View source for Edward Codrington

{{short description|Royal Navy Admiral (1770–1851)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]]
| name          = Sir Edward Codrington
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCB|FRS}}
| image         = File:Edward Codrington (Thomas Lawrence).png
| image_size    = 
| alt           = 
| caption       = ''[[Portrait of Edward Codrington]]'' by [[Thomas Lawrence]], 1828
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1770|4|27|df=y}}
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1851|4|28|1770|4|27|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Dodington, Gloucestershire|Dodington]], England
| death_place   = [[London]], England
| placeofburial = 
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = {{UK}}/[[British Empire]]
| branch        = {{flagicon|United Kingdom|naval}} [[Royal Navy]]
| serviceyears  = 
| rank          = [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]]
| servicenumber = 
| unit          = 
| commands      = [[Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth|Portsmouth Command]]<br />[[Mediterranean Fleet]]<br />{{HMS|Orion|1787|6}}<br />{{HMS|Druid|1783|6}}<br />{{HMS|Babet|1794|6}}
| battles       = {{tree list}}
* [[French Revolutionary Wars]]
** [[Glorious First of June]]
* [[Napoleonic Wars]]
** [[Battle of Trafalgar]]
** [[Walcheren Campaign]]
* [[War of 1812]]
* [[Greek War of Independence]]
** [[Battle of Navarino]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards        = [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]<br />[[Order of St. George|Order of St. George, 2nd Class]] (Russia)
| relations     = [[Christopher Bethell-Codrington]] (brother) <br/>General [[William Codrington (British Army officer)|Sir William Codrington]] (son)<br />Admiral of the Fleet [[Henry Codrington|Sir Henry Codrington]] (son)
| laterwork     = 
| signature     = Edward Codrington signature .jpg
}}
'''Sir Edward Codrington''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|FRS}} (27 April 1770 – 28 April 1851) was a British [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|admiral]], who took part in the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] and the [[Battle of Navarino]].

==Early life and career==
The youngest of three brothers born to Edward Codrington the elder (1732–1775) and Rebecca Lestourgeon (Sturgeon) (1736–1770), Codrington came from a long military tradition. His father was the youngest son of [[Sir William Codrington, 1st Baronet]]. Their aristocratic, landowning family, was descended from John Codrington, reputed to be standard-bearer to [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] at [[Battle of Agincourt|Agincourt]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=John |title=A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, Vol. 1 |date=1832 |publisher=H. Colburn and R. Bentley |location=London |page=270 |edition=4th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cq8KAAAAYAAJ |access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref> and related to the [[Codrington baronets]],<ref name="Geni">{{cite web |title=Adm. Sir Edward Codrington, GCB, RN |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Adm-Sir-Edward-Codrington-GCB-RN/6000000022670123013?through=6000000078926455604 |website=Geni.com |access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref> Codrington was educated by an uncle named Mr Bethell. He was sent for a short time to [[Harrow School|Harrow]], and entered the [[Royal Navy]] in July 1783. He served off the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, in the Mediterranean and in home waters, until he was promoted to [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]] on 28 May 1793, when [[Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe|Lord Howe]] selected him to be signal lieutenant on the flagship of the [[English Channel|Channel]] fleet at the beginning of the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. In that capacity he served on the 100-gun {{HMS|Queen Charlotte|1790|6}} during the operations which culminated in the battle of [[the Glorious First of June]].{{sfn|Hannay|1911}}

As a reward for his actions at the battle, on 7 October 1794 he was promoted to [[commander]], and on 6 April 1795 attained the rank of [[Post-Captain]] and the command of the 22-gun {{HMS|Babet|1794|2}} from which he observed the [[Battle of Groix]] on 23 June 1795.{{sfn|Hannay|1911}} His next command, from July 1796 to March 1797,<ref name="Threedecks EC">{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Simon |title=Sir Edward Codrington |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=242 |website=Threedecks |access-date=1 June 2018}}</ref> was the frigate {{HMS|Druid|1783|2}} whom he commanded in the Channel and off the coast of [[Portugal]]. On 7 January 1797, ''Druid'', along with {{HMS|Doris|1795|2}} and {{HMS|Unicorn|1794|2}} captured the French frigate ''Ville de L'Orient'', armed [[en flûte]] and carrying 400 [[Hussar#Hussars of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars|hussars]] to join the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|rebels in Ireland]].<ref name="Druid SON">{{cite web |title=Druid |url=http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=0783 |website=Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy |access-date=1 June 2018}}</ref>

Following this, Codrington spent a period largely on land and on half-pay for some years. In December 1802, he married Jane Hall, an English woman from [[Kingston, Jamaica]] (with whom he had 3 sons and 3 daughters),<ref name="Threedecks EC"/> and remained without a ship until the [[Peace of Amiens]] came to a close in 1803.

In 1797, Edward Codrington, his brother William John, and his sister Caroline, jointly inherited their uncle Christopher Bethell's residuary estates, including a slave plantation in Antigua.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Summary of Individual {{!}} Legacies of British Slave-ownership|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146639303|access-date=2020-06-15|website=ucl.ac.uk}}</ref>

His eldest brother [[Christopher Bethell Codrington|Christopher Bethell-Codrington]] inherited their uncle's main estates and [[Dodington Park]], which was later rebuilt by [[James Wyatt]] between 1798 and 1816.

==Service in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812==
On the renewal of hostilities with France he remained in [[frigate]]s for some time before being given the [[ship of the line]] {{HMS|Orion|1787|6}} in the spring of 1805 which was attached to [[Horatio Nelson|Admiral Nelson's]] fleet off [[Cádiz]] in the blockade of the combined fleet. Codrington and ''Orion'' were engaged at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] on 21 October 1805, where ''Orion'' was stationed to the rear of the northern division and therefore took two hours to reach battle. Once there, Codrington ignored all other ships and focused entirely on closing with a hitherto unengaged French ship, the {{ship|French ship|Swiftsure||2}}, forcing her to surrender. He then attacked but failed to capture the Spanish flagship {{ship|Spanish ship|Principe de Asturias|1794|2}} before moving on to the {{ship|French ship|Intrepide||2}}, the only ship of the northern division to return. ''Orion'', with other ships, dismasted and then sailed round her, firing continually until she surrendered.

For the next several years, Codrington fought alongside the Spanish against the French in the Mediterranean Sea, commanding a squadron that harried French shipping and made numerous coastal raids. During this time also participated in the disastrous [[Walcheren expedition]] in 1809.

The two months of May and June in 1811 were to prove his most testing time while stationed on Spain's eastern seaboard. He went to great lengths to help the Spanish [[Siege of Tarragona (1811)|besieged at Tarragona]] by the [[First French Empire|French]] Army of Aragon under [[Louis Gabriel Suchet]]. Convinced that the [[Marquis of Campoverde|Marquis de Campoverde]],<ref>memoir of Sir Edward Codrington page 211</ref> the Spanish general in charge of Tarragona, was not up to the task, Codrington, who had a clearer understanding of the situation, helped the British military agent Charles William Doyle to contrive a plan of succour. Through his own personal efforts Codrington brought to Tarragona 6,300 Spanish infantry and 291 artillerymen as reinforcements. He spent many nights in the port area guiding cannon launches against the enemy. When the city fell, he rescued over 600 people from the beach in a Dunkirk-style operation under fire from enemy cannon and personally undertook to reunite mothers and babies who had been separated during the evacuation. Afterwards, he intervened on a political level to stop Captain General [[Luis de Lacy|de Lacy]] disarming the local Catalan [[Somatén]]s (militias).

Codrington was promoted to the rank of [[Rear-Admiral of the Blue]] on 4 June 1814, while he was serving off the coast of North America as captain of the fleet to Vice Admiral [[Alexander Cochrane|Sir Alexander Cochrane]] during the operations against [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], [[Baltimore]] and [[New Orleans]] during the [[War of 1812]].{{sfn|Hannay|1911}} In recognition of this service, he was made a Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]] in 1815. He became a [[Rear-Admiral of the Red]] on 12 August 1819, and then a [[vice admiral]] on 10 July 1821. He was also elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in February 1822.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

==Greek War of Independence and the Battle of Navarino==
[[Image:Navarino.jpg|thumb|right|''The Naval Battle of Navarino'' (1827). Oil painting by Carneray]]

In December 1826 Codrington was appointed [[Mediterranean Fleet|Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet]] and sailed on 1 February 1827. From that date until his recall on 21 June 1828 he was engaged in the arduous duties imposed on him by the [[Greek War of Independence]], which had led to [[Civil disorder|anarchy]] in occupied [[Greece]]<ref>[http://www.greecetravel.com/peloponessos/navarino/ Battle of Navarino]</ref> and surrounding areas. His orders were to enforce a peaceful solution on the situation in Greece, but Codrington was not known for his diplomacy, and on 20 October 1827 he destroyed the [[Turkey|Turkish]] and [[Egypt]]ian fleet at the [[Battle of Navarino]] while in command of a combined British, French and Russian fleet.{{sfn|Hannay|1911}}

After the battle Codrington went to [[Malta]] to refit his ships. He remained there till May 1828, when he sailed to join his French and Russian colleagues on the coast of the [[Morea]]. They endeavoured to enforce the evacuation of the peninsula by [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt|Ibrahim Pasha]] peacefully. The Pasha made diplomatic difficulties, which came in the form of continuous [[genocide]] against the [[Greeks]] of [[Morea]] who were to be replaced with [[Muslims]] from Africa, and on 25 July the three admirals agreed that Codrington should go to Alexandria to obtain Ibrahim's recall by his father Mehemet Ali. Codrington had heard on 22 June of his own supersession, but, as his successor had not arrived, he carried out the arrangement made on 25 July, and his presence at Alexandria led to the treaty of 6 August 1828, by which the evacuation of the [[Morea]] was settled. His services were recognised by the grant of the Grand Cross of the Bath, but there is no doubt that the British government was embarrassed by his heavy-handed [[gunboat diplomacy]] and not too impressed by the further weakening of Russia's main opponent, the Ottomans.{{sfn|Hannay|1911}}

==Later years==
[[File:Sir Edward Codrington royalnavyhistory05clowuoft 0191.jpg|thumbnail|left|Lithograph of the Admiral, circa 1897]]
[[Image:Portrait study of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington 1835.jpg|thumb|right|Admiral Codrington, MP for Devonport, painted for the [[Reform Act 1832|reformed House of Commons]] picture by [[Sir George Hayter]] in 1836]]
After his return home, Codrington spent some time in defending himself, and then in leisure abroad. He commanded a training squadron in the Channel in 1831 and became a full admiral on 10 January 1837. He was elected member of parliament for [[Devonport (constituency)|Devonport]] in 1832, and sat for that constituency until he accepted the [[Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds|Chiltern Hundreds]] in 1839. From November 1839 to December 1842 he was [[Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth]].{{sfn|Hannay|1911}}

On 5 October 1835, under the terms of the [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833]], Codrington was awarded government compensation of £2,588 6s 6d for the 190 slaves he had owned at the Rooms plantation on [[Antigua]], and who had been freed under the terms of the act.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Details of Claim {{!}} Legacies of British Slave-ownership|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/claim/view/1120|access-date=2020-06-15|website=ucl.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Summary of Individual {{!}} Legacies of British Slave-ownership|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/40899|access-date=2020-06-15|website=ucl.ac.uk}}</ref>

[[File:Sir Edward Codrington by Henry Perronet Briggs.jpg|thumb|''Sir Edward Codrington'' by [[Henry Perronet Briggs]], 1843]]

Codrington died in London on 28 April 1851. He left two sons, both of whom achieved distinction in the British armed forces. [[William Codrington (British Army officer)|Sir William Codrington]] (1804–1884) was a commander in the [[Crimean War]]. [[Henry Codrington|Sir Henry Codrington]] (1808–1877), a naval officer, became an [[Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Admiral of the Fleet]]. A third son, Edward Codrington, was a [[midshipman]] aboard {{HMS|Cambrian|1797|2}} when he died sometime in 1821 or 1822 in the Mediterranean. He had been taking a cutter to [[Hydra (island)|Hydra]] when a squall overturned the boat, drowning him, a merchant, and three crewmen.<ref>{{harvnb|Marshall|1823|loc= Vol. 1, Part 2, pp. 875–876}}</ref>

Codrington was buried in [[St Peter's Church, Eaton Square]], but in 1954 the remains were reburied at [[Brookwood Cemetery]] in Surrey, plot number 70. Plaques to his memory can be found in [[St Paul's Cathedral]]<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" [[William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London)|Sinclair, W.]] p. 455: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.</ref> and St Mary's Church, Dodington, close to the family home at Dodington Park,<ref>{{cite web |title=Codrington, Edward |url=https://www.1805club.org/memorials/edward-codrington |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=19 July 2025 |work=The 1805 Club |publisher=}}</ref> and there is a large [[obelisk]] dedicated to the memory of him and the other officers at Navarino at [[Pylos]] in Greece.

Numerous roads are named after him in Greece<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sentragoal.gr/article.asp?catid=17141&subid=2&pubid=7144188 |script-title=el:Οι δρόμοι Κοδριγκτώνος, Δεριγνύ και Χέυδεν και η ιστορία τους – αποψεις , τριανταφύλλου |language=el |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100303105803/http://www.sentragoal.gr/article.asp?catid=17141&subid=2&pubid=7144188 |archive-date=3 March 2010 |access-date=15 January 2013}}</ref> and stamps with his figure have been issued. At least three pubs; one in south-west London<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whatpub.com/pubs/WLD/15967/admiral-codrington-chelsea|accessdate=2021-10-04|title=Admiral Codrington, Chelsea|publisher=whatpub}}</ref> and two now-closed pubs in Coventry<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.closedpubs.co.uk/warwickshire/coventry_admiralcodrington.html|title=Admiral Codrington, Coventry, another closed pub|accessdate=2021-10-04|publisher=closedpubs.co.uk}}</ref> and south-east London<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.closedpubs.co.uk/london/se5_camberwell_admiralcodrington.html|title=Admiral Codrington, Camberwell another closed pub|accessdate=2021-10-04|publisher=closedpubs.co.uk}}</ref> are named after him.

In June 2020, a plaque in Brighton commemorating Codrington was removed following protest over the commemoration of a slave owner as part of the [[George Floyd protests]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Plaque to slave-owning Admiral is taken down|url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/18514212.brighton-plaque-slave-owning-admiral-taken/|access-date=2020-06-15|website=The Argus|date=12 June 2020 }}</ref>
[[File:Codrington Family Plot 2016.jpg|thumb|right|Codrington is buried in the family plot in [[Brookwood Cemetery]]]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite book|last=Bourchier  |first=Lady Jane |title=Memoir of the life of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington  |series=With selections from his public & private correspondence |others=Edited by his daughter Lady Bourchier  |year=1872 |publisher=Longmans Green |location=London |oclc=557819059  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZTUBAAAAQAAJ}}
* {{cite RNB1823 |wstitle=Codrington, Edward |volume=1 |part=2 |pages=635–639}}

'''Attribution:'''
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Codrington, Sir Edward|volume=6|page=636|first=David|last=Hannay|author-link=David Hannay (historian)}}

==Further reading==
* ''The Trafalgar Captains'' (2005) – Colin White and the 1805 Club, Chatham Publishing, London {{ISBN|1-86176-247-X}}

==External links==
{{NBD1849 poster|Codrington, Edward}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | sir-edward-codrington | Sir Edward Codrington }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010530211857/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/searchbin/searchs.pl?flashy=et1740z&flash=true Animation of the Battle of Trafalgar]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061206071535/http://www.aboutnelson.co.uk/13codrington.htm Edward Codrington bio]
* [http://www.greecetravel.com/peloponessos/navarino/ The Battle of Navarino]

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-new | constituency }}
{{s-ttl
 | title = Member of Parliament for [[Plymouth Devonport (UK Parliament constituency)|Devonport]]
 | years = [[1832 United Kingdom general election|1832]]–1839
 | with  = [[Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet|Sir George Grey]]
}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet|Sir George Grey]] <br />[[Henry Tufnell]]}}
|-
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box|title=[[Mediterranean Fleet|Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet]]|before=[[Sir Harry Burrard-Neale, 2nd Baronet|Sir Harry Burrard-Neale]]|after=[[Pulteney Malcolm|Sir Pulteney Malcolm]]|years=1826–1828}}
|-
{{succession box | title=[[Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth]] | years=1839–1842 | before=[[Charles Elphinstone Fleeming]] | after=[[Sir Charles Rowley, 1st Baronet|Sir Charles Rowley]]}}
{{end}}

{{Greek War of Independence}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Codrington, Edward}}
[[Category:1770 births]]
[[Category:1851 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:People educated at Harrow School]]
[[Category:People from South Gloucestershire District]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Greek War of Independence]]
[[Category:Royal Navy captains at the Battle of Trafalgar]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1832–1835]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1835–1837]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1837–1841]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Second Degree]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Burials at Brookwood Cemetery]]
[[Category:English slave owners]]
[[Category:Codrington family]]