View source for Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves

{{Short description|Royal Navy Admiral, politician and colonial administrator (1725–1802)}}
{{For|other people named Thomas Graves|Thomas Graves (disambiguation){{!}}Thomas Graves}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] [[The Right Honourable]]
| name          = The Lord Graves
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KB}}
| image         = Admiral Lord Graves, 1st Baron Graves of Gravesend, by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg
| caption       = Portrait by [[Thomas Gainsborough]]
| birth_date    = 23 October 1725
| death_date    = {{death date and age|df=yes|1802|2|9|1725|10|23}}
| birth_place   = [[Plymouth]], England
| death_place   = [[Devon]], England
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = {{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
| serviceyears  = 
| rank          = [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]]
| commands      = [[North America and West Indies Station|North American Station]]<br />[[Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth|Plymouth Command]]
| branch        = {{navy|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
| unit          = 
| spouse        = {{marriage|Elizabeth Williams|1771}}
| children      = [[Thomas Graves, 2nd Baron Graves|Thomas]]
| battles       = [[Seven Years' War]]<br />[[American War of Independence]]<br />[[French Revolutionary Wars]]
| awards        = 
| relations     = [[Alfred van der Smissen, 2nd Baron van der Smissen]], his great-nephew.
| laterwork     = 
}}
[[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] '''Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves''', [[Order of the Bath|KB]] (23 October 1725 – 9 February 1802) was a [[Royal Navy]] officer, politician and colonial administrator who served in the [[Seven Years' War]] and the [[American War of Independence]]. He was also the [[Commodore-Governor]] of [[Colony of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] for a period of time.<ref name=odnb>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11319?docPos=2 Article by Kenneth Breen, ‘Graves, Thomas, first Baron Graves (1725–1802)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008; Retrieved 4 June 2008].</ref>

== Military career ==
Born in England in October 1725, Graves was the second son of Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves of Thanckes in [[Cornwall]].<ref>[http://www.historic-cornwall.org.uk/csus/towns/torpoint/torpoint.htm Historic Cornwall website: Thanckes estate near Torpoint.]</ref>

Graves' first military experience was as a volunteer with Commodore [[Henry Medley]]'s crew around 1740. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1743, and captain in 1755. In the first year of the [[Seven Years' War]], Graves failed to confront a French ship which gave challenge.<ref name=odnb/> He was tried by [[court-martial]] for not engaging his ship, and reprimanded.<ref name=odnb/> Graves became [[Commodore-Governor]] of [[Colony of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] in 1761<ref name=odnb/> and given the duty of convoying the seasonal fishing fleet from England to the island. In 1762 he learned that French ships had captured [[St. John's, Newfoundland|St. John's]]. Graves, Admiral [[Alexander Colville, 7th Lord Colville of Culross|Alexander Colville]] and Colonel [[William Amherst (British Army officer)|William Amherst]] retook the port city.<ref name=odnb/>

With the end of the Seven Years' War, [[Labrador]] came under his responsibility as French fishing fleets returned to the [[French Shore]] and [[St. Pierre and Miquelon]].  Graves strictly enforced the treaties to the extent that the French government protested. Graves' governorship ended in 1764. He returned to active service during the [[American War of Independence]] and became commander-in-chief of the [[North America and West Indies Station|North American Squadron]] in 1781.<ref name=odnb/> when [[Mariot Arbuthnot]] returned home.

During the American Revolution, his fleet was defeated by the [[François Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasetilly, comte de Grasse|Comte de Grasse]] in the [[Battle of the Chesapeake]] at the mouth of [[Chesapeake Bay]] on 5 September 1781, leading to the surrender of [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]] at [[Yorktown, Virginia|Yorktown]].

In September 1782, a fleet under his command was caught in [[1782 Central Atlantic hurricane|a violent storm]] off the banks of Newfoundland. The captured French ships from the [[Battle of the Saintes]] {{ship|French ship|Ville de Paris|1764|2}} (110 guns) and {{HMS|Glorieux}} (74 guns), and the British ships {{HMS|Ramillies|1763|6}} (74 guns) and {{HMS|Centaur|1759|2}} (74 guns) foundered, along with other merchant ships, with the loss of 3,500 lives. In 1786 Graves became [[Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth]].<ref name=odnb/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/34418725/|title=Admiral Graves, we hear, will succeed Admiral Milbanke in the Station of Port Admiral at Plymouth| publisher=The Public Advertiser|page=2|date=22 February 1786|access-date=2 January 2014}}</ref>

With the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], Graves was second in command to Admiral [[Richard Howe]] at the [[Glorious First of June]] on 1 June 1794. Graves became a full admiral and was awarded an [[Irish peerage]] as '''Baron Graves''', of Gravesend in the [[County Londonderry|County of Londonderry]].<ref>London Gazette no. 13727. p. 1178</ref>

== Personal life ==
Lord Graves married Elizabeth, daughter of William Peere Williams, in 1771. The couple had a son, [[Thomas Graves, 2nd Baron Graves|Thomas]], in 1775. Following several battle injuries, Graves retired to his [[Devon]] estate in 1794, and died in February 1802, aged 76.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/naval-baron-graves.php| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150912103846/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/naval-baron-graves.php| archive-date = 2015-09-12| title = Graves, 1st Baron Thomas (1725-1802)}}</ref>

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|centre|150px]] [[File:Graves Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = Gules an eagle displayed Or ducally crowned Argent. On a canton of the last an anchor Proper.
|crest = A demi-eagle displayed and erased Or encircled round the body and below the wings by a ducal coronet Argent.
|supporters = Two royal vultures wings close Proper.
|motto = Aquila Non Captat Muscas <ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=1949}}</ref>}}

== See also ==
* [[List of Newfoundland and Labrador lieutenant-governors|Governors of Newfoundland]]
* [[List of people of Newfoundland and Labrador]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{Page needed |date=February 2013}}
* {{Rayment|date=February 2012}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.heritage.nf.ca/govhouse/governors/g21.html Biography at Government House ''The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador'']
* {{DictCanbio|ID=2431}}

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 | title  = [[East Looe (UK Parliament constituency)|Member of Parliament for East Looe]]
 | years  = 1775
 | with   = [[John Buller (1721–1786)|John Buller]]
 | before = [[John Buller (1721–1786)|John Buller]]<br />[[Charles Whitworth (MP)|Sir Charles Whitworth]]
 | after  = [[John Buller (1721–1786)|John Buller]]<br />[[William Graves (MP)|William Graves]]
}}

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{{succession box|title=[[List of lieutenant governors of Newfoundland and Labrador#Commodore-Governors of Newfoundland, 1729–1825|Governor of Newfoundland]]|
                 before=[[James Webb (governor)|James Webb]] |
                 after=[[Hugh Palliser|Sir Hugh Palliser]] |
                 years=1761–1764}}
|-
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{{succession box|title=[[North America and West Indies Station|Commander-in-Chief, North American Station]]|before=[[Mariot Arbuthnot]]|after=[[Robert Digby (Royal Navy officer)|Robert Digby]]|years=1781}}
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{{succession box | title=[[Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth]] | years=1786–1790 | before=[[Mark Milbanke]]| after=[[Sir Richard Bickerton, 1st Baronet|Sir Richard Bickerton]]}}
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{{s-new | creation }}
{{s-ttl
 | title = [[Baron Graves]]
 | years = 1794–1802
}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Thomas Graves, 2nd Baron Graves|Thomas North Graves]] }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Thomas Graves, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1725 births]]
[[Category:1802 deaths]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War]]
[[Category:Governors of Newfoundland Colony]]
[[Category:Barons Graves|1]]
[[Category:Peers of Ireland created by George III]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall]]
[[Category:British MPs 1774–1780]]