Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Sir Richard Bickerton, 1st Baronet (23 June 172725 February 1792) was a British naval officer who finished his career as a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in 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 ...

and was ennobled as the first Baronet Bickerton of Upwood. He served in several naval engagements, and died

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 offi ...

in 1792. His son Richard Hussey Bickerton, who likewise rose to flag rank in the Royal Navy, succeeded to the baronetcy following his death.

Naval career

Richard Bickerton was born on 23 June 1727 in

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the United Kingd ...

, the third son of a Lieutenant in the

4th Dragoon Guards The 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Arran's Regiment of Cuirassiers. It was renamed as the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards in 1788 and service for two centuries, inc ...

. Educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

, he joined the navy in 1739 and served aboard , , ''St George'', , and , before being commissioned as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 8 February 1746 at the age of 18. He served as a Lieutenant aboard the 60-gun fourth rate ''Worcester'' in 1748. On 2 August 1758 he was appointed Master and Commander of the

fireship A fire ship or fireship is a large wooden vessel set on fire to be used against enemy ships during a ramming attack or similar maneuver. Fireships were used to great effect against wooden ships throughout naval military history up until the adv ...

''Etna'', and then on 21 August 1759 promoted to the rank of Captain and appointed to command the 74-gun third rate ''Culloden''. However, he was swiftly removed into the much smaller 20-gun sixth rate ''Glasgow'', in command of which he sailed on 25 April 1760 for 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 ...

. Returning to England in 1761, he commanded the similar 20-gun ''Lively'' for a short while. In 1767 Bickerton was appointed to command the 30-gun fifth rate ''Renown'', again for employment to the West Indies. At the start of 1771 he took command of the 74-gun third rate ''Marlborough'', remaining in this post for nearly three years. He was knighted on 24 June 1773. He subsequently commanded the

Royal yacht A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...

''Princess Augusta'', and from October 1776 the 74-gun third rate ''Terrible''; while aboard the latter he captured the American privateer ''Rising States'' on 15 April 1777 while cruising off

Ushant Ushant (; , ; , ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and in medieval times, Léon. In lower tiers of government, it is a commune in t ...

. He was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of Upwood on 29 May 1778, and while still commanding the ''Terrible'' distinguished himself at the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778. In early 1780 Bickerton took command of the new 74-gun ''Fortitude'', and later was re-appointed to the Royal yacht ''Princess Augusta'', before hoisting his broad pendant — as a

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

— aboard the 80-gun ''Gibraltar'' in January 1782. He sailed from England on 6 February 1782 in command of a squadron of six third rates and two frigates, escorting a convoy to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In the Indian Ocean, he joined the fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, and took part in the Battle of Cuddalore on 20 June 1783. Returning to England upon the conclusion of hostilities, he hoisted his broad pendant aboard the 50-gun fourth rate ''Jupiter'' for a brief period as Commander-in-Chief on the Leeward Islands Station in 1786. Bickerton reached flag rank on 24 September 1787, when he was appointed Rear Admiral of the Blue, and was promoted to Rear Admiral of the White on 21 September 1790, at that time flying his flag aboard the 90-gun second rate ''Impregnable''. In the General Election of 1790, he was elected to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

as Member of Parliament for Rochester in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, retaining that seat until his death from an apoplectic fit on 25 September 1792. At the time of his death he was

, flying his flag in the 98-gun second rate ''St. George''.

Family

In 1758 Bickerton had married Mary Anne Hussey, and the marriage produced two sons and two daughters, the former including Richard Hussey Bickerton, an equally successful naval officer who became the 2nd Baronet upon his father's death, and rose even further in the Navy's ranks to finish as Admiral of the Red.

Naval career

Family

References

Further reading