Hotham, William, 1st Baron Hotham

He was educated at Westminster School and the Royal Naval Academy in Portsmouth ^[1] . He entered the fleet in 1751 , and spent most of his time in American waters as midshipman ^[1] . In 1755, he became lieutenant of HMS St George , the flagship of Admiral Sir Edward Hawk. Soon he received the command of a small ship, which eventually led to higher destinations ^[1] . At HMS Syren (20), he gave a decisive battle to the superior French Télémaque , and commanding the sloop HMS Fortune , he boarded a 26-gun privatir ^[1] .

For this service he was rewarded with a stronger ship, and since 1757 he commanded several frigates ^[1] . In 1759, his ship HMS Melampe , and HMS Southampton , gave an energetic battle to two enemy frigates of equal strength, one of which they took as a prize ^[1] . In 1761, Melampe was attached to the August Keppel squadron, but was mainly cruised and took many prizes. In 1776, Hotham served as a Commodore in North American waters , and showed himself well under Saint Lucia (December 15, 1778) ^[1] .

He continued to serve in the West Indies until the spring of 1781 , when he went home, guarding a large convoy of merchant ships. At the islands, Scilly Hotham came across a powerful French squadron, against which he could not do anything, and many "merchants" fell into the hands of the French ^[1] .

In 1782, Commodore Hotham was with Lord Richard Howe when lifting the siege from Gibraltar. ^[1] During the so-called “Spanish armament” of 1790, he raised his flag already as Rear Admiral of the Red Squadron. ^[1] By 1791 he became vice admiral , held the flag at HMS Britannia . As Deputy Lord Hood in the Mediterranean, from August 1793 , he fought against the fleet of revolutionary France , and when the commander returned to England in December, the command of the Mediterranean fleet passed to him ^[1] . March 12, 1795 held an indecisive battle at Genoa , the main burden of which fell on Captain Nelson . A few months later, on July 13, 1795 , now a full admiral, he again met in battle with the French fleet at the Hyers Islands , this time under conditions that promised a decisive victory; Nelson wrote of this battle home: "an unfortunate thing."

In November 1795, he was replaced by Fleet Commander Admiral Jervis , the future Earl of Saint Vincent, and Hotham returned to England. In 1797 he became a peer of Ireland with the title of Baron Hotham of South Doulton, near Gull. ^[1]

In the service of Hotham, there was not enough fiery energy and the genius of Nelson or Jervis, but as a subordinate he was a brave and capable officer, which he proved in America.

Hotham died in 1813 . Since he died unmarried, his estate passed to his brother, Sir Beaumont Hotham (1737-1814), who in May 1813 became the second Baron Hotham. Beaumont, who was the baron-chairman of the treasury for thirty years, died on March 4, 1814 . He was inherited as the 3rd baron by his grandson Beaumont Hotham (1794-1870), who was present at Waterloo , and subsequently was a member of Parliament for forty-eight years. He died unmarried in December 1870, and was succeeded by his nephew, Charles (1836–1872), and then another nephew, John (1838–1907). In 1907, his cousin Frederick William (born in 1863) became the 6th baron. Other famous members of this family were: the second son of the baron, Sir Henry Hotham (1777−1833), the vice admiral who served for a long time during the Napoleonic Wars and sir William Hotham (1772−1848), the nephew of the 1st baron, who served under the command Admiral Adam Duncan in 1797 at Camperdown .