Barrington Reynolds
Sir Barrington Reynolds | |
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Born | 1786 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
Early career
Barrington Reynolds was the second son of Rear-Admiral
Barrington Reynolds was released with his father a year later and returned to service on HMS Pomone, before transferring to Indefatigable as a midshipman, his first commission away from his father. When Pellew moved to HMS Impetueux he took the young Reynolds with him and the midshipman gained combat experience in several raiding operations on the French coast under the command of Lieutenant John Pilfold.[1] Late in 1800 Reynolds briefly rejoined his father in HMS Orion before being promoted lieutenant on HMS Courageux he soon moved to HMS Hussar and later transferred again, to the frigate HMS Niobe in which he remained for the next five years until 1808. In 1804 his elder brother, Lieutenant Robert Reynolds, was killed in action off Martinique.[2]
Independent command
In 1808, Reynolds moved to
Anti-slavery operations
Reynolds settled into an early retirement for his convalescence, marrying Eliza Anne Dick (died August 1832) and living either in London or at his family estate at
Reynolds was so successful off Africa, that at Admiralty dispatched him to cruise off the Brazilian coast on the same service. Over the next three years, Reynolds and his squadron captured dozens of slave ships, boarded and captured more at anchor on the Brazilian coast and, despite loud protests from the Brazilian government, raided Brazilian harbours along the coast, burning the empty slave ships which sheltered in them. In reply to the protests, Reynolds wrote to the Admiralty that "Nothing can be done with the Brazilian government on this matter except by compulsion".[1] The actions of the forces under Reynolds' command have been credited with destroying the Brazilian slave trade completely by 1851.[1]
Promoted to vice-admiral in 1855, he became Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in 1857 and was promoted to full admiral on retirement in 1860. He was also advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. He died in 1861 at the family home and was buried in St Clement's Churchyard near Truro. He was survived by his wife.[1]
See also
- O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). John Murray – via Wikisource. . .
- Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 48. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Notes
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, J. K. Laughton, Retrieved 30 March 2008
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, J. K. Laughton, Retrieved 30 March 2008
- ^ "No. 19638". The London Gazette. 20 July 1838. p. 1660.
- ^ Hiscocks, Richard (17 January 2016). "Cape Commander-in-Chief 1795-1852". morethannelson.com. Retrieved 19 November 2016.