Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many 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. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Granville Leveson Proby, 3rd Earl of Carysfort (12 November 1782 – 3 November 1868), known as

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

Granville Proby until 1855, was a British naval commander and Whig politician.

Biography

Carysfort was the third and youngest son of

John Proby, 1st Earl of Carysfort John Joshua Proby, 1st Earl of Carysfort, KP, PC, PC (Ire), FRS (12 August 1751 – 7 April 1828) was a British judge, diplomat, Whig politician and poet. Background and education Carysfort was the son of John Proby, 1st Baron Carysfort, ...

, and his first wife Elizabeth (née Osbourne), and was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

between 1792 and 1798.

Naval career

Proby entered the Navy on 21 March 1798 as a midshipman aboard 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 ...

ship under the command of Captain

Edward Berry Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Berry, 1st Baronet, KCB (17 April 1768 – 13 February 1831) was a British Royal Navy officer primarily known for his role as flag captain of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson's ship HMS ''Vanguard'' at the Battle of the Ni ...

, and serving as the flagship of Sir

Horatio Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...

. Proby saw action at the

Battle of the Nile The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; ) was fought between the Royal Navy and the French Navy at Abu Qir Bay, Aboukir Bay in Ottoman Egypt, Egypt between 1–3 August 1798. It was the climax of the Mediterranean ca ...

on 1 August 1799, then transferred to the ship with Captain Berry, and while blockading Malta, took part in the capture, on 18 February 1800, of the ship and the armed store-ship ''Ville de Marseilles''. He also took part in the

action of 31 March 1800 The action of 31 March 1800 was a naval engagement of the War of the Second Coalition fought between a Royal Navy squadron and a French Navy ship of the line off Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. By March 1800 Valletta, the Maltese capital, had b ...

in which ''Foudroyant'', in company with the 64-gun ship and frigate , captured the French ship , the flagship of Rear-Admiral

Denis Decrès Vice-Admiral Denis Decrès (18 June 1761 – 7 December 1820) was a French Navy officer who served as Minister of the Navy and the Colonies from 1801 to 1814 and again in 1815. Early career Decrès was born in Châteauvillain, Haute-Marne ...

, during which ''Foudroyant'' sustained a loss of 8 men killed and 64, including Proby, wounded. In 1801 he was present in ''Foudroyant'' under Admiral Lord Keith during the Egyptian campaign. He then served aboard the frigate , under Captain Robert Campbell; the frigate , Captain Hon. Philip Wodehouse; and , flagship of Lord Nelson. There, on 24 October 1804, he was promoted to lieutenant, and transferred to the frigate , Captain

Ross Donnelly Admiral Sir Ross Donnelly, KCB (1764 – 30 September 1840) was an Irish Royal Navy officer who is known for his service during the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars. He was first lieutenant on HMS ...

. In May 1805 he transferred to the 98-gun ship , Captain Thomas Fremantle, and was present on 21 October in the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

. On 15 August 1806 Proby was appointed commander of the sloop ''Bergère'', and promoted to post-rank on 28 November 1806, with command of the 54-gun ship ''Madras''. From 7 January 1807 he commanded the frigate in the Mediterranean, and from 1808 until 1810, the frigate , in the Channel, North Sea, and Baltic. On 8 June 1813 he was appointed to , stationed at the Cape of Good Hope, and on 3 December 1814 to , in the Mediterranean. ''Amelia'' (the ship in which his eldest brother

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

had died in 1804) was paid off in July 1816, ending Proby's active naval career. However, the course of time brought promotion to rear-admiral on 23 November 1841, to vice-admiral on 16 June 1851, and finally admiral on 9 July 1857.

Political career

Apart from his military career Carysfort also represented

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

in Parliament from 1816 to 1829 and served as

High Sheriff of Wicklow The High Sheriff of Wicklow was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Wicklow, Ireland from Wicklow's formation in 1606 until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Wicklow County Sh ...

for 1831. In 1855 he succeeded his elder brother to the earldom and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Personal life

Proby married in 1818 Isabella Howard, daughter of the Honourable Hugh Howard. They had four sons and four daughters. She died in 1836, shortly after the birth of her youngest child. Lord Carysfort died on 3 November 1868, aged 85, at the family estate of

Elton Hall Elton Hall is a country house in Elton, Cambridgeshire. It has been the ancestral home of the Proby family (sometime known as the Earls of Carysfort) since 1660. The hall lies in an estate through which the River Nene runs. The building inc ...

, and was succeeded in the earldom by his second but eldest surviving son Granville. Children included: *John Joshua Proby, Lord Proby (1823–1858) * Granville Leveson Proby, 4th Earl of Carysfort (1824–1872) *Honourable Hugh Proby (1826–1852), who emigrated to Australia and died there *Lady Theodosia Gertrude Proby (1833–1902), who married William Montagu Baillie, of Dochfour (1827–1902; he was a grandson of the 5th Duke of Manchester) *

William Proby, 5th Earl of Carysfort William Proby, 5th Earl of Carysfort KP (18 January 1836 – 4 September 1909), known as William Proby until 1872, was a British peer. Carysfort was the fourth son and youngest child of Admiral Granville Proby, 3rd Earl of Carysfort, and hi ...

(1836–1909) *Lady Frances Proby (d.1863), unmarried *Lady Emma Elizabeth Proby (d.1900), who married

Lord Claud Hamilton (1813–1884) Lord Claud Hamilton Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (27 July 1813 – 3 June 1884) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. He notably served as Treasurer of the Household in 1852 and between 1858 and 1859 and as ...

*Lady Isabella Proby (d.1866)

References

External links