Charles Thompson (admiral)
| Sir Charles Thompson, 1st Baronet |
|
|---|---|
by Richard Earlom after Thomas Gainsborough
|
|
| Born | c.1740 |
| Died | 17 March 1799 (aged 58–59) Fareham |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Great Britain
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
|
| Years of service | 1755–1798 |
| Rank | Vice admiral |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Baronetcy (1797) |
| Relations |
Sir Norborne Charles Thompson, 2nd Baronet Sir Henry Thompson, 3rd Baronet |
Sir Charles Thompson, 1st Baronet (c.1740 – 17 March 1799) was a British naval officer. After long service in the Seven Years' War, American War of Independence and War of the First Coalition, he was Admiral John Jervis's second in command at the battle of Cape St Vincent. However, his disregard for Jervis's signal to tack to counter a Spanish attacking move nearly lost the battle, and began an enmity with Jervis that eventually (with ill health) led to Thompson's retirement. From 1796 to 1799 he was also MP for Monmouth.
His father is thought to have been Norborne Berkeley, later Baron Botetourt, of Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire, governor of Virginia, his mother was Margaret Thompson. (Charles was illegitimate). He, his mother and sister Elizabeth Thompson were all beneficiarys in Norborne Berkeley's will. He married Jane, daughter and heiress of Robert Selby of Bonnington, near Edinburgh in 1783, by whom he had issue: Norborne Charles (1785–1826) who joined the navy but was court martialed for insubordination; Charles Robert (1788–1801) who died at sea aged 13; Elizabeth (1790-, Jane (1794–1815) who died in Portugal aged 21, and is buried at the English Cemetery, Lisbon; and Henry (1796–1868).
His first service at sea was on a merchantman, but he soon joined the Royal Navy on HMS Nassau in 1755, just before the outbreak of the Seven Years' War. In the following five years he served on that ship then on HMS Prince Frederick and (under Captain Samuel Barrington) HMS Achilles. He passed his examination for lieutenant in 1760 and was commissioned as the fifth lieutenant of HMS Arrogant on 16 January 1761, serving on her in the Channel Fleet and then in the Mediterranean. When peace came, this ship was paid off and Thompson transferred to the sloop HMS Cygnet, serving on her on the North American station from August 1763 to her paying-off in July 1768 in South Carolina (with no transport provided to get her officers back to England, though they were later paid £39 0s. 6d each for the journey).
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