William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk

Admiral William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk, (10 April 1756 – 28 May 1831) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. While in command of HMS Monmouth he was caught in the Nore Mutiny of 1797 and was the officer selected to relay the demands of the mutineers to George III. He most notably served as third-in-command of the Mediterranean Fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in HMS Britannia. He later became Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom and Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.

Naval career Early career Carnegie was born in Hampshire on 10 April 1756 as the second son of Admiral George Carnegie, 6th Earl of Northesk and his wife Lady Anne Leslie, eldest daughter of Alexander Leslie, 5th Earl of Leven.

Carnegie entered the Royal Navy in 1771 on board the third-rate HMS Albion. Subsequently he served on the frigate HMS Southampton in home waters, where he assisted in transporting the Queen of Denmark across the English Channel, and in the post ship HMS Squirrel, in which he sailed for Jamaica in 1774 while still a midshipman. Carnegie served on Apollo for just under two years before joining the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir John Lockhart-Ross, the ship of the line HMS Royal George. On 17 April Carnegie was present during the Battle of Martinique where the twenty ships of the line of Rodney fought the twenty-three ships of the line of the Comte de Guichen. While the battle itself was inconclusive, Sandwich fought alone against de Guichen's flagship Couronne and two of her consorts for an hour and a half, taking a great amount of damage. For his service during the battle Carnegie was promoted to commander by Rodney, although his rank was only confirmed on 10 September.

Post-Captain

On 7 April 1782 Carnegie was promoted to post captain and given command of the frigate HMS Enterprise which had newly arrived on station in the Leeward Islands from England. Carnegie and Monmouth were assigned to the North Sea Fleet of Admiral Adam Duncan the same year. On 12 May 1797 many ships of the fleet including Monmouth were at the Nore when the Nore Mutiny began. Carnegie was confined to his cabin by his mutinous crew, until 6 June when he was brought before the committee of delegates that the mutineers had set up on Sandwich.

Soon after the mutiny ended Carnegie resigned his command of Monmouth and thus missed the Battle of Camperdown. He stayed unemployed for four years. He commanded Prince until she was paid off at the start of the Peace of Amiens in April 1802. Towards the end of the year Britannia was stationed near the Isle of Wight to protect against possible invasion from France.

Admiral

Carnegie was promoted to rear-admiral on 23 April 1804 as a rear-admiral of the white, keeping Britannia as his flagship and taking Charles Bullen as his flag captain. By October Carnegie was third in command of the Mediterranean Fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson off Cádiz. Nelson looked to pierce the combined fleet with two columns and for this purpose Britannia was in the windward column led by Nelson in HMS Victory. Later he was ordered to break through the enemy line behind their fourteenth ship, making Britannia the fourth ship of the windward column to join the action. Upon breaking the enemy line Britannia came up with and dismasted a French 80-gun ship, and then engaged three of the enemy ships attempting to attack Victory. Britannia fought throughout the battle and received fifty-two casualties, of which ten were killed. For his part in the battle, Carnegie was inducted into the Order of the Bath on 5 June 1806. He also received the thanks of the Houses of Commons and Lords, and the Corporation of London among other organisations.

Carnegie died on 28 May 1831 in Albemarle Street, London after a short illness, and was buried alongside Nelson and Collingwood in the crypt at St Paul's Cathedral, where his tomb and memorial slab can still be seen.

Other roles Carnegie served as the governor of the British Linen Company from 1800 to his death in 1831. The company held an important history in the economic development of Scotland, as it stimulated industrial investment in the production of linen and spinning factories across the rural Highlands and the East Coast. By the nineteenth century, the company had undergone a full transformation from a manufacturing company into a bank.

In 1796 Carnegie, as Earl of Northesk, was elected to serve as one of the sixteen Scottish representatives in the Parliament of Great Britain. He subsequently took part in the parliaments of 1802, 1806, and 1830.

Family Carnegie married Mary Ricketts, only daughter of William Henry Ricketts and niece of Admiral of the Fleet Lord St Vincent, on 9 December 1788 in Paris. They had nine children: Jane Christian Carnegie (14 November 1800 – 1 October 1840) John Jervis Carnegie (8 July 1807–18 January 1892) Georgina Henrietta Carnegie (2 August 1811–7 November 1827) Admiral Swynfen Thomas Carnegie (8 March 1813–20 November 1879)

Notes and citations