Geoffrey Hornby

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Admiral Hornby" redirects here. For other uses, see Admiral Hornby (disambiguation).

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
RelationsAdmiral Sir Phipps Hornby (father)
James John Hornby (brother)
Edmund Phipps-Hornby (son)

Egyptian–Ottoman War. As a captain, he was assigned to Vancouver Island with a naval brigade where he found a unit of United States troops ready to take over the San Juan Islands in a dispute that became known as the Pig War. Hornby used his powers of diplomacy to facilitate a peaceful handover of the islands to the United States
.

Hornby went on to be Commander-in-Chief, West Africa Squadron, Commander-in-Chief of the Flying Squadron and then Commander-in-Chief, Channel Squadron. After that he became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and finally Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.

Early career

Map of the proposed boundaries between the United States and Canada around the San Juan Islands during the Pig War

Born the son of Admiral

Cape of Good Hope Station, in August 1842.[2] He went on to be mate in the sixth-rate HMS Cleopatra, in the West Africa Squadron, and took part on anti-slavery operations.[2] Promoted to lieutenant on 15 June 1845, he became flag-lieutenant in the second-rate HMS Asia, flagship of his father, who was Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station, in September 1847.[2] He was promoted to commander on 12 January 1850 and to captain on 18 December 1852.[2]

Hornby had no patron once the Aberdeen ministry came to power in December 1852 and instead cared for his father's estate at Lordington and played no part in the Crimean War.[2] Following a change of government, Hornby became commanding officer of the frigate HMS Tribune on the Pacific Station in August 1858.[2] When he arrived at Vancouver Island with a naval brigade, he found that a unit of American troops was about to take over the San Juan Islands in a dispute known as the Pig War.[3] Hornby used his powers of diplomacy to facilitate a peaceful handover of the islands to the United States.[3]

Hornby became commanding officer of the

Schleswig-Holstein Question.[3]

Promoted to commodore, he became Commander-in-Chief, West Africa Squadron, with his broad pennant in the frigate HMS Bristol in September 1865.[3] He condemned the independent rulers of West Africa for continuing to supply slaves when all civilised countries except Brazil had abolished slavery.[3]

Senior command

The frigate HMS Liverpool, Hornby's flagship as Commander-in-Chief of the Flying Squadron

Promoted to

armoured frigate HMS Minotaur, in September 1871 and in that capacity entertained President Ulysses S. Grant at Gibraltar.[3]

Lordington House, Hornby's home in West Sussex

Hornby became

Russo-Turkish War.[6] Sir John Fisher, who served under Hornby in the Mediterranean Fleet, wrote that he was 'the finest Admiral afloat since Nelson. [...] There never lived a more noble character or a greater seaman. He was incomparable'.[7] The naval historian Sir William Clowes, who knew him well, wrote that '... he was a natural diplomatist, and an unrivalled tactician; and, to a singular independence and uprightness of character, he added a mastery of technical detail, and a familiarity with contemporary thought and progress that were unusual in those days among officers of his standing'.[8] The historian Ben Wilson has said that Hornby was "the exceptional admiral who eased the Navy's transition from sail to steam".[9] Hornby was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 12 August 1878.[10]

Promoted to full

Wilhelm II during his visits to England in 1889 and 1890.[1] He retired in February 1895[15] and died of influenza at Lordington House on 3 March 1895; his ashes were scattered at Compton Church.[3]

Family

In 1853 Hornby married Emily Frances Coles (sister of Captain Cowper Coles), with whom he had three sons and two daughters.[1] One of his sons, Edmund Phipps-Hornby, a major in the artillery, won the Victoria Cross in South Africa in 1900; another, Robert Hornby, became an admiral in the Royal Navy.[1]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13786. Retrieved 30 December 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Heathcote, p. 118
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Heathcote, p. 119
  4. ^ "No. 23456". The London Gazette. 5 January 1869. p. 50.
  5. ^ "No. 24169". The London Gazette. 8 January 1875. p. 79.
  6. ^ a b Heathcote, p. 120
  7. ^ Lambert, p. 276
  8. ^ Lambert, p. 265
  9. ^ Wilson, p. 498
  10. ^ "No. 24613". The London Gazette. 13 August 1878. p. 4581.
  11. ^ "No. 24734". The London Gazette. 17 June 1879. p. 3967.
  12. ^ "No. 25542". The London Gazette. 22 December 1885. p. 6191.
  13. ^ "No. 25551". The London Gazette. 22 January 1886. p. 329.
  14. ^ "No. 25816". The London Gazette. 15 May 1888. p. 2766.
  15. ^ "No. 26601". The London Gazette. 22 February 1895. p. 1066.

Sources

External links
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet
1871–1874 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Second Naval Lord

1874–1877 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet
1877–1880 		Succeeded by
Sir Beauchamp Seymour
Preceded by President, Royal Naval College, Greenwich
1881–1882 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
1882–1886 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp
1886–1895 		Succeeded by
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