Peter Rainier (Royal Navy Officer, Born 1741)
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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 ...
Peter Rainier (24 November 1741 – 7 April 1808) was a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
officer who served during the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
, the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
and the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
. From 1794 to 1805, Rainier was commander-in-chief of the Navy's
East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...
, covering all seas between the
Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
and the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
.
Mount Rainier Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...
in the American state of
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
was named after him by
George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...
.


Naval career

Rainier was born in
Sandwich, Kent Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval build ...
, England, on 24 November 1741. He was the grandson of Daniel Regnier, a
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
refugee who had fled France following the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was an edict signed in April 1598 by Henry IV of France, King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinism, Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantl ...
, and the son of merchant Peter Rainier and his wife Sarah Spratt. Rainier was educated at
Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...
from 1754, before joining the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
in 1756. Rainier initially served on the 50-gun fourth rate , but when she was broken up in 1758 he transferred to the 64-gun ship of the line . In that ship he sailed to the
East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...
, arriving in March, at which point Rainier moved from ''Yarmouth'' into the 60-gun fourth rate , also on the station. In ''Tiger'' he fought at the Battle of Cuddalore on 29 April, the Battle of Negapatam on 3 August, and in another engagement off the
Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...
on 10 September 1759. In June 1760, he transferred to serve aboard the 64-gun ship of the line , which was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Charles Steevens. In ''Norfolk'' Rainier served at the Siege of Pondicherry between September 1760 and January 1761. In April of the latter year Steevens died and was replaced on board by Vice-Admiral
Samuel Cornish Samuel Eli Cornish (1795 – November 6, 1858) was an American Presbyterian minister, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, publisher, and journalist. He was a leader in New York City's small Free Negro, free black community, where ...
, under whom Rainier fought at the Battle of Manila between September and October 1762. Rainier returned home from the East Indies in ''Norfolk'' in 1764, at which point the ship was paid off. After this, Rainier was not immediately employed by the navy again, and it is possible that he instead went to sea with the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
. Despite this, he passed his examination for the rank of lieutenant on 26 May 1768. In January 1774, he was appointed as such to serve on the 28-gun frigate , serving in the
West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
. The commander in chief there, Vice-Admiral Clark Gayton, promoted Rainier to commander on 3 May 1777, giving him command of the 14-gun sloop . On 8 July of the following year, Rainier engaged and captured a large American privateer, and was badly wounded in the battle. In reward for this action, Rainier was promoted to
post-captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to dis ...
on 29 October. He received his next command, that of the 64-gun ship of the line , in January 1779. In ''Burford'' Rainier joined the fleet of Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes that sailed for the
East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...
on 7 March of the same year. In 1790, he became the commander of . On 8 May 1792,
George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...
named
Mount Rainier Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...
in modern-day
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
after Captain Rainier: "The weather was serene and pleasant, and the country continued to exhibit between us and the eastern snowy range the same luxuriant appearance. At is northern extremity, Mount Baker bore by compass N. 22E.; the round snowy mountain, now forming its southern extremity, and which, after my friend, Rear Admiral Rainier, I distinguish by the name of Mount Rainier, bore N(S) 42 E." In early 1793, Rainier commissioned the 74-gun . From 1794 to 1805, Rainier commanded Royal Navy operations on the
East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...
. During his tenure, large swaths of territory came under British control. In 1795, Rainier was promoted to rear admiral. Four years later, he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral. He served in the
East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...
as commodore and commander-in-chief of a fleet. In 1800, he commanded an expedition to Java. On 23 August 1800, , , , and entered Batavia Roads and captured five Dutch armed vessels in all and destroyed 22 other vessels. The British took one vessel into service and Captain
Henry Lidgbird Ball Rear-Admiral of the Blue Henry Lidgbird Ball (7 December 1756 – 22 October 1818) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. While Ball was best known as the commander of the First Fleet, First Fleet's ...
of ''Daedalus'' named her , and ordered her manned, armed, and equipped. ''Admiral Rainier'' was sold in September 1803. In 1805, Rainier returned to England and retired from active duty.


Later life

After Rainier's retirement, the ministry continued to consult him. In 1805, he was promoted to
Admiral of the Blue 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 ...
in the celebratory promotions following the British victory at 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 ...
. In 1807, he became a Member of Parliament for
Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...
. He died the following year at his home on
Great George Street Great George Street is a street in Westminster, London, leading from Parliament Square to Birdcage Walk. The area of the current street was occupied by a number of small roads and yards housing inns and tenements. In the 1750s these were demol ...
,
Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
, with his nephew, John Spratt Rainier, succeeding him as MP for Sandwich. Rainier left an estate valued at £250,000, largely prize money gained during his naval career. He was not married, and although the bulk of his estate was divided between his nephews, John and Peter Rainier, ten percent was left to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
to be used to reduce the national debt, in acknowledgement of: "the national establishment of the Royal Navy, in which I have acquired the principal part of the fortune I now have, which has exceeded my merit and pretensions." In 1898 botanist
Edward Lee Greene Edward Lee Greene (August 20, 1843–November 10, 1915) was an American botanist known for his numerous publications including the two-part ''Landmarks of Botanical History'' and the describing of over 4,400 species of plants in the American W ...
published '' Rainiera'' which is a genus of
flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s in the daisy family,
Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...
from northwestern United States. Greene named the genus after Mount Rainier, where it had been found.


Citations


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rainier, Peter 1741 births 1808 deaths English people of French descent Huguenots Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Military personnel from Kent People from Sandwich, Kent Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War UK MPs 1807–1812