Thomas Pye

Admiral Sir Thomas Pye ( – 26 December 1785) was a Royal Navy officer who served during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American War of Independence. He was briefly Member of Parliament for Rochester, and served as commander of several of the navy's principal stations and ports.

Born into a family with powerful political connections, Pye used these to rise rapidly through the ranks, and to receive employments in periods of peace. He commanded a number of ships during the War of the Austrian Succession, and was appointed commander-in-chief in the Leeward Islands, but a fit of temper when he was superseded almost cost him his career. Charged with disobeying orders and other infractions, Pye returned to Britain, where he was able to use his connections, and the absence of the experienced naval officers, to ensure a lenient outcome to his court martial. Despite this he remained unemployed during the Seven Years' War, though he reached flag rank.

Pye did not receive active postings until the end of the Seven Years' War, when he commanded several of the navy's dockyards, and even returned to the Leeward Islands to take up his old post. A brief foray into politics proved lacklustre, he made no impact in parliament, and alienated his constituents. His position as commander-in-chief at Portsmouth during the American War of Independence brought the opportunity for rewards. The fleet was reviewed by the King, and Pye received promotion and a knighthood. He retired after the end of the war and died two years later. He had conducted a long-running affair with the novelist Anna Maria Bennett, and left two children by her, including a daughter who became the famous actress Harriet Pye Bennett.

Family and early life Thomas Pye was born c. 1708/9, the second son of Henry Pye of Faringdon House in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) and his wife, Anne, daughter of Sir Benjamin Bathurst of Cirencester in Gloucestershire. He was the great grandson of Robert Pye, the parliamentarian, and was uncle of Henry James Pye, the poet laureate. Through his mother, Pye was related to Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst, a powerful politician who would use his influence to speed Pye's rise through the ranks. Pye passed his lieutenant's examination on 12 June 1734 and joined the 48-gun HMS Preston, under Captain Charles Cotterell, on 18 April 1735 as her third lieutenant. His service was initially spent off the British coast, until transferring to the 60-gun , still under Cotterell, and moving to the Tagus. He took the 44-gun out to Nova Scotia in June 1751, returning to Britain later that year, before being appointed to the 50-gun in February 1752 to become commander-in-chief in the Leeward Islands Station.

Disobeying orders and court martial Pye was commander of the station until his replacement, Commodore Thomas Frankland, arrived to supersede him in October 1755. Pye, reportedly angry at this, refused to strike his broad pennant, upon which Frankland reprimanded him for disobeying a superior officer. during the subsequent peace, and was promoted to vice-admiral on 21 October that year. He returned to his old post as commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station between 1766 and 1769, at first with the 32-gun as his flagship, followed by the 50-gun . Pye briefly entered politics on returning to Britain, being elected to parliament as Member for Rochester on 9 May 1771. No records exist of him ever speaking in the House of Commons, and he was defeated at the next general election, on 7 October 1774, having apparently alienated his constituents. At the same time the King ordered Pye promoted to admiral. The court was convened aboard on 7 January, though the rest of the hearings were held at the house of the governor of the garrison.

Assessment Pye's career was advanced through his political connections, rather than talent. His temper nearly cost him his career, while he managed to make himself so unpopular with his constituents while MP for Rochester that Philip Stephens, the Secretary to the Admiralty, wrote to Lord Hardwicke saying that the voters 'had conceived an utter aversion to our Admiral Sir Thomas Pye, and I find they would have taken anybody who offered himself in preference to him'. He was known to junior officers as 'Goose Pye', while naval historian Nicholas Rodger described him as 'something of a naval grotesque who aroused mingled amusement and contempt'. Pye acknowledged his difficulty expressing himself, writing that 'I had the mortification to be neglected in my education, went to sea at 14 without any, and a man of war was my university.' His biographer Roger Knight described him as 'not a typical mid-eighteenth-century naval officer.'