Charles Tyler

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For the jazz musician, see Charles Tyler (musician). For the English cricketer, see Charles Tyler (cricketer).

GCB
Born1760
Cavan[1]
Died(1835-09-28)28 September 1835
Gloucester
Buried
St Nicholas Church, St Nicholas, Cardiff, Wales
Allegiance United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland
Service / branch Royal Navy
RankAdmiral
Commands

HMS Meleager
HMS Diadem
HMS Aigle
HMS Warrior
commander of a unit of Sea Fencibles
HMS Tonnant

Cape of Good Hope Station
Battles / wars

Admiral Sir Charles Tyler,

Nelson's Band of Brothers
.

Early life

Tyler was born in

Andrew Snape Hamond as a Captain's servant boy. His rapid promotion to the rank of midshipsman within his second year at sea suggest the captain favored him and may have known his family.[4][5] He rose steadily through the ranks during the American Revolutionary War, although during that period he had little opportunity to distinguish himself. In 1779 he was promoted to lieutenant,[6] jumping to commander in 1782[7] and retaining his position throughout the peacetime Navy of 1783 to 1790, when he was made post-captain.[8]

French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars

Upon the outbreak of the

Nelson in the course of these campaigns, and was present when the latter lost an eye at the Siege of Calvi
.

Transferring to

North African pirates in the frigate Aigle before she was accidentally wrecked on Plane Island. Returning to the fleet, Tyler was acquitted of blame for the loss of his ship and was given the ship of the line HMS Warrior which he commanded off Cádiz before returning to England and participating under Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen
where he was commended for his actions.

During the

Peace of Amiens Tyler was returned to shore as commander of a unit of Sea Fencibles, but in 1803 was back at sea, commanding the 80-gun HMS Tonnant, which Nelson had captured at the battle of the Nile. Tonnant was a large, modern ship with a heavy payload, capable of taking on the largest enemy ships. Tyler carefully drilled his crew until Tonnant was amongst the most efficient and powerful ships in the fleet. Tyler was specially requested by Nelson for the Cadiz blockade in 1805, and thus participated in the Battle of Trafalgar, although not before he was forced to travel to Naples
where his son was under arrest for desertion from the navy (out of love for a ballerina) and crippling debts. Unknown to Tyler until much later was the fact that Nelson personally paid the young man's debt and used his influence to have him released and reinstated into the Navy albeit with a stern warning about responsibilities.

Trafalgar

At Trafalgar, Tyler was originally second in line from

San Juan Nepomuceno
at the close of the battle.

Struggling back to

Mediterranean, where he continued to serve, overseeing the surrender of the Russian fleet at Lisbon
in 1808.

Later career

Tyler's continued service brought more honours, including command of the

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath[14] by his death in September 1835 in Gloucester, just two months after the death of his wife of many years, Margaret. They were buried together in the St Nicholas Church in Glamorgan
where a marble monument still can be seen to their memory.

Family

He married two times. His first wife was Anne Rice with whom he had three children. She died early into the marriage leaving him as a young widower. He remarried and his second wife was Margaret Leach with whom he had three children. From this marriage one of his sons called George Tyler followed him into the navy and rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral. It later emerged that Admiral Nelson had cleared debt for the George Tyler while he was a junior officer with a strong reprimand shortly before the Battle of Trafalgar. George settled down and got married and through this marriage his daughter Caroline Tyler was born. She married the Earl of Dunraven and Mount Earl and the couple inherited Adare Manor in Ireland. Her son Colonel Windham Wyndham-Quin wrote the biography on his famous great-grandfather titled 'Sir Charles Tyler – Admiral of the White'. In 2005 the family sold Admiral Tyler's sword at Bonham's auction house for $430,000. The family tree of the Tylers shows the family was divided between living in Wales and Ireland with several rising to the highest ranks of the army and the navy with several Admirals and Generals listed through several generations including a great-grandson Admiral Godfrey Harry Brydges Mundy.

Further reading

  • Sir Charles Tyler, G.C.B., admiral of the White, Colonel Wyndham-Quin, 1912, London
  • The Trafalgar Captains, Colin White and the 1805 Club, Chatham Publishing, London, 2005,
    ISBN 1-86176-247-X

See also

References

  1. ^ "The National Archives – Trafalgar Ancestors".
  2. ^ "The National Archives – Trafalgar Ancestors".
  3. ^ "Sir Charles Tyler, G.C.B., admiral of the White". 1912.
  4. ^ "Sir Charles Tyler, G.C.B., admiral of the White". 1912.
  5. ^ "The National Archives – Trafalgar Ancestors".
  6. ^ 5 April 1779
  7. ^ 31 December 1782
  8. ^ 21 September 1790
  9. ^ Hiscocks, Richard (17 January 2016). "Cape Commander-in-Chief 1795-1852". morethannelson.com. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  10. Rear Admiral
    of the Blue 28 April 1808, of the Red 31 July 1810
  11. ^ KCB 20 April 1816
  12. ^ Vice Admiral of the Blue 4 December 1813, of the White 4 June 1814, of the Red 19 July 1821
  13. ^ Admiral of the Blue 27 May 1825, of the White 22 July 1830
  14. ^ GCB 1 May 1833
Military offices
Preceded by
Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station

1812–1814 		Succeeded by
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