Admiral Robert Honyman ( 1765 – 31 July 1848) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

admiral in the British

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 F ...

who served in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

and in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. A native of

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, he also held office for ten years as a member of parliament (MP) for Orkney and Shetland.

Early life and family

Honyman was born in about 1765, the oldest son of Patrick Honyman of

Graemsay Graemsay () is an island in the western approaches to Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The island has two lighthouses. Graemsay lies within the parish of Stromness. Geography and geology Graemsay lies between Hoy and Stromness ...

, Orkney. His mother Margaret, a daughter of Patrick Sinclair of Durwin, was his father's second wife. His older half-brother

William Honyman, Lord Armadale Sir William Honyman, 1st Baronet (December 1756 – 5 June 1835), also known by his judicial title Lord Armadale, was a Scottish landowner, and judge from Orkney. On his lands in Sutherland he was one of the first landlords to evict tenants in o ...

was a Lord of Justiciary. The family claimed maternal descent from Sir Robert Stewart, an illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland. He married before 1808 Margaret Henrietta Knight, the granddaughter of Admiral Sir John Knight. They had one son and one daughter.

Royal Navy

Honyman joined the Royal Navy in 1782, becoming 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 Afr ...

in 1783, and being 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 sub ...

in 1790. While serving under Captain Theophilus Jones on in 1796, he was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

, and commanded the

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 ...

''Tsiphone'' in 1797 when she captured the French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s ''Le Cerf Volant'' and ''Le Prospere''. He was promoted to post-captain in December 1798. In 1800 Honynman took command of , initially on service 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 ...

. He sailed ''Garland'' to the Caribbean Sea in June 1801, bringing Rear-Admiral Robert Montagu to Jamaica, where the ship was wrecked the following year. Honyman returned to England in October 1802 in command of . In early 1803 he took command of the 38-gun frigate , taking part in several engagements of the

. In 1806 Honyman took ''Leda'' on

Sir Home Popham Rear Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham, KCB, KCH (12 October 1762 – 20 September 1820), was a Royal Navy commander who saw service against the French during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is remembered for his scientific accomplishme ...

's squadron in the occupation of the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

, and crossed the South Atlantic to take part in the unsuccessful invasion of the Río de la Plata. ''Leda'' returned to England in late 1807, and on 31 January 1808 she was wrecked in a storm near the entrance to

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( cy, Aberdaugleddau, meaning "mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau") is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that ha ...

. Honyman was

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of me ...

led for the loss of his ship, but he and his crew acquitted of all blame. Honyman then commanded the 64-gun , and two successive 74-gun ships and . He retired from active service in the navy in 1816, and was promoted to Rear Admiral of the Blue in 1825, Vice Admiral of the Blue in 1837, and full

Admiral of the Blue The Admiral of the Blue was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Admiral of the White (see order of precedence below). From 1688 to 1805 this rank was in order of precedence third; after 1805 ...

in 1847.

Parliament

In the 1780s, Honyman's father Patrick had passed the family estates to Robert's older half-brother

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French 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 conq ...

, a successful lawyer whose career had advanced under the patronage of the

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

minister Henry Dundas (later Lord Melville). Orkney's electoral politics were in flux, as William expanded challenged the power of the previously dominant family of Sir Lawrence Dundas of Kerse, who in 1766 had bought out the

Earl of Morton The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton. ...

's estates and privileges in Orkney. Sir Lawrence's son Sir Thomas, who succeeded his father in 1781, had neglected his Orkney estates and also fallen out with the Balfours of Trenabie. Sir Thomas's cousin Colonel Thomas Dundas had won the Orkney and Shetland seat in 1784. However at the 1790 election, the Balfours and Honymans combined to oust Col Thomas, electing John Balfour by 19 votes to Dundas's 13. However, Balfour felt let down by the lack of the government patronage which he had expected in return for his support, and refused to stand again. After much negotiation, William Honyman put forward Robert, who was returned unopposed. At the next election, in 1802 Robert was again returned unopposed in William's interest, this time in his absence. Robert was on active service with the navy for nearly all his decade in Parliament, and appears to have never voted or spoken in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. He stood down at the 1806 election, when his nephew Robert Honyman (Sir William's oldest son) was elected unopposed.

Death

Honyman died in Paris on 31 July 1848.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Honyman, Robert 1760s births 1848 deaths People from Orkney Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 Robert I Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Orkney and Shetland