for the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

of the King. In October 1902, he was appointed in command of the Cruiser Squadron, and temporary hoisted his flag in , tender to the gunnery school ''Excellent''. The armoured cruiser was scheduled to be his flagship for the squadron, but was first ordered to take the Colonial Secretary

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the C ...

on a trip to South Africa. Fawkes hoisted his flag on the ''Good Hope'' on 23 November, and the ship left

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

with Chamberlain and his wife on board two days later. He was appointed

Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent.Dennis et al. 2008, p.53. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, ...

in 1905, became

in 1908 and retired in 1911.

Retirement

Fawkes had married Juliana Hannah Mary Spicer in 1875 and when he retired in 1911 they lived at Steel Cross, Crowborough. His wife died in 1916, and Fawkes died suddenly in 1926 at Spye Park, Chippenham when he was visiting his brother-in-law Captain Spicer.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fawkes, Wilmot 1846 births 1926 deaths Royal Navy admirals Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order People from the London Borough of Barnet Military personnel from Hertfordshire