19 Facts About Houston Stewart

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Houston Stewart, was a Royal Navy officer and briefly a Liberal Party Member of Parliament.

Houston Stewart went on to be Captain-Superintendent of Woolwich Dockyard and then Controller-General of the Coastguard.

Houston Stewart served as Third Naval Lord before entering the House of Commons as Liberal Party Member of Parliament MP for Greenwich.

Houston Stewart became Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard and then second-in-command in the Black Sea taking part in the Siege of Sevastopol and commanding the fleet at the capture of Kinburn during the Crimean War.

Houston Stewart went on to be Admiral Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard, then Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station and finally Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.

Houston Stewart was appointed to the fifth-rate HMS Medusa which was engaged to transport Lord Cornwallis, Governor-General of Bengal, to Calcutta.

Houston Stewart transferred to the third-rate HMS Revenge and took part in the blockade of Brest and then in the action of 25 September 1806 when four French frigates were captured by a squadron commanded by Commodore Sir Samuel Hood during the Napoleonic Wars.

Houston Stewart transferred to the fifth-rate HMS Imperieuse, commanded by Captain Thomas Cochrane, in October 1806 and took part in various raids on the Mediterranean coast of France during 1807 and in the defence of Rosas, which was under siege by the French Army, in November 1808.

Houston Stewart transferred to the fourth-rate HMS Adamant at Leith in November 1809 and to the fifth-rate HMS Hussar in the Baltic Sea in May 1810.

Houston Stewart transferred to the first-rate HMS San Josef, flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Channel Squadron, in May 1812 and to the first-rate HMS Queen Charlotte, the next flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet, in January 1813.

Houston Stewart became acting commanding officer of the third-rate HMS Clarence off Brest in March 1814 and acting commanding officer of the sloop HMS Podargus off Finisterre in June 1814.

At the 1837 general election Houston Stewart stood for Parliament in Renfrewshire, but was unsuccessful.

Houston Stewart observed the Egyptian withdrawal and then rescued Greek nationalists escaping from Candia following an uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

Houston Stewart became Captain-Superintendent of Woolwich Dockyard and Captain of the royal yacht HMY William and Mary in May 1846 and Controller-General of the Coastguard in November 1846.

Houston Stewart was appointed Third Naval Lord in February 1850 and, having been promoted to rear admiral on 16 June 1851, he entered the House of Commons at a by-election in February 1852 as Liberal Party Member of Parliament MP for Greenwich, following the resignation of Sir James Dundas.

Houston Stewart became Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard, with his flag in the fifth-rate HMS Ceylon, in April 1853 and second-in-command in the Black Sea, with his flag in the second-rate HMS Hannibal in January 1855.

Houston Stewart took part in the Siege of Sevastopol in Winter 1854 and commanded the fleet at the capture of Kinburn in October 1855 during the Crimean War.

Houston Stewart went on to be Admiral Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard, with his flag in the second-rate HMS Indus, early in 1856 and Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, with his flag in HMS Indus again, in November 1856.

Houston Stewart died at his home in Port William in Wigtownshire on 10 December 1875.