Henry Harvey

Henry Harvey
Admiral Sir Henry Harvey, engraved by Samuel Freeman c. 1810
Born	July 1743 Eastry, Kent
Died	28 December 1810 Walmer, Kent
Allegiance	Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1751 to 1801
Rank	Royal Navy admiral
Commands held	HMS Magdalen HMS Swift HMS Martin HMS Squirrel HMS Convert HMS Pegasus HMS Rose HMS Alfred HMS Colossus HMS Ramillies HMS Prince of Wales Leeward Islands Station
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War American War of Independence • Battle of the Saintes French Revolutionary Wars • Glorious First of June • Battle of Groix • Capture of Trinidad
Awards	Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath

Admiral Sir Henry Harvey, KB (July 1743 – 28 December 1810) was a long-serving officer of the British Royal Navy during the second half of the eighteenth century. Harvey participated in numerous naval operations and actions and especially distinguished himself at the Glorious First of June in command of HMS Ramillies. His career took him all over the world, particularly on the North American station and in the West Indies where he commanded numerous ships and, later in his career, squadrons during the course of three different wars. Harvey was a member of a distinguished naval family, his brother was killed in action in 1794, three of his sons entered the navy and one of them was later raised to admiral himself.

Henry Harvey was born in Eastry, Kent in 1743, the second son of Richard and Elizabeth Harvey. With his elder brother John Harvey, Henry was educated in France during the 1740s and in 1751 joined the Royal Navy, a service his brother also joined three years later. Harvey was encouraged into service by the distantly related Sir Peircy Brett, whose patronage supported Harvey throughout his career. Harvey's first ship, aged only eight, was the sixth-rate HMS Centaur aged eleven in 1754, Harvey was transferred to HMS Nightingale. It is not clear how much time Harvey actually spent aboard these ships, as it was common practice at the time for the children of naval families to be entered on a ship's books to gain experience pending their actual entry into the service, an illegal practice known as "false muster".

By 1757, and aged 15, Harvey was certainly at sea, making junior lieutenant aboard the fourth-rate HMS Hampshire in the English Channel, the West Indies and along the North American coast during the Seven Years' War. A capable and well supported officer, Harvey was soon promoted to first lieutenant aboard the frigate HMS Hussar, which was wrecked at Cape François, Cuba in 1762, resulting in Harvey spending the next year as a prisoner of war. During the voyage home on parole aboard HMS Dragon, Harvey made close friends with Lieutenant Constantine Phipps, who later became a Lord of the Admiralty.