Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol

The Earl of Bristol
The Earl of Bristol by Thomas Gainsborough
Born	19 May 1724 Derbyshire
Died	23 December 1779 (1779-12-24) (aged 55) St James's Square, London
Buried	Ickworth, Suffolk
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1735–1775
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS Princess HMS Phoenix HMS Defiance HMS Hampton Court HMS Monmouth HMS Dragon HMS Centurion Mediterranean Fleet
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War

Admiral Augustus John Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, PC (19 May 1724 – 23 December 1779) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He commanded the sixth-rate HMS Phoenix at the Battle of Minorca in May 1756 as well as the third-rate HMS Dragon at the Capture of Belle Île in June 1761, the Invasion of Martinique in January 1762 and the Battle of Havana in June 1762 during the Seven Years' War. He went on to be Chief Secretary for Ireland and then First Naval Lord. He was known as the English Casanova, due to his colourful personal life.

Early life

Hervey was born the second son of John, Lord Hervey and educated at Westminster School from 1733.^[1] He entered the Royal Navy in 1735^[1] and was promoted to lieutenant in 1840.^[2]

Naval career

Promoted to post-captain on 15 January 1747, Hervey was given command of the third-rate HMS Princess at that time and of the sixth-rate HMS Phoenix in January 1752 and saw action in her at the Battle of Minorca in May 1756.^[1] He went on to command the fourth-rate HMS Defiance later that month, the third-rate HMS Hampton Court in May 1757 and the third-rate HMS Monmouth in March 1758.^[1]

Hervey distinguished himself in several encounters with the French, and was of great assistance to Admiral Hawke in 1759, although he had returned to England before the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759. He took command of the third-rate HMS Dragon in March 1760 and saw action during the Capture of Belle Île in June 1761, the Invasion of Martinique in January 1762 and the Battle of Havana in June 1762 before transferring to the fourth-rate HMS Centurion in May 1763.^[1]

Having served with distinction in the West Indies under Rodney, his active life at sea ceased when the Peace of Paris was concluded in February 1763. He was, however, nominally Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in this year.^[3] He was promoted to rear-admiral on 31 March 1775^[4] and to vice-admiral on 23 January 1778.^[5] He was known as the English Casanova, due to his colourful personal life.^[6]

Political career

18th century portrait of Elizabeth Chudleigh

Hervey was Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds from 1757 to 1763, and, after being for a short time Member for Saltash, again represented Bury St Edmunds from 1768 until he succeeded his brother in the earldom of Bristol in 1775. He often took part in debates in Parliament, and was a frequent contributor to periodical literature. He was an opponent of the Rockingham ministry and strong defender of Admiral Keppel with whom he had worked closely.^[7] He was a Groom of the Bedchamber to King George III from 1763 to 1775 and Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1766 to 1767.^[2] He joined the Board of Admiralty as First Naval Lord in the North ministry in February 1771^[8] and stood down from the Admiralty Board in April 1775.^[9]

Personal life

In August 1744 Hervey had been secretly married to Elizabeth Chudleigh (1720–1788), afterwards Duchess of Kingston, but this union was dissolved in 1769. Lord Bristol died leaving no legitimate issue, and having, as far as possible, alienated his property from the title. From 1775 Hervey had taken as his mistress Mary Nesbitt a former artists' model of some notoriety. They lived together, apparently faithfully, at his Surrey home of Norwood House and she received property in his will.^[10] He made changes to Norwood House including an ornamental lake and a stable. He died due to a gout in the stomach at St James's Square, London on 23 December 1779, aged 55, and was buried at Ickworth in Suffolk; he was succeeded by his brother Frederick.^[2]

Many of his letters are in the Record Office, and his journals in the British Museum. Other letters are printed in the Grenville Papers, vols. iii. and iv. (London, 1852–1853), and the Life of Admiral Keppel, by the Rev. Thomas Keppel (London, 1852).^[7] Hervey Bay, Queensland, a bay and city in Australia, was named after him by Captain James Cook while carrying out the survey of the east coast of Australia on 22 May 1770.^[11] Bristol Bay, the rich salmon fishing ground in southwest Alaska, was so named in honor of Hervey by Captain James Cook, who first charted the region in July 1778. Bristol Island, a five mile long ice-covered quake-prone chain of volcanos in the South Sandwich Islands and the coral atoll comprising the islands of Manuae and Te-O-Au-Tu in the Cook Islands were also named in honour of Hervey by Captain James Cook.^[12]

References

Sources

•  Courtney, William Prideaux (1891). "Hervey, Augustus John". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography. 26. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 
• Keppel, Thomas (1842). The life of Augustus, Viscount Keppel. Henry Colburn. 
• Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Offices of State. Lavenham: T. Dalton Ltd. ISBN 0900963948. 
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bristol, Earls and Marquesses of". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Further reading

• Holmes, M J R (1996). Augustus Hervey - A Naval Casanova. Durham: Pentland Press.

External links

• History of Hervey Bay

First Sea Lords of the Royal Navy
Senior Naval Lords (1689–1771)	Arthur Herbert Sir John Chicheley Edward Russell Henry Priestman Earl of Orford Sir George Rooke Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Matthew Aylmer Sir George Byng Sir John Jennings Sir John Norris Sir Charles Wager Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Harry Powlett Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Vere Beauclerk Lord Anson Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen John Forbes Earl Howe Sir Charles Saunders Augustus Keppel Sir Peircy Brett Sir Francis Holburne
First Naval Lords (1771–1904)	Augustus Hervey Sir Hugh Palliser Robert Man George Darby Sir Robert Harland Sir Hugh Pigot John Leveson-Gower Lord Hood Sir Charles Middleton James Gambier Sir Thomas Troubridge James Gambier John Markham James Gambier Sir Richard Bickerton William Domett Sir Joseph Yorke Sir Graham Moore Sir William Johnstone Hope Sir George Cockburn Sir Thomas Hardy The Hon. George Dundas Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir William Parker Sir Charles Adam Sir James Dundas The Hon. Maurice Berkeley Hyde Parker The Hon. Maurice Berkeley The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas William Martin The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey Sir Alexander Milne Sir Sydney Dacres Sir Alexander Milne Sir Hastings Yelverton Sir George Wellesley Sir Astley Key Sir Arthur Hood Lord John Hay Sir Arthur Hood Sir Richard Hamilton Sir Anthony Hoskins Sir Frederick Richards Lord Walter Kerr
First Sea Lords (1904–present)	Sir John Fisher Sir Arthur Wilson Sir Francis Bridgeman Prince Louis of Battenberg The Lord Fisher Sir Henry Jackson Sir John Jellicoe Sir Rosslyn Wemyss The Earl Beatty Sir Charles Madden, Bt Sir Frederick Field The Lord Chatfield Sir Roger Backhouse Sir Dudley Pound The Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope Sir John Cunningham The Lord Fraser of North Cape Sir Rhoderick McGrigor The Earl Mountbatten of Burma Sir Charles Lambe Sir Caspar John Sir David Luce Sir Varyl Begg Sir Michael Le Fanu Sir Peter Hill-Norton Sir Michael Pollock Sir Edward Ashmore Sir Terence Lewin Sir Henry Leach Sir John Fieldhouse Sir William Staveley Sir Julian Oswald Sir Benjamin Bathurst Sir Jock Slater Sir Michael Boyce Sir Nigel Essenhigh Sir Alan West Sir Jonathon Band Sir Mark Stanhope Sir George Zambellas Sir Philip Jones