Samuel Barrington

Admiral Samuel Barrington (1729 – 16 August 1800) was a British admiral.

Samuel Barrington
Rear-Admiral Barrington
Born	1729
Died	16 August 1800 (aged 70–71)
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1740–90
Rank	Rear admiral
Commands held	Leeward Islands Station
Relations	John Shute Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington (father)

Samuel was the fourth son of John Shute Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington of Beckett Hall at Shrivenham in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). He entered the Royal Navy at the age of 11, and by 1747 had been promoted to post captain. He was lucky in his connections and lucky to join the Navy at the right time, and he also proved to be a good officer.

Early career

He went to sea in 1740. By 1745 he had passed for lieutenant and was confirmed in that rank in October 1746. His elder brother William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington was then a junior Admiralty Lord, and pestered the First Lord of the Admiralty (at the time a civilian) to promote Samuel to the rank of master and commander, which was done. Next year, at the age of eighteen, he was made post-captain.[1]

Seven Years War

He was in continuous service during the peace of 1748–56, and on the outbreak of the Seven Years' War served with Admiral Edward Hawke in the Basque Roads in command of HMS Achilles.

Barrington's action at St Lucia- his squadron at anchor off the Cul de Sac, on 16 December 1778

In 1759 Achilles captured a powerful French privateer, after two hours’ fighting. In the Havre-de-Grace expedition of the same year Barrington's ship carried the flag of Rear-Admiral George Brydges Rodney, and in 1760 sailed with John Byron to destroy the Louisbourg fortifications. At the peace in 1763 Barrington had been almost continuously afloat for twenty-two years.

He was next appointed in 1768 to the frigate HMS Venus as governor to the Duke of Cumberland, who remained with him in all ranks from midshipman to rear admiral.

Marble monument by John Flaxman to Rear Admiral Barrington in St. Andrew's parish church, Shrivenham

Between 1772 and 1775 He accompanied Captain John Jervis to Russia where they spent time in St. Petersburg and inspected the arsenal and dockyards at Kronstadt and took a tour of the yacht designed by Sir Charles Knowles for Catherine the Great. The pair continued on to Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany. All the while Jervis and Barrington made notes on defences, harbour charts and safe anchorages. They came home via the Netherlands, the two once again making extensive studies of the area and took copious notes describing any useful information. In 1778 Barrington became commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station.[2]

Barrington and Jervis then took a private cruise along the Channel coast calling at various harbours including Brest and making and improving their charts as they went. Barrington and Jervis, later Earl St. Vincent remained firm friends throughout their lives. On his return home, Barrington was offered, but declined, the command of the Channel fleet.

Barrington's last active service was the relief of Gibraltar in October 1782. As admiral he flew his flag for a short time in 1790, but did not serve in the French Revolutionary Wars. He died in August 1800.

Santa Fe Island, also called Barrington Island, in the Galapagos was named after him.

See also

• * The Barrington papers: selected from the letters and papers of Admiral the Hon. Samuel Barrington, edited by David Bonner-Smith. Publications of the Navy Records Society, vols. 77, 81. ([London]: Printed for the Navy Records Society, 1937–41).

References

1. The Command of the Ocean. A naval history of Britain 1649-1815. Nicholas A. M. Rodger. Penguin, 2006, pages 389-390.
2. Haydn, Joseph (13 June 2008). The Book of Dignities: Containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire ... from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time ... Together with the Sovereigns and Rulers of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain Original 1851 Digitized by the University of Michigan. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 279.

Sources

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Barrington, Samuel" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. which in turn cites:
  • Ralfe, Naval Biographies, i. 120.
  • Charnock, Biographia Navalis, vi. 10.

External links

Samuel Barrington Letterbooks. James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.