Henry Keppel

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Keppel, (14 June 1809 – 17 January 1904) was a Royal Navy officer. His first command was largely spent off the coast of Spain, which was then in the midst of the First Carlist War. As commanding officer of the corvette on the East Indies and China Station he was deployed in operations during the First Opium War and in operations against Borneo pirates. He later served as commander of the naval brigade besieging Sebastopol during the Crimean War. After becoming second-in-command of the East Indies and China Station, he commanded the British squadron in the action with Chinese pirates at the Battle of Fatshan Creek when he sank around 100 enemy war-junks. He subsequently took part in the capture of Canton during the Second Opium War.

Keppel went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station, then Commander-in-Chief, South East Coast of America Station, Commander-in-Chief, China Station and finally Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.

Early career

Keppel was born to William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle, and Elizabeth Southwell Keppel, daughter of Edward Southwell, 20th Baron de Clifford. He joined the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth as a cadet in February 1822, and was appointed a midshipman in the sixth-rate HMS Tweed on the Cape of Good Hope Station. Promoted to lieutenant on 28 January 1829, he transferred to the fifth-rate HMS Galatea on the North America and West Indies Station in February 1830 and to the fifth-rate HMS Magicienne on the East Indies and China Station in July 1831. He was deployed in operations in support of the liberal forces of Maria Christina, the Regent of Spain at the time of the minority of Isabella II, who had faced a revolt by Carlos, Count of Molina.

In 1849, the English schoolmaster James Summers was arrested and imprisoned while on an excursion to Portuguese Macau for failing to doff his hat for a festival procession celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi. Keppel, then the captain of HMS Maeander, requested the Portuguese authorities in Macau to release Summers, which was rejected. An incensed Keppel formed a rescue party from the crew of Maeander and attacked the gaol where Summers was held, freeing him. However, the raid led to an international incident between Britain and Portugal as four Portuguese soldiers and the daughter of a gaoler were killed or injured. Maria II of Portugal was deeply angered after hearing of the raid, and tensions only cooled after the British government apologised and paid reparations.

Keppel became commanding officer of the steam line-of-battle ship HMS St Jean d'Acre in May 1853. appointed a member of the French Legion of Honour on 2 August 1856 and awarded the Turkish Order of the Medjidie, 2nd class, on 3 April 1858.

Promoted to commodore, Keppel became second-in-command of the East Indies and China Station, with his broad pennant in the frigate HMS Raleigh, in September 1856. After commandeering the chartered steamer , he commanded the British squadron, which consisted of the Hong Kong and seven gun boats, in the action with Chinese pirates at the Battle of Fatshan Creek in June 1857 when he sank around 100 enemy war-junks. He also took part in the capture of Canton in December 1857 during the Second Opium War. he was appointed a Groom in Waiting to the Queen on 24 September 1859 and became Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station, with his flag in the frigate HMS Forte, in May 1860. and was hastily transferred to become Commander-in-Chief, South East Coast of America Station instead. Keppel went on to be Commander-in-Chief, China Station, with his flag in the second-rate HMS Rodney, in January 1867. Promoted to full admiral on 12 July 1869 and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 20 May 1871, he took up his last command when he became Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in November 1872. appointed First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to the Queen on 9 March 1878 and retired in June 1879. In 1883 he bought Grove Lodge, a property in Winkfield in Berkshire, and made it his home.

He was among the original recipients of the Order of Merit (OM) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902, and received the order from King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 8 August 1902.

Sir Henry Keppel died in London on 17 January 1904 and was buried at the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin in Winkfield. The tower of St Mary's Church, Bishopstoke was built in 1909 to commemorate Keppel.

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