Joseph Sydney Yorke

Admiral Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke KCB (6 June 1768 – 5 May 1831) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782 during the American War of Independence. He commanded at the action of 22 August 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars and went on to be First Naval Lord during the closing stages of the Napoleonic Wars.

Family and early life

Yorke was born in Great Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire, on 6 June 1768, the second son, by his second wife Agneta, of the politician Charles Yorke. He joined the navy at the age of 11, becoming a midshipman aboard , then under the command of Sir Charles Douglas, on 15 February 1780. He followed Douglas to his next command, , which flew the flag of Admiral George Rodney.

Knighthood and flag rank Yorke was knighted during this period of service, on 21 April 1805, by King George III. On 23 April, Yorke was present at the installation of the Knights of the Garter, standing in for his brother, Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke. Philip was at this time Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and so was unable to be present in person. Rear-Admiral of the Red on 4 December 1813 and Vice-Admiral of the Blue on 14 June 1814. He served as First Naval Lord in the Liverpool ministry from October 1813 until May 1816 but remained on the Admiralty Board until April 1818. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the restructuring of that order in January 1815, promoted Vice-Admiral of the White on 12 August 1819, and promoted to Admiral of the Blue on 22 July 1830.

Parliamentary career Yorke stood as a candidate for the constituency of Reigate in 1790, and was returned as its member. He represented the borough until 1806, when he was elected as member for St Germans. He stood aside, "taking the Chiltern Hundreds" in 1810 so that his brother, Charles Philip Yorke, could be elected. In the 1812 general election Joseph Yorke stood as a candidate for Sandwich and was returned as its member. Yorke's business interests include the chairmanship of the Waterloo Bridge Company. The marriage was at Hound, north of Hamble. They had the following children:

Charles Philip Yorke (1799–1873), Admiral in the Navy, succeeded as 4th Earl of Hardwicke Sidney Yorke (January 1801 – 1812) Henry Reginald Yorke (30 October 1802 – 1871), Archdeacon of Huntingdon and Canon of Ely Eliot Thomas Yorke (April 1805 – 1885), barrister and MP Horatio Nelson Yorke (13 August 1806 – March 1814) Grantham Munton Yorke (14 February 1809 – 1879), Dean of Worcester Agneta Elizabeth Yorke (9 December 1811 – 1851), married Robert Cooper Lee Bevan, banker

On 22 May 1813, Joseph married a second time, to Urania Anne, the Dowager Marchioness of Clanricarde, and daughter of George Paulet, 12th Marquess of Winchester, at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London. The marriage did not produce any children. All aboard were drowned. The bodies were later recovered and an inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.