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Admiral of the FleetSir Charles PoleBt GCB
Charles Morice Pole (John Francis Rigaud, 1781)
Governor of the Bank of England
In office 1820–1822
Preceded by	George Dorrien
Succeeded by	John Bowden
Personal details
Born	(1757-01-18)18 January 1757
Died	6 September 1830(1830-09-06) (aged 73) Aldenham Abbey, Hertfordshire
Occupation	Royal Navy Officer Colonial Governor Banker
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Navy
Years of service	1770–1806
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands	HMS Cormorant HMS Britannia HMS Hussar HMS Success HMS Crown HMS Melampus HMS Illustrious HMS Colossus Baltic Fleet
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Morice Pole, 1st Baronet GCB (18 January 1757 – 6 September 1830) was a Royal Navy officer, colonial administrator and politician. As a junior officer he saw action at the siege of Pondicherry in India during the American Revolutionary War. After taking command of the fifth-rate HMS Success he captured and then destroyed the Spanish frigate Santa Catalina in the Strait of Gibraltar in the action of 16 March 1782 later in that War.

After capturing the French privateer Vanneau in June 1793, Pole took part in the siege of Toulon at an early stage of the French Revolutionary Wars. He went on to be governor and commander-in-chief of Newfoundland and then commanded the Baltic Fleet later in the War. He also served as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty on the Admiralty Board led by Viscount Howick during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1820 to 1822, he served as Governor of the Bank of England.

Early career

Born the second son of Reginald Pole and Anne Pole (née Buller), Pole was educated at Plympton Grammar School before joining the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth in January 1770. He was appointed to the fifth-rate HMS Thames in 1772 and then transferred to the fourth-rate HMS Salisbury on the East Indies Station in December 1773. Promoted to lieutenant on 26 June 1777, he was assigned to the sixth-rate HMS Seahorse and then transferred to the fourth-rate HMS Rippon in 1778 and saw action at the siege of Pondicherry in India in October 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. He then became commanding officer of the sloop HMS Cormorant and was sent home with the despatches.

Promoted to captain on 22 March 1779, Pole became commanding officer of the first-rate HMS Britannia, flagship of Rear Admiral George Darby, Second-in-Command of the Channel Squadron. He transferred to the command of the sixth-rate HMS Hussar in 1780 which ran aground off Hell Gate although he was acquitted at the subsequent court-martial. He was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Success and in her, while undertaking an escort mission in support of the armed store-ship HMS Vernon, captured and then destroyed the Spanish frigate Santa Catalina in the Strait of Gibraltar in the action of 16 March 1782.

Following the end of the War, Pole was given command of the third-rate HMS Crown before becoming Groom of the Bedchamber to the Duke of Clarence on 1 June 1789. He became commanding officer of the fifth-rate HMS Melampus in May 1790, in which he watched the French fleet at Brest, as a result of the Nootka Crisis.

While in command of HMS Melampus, Pole was involved in a fiery conflict between Lieutenant Richard Hancorn and Midshipman William Butterfield. Upon joining Melampus, Hancorn provoked the anger of the midshipmen by handing out harsh and unfair punishments for minor transgressions. Butterfield, in particular, was lashed to a grating and pulled to the top of the mizzen in a public display, because he had engaged in his ordinary duties without express permission. An explosive incident occurred soon after when Hancorn was followed by Butterfield and four other midshipmen and found himself challenged to five separate fights. He responded by reminding them that as a superior officer such behaviour was totally reprehensible, finally vacating the situation and prompting a further torrent of insults and hisses. Pole reported the incident to Vice-Admiral Robert Roddam, from whom it was then referred to the Attorney-General. In June 1791, the offending midshipmen were ordered to deliver a sincere apology to Hancorn.

Pole became commanding officer of the third-rate HMS Illustrious in 1791 and was transferred to the command of the third-rate HMS Colossus in the Mediterranean Fleet in early 1793 and, after capturing the French privateer Vanneau in June 1793, took part in the siege of Toulon at an early stage of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Senior command

Promoted to rear-admiral on 1 June 1795, Pole became Second-in-Command of the West Indies Station with his flag in HMS Colossus. He went on to be Captain of the Fleet in the Channel Squadron under Lord Bridport in March 1797. It fell to Pole to advise the Admiralty about the strikes by sailors demanding better pay and conditions which came to be known as the Spithead mutiny. Pole returned to Spithead with negotiators from the Admiralty but talks broke down when Admiral Sir Alan Gardner threatened to hang all the mutineers.

Pole became governor and commander-in-chief of Newfoundland on 3 June 1800: following his appointment he focussed on dealing with a serious outbreak of smallpox that had taken place, deploying the latest practices in inoculation and establishing a "Committee for the Relief of the Poor". Promoted to vice-admiral on 1 January 1801, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet, with his flag in the second-rate HMS St George in June 1801.

Pole was created a baronet on 18 August 1801 and then became Member of Parliament for Newark in 1802. In December 1802 he was asked to chair a commission of naval inquiry into abuses in the civil administration which reported in May 1803.

Promoted to full admiral on 9 November 1805, Pole was present at the funeral of Lord Nelson in January 1806. He became a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty on the Admiralty Board led by Viscount Howick in February 1806. He was also elected Member of Parliament for Plymouth in November 1806. However he stood down as a Lord Commissioner when the Second Portland Ministry took power in March 1807: in Parliament he became increasingly critical of the new Government particularly in relation to their handling of the raid on Copenhagen in 1807 (which led to the Anglo-Russian War) and the Convention of Sintra in 1808 (which allowed the French to evacuate their troops from Portugal).

Pole was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 12 April 1815 and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 20 April 1818. He went on to be Deputy Governor of the Bank of England in 1818 and Governor of the Bank of England in 1820. He became Sheriff of Hertfordshire in November 1824, and having been promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 22 July 1830, he died at his home, Aldenham Abbey, on 6 September 1830.

Family

In 1792 Pole married Henrietta Goddard; they had two daughters.

See also

• Governors of Newfoundland
• List of people from Newfoundland and Labrador

References

1. ^ Crimmin, P. K. (2004). "Sir Charles Pole, 1st Baronet". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22444. Retrieved 7 April 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
2. ^ Heathcote, p. 211
3. "No. 13102". The London Gazette. 2 June 1789. p. 417.
4. ^ Hiscocks, Richard (9 October 2018). "The Case of the Tyrannical Lieutenant Hancorn of the Melampus – June 1790". More than Nelson. Web and Prosper. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
5.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Royal Naval Biography/Butterfield, William". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
6. ^ Heathcote, p. 212
7. "Sir Charles Pole, 1st Baronet". Government House, Newfoundland. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
8. "No. 15324". The London Gazette. 30 December 1800. p. 9.
9. "No. 15397". The London Gazette. 15 August 1801. p. 1006.
10. "No. 15859". The London Gazette. 5 November 1805. p. 1373.
11. "No. 15881". The London Gazette. 14 January 1806. p. 59.
12. "Sainty, JC, Lord High Admiral and Commissioners of the Admiralty 1660-1870', Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4: Admiralty Officials 1660-1870 (1975), pp. 18-31". Retrieved 4 September 2009.
13. "No. 15975". The London Gazette. 15 November 1806. p. 1496.
14. "No. 17004". The London Gazette. 18 April 1815. p. 725.
15. "No. 17334". The London Gazette. 21 February 1818. p. 352.
16. "Governors". Bank of England. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
17. "No. 18079". The London Gazette. 13 November 1824. p. 1858.
18. "No. 18709". The London Gazette. 23 July 1830. p. 1539.

Sources

• Heathcote, Tony (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 – 1995. Pen & Sword. ISBN 0-85052-835-6.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Charles Pole

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded byMark Wood and Henry Willoughby	Member of Parliament for Newark 1802–1806 With: Henry Willoughby	Succeeded byStapleton Cotton and Henry Willoughby
Preceded byWilliam Elford Thomas Tyrwhitt	Member of Parliament for Plymouth 1806–1818 With: Thomas Tyrwhitt to 1812 Colonel Benjamin Bloomfield 1812 Sir William Congreve from 1812	Succeeded bySir Thomas Byam Martin Sir William Congreve
Court offices
Preceded byEarl of Mount Charles	Master of the Robes 1830	Succeeded bySir George Seymour
Political offices
Preceded byWilliam Waldegrave	Commodore Governor of Newfoundland 1800–1801	Succeeded byJames Gambier
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of the Navy) 1801–1830	Extinct
Preceded bySynge baronets	Pole baronets of the Navy 12 September 1801	Succeeded byFerguson baronets

v t e Lieutenant-Governors and Governors of Newfoundland
Proprietary Governors (1610–1660)	Guy Mason Hayman Whitbourne Tanfield Wynne Aston Calvert Baltimore Hill Kirke Treworgie
French Governors of Plaisance (1655–1713)	de Kéréon Gargot Du Perron Bellot Palme Pioppe Parat Louis de Pastour de Costebelle de Brouillan de Monic de Subercase Philippe Pastour de Costebelle
Lieutenant-governors of Placentia (1713–1770)	Moody Purcell Gledhill Cope Hamilton Goreham
Commodore-Governors (1729–1825)	Osborn Clinton Falkingham Muskerry Lee Vanbrugh Medley Smith Byng Smith Hardy Edwards Douglas Watson Rodney Drake Bonfoy Dorrill Edwards Webb Graves Palliser Byron Shuldham Duff Montagu Edwards Campbell Elliot Milbanke King Wallace Waldegrave Pole Gambier Gower Holloway Duckworth Keats Pickmore Hamilton
Civil Governors (1825–1855)	Cochrane Prescott Harvey Law Le Marchant Hamilton
Colonial Governors (1855–1907)	Darling Bannerman Musgrave Hill Glover Maxse Glover Des Vœux Blake O'Brien Murray McCallum Boyle MacGregor
Dominion Governors (1907–1934)	MacGregor Williams Davidson Harris Allardyce Middleton Anderson
Commission Governors (1934–1949)	Anderson Walwyn Macdonald
Lieutenant Governors (1949–present)	Walsh Outerbridge Macpherson O'Dea Harnum Winter Paddon McGrath Russell House Roberts Crosbie Fagan Foote Aylward

• 1757 births
• 1830 deaths
• Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
• Royal Navy admirals of the fleet
• Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
• Lords of the Admiralty
• Governors of Newfoundland Colony
• Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Plymouth
• UK MPs 1806–1807
• UK MPs 1807–1812
• UK MPs 1812–1818
• Governors of the Bank of England
• Fellows of the Royal Society
• Deputy governors of the Bank of England