Richard James Meade, Fourth Earl of Clanwilliam

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Admiral of the Fleet the Earl of Clanwilliam.
Admiral the Earl of Clanwilliam in 1896
Photograph: Navy & Army Illustrated.

Admiral of the Fleet THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Richard James Meade, Fourth Earl of Clanwilliam, G.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.G.S., Royal Navy (3 October, 1832 – 4 August, 1907) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant date 15 September, 1852.

Appointed Lieutenant and Commander of the gunboat Bustard from 14 December, 1855 to 4 September 1856.[1]

For services in Canton, Gilford was promoted to the rank of Commander on 26 February, 1858.[2] He was highly praised for his conduct in the capture of the city, being severely wounded in the action by a bullet which struck his left arm. His ascent to the rank of Captain was prompt indeed, being dated 22 July, 1859.

Meade became commanding officer of the corvette Tribune in 1862 and served in her on the Pacific Station.[3]

In June, 1868, he was chosen to be the first commanding officer of the new central battery ironclad Hercules, which would operate as part of the Channel Fleet. His three years in this appointment bring him into headlong conflict with Vice-Admiral Symonds.

1869 would prove a tough year for him in the Channel Squadron. On 6 May, he was censured for inattention to a signal and for the tone of his reply to the admiral. He was censured a second time on 21 May for disputing with the admiral and taking the side of a Lt. whom Sir Symonds had reprimanded for failing to keep Hercules in a proper station. Finally, in September 1869, he was censured in reference to a trial of a man aboard Hercules.[4]

On 6 July 1872, he was made a Naval Aide-de-Camp.

On 3 November 1875, his son Herbert Meade, who would serve the Royal Navy in the Great War and eventually become an Admiral, was born.

Gilford was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 31 December, 1876.[5]

On the occasion of the Queen's birthday he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Military Division of the Third Class, or Companion, of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (C.B.) on 2 June, 1877.[6]

On 7 October, 1879, Gilford succeeded to the earldom, becoming the Earl of Clanwilliam. On 6 September, 1880, he was appointed in command of the Detached Squadron for Particular Service, flying his flag in the iron-hulled screw frigate Inconstant.[7]

He was promoted to the rank of Admiral on 22 June, 1886, vice Cochrane.[8]

On the occasion of Queen Victoria's golden jubilee, he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, in the Military Division of the Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) on 21 June, 1887.[9]

Lord George Hamilton recounts an amusing incident from when a French squadron visited Portsmouth, and its officers were entertained by the Queen at Osborne:

He was very dark and swarthy, and he had a strain of foreign blood in him, his grandmother having been a Russian. He also spoke French very well. One of the Queen's equerries, in his zeal to welcome all foreigners, seeing this dark, distinguished-looking Admiral standing alone, went up to him and had an animated conversation in French with him. Finally he said to him, "I hope you are enjoying your stay at Portsmouth," whereupon Lord Clanwilliam turned round and said, "Who the devil do you take me for? Don't you know that I am the Queen's Commander-in-Chief?" The Queen was immensely amused on learning how her injunctions to her suite to make themselves pleasant to the foreign officers had been carried out.[10]

Clanwilliam was promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet on 20 February, 1895.[11] On the occasion of the Queen's birthday he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the First Class, or Knight Grand Cross, in the Military Division of the Order of the Bath (G.C.B.) on 25 May.[12]

In accordance with the provisions of the Order in Council of 22 February, 1870, he was placed on the Retired List on 3 October, 1902.[13]

Bibliography

  • "Death of Lord Clanwilliam" (Obituaries). The Times. Monday, 5 August, 1907. Issue 38403, col F, p. 11.
  • Hamilton, The Rt. Hon. Lord George (1922). Parliamentary Reminiscences and Reflections 1886—1906. London: John Murray.

Papers

  • Papers in the possession of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

Service Records

See Also

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
New Command 		Captain of H.M.S. Hercules
22 Jun, 1868[14] – 18 Oct, 1871[15] 		Succeeded by
Sherard Osborn
Preceded by
Frederick B. P. Seymour 		Junior Naval Lord
6 Mar, 1874 – 12 May, 1880 		Succeeded by
J. Edmund Commerell
Preceded by
Arthur W. A. Hood 		Second Naval Lord
6 Dec, 1879[16] – 12 May, 1880 		Succeeded by
The Rt. Hon. Lord John Hay
Preceded by
New Command 		Vice-Admiral Commanding, Detached Squadron for Particular Service
6 Sep, 1880 – 6 Dec, 1881 		Succeeded by
Francis W. Sullivan
Preceded by
John E. Commerell 		Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station
25 Aug, 1885[17] 		Succeeded by
Algernon McL. Lyons
Preceded by
Sir John E. Commerell 		Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth Station
22 Jun, 1891[18] – Jun, 1894 		Succeeded by
Sir Nowell Salmon

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Meade Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/36/1262. f. 522.
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 22104. p. 1028. 26 February, 1858.
  3. ↑ Meade Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/36/1262. f. 522.
  4. ↑ Meade Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/36/1262. f. 522.
  5. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 24400. p. 5. 2 January, 1877.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 24467. p. 3497. 2 June, 1877.
  7. ↑ The Navy List. (June, 1881). p. 188.
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25600. p. 3033. 25 June, 1886.
  9. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25712. p. 3361. 21 June, 1887.
  10. ↑ Hamilton. p. 125.
  11. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26601. p. 1066. 22 February, 1895.
  12. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26628. p. 3079. 25 May, 1895.
  13. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27483. p. 6568. 17 October, 1902.
  14. ↑ Meade Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/36/1262. f. 522.
  15. ↑ Meade Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/36/1262. f. 522.
  16. ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 119.
  17. ↑ Clowes. The Royal Navy. Vol. VII. p. 87.
  18. ↑ Clowes. The Royal Navy. Vol. VII. p. 85.

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