Editing Samuel Barrington

{{short description|British admiral}}
{{Redirect|Admiral Barrington|the ship|Admiral Barrington (1781 ship)}}
{{Distinguish|Sam Barrington}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Samuel Barrington
|image= File:Nathaniel Dance-Holland (1735-1811) - Captain Samuel Barrington (1729–1800) - BHC2533 - Royal Museums Greenwich.jpg
|imagesize= 
|caption= Barrington {{circa}}1770, [[Nathaniel Dance-Holland]]
|birth_date= {{birth-date|1729}}
|death_date= 16 August 1800 (aged 70&ndash;71)
|birth_place=
|death_place=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
|branch= {{navy|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
|serviceyears= 1740–1800
|rank= [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]]
|unit=
|commands=[[HMS Weazel (1745)|HMS ''Weazel'']]<br/>[[French privateer Bellone (1745)|HMS ''Bellona'']]<br/>[[HMS Romney (1708)|HMS ''Romney'']]<br/>[[HMS Seahorse (1748)|HMS ''Seahorse'']]<br/>[[HMS Crown (1747)|HMS ''Crown'']]<br/>[[HMS Norwich (1745)|HMS ''Norwich'']]<br/>[[HMS Achilles (1757)|HMS ''Achilles'']]<br/>[[HMS Hero (1759)|HMS ''Hero'']]<br/>[[HMS Venus (1758)|HMS ''Venus'']]<br/>[[HMS Albion (1763)|HMS ''Albion'']]<br/>[[HMS Prince of Wales (1765)|HMS ''Prince of Wales'']]<br/>[[Leeward Islands Station]]<br/>[[Channel Fleet]]
|battles={{Tree list}}
*[[War of the Austrian Succession]]
**[[Battle of Saint-Louis-du-Sud]]
*[[Seven Years' War]]
**[[Raid on Rochefort]]
**[[Action of 29 April 1758]]
**[[Raid on Le Havre]]
**[[Capture of Belle Île]]
*[[Falklands Crisis of 1770]]
*[[American Revolutionary War]]
**[[Battle of St. Lucia]]
**[[Battle of Grenada]]
**[[Battle of Ushant (1782)|Battle of Ushant]]
**[[Great Siege of Gibraltar#Third and final relief|Third Relief of Gibraltar]]
**[[Battle of Cape Spartel]]
*[[Spanish Armament]]
{{tree list/end}}
|awards=
|relations= [[John Shute Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington]] (father)
|laterwork=
}}

[[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] '''Samuel Barrington''' (1729 – 16 August 1800) was a [[Royal Navy]] officer. Barrington was the fourth son of [[John Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington]] of [[Beckett Hall]] at [[Shrivenham]] in [[Berkshire]] (now [[Oxfordshire]]). He enlisted in the navy at the age of 11, and by 1747 had been promoted to [[post-captain]]. Barrington had good connections and was lucky to enlist at the right time, and proved to be an able officer.

==Life==
===Early career===
Barrington went to sea in 1740. By 1745 he had passed the examination making him eligible for promotion to [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]]. He was promoted to that rank in October 1746. His elder brother [[William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington|William, Viscount Barrington]], was then a junior Admiralty lord, and pestered the [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], the civilian [[John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford|John Russell, Duke of Bedford]], to promote Samuel to the rank of [[Commander (Royal Navy)|master and commander]], which was done in November. Next year, at the age of eighteen, he was made [[post-captain]].{{sfn|Rodger|2004|pp=389–390}}

===Seven Years' War===

He was in continuous service during the peace of 1748–56, and on the outbreak of the [[Seven Years' War]] served with Admiral [[Edward Hawke]] in the [[Basque Roads]] in command of {{HMS|Achilles|1757|6}}.
[[File:Barrington's action at St Lucia- the squadron at anchor off the Cul de Sac after the action, 16 December 1778 RMG L1156.tiff|thumb|upright=1.9|Barrington's action at [[Saint Lucia|St Lucia]]: his squadron at anchor off the Cul de Sac, on 16 December 1778, by [[Dominic Serres]]]]
In 1759 ''Achilles'' captured a powerful French [[privateer]], after two hours' fighting. In the [[Raid on Le Havre|Havre-de-Grace expedition]] of the same year Barrington's ship carried the flag of Rear-Admiral [[George Brydges Rodney]], and in 1760 sailed with [[John Byron]] to destroy the French [[Fortress of Louisbourg]] in [[Nova Scotia]]. At the peace in 1763 Barrington had been almost continuously afloat for twenty-two years.

He was appointed in 1768 to the [[frigate]] {{HMS|Venus|1758|6}} as governor to the [[Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn|Duke of Cumberland]], who remained with him in all ranks from [[midshipman]] to [[rear admiral]]. Between 1772 and 1775 he accompanied Captain [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|John Jervis]] to Russia where they spent time in [[St Petersburg]] and inspected the [[arsenal]] and dockyards at [[Kronstadt]], and took a tour of the yacht designed by [[Sir Charles Knowles, 1st Baronet|Sir Charles Knowles]] for [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine the Great]]. The pair continued on to Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany. All the while Jervis and Barrington made notes on defences, harbour charts and safe anchorages. They came home via the Netherlands, the two once again making extensive studies of the area and taking copious notes describing any useful information.

===American Revolutionary War===
[[File:Shrivenham StAndrew Monument BarringtonAdmiralSamuel 1800.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|[[English church monuments|Marble monument]] by [[John Flaxman]] to Rear Admiral Barrington in [[Shrivenham#Churches|St Andrew's Church, Shrivenham]], now in [[Oxfordshire]]]]

In 1778 Barrington became commander-in-chief of the [[Leeward Islands Station]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Haydn|first1=Joseph|title=The Book of Dignities: Containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire ... from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time ... Together with the Sovereigns and Rulers of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain Original 1851 Digitized by the University of Michigan|date=13 June 2008|publisher=Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans|page=279|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aURnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Admiral+William+O%27Bryen+Drury%22&pg=PA272|language=en}}</ref> While in post he organised the construction of Fort Barrington in Montserrat to enhance the defences of the capital Plymouth. Barrington and Jervis then took a private cruise along the Channel coast calling at various harbours including [[Brest, France|Brest]] and making and improving their charts as they went. Barrington and Jervis, later Earl St. Vincent remained firm friends throughout their lives.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

On his return home, Barrington was offered, but declined, the command of the Channel fleet. He accepted the position of second in command of the fleet, under Admiral [[Sir Francis Geary, 1st Baronet|Francis Geary]], in May 1780. The fleet patrolled far into the Atlantic, ensuring the safety of British [[convoy]]s, preventing a junction of the opposing French and Spanish fleets, and capturing twelve merchant ships from a French convoy. The extended cruise caused an outbreak of [[scurvy]] and the fleet returned to England in August. Greary went ashore sick and Barrington assumed command. The Admiralty ordered him to return to sea with the fleet. Barrington refused to obey, which was seen as at least partially motivated by political machinations, and he was relieved of command.{{sfn|Rodger|2004|pp=346–347}}{{sfn|The Naval Chronicle|1907|pp=188–189}}

After a change of government, Barrington was again appointed second in command of the Channel Fleet in 1782, this time under Admiral [[Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe|Richard Howe]]. After a summer of manoeuvring, mostly against the Spanish, the fleet sailed to relieve the [[Great Siege of Gibraltar|siege of Gibraltar]] on 11 September. After successfully resupplying the garrison the British fleet of 35 [[ship of the line|ships of the line]] encountered a Spanish force of 46 ships. After some [[Battle of Cape Spartel|inconclusive skirmishing]] the British were able to evade them and returned to port. The war ended in February 1783.{{sfn|Rodger|2004|pp=355–356}}

As admiral he flew his flag for a short time in 1790, but did not serve in the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. He died in August 1800.

==Legacy==
In 1794, [[James Colnett]] named one of the [[Galapagos Islands]] after Barrington,{{sfnp|McEwen|1988|p=237}} a name it maintained for centuries before being formally renamed [[Santa Fe Island]].

==See also==
* * ''The Barrington papers: selected from the letters and papers of Admiral the Hon. Samuel Barrington'', edited by [[David Bonner-Smith]].  Publications of the [[Navy Records Society]], vols. 77, 81. ([London]: Printed for the Navy Records Society, 1937–41).

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Barrington, Samuel}} which in turn cites:
** Ralfe, ''Naval Biographies'', i. 120.
** Charnock, ''Biographia Navalis'', vi. 10.
*{{cite book |title=The Naval Chronicle|ref={{sfnref|The Naval Chronicle|1907}}  |year=1907 |publisher=J. Gold |pages=177–192 |chapter=Biographical Memoir of the Late Sir Francis Geary, Bart}}
* {{citation |last=McEwen |first=Alec |contribution-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/633849 |contribution=The English Place-Names of the Galápagos |title=The Geographical Journal |volume=154 |issue=2 |date=July 1988 |pages=234–242 |publisher=Royal Geographical Society |location=London |doi=10.2307/633849 |jstor=633849 }}.
* {{cite book|last=Rodger|first=N.A.M.|title=The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain 1649–1815|location=London |publisher=Penguin |date= 2004|isbn= 0-713-99411-8|author-link=Nicholas A. M. Rodger}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
[[hdl:10079/fa/beinecke.barring|Samuel Barrington Letterbooks.]] James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef | before=[[James Young (Royal Navy officer, born 1717)|James Young]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Leeward Islands Station|Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station]] | years=1778&ndash;1779}}
{{s-aft | after=[[John Byron]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrington, Samuel}}
[[Category:1729 births]]
[[Category:1800 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Shrivenham]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War]]
[[Category:Younger sons of viscounts]]