Constantine Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave

18th-century British explorer and naval officer

The Right Honourable The Lord Mulgrave FRS PC
Phipps around 1779
Birth name	Constantine John Phipps
Born	(1744-05-30)30 May 1744 Whitby, Yorkshire, England
Died	10 October 1792(1792-10-10) (aged 48) Liège, Liège Prince-Bishopric
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service / branch	Royal Navy
Service years	1759–1792
Rank	Captain
Commands	HMS Diligence HMS Terpsichore HMS Boreas HMS Racehorse HMS Ardent Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty HMS Courageux HMS Leviathan
Battles	Seven Years' War Capture of Belle Île Invasion of Martinique Siege of Havana American Revolutionary War First Battle of Ushant Second Battle of Ushant Affair of Fielding and Bylandt
Relations	Constantine Phipps (father)

Constantine John Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave FRS PC (30 May 1744 – 10 October 1792) was an English explorer and officer in the Royal Navy. He served during the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence, seeing action in a number of battles and engagements. Inheriting a title, he also went on to have a successful career in Parliament and occupied a number of political offices during his later years.

Family and early life

Phipps was born on 30 May 1744, the eldest son of Constantine Phipps, 1st Baron Mulgrave and his wife, Lepel Hervey, the eldest daughter of John 2nd Baron Hervey of Ickworth and Mary 'Molly' Lepel. Phipps attended Eton College, where he befriended Joseph Banks, the English naturalist, botanist, and later patron of the natural sciences.

Seven Years' War

In January 1759, he joined the 70-gun HMS Monmouth as a cadet under his uncle Captain Augustus Hervey during Hervey's 21-week watch on the French fleet in 1759. Phipps remained with his uncle on the latter's appointment to the 74-gun HMS Dragon in 1761, and was present at the British expedition against Martinique. His good service led to his promotion to lieutenant on 17 March 1762 by Sir George Rodney, and Phipps went on to serve in the siege of Havana.

He was further promoted on 24 November 1763 to command the 12-gun sloop HMS Diligence, moving to the 24-gun sixth rate Terpsichore on 20 June 1765. In 1766, he sailed to Newfoundland as lieutenant on HMS Niger under Captain Sir Thomas Adams. Joseph Banks accompanied him as ship's naturalist. From 1767 to 1768, Phipps commanded HMS Boreas in the English Channel.

Political career and command

Phipps was elected to Parliament in the 1768 general election as Member for the constituency of Lincoln. On 4 June 1773, Phipps set off from Deptford on a voyage towards the North Pole. He had two ships, the Racehorse and the Carcass. Phipps took with him Dr Charles Irving as naturalist and doctor accompanied by Olaudah Equiano, and Israel Lyons (1739–1775) as astronomer. The Carcass was commanded by Skeffington Lutwidge, while one of her midshipmen was a young Horatio Nelson.

They sailed beyond Svalbard to the Seven Islands, but were forced back by the ice and returned to Orford Ness on 17 September. During the voyage, Phipps was the first modern European to describe the polar bear and the ivory gull, which were included in his A Voyage towards the North Pole undertaken ... 1773 (1774).

On 13 September 1775, he succeeded his father as Baron Mulgrave in the Peerage of Ireland. He became MP for Huntingdon in 1777, and was also appointed as one of the Lords of the Admiralty. Continuing an active naval career, he commissioned the 74-gun HMS Courageux in 1778, and played a leading role in the Battle of Ushant on 27 July that year. Phipps led the attack on the 90-gun Ville de Paris, but the indecisive nature of the engagement meant that the French ship was able to escape.

Phipps returned to Britain and gave evidence at the subsequent court-martial, his evidence favouring Hugh Palliser. The Courageux remained under his command until 1781, with Phipps serving mostly in the Channel under Admirals Charles Hardy, Francis Geary, George Darby and Richard Howe.

In the action of 4 January 1781, he captured the 32-gun French frigate Minerve in heavy weather off Brest. The Courageux was paid off at the end of the American War of Independence, and Phipps went ashore, never to serve at sea again.

Later life

Phipps remained as MP for Huntingdon until 1784, when he became MP for Newark. In April that year, he became Paymaster of the Forces and on 18 May, he was appointed a commissioner for the affairs of India, and one of the Lords of Trade and Plantations, until being forced to resign in 1791 due to ill health.

In 1790, he was made Baron Mulgrave of Mulgrave in the County of York in the Peerage of Great Britain, thus entering the House of Lords. He also was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries. He once entertained his miners underground in the Blue John Caverns in Castleton, Derbyshire. The particular cavern where they all dined as his guests is now named after him.

He died at Liège on 10 October 1792. The title of Baron Mulgrave in the British peerage then became extinct, though his brother Henry Phipps succeeded him in the Irish barony.

Notes

The Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland; Or, The Ancient and Present State of the Nobility. Containing a Genealogical Account of the Respective Peers, Etc. W. Owen. 1790. p. 344.
Vincent, Benjamin (7 April 2020). Haydn ́s Dictionary of Dates. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 397. ISBN 978-3-8460-4795-8.
"PHIPPS, Hon. Constantine John (1744-92), of Mulgrave Castle, Yorks". historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
^ "Phipps, Constantine John" . Dictionary of National Biography. 1896. p. 231.

References

Polar exploration

Arctic

Ocean History Expeditions Research stations
Farthest North North Pole	Barentsz Heemskerck Hudson Marmaduke Carolus Parry North magnetic pole J. Ross J. C. Ross Abernethy Kane Hayes Polaris expedition Polaris C. F. Hall Bessels British Arctic Expedition HMS Alert Nares HMS Discovery Stephenson Markham Lady Franklin Bay Expedition Greely Lockwood Brainard *Nansen's Fram* expedition** Fram Nansen Johansen Sverdrup Jason Amedeo Andrée's balloon expedition S. A. Andrée F. Cook SS Roosevelt Peary Henson Sedov Byrd *Norge* Amundsen Nobile Wisting Riiser-Larsen Ellsworth *Italia* Nautilus Wilkins ANT-25 Chkalov Baydukov Belyakov Drifting ice stations NP-1 Papanin Shirshov E. Fyodorov Krenkel NP-36 NP-37 *Georgiy Sedov* Badygin Wiese USS Nautilus USS Skate Plaisted Herbert NS Arktika Barneo Arktika 2007 Mir submersibles Sagalevich Chilingarov
Iceland Greenland	Pytheas Brendan Papar Vikings Naddodd Garðar Ingólfr Norse colonization of North America Gunnbjörn Snæbjörn galti Erik the Red Christian IV's expeditions J. Hall Cunningham Lindenov C. Richardson Danish colonization Egede Scoresby Jason Nansen Sverdrup Peary Rasmussen
Northwest Passage Northern Canada	Cabot G. Corte-Real M. Corte-Real Frobisher Gilbert Davis Hudson Discovery Bylot Baffin Munk I. Fyodorov HMS Resolution J. Cook HMS Discovery Clerke Mackenzie Kotzebue J. Ross HMS Griper Parry HMS Hecla Lyon HMS Fury Hoppner Crozier J. C. Ross Coppermine expedition Franklin Back Dease Simpson HMS Blossom Beechey Franklin's lost expedition HMS Erebus HMS Terror Collinson Rae–Richardson expedition Rae J. Richardson Austin McClure expedition HMS Investigator McClure HMS Resolute Kellett Belcher Kennedy Bellot Isabel Inglefield 2nd Grinnell expedition USS Advance Kane Fox McClintock HMS Pandora Young Fram Sverdrup Gjøa Amundsen Rasmussen Karluk Stefansson Bartlett *St. Roch* H. Larsen Cowper
North East Passage Russian Arctic	Pomors Koch boats Willoughby Chancellor Barentsz Heemskerck Mangazeya Hudson Poole Siberian Cossacks Perfilyev Stadukhin Dezhnev Popov Ivanov Vagin Permyakov Great Northern Expedition Bering Chirikov Malygin Ovtsyn Minin V. Pronchishchev M. Pronchishcheva Chelyuskin Kh. Laptev D. Laptev Chichagov Lyakhov Billings Sannikov Gedenshtrom Wrangel Matyushkin Anjou Litke Lavrov Pakhtusov Tsivolko Middendorff Austro-Hungarian Expedition Weyprecht Payer Vega Expedition A. E. Nordenskiöld Palander Jeannette expedition USS Jeannette De Long Melville *Yermak* Makarov *Zarya* Toll Kolomeitsev Matisen Kolchak Sedov Rusanov expedition Rusanov Kuchin Brusilov expedition Sv. Anna Brusilov Albanov Konrad Wiese Nagórski *Taymyr* / *Vaygach* Vilkitsky *Maud* Amundsen AARI Samoylovich Begichev Urvantsev Sadko Ushakov Glavsevmorput Schmidt Aviaarktika Shevelev A. Sibiryakov Voronin Chelyuskin Krassin Gakkel Nuclear-powered icebreakers Lenin Arktika-class icebreaker

Antarctic

Continent History Expeditions
Antarctic/Southern Ocean	Roché Bouvet Kerguelen HMS Resolution J. Cook HMS Adventure Furneaux Smith San Telmo Vostok Bellingshausen Mirny Lazarev Bransfield Palmer Davis Weddell Morrell Astrolabe Dumont d'Urville United States Exploring Expedition USS Vincennes Wilkes USS Porpoise Ringgold Ross expedition HMS Erebus (J. C. Ross Abernethy) HMS Terror (Crozier) Cooper Challenger expedition HMS Challenger Nares Murray Jason C. A. Larsen
"Heroic Age"	Belgian Antarctic Expedition Belgica de Gerlache Lecointe Amundsen Cook Arctowski Racoviță Dobrowolski Southern Cross Southern Cross Borchgrevink Discovery Discovery Discovery Hut Gauss Gauss Drygalski Swedish Antarctic Expedition Antarctic O. Nordenskjöld C. A. Larsen Scottish Antarctic Expedition Bruce Scotia Orcadas Base Nimrod Expedition Nimrod French Antarctic Expeditions Pourquoi-Pas Charcot Japanese Antarctic Expedition Shirase Amundsen's South Pole expedition Fram Amundsen Framheim Polheim Terra Nova Terra Nova Scott Wilson E. R. Evans Crean Lashly Filchner Australasian Antarctic Expedition SY Aurora Mawson Far Eastern Party Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition Endurance Shackleton Wild *James Caird* Ross Sea party Mackintosh Shackleton–Rowett Expedition Quest
IPY · IGY Modern research	Christensen Byrd BANZARE BGLE Rymill New Swabia Ritscher Operation Tabarin Marr Operation Highjump Captain Arturo Prat Base British Antarctic Survey Operation Windmill Ketchum Ronne Expedition F. Ronne E. Ronne Schlossbach Operation Deep Freeze McMurdo Station Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition Hillary V. Fuchs Soviet Antarctic Expeditions 1st Somov Klenova Mirny 2nd Tryoshnikov 3rd Tolstikov Antarctic Treaty System Transglobe Expedition Fiennes Burton Lake Vostok Kapitsa
Farthest South South Pole	HMS Resolution J. Cook HMS Adventure Furneaux Weddell HMS Erebus J. C. Ross HMS Terror Crozier Southern Cross Borchgrevink Discovery Barne Nimrod Shackleton Wild Marshall Adams South magnetic pole Mawson David Mackay Amundsen's South Pole expedition Fram Amundsen Bjaaland Helmer Hassel Wisting Polheim Terra Nova Scott E. Evans Oates Wilson Bowers Cherry-Garrard Byrd Balchen McKinley Dufek Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station Hillary V. Fuchs Pole of Cold Vostok Station Pole of inaccessibility Pole of Inaccessibility research station Tolstikov Crary A. Fuchs Messner

v t e Royal Navy Arctic exploration
Expeditions	Phipps expedition (1773) Coppermine (1819) Mackenzie River (1825) Franklin (1845) Rae–Richardson (1848) McClure (1850) McClintock (1857) British (1875)
People	Edward Adams Sir Alexander Armstrong Pelham Aldrich Sir Horatio Austin Sir George Back Sir John Barrow Frederick Beechey Sir Edward Belcher David Buchan Sir Richard Collinson Samuel Cresswell Francis Crozier James Fitzjames Sir John Franklin William Hulme Hooper Henry Hoppner Sir Edward Inglefield Sir Henry Kellett Skeffington Lutwidge George Francis Lyon Rochfort Maguire Sir Albert Markham Sir Leopold McClintock Sir Robert McClure George Mecham Arthur Morrell Sir George Nares Sir Erasmus Ommanney Sherard Osborn Sir Edward Parry Constantine Phipps Bedford Pim Sir John Richardson Sir James Ross Sir John Ross Sir Edward Sabine Sir Henry Stephenson
Ships	Alert Assistance Blossom Carcass Discovery Enterprise Erebus Fury Griper Hecla Herald Investigator Racehorse Resolute Terror

Offices held by Constantine Phipps

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded byGeorge Monson Coningsby Sibthorpe	Member of Parliament for Lincoln 1768–1774 With: Thomas Scrope	Succeeded byViscount Lumley Robert Vyner
Preceded byWilliam Montagu George Wombwell	Member of Parliament for Huntingdon 1776–1784 With: George Wombwell 1776–1780 Sir Hugh Palliser, Bt 1780–1784	Succeeded bySir Walter Rawlinson Lancelot Brown
Preceded byHenry Clinton John Manners-Sutton	Member of Parliament for Newark 1784–1790 With: John Manners-Sutton	Succeeded byJohn Manners-Sutton William Crosbie
Political offices
Preceded byWilliam Wyndham Grenville	Paymaster of the Forces 1789–1791 With: Marquess of Graham	Succeeded byDudley Ryder Thomas Steele
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation	Baron Mulgrave 1790–1792	Extinct
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded byConstantine Phipps	Baron Mulgrave 1775–1792	Succeeded byHenry Phipps

Categories:

Misplaced Pages