Nicholas Haddock
{{For|his son and namesake|Nicholas Haddock (1723–1781)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Nicholas Haddock
| image = NicholasHaddock.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Nicholas Haddock
| birth_date = 1686
| death_date = 26 September {{death year and age|1746|1686}}
| birth_place =
| death_place = Wrotham Place, Kent
| nickname =
| branch = {{navy|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
| allegiance = {{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
| serviceyears = 1699{{ndash}}1746
| rank = Admiral of the Blue
| commands = Mediterranean Fleet
| unit =
| battles = {{Plainlist|
}}
| awards =
| relations =
}}
Admiral Nicholas Haddock (1686 – 26 September 1746) was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Commander-in-Chief of Britain's naval forces in the Mediterranean between 1738 and 1742. Despite an active and successful early and middle career, his reputation was tarnished in 1740 when he failed to prevent the Spanish and French fleets from combining to support an invasion of Italy. Amid public outcry he was forced to resign his naval responsibilities and return to England, where he fell into a melancholic state.
Haddock never returned to sea. He held public office as the Member of Parliament for Rochester, but there is no record of him attending parliament or casting a vote. He died at Wrotham Place in Kent, in 1746.
Early life
Haddock was born in 1686, the third and youngest son of Sir Richard Haddock, then Controller of the Navy, and his wife Elizabeth. He joined the Royal Navy at thirteen as a volunteer-per-order and was promoted to midshipman three years later. At around this time he also saw his first active service at sea, being present at the Battle of Vigo Bay off Spain in 1702. Promoted to lieutenant, he served at the relief of Barcelona in 1706. On 6 April 1707 he was promoted to the rank of captain and placed in command of the 42-gun fifth-rate HMS Ludlow Castle.Charnock 1795, p. 383
England was at war with France, and Haddock's orders were to hunt for enemy privateers. On 30 December he brought Ludlow Castle into range with two such vessels, Nightingale and Squirrel, both former English merchantmen captured and refitted by the French. Haddock ordered that Ludlow Castle give chase, and was rewarded with the capture of Nightingale. This vessel, Haddock's first prize ship, was returned to England along with her crew. Haddock was also present at the Battle of Cape Passaro off Sicily in 1718; he was Captain of the 70-gun Grafton, and led the attack.{{cite web|url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=2317|title=Nicholas Haddock|publisher=Three Decks|accessdate=7 January 2018}}
Later career
In 1723 he purchased the estate of Wrotham Place in Kent. In 1732 he was appointed to command of The Nore. He was Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean Fleet from 1738 to 1742.{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=William |title=Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present |date=2014 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, North Carolina, United States |isbn=9780786482887 |page=152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S1VimlFIjQoC&q=Nicholas+Haddock+commander+in+chief+mediterranean&pg=PA152 |language=en}} After the outbreak of the War of Austrian Succession, with only 10 ships at his disposal, he was unable to prevent the crossing of two Spanish armies from Barcelona to Italy. In November 1741, a Spanish fleet with 14,000 troops sailed to Orbetello and in mid-December, 52 ships carrying almost 12,800 men successfully crossed towards La Spezia.Reed Browning, The War of the Austrian Succession, p. 79-81. Only with the arrival of additional ships from Britain in February 1742, he was able to successfully blockaded the Spanish coastReed Browning, The War of the Austrian Succession, p. 97. and take valuable prizes including two treasure ships, but failed to force the Spanish fleet into an action. He was recalled from the Mediterranean in December 1741 and succeeded first by Richard Lestock{{cite book |last1=Bruce |first1=Anthony |last2=Cogar |first2=William |title=Encyclopedia of Naval History |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |location=Cambridge, England |isbn=9781135935344 |page=240 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yci2AgAAQBAJ&q=Richard+Lestock+commander+in+chief+mediterranean&pg=PA240 |language=en}} and then Thomas Mathews.
He was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1734 and promptly took up a political career, obtaining the Admiralty-controlled rotten borough of Rochester in the elections in that year. Although no longer a serving sea officer he continued to progress through seniority, reaching the rank of vice-admiral in 1744 and Admiral of the Blue in 1744. He remained in Parliament as Member for Rochester until his death in 1746.{{cite web|title=Haddock, Nicholas (1686-1746), of Wrotham Place, Kent.|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/haddock-nicholas-1686-1746|publisher=The History of Parliament Trust|location=United Kingdom|year=2016|accessdate=26 November 2016}}
His estate, comprising Wrotham Place and a fortune in South Sea and East India Company shares, was inherited by his eldest son Nicholas.
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|last=Charnock|first=John|title=Biographia Navalis; or, Impartial Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of Officers of the Navy of Great Britain from the Year 1660 to The Present Times|volume=3|year=1795|publisher=Andrews|location=Luton, United Kingdom|isbn=9781781506073}}
- Concise Dictionary of National Biography (1930)
- [https://archive.org/details/achronologicalr00beatgoog Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament] (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
- [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62884 The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 5 (1798)]
- {{Rayment-hc|external links=y|date=March 2012}}
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{{succession box
| title = Member of Parliament for Rochester
| years = 1734–1746
| with = David Polhill 1734–1741
| with2 = Admiral Edward Vernon 1741–1743
| with3 = David Polhill 1743–1746
| before = David Polhill
Admiral John Jennings
| after = David Polhill
Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle
}}
{{s-end}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110608223020/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/object.cfm?ID=BHC2730 Portrait of Nicholas Haddock, at the National Maritime Museum]
- [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp55156/nicholas-haddock Portrait of Nicholas Haddock, at the National Portrait Gallery]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Haddock, Nicholas}}
Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
Category:British military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession
Category:Royal Navy personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
Category:British MPs 1734–1741
Category:British MPs 1741–1747
Category:British military personnel of the War of the Quadruple Alliance