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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

OF THE LATE

SIR CHARLES HARDY, KNT.

ADMIRAL OF THE WHITE SQUADRON, GOVERNOR OF GREENWICH HOSPITAL, &c.

IT

[T is not a little remarkable, that the late Sir Charles Hardy, his father, and his grandfather, were all in the navy; and that each of them had the honour of being knighted, for his respective services.

His grandfather, Sir Thomas Hardy, was a native of the island of Guernsey. He entered into the navy, under the patronage of Admiral Churchill, whom he had served in the capacity of clerk, and who procured for him a lieutenant's commission. He was made commander in the Charles fire-ship, on the 6th of January, 1693; and, in the month of May following, he was removed into the Swallow prize, a small frigate, of 18 guns, which was stationed off Guernsey, to protect the trade of that island from the depredations of French privateers. He is believed to have attained to the command of a ship of the line, very soon after his entrance into the service, and is thought to have been never unemployed; but the only mention which is made of him, during the reign of King William, is, that in October, 1696, when captain of the Pendennis, of 48 guns, he was employed to convoy the mast ships from Norway.

Soon after the accession of Queen Anne, Captain Hardy commanded the Pembroke, of 60 guns, in which he accompanied Sir George Rooke on the expedition against Cadiz. After the failure of that enterprise, Sir George, on his way to England, found his fleet deficient in water; in consequence of which he sent Captain Hardy, in the Pembroke, accompanied by the Eagle, the Stirling Castle, and several of the transports, to water in Logos Bay. Rav. Chron, Wol. XIX.

N

This circumstance incidentally led to the subsequent successful attack upon the Spanish galleons, at Vigo, under convoy of a French fleet. The enemy's ships, says Colliber, "consisted of fifteen men of war, from 76 to 42 guns, two frigates, and a fireship; of which five were brought off by the English, and one by the Dutch, the rest being either burnt or bilged. The galleons (which had run up the river as far as they conveniently could) were seventeen; four of which were taken afloat, and two ashore, by the English, and five by the Dutch: the others were burnt."

The manner in which Captain Hardy became apprised of the situation of the enemy, is related at length, by most of our naval historians. Charnock thus briefly states it :- ›

"His chaplain, a Mr. Beauvoir, a native of Jersey, happening to go on shore at Logos, where the Eagle, Pembroke, Stirling Castle, and some transports, had put in to water, fell, by accident, into company with the French consul, who incautiously boasted of the arrival of the Spanish galleons, under convoy of M. Chateau Renaud, but without mentioning at what port. Fortune still controuing in a favourable mood-a day or two after this, a messenger arrived from Lisbon, with despatches from the Imperial Minister for the Prince of Hesse, who was supposed to be still on board the fleet. By him the intelligence was confirmed, with the addition that Vigo was the place where the fleet in question, consisting of thirty ships of war, and twenty-two galleons, had put in for security. The chaplain with much adroitness contrived to decoy the messenger to go on board the Pembroke, although he knew the Prince of Hesse, whom he was in search of, had proceeded to Lisbon, in order that Captain Hardy might be the better satisfied of the truth of the information, and take his measures accordingly. The chaplain, the instant he got on board, although it was then the middle of the night, went to the captain, and informed him what he had learnt. This being confirmed in the morning, by the oral testimony of the messenger, Captain Hardy communicated the whole to Captain Wishart, the senior officer of the detachment."

On the receipt of this gratifying intelligence, Sir George Rooke bore away for Vigo, where the success which we have already stated, ensued. Sir George was so highly pleased with Captain Hardy's conduct on this occasion, that he sent him home with the news; in consequence of which he received the honour of knighthood, was presented with a thousand pounds, and was promoted to the command of the Bedford, a third rate, of 70 guns. His knighthood was thus announced in the gazette:

"St. James's, October 31, 1702. "Her Majesty has been pleased to confer the honour of knighthood upon Thomas Hardy, Esq. captain of her Majesty's ship Pembroke, in considera

tion of his good service, in gaining and giving to Admiral Rooke the intelligence, which was the occasion of our great success at Vigo."

In the Bedford, Sir Thomas Hardy accompanied Sir Cloudesley Shovel into the Mediterranean, in the following year; and, while there, he had the good fortune to capture a valuable ship from St. Domingo, laden with sugar.

In 1704, continuing in the same ship, he went again to the Mediterranean, with Sir George Rooke; and, in the memorable action off Malaga, on the 13th of August, he bore a very conspicuous part, the Bedford having seventy-four men killed and wounded.*—At the close of the year, having been removed into the Kent, he returned to England with Sir Cloudesley Shovel.

In the year 1706, he served under Sir Stafford Fairbone, in his expedition to the river Charente, and afterwards in that against Ostend. At the latter end of the same year, he commanded, as commodore, a small squadron which was ordered to cruise in soundings; a service in which he was not very successful, a French letter of marque, of 20 guns, being the most considerable of his prizes.

Sir Thomas continued to be engaged in this kind of service till the month of July, 1707, when he was ordered to escort, to a certain latitude, and under certain restrictions, the outward bound Lisbon fleet. When he was about a hundred leagues from the Lizard, six French men of war appeared in sight, which proved to be the squadron of M. du Guai Trouin. He gave chase to the enemy; but finding that he gained very little on them, he called a council, in which fourteen captains gave it as their opinion, that he should give over the chase, and bear away to protect the convoy. For this conduct, Sir Thomas Hardy, on his return to England, was brought to a court martial. He was honourably acquitted; but, in consequence of the complaint of some merchants, he was afterwards examined at the bar of the House of Lords. Campbell, however, in his "Lives of the Admirals," says, that he " gave so clear an account of his conduct, that the very members who had promised to support this complaint, desired it might be dismissed."

*In the XVIth volume of the NAVAL CHRONICLE, page 458, an account is given of the battle off Malaga, from the Life of Sir John Leake, a scarce book, of which only fifty copies were printed.