Robert Barlow (Royal Navy officer)

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Sir Robert Barlow
Born25 December 1757
Covent Garden, London
Died11 May 1843
Cadogan Place, Canterbury
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1770s to 1843
RankRoyal Navy Admiral
Battles/warsAmerican Revolutionary War

French Revolutionary Wars

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Admiralty right up to his death. Although born to a middle-class family, Barlow and his siblings made names for themselves and two of Barlow's daughters married into the naval aristocracy. His grandson, Robert Barlow
, was a first-class cricketer and army officer.

Early career

Robert Barlow was born in 1757 in

George Hilario Barlow who later became Governor-General of India. Robert joined the Navy as a teenager and was promoted lieutenant in 1778, serving on HMS Courageux in the American Revolutionary War. In her, Barlow participated in the capture of the French frigate Minerve and also was part of the fleet which relieved the Great Siege of Gibraltar.[1]

After the peace in 1783, Barlow married Elizabeth Garrett of

revenue cutter HMS Barracouta. He was promoted to commander and transferred to the brig HMS Childers on the same service in November 1790.[1]

French Revolutionary Wars

Further information: Childers Incident

On 2 January 1793, Barlow took Childers into

First French Republic. Tensions had been mounting for months since the French Revolution and the opening of the French Revolutionary Wars the previous year between France, Prussia, Austria and Sardinia but Britain and France were not yet at war when Barlow entered Brest. Within minutes of his arrival, one of the formidable forts overlooking the harbour mouth opened fire on his diminutive craft with 48 lb shot. One of the first balls fired struck a gun on Childers deck and split the cannon in two. Barlow beat a hasty retreat without suffering any casualties and reported the attack to his superiors. One month later Britain and France were at war; in his excursion to Brest, Barlow had received the first shots of a 23-year conflict.[1]

Two weeks after war was declared, Barlow secured an early victory with seizure of the

post captain in the frigate HMS Pegasus.[1] Pegasus was attached to the Channel Fleet under Lord Howe and acted as a repeating ship for the admiral's signals. Barlow was still in this position at the battle of the Glorious First of June, when he relayed Howe's orders to the rest of the fleet. Despite a mixed reaction from many of Howe's captains the battle was a success and Barlow was upgraded to the frigate HMS Aquilon as a reward for his service.[1]

In 1795, Barlow moved to the new frigate

Mediterranean
until 1804.

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic wars were a less active period for Barlow, who served as

Lord Keith's flag captain for a time and then as deputy controller of the navy before moving as superintendent of Chatham Dockyard in 1808. During this period he showed great skill as an administrator and improved services where ever he was stationed.[1]

Barlow continued on shore service until 1823, when he was retired as a rear-admiral. He had been made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath three years before. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in January, 1819.[2]

Barlow enjoyed a lengthy retirement in Canterbury and in 1840 was restored to naval service in order to receive a belated promotion to full admiral and advancement to Knight Grand Cross. He died at the archbishop's palace in Canterbury in May 1843. His wife had predeceased him by 26 years, but two of his daughters had married well, wedding George Byng, 6th Viscount Torrington and William Nelson, 1st Earl Nelson.[1]

Notes

  1. ^
    Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, J. K. Laughton
    , Retrieved 11 January 2008
  2. ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 10 December 2010.

References

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