Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham

(Redirected from Sir Charles Middleton) British admiral, politician and abolitionist (1726–1813)

Admiral The Right HonourableThe Lord BarhamPC
Portrait by Isaac Pocock

Member of Parliament for Rochester
In office 1784–1790
Preceded by	George Finch-Hatton
Succeeded by	George Best

Personal details
Born	14 October 1726 Leith, Midlothian, Scotland
Died	17 June 1813(1813-06-17) (aged 86) Barham Court, Teston, Kent, England
Known for	Abolitionism
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Navy
Years of service	1741–1813
Rank	Admiral
Commands	HMS Arundel HMS Emerald HMS Adventure
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars

Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, PC (14 October 1726 – 17 June 1813) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action during the Seven Years' War. Middleton was given command of a guardship at the Nore, a Royal Navy anchorage in the Thames Estuary, at the start of the American War of Independence, and was subsequently appointed Comptroller of the Navy. He went on to be First Naval Lord and then First Lord of the Admiralty.

Early life

Charles Middleton was born at Leith, Midlothian to Robert, a customs collector of Bo'ness, Linlithgowshire, and Helen, daughter of Captain Charles Dundas RN and granddaughter of Sir James Dundas of Arniston. He was a nephew of Brigadier-General John Middleton (1678–1739), a grandson of George Middleton DD, and a great-grandson of Alexander Middleton (younger brother of John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton), the last two having served as Principal of King's College, Aberdeen.

Marriage and family

On 21 December 1761, Charles married Margaret Gambier (c.1731 – 10 October 1792), daughter of James Gambier and Margaret Mead, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, London. Margaret was the sister of Vice-Admiral James Gambier (1723–1789) and a niece of Captain Mead, captain of the Sandwich. Margaret's first encounter with Charles was aboard the Sandwich some twenty years earlier. Margaret later moved to Teston in Kent, to be close to her friend Elizabeth Bouverie. After their marriage, Charles and Margaret made their home at Barham Court in Teston where they lived until their respective deaths. Charles and Margaret had one daughter, Diana, later Diana Noel, 2nd Baroness Barham, born 18 September 1762.

Charles and Margaret also raised Margaret's nephew, James, later James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, born 13 October 1756.

In 1786, Charles and Margaret adopted Charles's nephew Robert Gambier Middleton (November 1774 – 21 August 1882), the eldest son of Charles's elder brother Captain George Middleton (1724–1794) and Elizabeth Wilson. Robert Gambier Middleton attained the rank of Rear-Admiral on 9 June 1832.

Naval career

Middleton entered the Royal Navy in 1741 as captain's servant aboard HMS Sandwich and HMS Duke, and later served aboard HMS Flamborough as midshipman and master's mate. He became lieutenant in 1745, serving aboard the frigate HMS Chesterfield, after 1748 on the west Africa station.

During the Seven Years' War, from 1754, Middleton was stationed aboard HMS Anson during her apprehension and capture of two French ships at Louisbourg, after which he was stationed in the Leeward Islands. In January 1757, an incident over rum rations, during which Middleton lost his temper and physically attacked a sailor ended with the sailor being court martialled and Middleton being transferred and promoted to command of the sloop HMS Speaker.

Promoted to post-captain on 22 May 1758, Middleton was given command of the frigate HMS Arundel. In 1761, while in command of HMS Emerald, he distinguished himself in the West Indies, taking sixteen French ships and several privateers, and received the gratitude of the merchants in the British colony of Barbados. From March 1762 Middleton took command of the frigate Adventure, patrolling the coast of Normandy.

In 1763, after service aboard the Adventure, Charles moved to join Margaret Gambier, whom he had married in December 1761, at Teston, and for the next twelve years, he farmed the land belonging to Mrs Bouverie, taking on the role of a country gentleman.

In 1775, at the outbreak of the American War of Independence, Middleton was given a guardship at the Nore, a Royal Navy anchorage in the Thames Estuary, and was subsequently appointed Comptroller of the Navy in 1778, a post he held for twelve years. In 1781 was created a baronet, with a special remainder, failing any male issue, to his son in law, Gerard Noel.

"I find politics have got too great a hold on for me to withstand it ...
I shall contend no more for the public, having raised a nest of hornets already by so doing. I trust those who follow me will have more weight than I have had, and influence ministers to correct these evils."

— Extract from an unsent letter to John Montagu, First Lord of the Admiralty in 1786. Middleton resigned his Navy Board positions in 1790.

In 1784, Sir Charles Middleton was elected Tory Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester, a seat he held for six years, and on 24 September 1787 he was promoted rear admiral. By 1786 he had become disillusioned with his role as Comptroller of the Navy, seeing it as beset by internal politics between the Admiralty and the Navy Board. In 1786 he prepared a letter to the First Lord of the Admiralty indicating he would "contend no more for the public," and urging the appointment of a successor who could "have more weight than I have had, and influence ministers to correct these evils." The letter was never sent, but Middleton resigned his position in 1790 and effectively retired from naval affairs.

Promotions based on seniority continued to be received, despite Middleton's retirement from active service. On 1 February 1793 he was promoted to vice admiral, and in May 1794 he was appointed to the Board of Admiralty. He became First Naval Lord on 7 March 1795 and was promoted to full admiral on 1 June 1795. He was finally, in May 1805 (at the age of 79), appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. He was also created Baron Barham, of Barham Court and Teston in the County of Kent, with a special remainder, failing male issue, to his only child, his daughter, Diana Noel, 2nd Baroness Barham, and her male heirs. He resigned office in 1806 and died seven years later, aged 86, at his home of Barham Court.

Abolitionist

In addition to his service in the Royal Navy, Middleton played a crucial role in the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. He had been influenced by a pamphlet written by Rev. James Ramsay, who served as a surgeon under Middleton aboard HMS Arundel in the West Indies, but later took holy orders and served on the Caribbean island of St Christopher (now St Kitts), where he observed first-hand the treatment of slaves. In 1777, exhausted by the continuing conflict with influential planters and businessmen, Ramsay returned to Britain and briefly lived with Sir Charles and Lady Middleton at Teston. He later became vicar of Teston and rector of Nettlestead, Kent, the livings being in the gift of Middleton.

Ramsay's pamphlet Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies, published in 1784, especially affected Lady Middleton. Feeling inadequate to take up the issue of the slave trade in Parliament himself, and knowing that it would be a long, hard battle, Sir Charles Middleton suggested the young Member of Parliament William Wilberforce as the one who might be persuaded to take up the cause. (Whether this was the first time that the issue had been suggested to Wilberforce is debatable). In 1787 Wilberforce was introduced to James Ramsay and Thomas Clarkson at Teston, as well as meeting the Testonites, a growing group of supporters of abolition which also included Edward Eliot, Hannah More, the evangelical writer and philanthropist, and Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London.

Clarkson had first made public his desire to spend his life fighting for emancipation at Middleton's home, Barham Court, overlooking the River Medway at Teston, Kent. In order to make a case for abolishing the slave trade, Clarkson did much research over many years, gathering evidence by interviewing thousands of sailors who had been involved in the slave trade.

Barham Court was effectively used for planning the campaign by Lord and Lady Barham, with numerous meetings and strategy sessions attended by Wilberforce, Clarkson, Eliot and Porteus before presenting legislation to Parliament. While Middleton never played a direct role in the effort to abolish the slave trade (finally accomplished in 1807) and slavery itself (in 1833) he played a very important part as a behind the scenes facilitator. His efforts were motivated by his evangelical faith.

Legacy

A key leader in the Royal Navy (1778–1807), he was an austere but politically liberal public official. As Comptroller of the Navy, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Commissioner, his success in handling the problems of supply, construction, inefficiency, and insubordination made a critical contribution to Britain's naval victories in the Napoleonic wars, according to Bernard Pool.

Three warships of the Royal Navy have been named Barham in honour of Middleton including the battleship Barham launched in 1914. A fourth was planned but never completed. Barham Building at HMS Nelson, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth), is also named after Middleton.

Fictional portrayals

Barham is a character in Treason's Tide by Robert Wilton, set during the summer of 1805. He is also portrayed by the simple moniker of Admiral Barham in Naomi Novik's alternative history fiction series, Temeraire, in the second novel, Throne of Jade, (published with Del Rey in 2006) in which he is depicted as arbitrating a dispute between the Chinese delegation and the British government over the possible return of Captain William Laurence's dragon Temeraire to China. His political relationship with William Wilberforce and the Abolitionist movement in Britain is also referenced in the work.

References

Laughton, J. K. (1894). "Middleton, Charles (1726–1813)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 37. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Sir James Balfour Paul ed., The Scots Peerage, volume VI (Edinburgh, 1909) pages 177-180.
Mike, Rendell (8 March 2016). "To mark International Women's Day – a reminder of the achievements of Margaret Gambier -a.k.a. Lady Middleton". mikerendell.com. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
"Barham Court (Barham House) (Teston Hall), Teston". Dicamillo. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
^ "Charles Middleton". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18666. Retrieved 22 July 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Blake, Richard C. (2004). "Gambier, James, Baron Gambier (1756–1833)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10321. Retrieved 18 July 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Biscoe, Anna Catherine (1876). The Earles of Middleton - Lords of Clermont and of Fettercairn, and the Middleton Family (1876 ed.). London: Henry S. King & Co. p. 387. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
^ Knight, R.J.B. (1971). "Sandwich, Middleton and Dockyard Appointments". The Mariner's Mirror. 57 (2): 192. doi:10.1080/00253359.1971.10658594.
"No. 12924". The London Gazette. 25 September 1787. p. 446.
"No. 13498". The London Gazette. 29 January 1793. p. 89.
Rodger 1979, p. 69.
"Middleton, Earls of" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 415.
"Charles Middleton 1st Lord Barham". More than Nelson. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
"Abolition". BBC. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
"James Ramsay". Spartacus. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
^ "Kent and the Abolition of the Slave Trade 1760s-1807" (PDF). University College London. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
"The Clapham Sect and the abolition of the slave trade". Evangelical Times. July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
Pool, 1965.
"HMS Barham". Naval History. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
"Barham Building, HMS Nelson". geography. Geograph Project Limited. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
Wilton, Robert (2011). Treason's Tide. Corvus. ISBN 978-1848878013.
Novik, Naomi (2006). Throne of Jade. New York: Del Rey. pp. 1–64. ISBN 978-0007258727.

Sources

Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Offices of State. Lavenham: T. Dalton Ltd. ISBN 0900963948.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Barham

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded byGeorge Finch-Hatton Robert Gregory	Member of Parliament for Rochester 1784–1790 With: Nathaniel Smith	Succeeded byGeorge Best Sir Richard Bickerton, Bt
Military offices
Preceded byMaurice Suckling	Comptroller of the Navy 1778–1790	Succeeded bySir Henry Martin
Preceded byLord Hood	First Naval Lord March 1795–November 1795	Succeeded byJames Gambier
Preceded byThe Viscount Melville	First Lord of the Admiralty 1805–1806	Succeeded byViscount Howick
Baronetage of Great Britain
New creation	Baronet (of The Navy) 1781–1813	Succeeded byGerard Noel
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Barham 1805–1813	Succeeded byDiana Noel

v t e First Lords of the Admiralty
of England	The Earl of Portland The Earl of Lindsey William Juxon, Bishop of Lincoln The Earl of Northumberland The Lord Cottington Sir Henry Capell The Earl of Nottingham The Earl of Torrington The Earl of Pembroke The Lord Cornwallis The Viscount Falkland The Earl of Orford The Earl of Bridgewater The Earl of Pembroke
of Great Britain	The Earl of Orford Sir John Leake The Earl of Strafford The Earl of Orford The Earl of Berkeley The Viscount Torrington Sir Charles Wager The Earl of Winchilsea The Duke of Bedford The Earl of Sandwich The Lord Anson The Earl Temple The Earl of Winchilsea The Lord Anson The Earl of Halifax George Grenville The Earl of Sandwich The Earl of Egmont Sir Charles Saunders Sir Edward Hawke The Earl of Sandwich The Viscount Keppel The Viscount Howe The Viscount Keppel The Viscount Howe The Earl of Chatham The Earl Spencer
of the United Kingdom	The Earl of St Vincent The Viscount Melville The Lord Barham Viscount Howick Thomas Grenville The Lord Mulgrave Charles Philip Yorke The Viscount Melville The Duke of Clarence The Viscount Melville Sir James Graham, Bt The Lord Auckland The Earl de Grey The Lord Auckland The Earl of Minto The Earl of Haddington The Earl of Ellenborough The Earl of Auckland Sir Francis Baring, Bt The Duke of Northumberland Sir James Graham, Bt Sir Charles Wood, Bt Sir John Pakington, Bt The Duke of Somerset Sir John Pakington, Bt Henry Lowry-Corry Hugh Childers George Goschen George Ward Hunt William Henry Smith The Earl of Northbrook Lord George Hamilton The Marquess of Ripon Lord George Hamilton The Earl Spencer George Goschen The Earl of Selborne The Earl Cawdor The Lord Tweedmouth Reginald McKenna Winston Churchill Arthur Balfour Sir Edward Carson Sir Eric Geddes Walter Long The Viscount Lee of Fareham Wood Anderson Leo Amery The Viscount Chelmsford The Viscount Bridgeman A. V. Alexander Sir Austen Chamberlain The Viscount Monsell Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt Duff Cooper The Earl Stanhope Winston Churchill A. V. Alexander Brendan Bracken A. V. Alexander The Viscount Hall Lord Pakenham Viscount Cilcennin The Viscount Hailsham The Earl of Selkirk The Lord Carrington The Earl Jellicoe

v t e First Sea Lords of the Royal Navy
Senior Naval Lords (1689–1771)	Arthur Herbert Sir John Chicheley Edward Russell Henry Priestman Earl of Orford Sir George Rooke Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Matthew Aylmer Sir George Byng Sir John Jennings Sir John Norris Sir Charles Wager Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Harry Powlett Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Vere Beauclerk Lord Anson Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen John Forbes Earl Howe Sir Charles Saunders Augustus Keppel Sir Peircy Brett Sir Francis Holburne
First Naval Lords (1771–1904)	Augustus Hervey Sir Hugh Palliser Robert Man George Darby Sir Robert Harland Sir Hugh Pigot John Leveson-Gower Lord Hood Sir Charles Middleton James Gambier Sir Thomas Troubridge James Gambier John Markham James Gambier Sir Richard Bickerton William Domett Sir Joseph Yorke Sir Graham Moore Sir William Johnstone Hope Sir George Cockburn Sir Thomas Hardy The Hon. George Dundas Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir William Parker Sir Charles Adam Sir James Dundas The Hon. Maurice Berkeley Hyde Parker The Hon. Maurice Berkeley The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas William Martin The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey Sir Alexander Milne Sir Sydney Dacres Sir Alexander Milne Sir Hastings Yelverton Sir George Wellesley Sir Astley Key Sir Arthur Hood Lord John Hay Sir Arthur Hood Sir Richard Hamilton Sir Anthony Hoskins Sir Frederick Richards Lord Walter Kerr
First Sea Lords (1904–present)	Sir John Fisher Sir Arthur Wilson Sir Francis Bridgeman Prince Louis of Battenberg The Lord Fisher Sir Henry Jackson Sir John Jellicoe Sir Rosslyn Wemyss The Earl Beatty Sir Charles Madden, Bt Sir Frederick Field The Lord Chatfield Sir Roger Backhouse Sir Dudley Pound The Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope Sir John Cunningham The Lord Fraser of North Cape Sir Rhoderick McGrigor The Earl Mountbatten of Burma Sir Charles Lambe Sir Caspar John Sir David Luce Sir Varyl Begg Sir Michael Le Fanu Sir Peter Hill-Norton Sir Michael Pollock Sir Edward Ashmore Sir Terence Lewin Sir Henry Leach Sir John Fieldhouse Sir William Staveley Sir Julian Oswald Sir Benjamin Bathurst Sir Jock Slater Sir Michael Boyce Sir Nigel Essenhigh Sir Alan West Sir Jonathon Band Sir Mark Stanhope Sir George Zambellas Sir Philip Jones Sir Antony Radakin Sir Ben Key

Categories:

Misplaced Pages