post captain and prominent surveyor and cartographer, who was the first British man to map numerous sections of the South American, Arabian and African coastlines. During his career, Bartholomew was twice seized by press gangs and forced to serve as a sailor in the Navy, the second occasion at the orders of Lord St Vincent following an argument. This incident provoked outrage at St Vincent's abuse of his authority and resulted in Bartholomew's promotion and employment as a surveyor. He was so successful that in 1818 he was given command of the frigateHMS Leven on which he was ordered to survey the African coast. Many of his fellow officers later became prominent geographers of the early nineteenth century, although Bartholomew died while still on the service, after falling ill with tuberculosis
.
Early life
Born into a poor family in
Peace of Amiens in the same year saw a reduction in the Navy and Bartholomew was placed in reserve.[1]
Advancement
Frustrated at his lack of employment, Bartholomew wrote eight letters to the
Admiralty in the hope of securing an appointment aboard a ship. Infuriated at Bartholomew's insistence, St Vincent, a bitter personal and professional rival of Popham ordered Bartholomew seized and press ganged for a second time. Placed aboard HMS Inflexible as an able seaman, Bartholomew was rapidly restored to his previous rank of midshipman and subsequently to acting lieutenant. A storm of public protest was directed at St Vincent, who had overstepped his authority and the custom of the day by ordering the impressment of a serving warrant officer after a personal disagreement.[1] When St Vincent was forced from office in April 1804, Bartholomew re-joined Popham on HMS Antelope during operations against Boulogne-sur-Mer. The same year his case was heard in Parliament, where St Vincent's actions were roundly condemned as being detrimental to the practices and morale of the Navy.[1]
In 1805, probably due to his notoriety in the aftermath of the impressment scandal, Bartholomew was formally promoted to lieutenant and served aboard HMS Diadem during the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in 1806. Later in the year, during Popham's disastrous expedition against Buenos Aires, Bartholomew was detached to conduct the first British surveys of the River Plate.[1]
On 10 January 1808, Batholomew was appointed to HMS Sapphire.
The Royal Navy hired Berwick Packet on 26 June 1809 and put Lieutenant Bartholomew in command. She was one of 15 small transports that the Navy hired for the ill-fated Walcheren Campaign. Her first assignment was to carry Congreve rockets from the Woolwich Arsenal to Walcheren. She participated in the capture of Flushing and was generally useful for the remainder of the campaign.[2] The Navy returned Berwick Packet to her owners on 28 October.[3]
On 4 July 1810, Bartholomew returned to Sapphire, but was among the officers transferred to command gunboats off
Peninsula War
.
In May 1811 he took command of the
Companion of the Order of the Bath
.
Geographical services
At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Bartholomew's abilities as a surveyor and cartographer were required and he was given command of the small frigate
Porto Praya on Santiago. The expedition to West Africa was taken over by William Fitzwilliam Owen, but by its completion in 1825, over half the crew had died from tropical illnesses, including Bartholomew and his teenage son George, who died on Leven in 1819. He has been described as "One of the unsung heroes of the surveying service" and is also considered exceptional for his rise from an impressed sailor to post captain at a time when this was almost impossible to achieve.[1]
United Kingdom
Royal Navy