View source for Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific prefix =[[The Right Honourable]]
| name          = The Earl of Bristol
| image         =File:Augustus Earl of Bristol.jpg
| caption       =The Earl of Bristol by Thomas Gainsborough, with his ship ''Dragon'' and [[Morro Castle (Havana)|Castle Moro]] in the background
| birth_date          = {{birth-date|19 May 1724}}
| death_date          = {{death-date and age|23 December 1779|19 May 1724}}
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =[[Ickworth]], [[Suffolk]]
| birth_place  = [[Derbyshire]]
| death_place  =[[St James's Square]], [[London]]
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname      =
| allegiance    = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch        = {{navy|United Kingdom}}
| serviceyears  =1735–1775
| rank          = [[Vice admiral (Royal Navy)|Vice Admiral]]
| unit          =
| commands      = [[HMS Princess (1740)|HMS ''Princess'']]<br/>[[HMS Phoenix (1743)|HMS ''Phoenix'']]<br/>[[HMS Defiance (1744)|HMS ''Defiance'']]<br/>[[HMS Hampton Court (1709)|HMS ''Hampton Court'']]<br/>[[HMS Monmouth (1667)|HMS ''Monmouth'']]<br/>[[HMS Dragon (1760)|HMS ''Dragon'']]<br/>[[HMS Centurion (1732)|HMS ''Centurion'']]<br/>[[Mediterranean Fleet]]
| battles       = [[Seven Years' War]]
| awards        =
| spouse        = [[Elizabeth Pierrepont, Duchess of Kingston-upon-Hull|Elizabeth Chudleigh]]
| relations     =
| laterwork     =
}}
[[Vice admiral (Royal Navy)|Vice Admiral]] '''Augustus John Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol''', [[Privy Council of Ireland|PC]] (19 May 1724 – 23 December 1779<ref name=dnb>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Hervey, Augustus John|first= William Prideaux |last=Courtney |volume=26}}</ref>) was a [[Royal Navy]] officer and politician. He commanded the [[sixth-rate]] HMS Phoenix at the [[Battle of Minorca (1756)|Battle of Minorca]] in May 1756 as well as the third-rate [[HMS Dragon (1760)|HMS ''Dragon'']] at the [[Capture of Belle Île]] in June 1761, the [[Invasion of Martinique (1762)|Invasion of Martinique]] in January 1762 and the [[Battle of Havana (1762)|Battle of Havana]] in June 1762 during the [[Seven Years' War]]. He went on to be [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] and then [[First Sea Lord|First Naval Lord]].
==Early life==
Hervey was born the second son of [[John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey|John, Lord Hervey]] and educated at [[Westminster School]] from 1733.<ref name=decks>{{cite web|url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=8422|title=Lord Augustus John Hervey (1724–1779)|publisher=Three Decks|access-date=24 July 2017}}</ref> He entered the [[Royal Navy]] in 1735<ref name=decks/> and was promoted to [[Lieutenant (Royal Navy)|lieutenant]] in 1740.<ref name=burke>{{cite web|url=http://www.burkespeerage.com/distinguishedFamilies_Bristol.php|title=Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol|publisher=Burke’s Peerage|access-date=24 July 2017|archive-date=25 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325135829/https://www.burkespeerage.com/distinguishedFamilies_Bristol.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Naval career==
{{further|Great Britain in the Seven Years War}}
[[File:Dominic Serres (1722-1793) - Captain Augustus John Hervey (1724–1779), Later 3rd Earl of Bristol, in the 'Phoenix', Taking 14 French Ships at Argentiera, 9 November 1756 - 851776 - National Trust.jpg|thumb|Hervey in the ''Phoenix'', taking 14 French ships at [[Argentiera]], 9 November 1756]]
Promoted to [[post-captain]] on 15 January 1747, Hervey was given command of the [[third-rate]] [[HMS Princess (1740)|HMS ''Princess'']] and later the [[sixth-rate]] [[HMS Phoenix (1743)|HMS ''Phoenix'']] in January 1752 and saw action in her at the [[Battle of Minorca (1756)|Battle of Minorca]] in May 1756.<ref name=decks/> He went on to command the [[fourth-rate]] [[HMS Defiance (1744)|HMS ''Defiance'']] later that month, the [[third-rate]] [[HMS Hampton Court (1709)|HMS ''Hampton Court'']] in May 1757 and the third-rate [[HMS Monmouth (1667)|HMS ''Monmouth'']] in March 1758.<ref name=decks/>
Hervey distinguished himself in several encounters with the French, and was of great assistance to [[Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke|Admiral Hawke]] in 1759, although he had returned to England before the [[Battle of Quiberon Bay]] in November 1759. He took command of the third-rate [[HMS Dragon (1760)|HMS ''Dragon'']] in March 1760 and saw action during the [[Capture of Belle Île]] in June 1761, the [[Invasion of Martinique (1762)|Invasion of Martinique]] in January 1762 and the [[Battle of Havana (1762)|Battle of Havana]] in June 1762 before transferring to the fourth-rate [[HMS Centurion (1732)|HMS ''Centurion'']] in May 1763.<ref name=decks/>
Having served with distinction in the [[West Indies]] under [[George Rodney|Rodney]], his active life at sea ceased when the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Peace of Paris]] was concluded in February 1763. He was, however, nominally [[Mediterranean Fleet|Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet]] in this year.<ref name=odnb>{{cite ODNB|id=13109|first=Ruddock|last=Mackay|title=Hervey, Augustus John, third earl of Bristol}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Rear admiral (Royal Navy)|rear-admiral]] on 31 March 1775<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=11549|page=1|date=1 April 1775}}</ref> and to [[Vice admiral (Royal Navy)|vice-admiral]] on 29 January 1778. He was known as the English Casanova, due to his colourful personal life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roguesgalleryonline.com/all-aborad-the-exhausting-naval-adventures-of-augustus-hervey/|title=All aboard the exhausting naval adventures of Augustus Hervey|publisher=Rogues Gallery|access-date=24 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814225441/http://www.roguesgalleryonline.com/all-aborad-the-exhausting-naval-adventures-of-augustus-hervey/|archive-date=14 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Political career==
Hervey was Member of Parliament for [[Bury St Edmunds (UK Parliament constituency)|Bury St Edmunds]] from 1757 to 1763, and, after being for a short time Member for [[Saltash (UK Parliament constituency)|Saltash]], again represented Bury St Edmunds from 1768 until he succeeded his brother in the earldom of Bristol in 1775; as a member of the House of Lords, he automatically became ineligible to sit in the Commons. He often took part in debates in Parliament, and was a frequent contributor to periodical literature. He was an opponent of the [[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Rockingham]] ministry and a strong defender of [[Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel|Admiral Keppel]] with whom he had worked closely.<ref name=keppel>Keppel, p. 353</ref>
He was a [[Groom of the Bedchamber]] to King George III from 1763 to 1775 and Chief Secretary to the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]] from 1766 to 1767.<ref name=burke/> He joined the [[Board of Admiralty]] as [[First Sea Lord|First Naval Lord]] in the [[North ministry]] in February 1771<ref>Rodger, p. 69</ref> and stood down from the Admiralty Board in April 1775.<ref name=Sainty-18-31>{{cite web|title=Sainty, JC, ''Lord High Admiral and Commissioners of the Admiralty 1660-1870, Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4: Admiralty Officials 1660-1870'' (1975), pp. 18–31|url=http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16652|access-date=4 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007025436/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16652|archive-date=7 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Personal life==
[[File:Chudleigh, Elizabeth.jpg|right|thumb|18th century portrait of Elizabeth Chudleigh]]
[[File:Jean-Étienne Liotard (1702-1789) - The Honourable Mrs Constantine Phipps (1722–1780), Being Led to Greet Her Brother, Captain The Honou - 851727 - National Trust.jpg|thumb|his sister Mrs Constantine Phipps (1722–1780) and 3rd Earl of Bristol by Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1750.]]
In August 1744 Hervey had been secretly married to [[Elizabeth Pierrepont, Duchess of Kingston-upon-Hull|Elizabeth Chudleigh]] (1720–1788), afterwards Duchess of Kingston, but this union was dissolved in 1769. Lord Bristol died leaving no legitimate issue, and having, as far as possible, alienated his property from the title.<ref name=dnb/>
In 1748 after Hervey had rejoined his ship and his marriage was foundering, he had formed a deep passion for [[Etheldreda Townshend]], who had previously attracted the amorous attentions of both his elder brother [[George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol|George]] and his father.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sherson |first1=Errol |title=The Lively Lady Townshend and her Friends |date=1926 |publisher=William Heinemann Ltd |location=London |pages=281–291}}</ref>
In about 1765 Hervey paid to take [[Ann Elliot]] off the stage to become his mistress. She would go on to take the King's brother as her lover.<ref>{{Cite ODNB |doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/64332|title = The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year = 2004|isbn = 9780198614111}}</ref> From 1775 Hervey had taken as his mistress [[Mary Nesbitt]], a former artists' model of some notoriety. They lived together, apparently faithfully, at his [[Surrey]] home of [[The Laurels School|Norwood House]] and she received property in his will.<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=63409/|title=Nesbitt (née Davis), Mary |last= Stevenson|first=Janet H.|year=2004}}</ref> He made changes to Norwood House including an ornamental lake and a stable. He died due to gout in the stomach at [[St James's Square]], [[London]] on 23 December 1779, aged 55, and was buried at [[Ickworth]] in [[Suffolk]]; he was succeeded by his brother [[Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol|Frederick]].<ref name=burke/>
Many of his letters are in the Record Office, and his journals are in the [[British Museum]]. Other letters are printed in the ''Grenville Papers'', vols. iii. and iv. (London, 1852–1853), and the ''Life of Admiral Keppel'', by the Rev. Thomas Keppel (London, 1852).<ref name=keppel/> [[Hervey Bay]], [[Queensland]], a bay and city in the [[Fraser Coast]] region of [[Australia]], was named after him by Captain [[James Cook]] while carrying out the survey of the east coast of Australia on 22 May 1770.<ref>[[Ray Parkin]], ''H. M. Bark Endeavour'', [[Miegunyah Press]], 2nd edition 2003, {{ISBN|0-522-85093-6}}</ref> [[Bristol Bay]], the rich salmon fishing ground in southwest [[Alaska]], was so named in honour of Hervey by Captain [[James Cook]], who first charted the region in July 1778. [[Bristol Island]], a five-mile long ice-covered quake-prone chain of volcanos in the [[South Sandwich Islands]] and the coral atoll comprising the islands of [[Manuae (Cook Islands)|Manuae]] and Te-O-Au-Tu in the Cook Islands were also named in honour of Hervey by Captain [[James Cook]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/bristol-brand/ |title=20 ways Brand Bristol has made city famous|publisher=Bristol 24/7|access-date=24 July 2017|date=19 November 2015}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Hervey, Augustus John|first= William Prideaux |last=Courtney |volume=26}}
*{{cite book|last=Keppel|first=Thomas|title= The life of Augustus, Viscount Keppel|url= https://archive.org/details/lifeaugustusvis00keppgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/lifeaugustusvis00keppgoog/page/n368 353]|quote=augustus hervey keppel.|publisher=Henry Colburn|year=1842}}
* {{cite book|last=Rodger|first=N.A.M. |year=1979|title=The Admiralty. Offices of State|publisher= Lavenham: T. Dalton Ltd|isbn=0900963948}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Bristol, Earls and Marquesses of}}
==Further reading==
* Holmes, M J R (1996). Augustus Hervey - A Naval Casanova. Durham: Pentland Press.
==External links==
* [http://www.hervey.com.au/History/default.htm History of Hervey Bay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913170306/http://www.hervey.com.au/History/default.htm |date=13 September 2009 }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|gb}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Bury St Edmunds (UK Parliament constituency)|Bury St Edmunds]]
| years  = 1757–1763
| with   = [[Felton Hervey]] 1757–1761
| with2  = [[Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton|Charles FitzRoy]] 1761–1763
| before = [[Felton Hervey]]
| before2= [[Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton|Earl of Euston]]
| after  = [[Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton|Charles Fitzroy]]
| after2 = [[William Hervey (1732–1815)|William Hervey]]
}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Saltash (UK Parliament constituency)|Saltash]]
| before = [[John Clevland (1706–1763)|John Clevland]]<br />[[George Anson (1731–1789)|George Adams]]
| years  = 1763–1768
| with   = [[George Anson (1731–1789)|George Adams]]
| after  = [[Martin Hawke, 2nd Baron Hawke|Martin Hawke]]<br />[[Thomas Bradshaw (MP)|Thomas Bradshaw]]
}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Bury St Edmunds (UK Parliament constituency)|Bury St Edmunds]]
| years  = 1768–1775
| with   = [[Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton|Charles Fitzroy]] 1768–1774
| with2  = [[Sir Charles Davers, 6th Baronet|Sir Charles Davers]] 1774–1775
| before = [[Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton|Charles Fitzroy]]
| before2= [[William Hervey (1732–1815)|William Hervey]]
| after  = [[Sir Charles Davers, 6th Baronet|Sir Charles Davers]]
| after2 = [[Henry Seymour Conway]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] | before=[[Francis Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford|Viscount Beauchamp]] | after=[[Theophilus Jones (1729–1811)|Theophilus Jones]] | years=1766–1767}}
|-
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box|title=[[First Sea Lord|First Naval Lord]]|before=[[Francis Holburne|Sir Francis Holburne]]<br/><small>(as Senior Naval Lord)</small>|after=[[Hugh Palliser|Sir Hugh Palliser]]|years=1771&ndash;1775}}
|-
{{s-reg|gb}}
{{succession box|title=[[Marquess of Bristol|Earl of Bristol]]|before=[[George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol|George Hervey]]|after=[[Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol|Frederick Hervey]]|years=1775–1779}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{First Sea Lord}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bristol, Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl Of}}
[[Category:1724 births]]
[[Category:1779 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals|Hervey, Augustus John]]
[[Category:Lords of the Admiralty|Hervey, Augustus John]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies|Hervey, Augustus John]]
[[Category:Earls of Bristol (1714 creation)|103]]
[[Category:Hervey family|Augustus]]
[[Category:British MPs 1754–1761]]
[[Category:British MPs 1761–1768]]
[[Category:British MPs 1768–1774]]
[[Category:British MPs 1774–1780]]
[[Category:Chief Secretaries for Ireland]]
[[Category:Sea captains]]
[[Category:Younger sons of barons]]