Joseph Bingham

Rear-Admiral Joseph Bingham ( – 10 December 1825) was a Royal Navy officer who was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station, but never took up the post.

Naval career Bingham joined the Royal Navy in 1781 as a midshipman on HMS Dublin and took part in the relief of Gibraltar. In January 1793 while serving as third lieutenant on HMS Ganges he assisted in the capture of Le Général Dumourier and other ships, and received his portion of a large amount of prize money. When the wind began to fail, Bingham sent three of his boats after the quarry. Once alongside, in two minutes the British had captured the French vessel, despite fire from two brass six-pounder guns, six brass swivel guns and small arms. Out of her 25-man crew, Passe-Portout had two dead and five seriously wounded, including the captain, who was mortally wounded; the British suffered only one man slightly wounded. Bingham discovered that the French had outfitted Passe Partout to land three officers on the coast to incite the Mahratta states to attack the British. Bingham passed on the intelligence with the result that the British at Poona were able to capture the Frenchmen.

In 1804, he was appointed to HMS Sceptre. He accompanied the expedition sent to the Scheldt under Admiral Strachan and caught the Walcheren Fever. After partially recovering in 1811 he was appointed to HMS Egmont. Promoted to rear-admiral in 1819, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station but died on 10 December 1825 before he could take up the post.