35 Facts About Philip Beaver

Philip Beaver was an officer of the Royal Navy, serving during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Philip Beaver played a varied and active role in several notable engagements, and served under a number of the most notable figures of the Navy of the age.

Philip Beaver's father died when Philip was eleven, leaving the family impoverished.

Philip Beaver's mother accepted the offer of Joshua Rowley, then captain of HMS Monarch to take Philip to sea with him.

Philip Beaver followed him to each one, and in doing so served as part of fleets between 1779 and 1780 at times under the command of Admirals John Byron, Sir Hyde Parker and Sir George Rodney.

Philip Beaver spent the next ten years living with his mother at Boulogne.

Philip Beaver returned to a more active form of service in 1791 when he participated in a colonization scheme intended to resettle Black former slaves from the Americas with Richard Hancorn, commander of HMS Calypso, on the island of Bulama off the coast of Portuguese Guinea.

Philip Beaver was in command of the Hankey, a small ship with sixty-five men, twenty-four women, and thirty-one children, mostly seasick and all useless.

Philip Beaver was left in command and spent the next eighteen months attempting to make the settlement a success.

Philip Beaver was later to publish an account of his experiences, entitled African Memoranda in 1805, which contained his thoughts, which were anti-slavery in nature.

Philip Beaver was reunited with Elphinstone's force off Cape Agulhas on her return voyage.

Philip Beaver had by this time come to Elphinstone's attention, and he was impressed by Philip Beaver's seamanship.

Philip Beaver was to be disappointed however, by the time Elphinstone, by now Lord Keith, was appointed to command the Mediterranean Station a year later, Beaver had not received a promotion, and followed Keith as first lieutenant of the new flagship, HMS Foudroyant, later moving to HMS Barfleur.

Philip Beaver appears to have clashed with the junior lieutenants under his command, as they seemed to him to be appointed for promotion rather than for duty.

Philip Beaver brought Thomas Cochrane, then a junior lieutenant, to a court martial for disrespect.

Philip Beaver was told that the charge ought not to have been pressed.

Philip Beaver was placed in command of the bombardments as part of the Siege of Genoa in April and May 1800, and the allied forces eventually forced the surrender of the French commander Andre Massena.

Philip Beaver was sent home to England with the dispatches of the victory, but by the time he arrived the Battle of Marengo had been fought and Genoa had again fallen to the French.

Philip Beaver had hoped for a promotion after the victory, but this turn of events meant that it was not to be and he returned to Keith.

Philip Beaver was detained at Gibraltar for a fortnight whilst making his return, and so took the opportunity to marry his young fiancee, Miss Elliott.

Philip Beaver went on to rejoin Lord Keith, and was promoted to captain on 10 January 1801.

Philip Beaver received the prestigious appointment to command the flagship, and took an active role in the operations on the coast of Egypt from 1800 to 1801.

Philip Beaver did however accept a diamond box for himself and a gold box for each of the lieutenants.

The Determinee was paid off at Portsmouth on 19 May 1802, and Philip Beaver was put in charge of the sea fencibles of Essex in July 1803.

Philip Beaver was highly successful in these duties, and three years later returned to sea, having been appointed to command the 40-gun frigate HMS Acasta.

Philip Beaver sailed her to La Guaira where captured the French corvette Serpent at command of Paul de Lemanon.

Immediately Philip Beaver traveled to Caracas, brought news of the Spanish uprising against the Napoleonic invasion and the formation of the Juntas in defense of the King Ferdinand VII wrights.

Philip Beaver remaining in the West Indies until the capture of Martinique in February 1809.

Philip Beaver returned to England and after a few months, was appointed to command the 38-gun HMS Nisus, departing aboard her for the East Indies on 22 June 1810.

Philip Beaver arrived on the station and joined the squadron under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie.

Philip Beaver played a distinguished part in the capture of Mauritius in November 1810.

Philip Beaver spent nearly a year in Mozambique and off the coast of Madagascar, and received orders by the end of 1812 to return to England.

Philip Beaver had complained of a slight indisposition previously, but became seized by a violent inflammation of the bowels.

Philip Beaver spent a few days in excruciating pain, before dying on 5 April 1813.

Philip Beaver had been a highly efficient and professional officer, and had attracted the patronage of highly placed and influential senior officers.