Sir Charles Ogle, 2nd Baronet

Summary

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Ogle, 2nd Baronet (24 May 1775 – 16 June 1858) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he saw action leading storming parties at the capture of Martinique and at the capture of Guadeloupe during the French Revolutionary Wars. He also took part in the landings in Egypt in the later stages of the French Revolutionary Wars.


Sir Charles Ogle

Admiral Sir Charles Ogle, Bart, portrait by Cornelius Durham, 1850
Born(1775-05-24)24 May 1775
Worthy Park House, Hampshire
Died16 June 1858(1858-06-16) (aged 83)
Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Buried
St Mary's Church, Ponteland, Northumberland
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1787–1848
RankAdmiral of the Fleet
Commands heldHMS Assurance
HMS Avenger
HMS Peterel
HMS Minerva
HMS Meleager
HMS Greyhound
HMS Égyptienne
HMS Unite
HMS Princess Augusta
HMS Ramillies
HMS Malta
HMS Rivoli
North American Station
Portsmouth Command
Battles/warsFrench Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars

During the Napoleonic Wars, Ogle commanded of the fifth-rate HMS Unite in the Mediterranean Fleet. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, North American Station and then Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. He also briefly served as Tory Member of Parliament for the rotten borough of Portarlington.

Early career edit

 
The capture of Fort Louis, Martinique: Ogle led a boarding party during this operation

Born the eldest son of Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle, 1st Baronet and Hester Ogle (daughter of the Rt. Rev. John Thomas), Ogle was educated at Hyde Abbey School in Winchester before joining the Royal Navy in 1787.[1] He initially served as a captain's servant in the fifth-rate HMS Adventure in the West Africa Squadron and then transferred to the fourth-rate HMS Medusa in the same squadron.[2] Promoted to midshipman, he joined the third-rate HMS Alcide at Portsmouth in September 1791 and then served in the fifth-rate HMS Winchelsea on the North America Station followed by the third-rate HMS Edgar in the Home Fleet and then by the second-rate HMS Boyne in the Channel Squadron.[2]

Ogle was promoted to lieutenant on 14 November 1793 and assigned to the fifth-rate HMS Woolwich on the West Indies Station.[2] He transferred to the third-rate HMS Vengeance in December 1793 and then returned to the second-rate HMS Boyne in January 1794, by which time she was serving as flagship to Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis, Commander-in-Chief, West Indies Station.[2] He saw action leading storming parties at the capture of Martinique in March 1794 and at the capture of Guadeloupe in April 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars.[3]

Ogle was briefly acting commander of the fifth-rate HMS Assurance before being promoted to commander on 21 May 1794 and being given command of the sloop HMS Avenger later that month.[3] Ogle next served under Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis in the Mediterranean Fleet becoming commanding officer of the sloop HMS Peterel in November 1795 and, having been promoted to captain on 11 January 1796, becoming commanding officer of the fifth-rate HMS Minerva later that month.[3] Ogle went on to be commanding officer of the fifth-rate HMS Meleager in Spring 1797 and saw action during the assault on Cádiz in June 1797.[3] After that he was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Greyhound and then of the fifth-rate HMS Égyptienne in which he took part in the landings in Egypt in March 1801.[3]

 
The first-rate HMS St Vincent, Ogle's flagship as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. Painted by Charles Dixon

Following the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars, Ogle was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Unite in the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1805 and then became commanding officer of the Royal Yacht HMS Princess Augusta in June 1806.[3] He transferred to the command of the third-rate HMS Ramillies in the Channel Squadron in August 1815, of the command of the second-rate HMS Malta at Plymouth in November 1815 and finally of the third-rate HMS Rivoli at Portsmouth in January 1816.[3]

Ogle succeeded to his father's title and estates in August 1816 and commissioned Sir Robert Smirke to demolish the west wing of Worthy Park House and replace it with a new building, built in the Georgian style.[4]

Senior command edit

Promoted to rear-admiral on 12 August 1819,[5] Ogle became Commander-in-Chief, North American Station, with his flag in the fifth-rate HMS Hussar, in April 1827.[3] He was promoted to vice-admiral on 22 July 1830[6] on leaving the North American Station and was elected as Tory Member of Parliament for the rotten borough of Portarlington at the general election in September 1830;[7] he retired at the dissolution of Parliament a year later without having spoken in any debates.[8] In his later years Ogle lived at No. 4 Belgrave Square in London.[8]

Promoted to full admiral on 23 November 1841,[9] Ogle became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, with his flag in the first-rate HMS St Vincent, in 1845.[3] He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 8 November 1857,[10] died at Tunbridge Wells on 16 June 1858 and was buried at the churchyard of St Mary's Church at Ponteland in Northumberland (not far from Kirkley Hall, the ancestral home of the Ogle family).[3]

Family edit

 
Worthy Park House: Ogle commissioned a major re-modelling of the house
 
Belgrave Square in London: Ogle lived at No. 4

In 1802 Ogle married Charlotte Margaret Gage, daughter of General Thomas Gage: they had two daughters and a son.[11] In 1820, following the death of his first wife, he married Letitia Burroughs; they had one son.[1] In 1834, following the death of his second wife, he married Mary Anne, the daughter of George Cary of Torre Abbey, Devon and widow of Sir John Hayford Thorold, 10th Baronet of Syston Park.[1] Ogle was the brother-in-law of General Sir Charles Asgill and Executor of his will. He also inherited, in perpetuity, the portrait of Asgill, painted in 1822 by Thomas Phillips.[12]

Legacy edit

See also edit

  • O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). "Ogle, Charles" . A Naval Biographical Dictionary . John Murray – via Wikisource.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Sir Charles Ogle". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20606. Retrieved 4 April 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d Heathcote, p. 200
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Heathcote, p. 201
  4. ^ "Worthy Park House". Parks and Gardens. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  5. ^ "No. 17505". The London Gazette. 12 August 1819. p. 1447.
  6. ^ "No. 18709". The London Gazette. 23 July 1830. p. 1540.
  7. ^ "No. 18729". The London Gazette. 24 September 1830. p. 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Sir Charles Ogle, 2nd Baronet". History of Parliament. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  9. ^ "No. 20044". The London Gazette. 24 November 1841. p. 3014.
  10. ^ "No. 22071". The London Gazette. 11 December 1857. p. 4367.
  11. ^ Burke, John (1839). Burke's Peerage and Baronetage (6th ed.). p. 792.
  12. ^ "Catalogue description: Will of Sir Charles Asgill of York Street Saint James's Square in the City of..." 9 August 1823 – via National Archive of the UK.
  13. ^ "Sir Charles Ogle, The Mills List of Canadian Steamships". Maritime Museum of the Great Lakes. Retrieved 7 January 2017.

Sources edit

  • Heathcote, Tony (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 – 1995. Pen & Sword. ISBN 0-85052-835-6.

Further reading edit

  • The Portsmouth Papers No 53, June 1988 Sir Charles Ogle: A Worthy Admiral by Pam Moore, BA
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
James Farquahar
Member of Parliament for Portarlington
1830–1831
Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station
1827–1830
Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
1845–1848
Succeeded by
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baronet
(of Worthy)
1816–1858
Succeeded by
Chaloner Ogle