Benjamin Hallowell Carew

Infobox Military Person
name=Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew
lived=1 January 1761 – death date and age|1834|9|2|1761|1|1|df=y


caption=
placeofbirth = Probably Boston, Massachusetts
placeofdeath =
nickname=
residence = United Kingdom
nationality =
allegiance=United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland
serviceyears=
rank=Admiral of the Blue
branch= Royal Navy
commands=
unit=
battles=Battle of St. Kitts
Battle of the Saintes
Battle of Hyeres
Battle of Cape St Vincent
Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Battle of the Nile

awards=Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB)
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)
Neapolitan Order of Saint Ferdinand and Merit|relations=Ann Inglefield

Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew GCB, (born Benjamin Hallowell) (?1 January 1761-2 September 1834) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy. He was one of the select group of officers, referred to by Nelson as his "Band of Brothers", who served with him at the Battle of the Nile [cite web|url=http://www.remembernelson.com/band-of-brothers.htm|title=Nelson's 'Band of Brothers' at www.remembernelson.com|accessdate=2008-09-03] [cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/96/96379.html|title=Nelson's Band of Brothers|last=Lambert|first=Andrew|work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|accessdate=2008-09-07] .

Early years

Although he is often identified as Canadian, Hallowell's place and exact date of birth have been the subject of dispute among researchers. He was probably born on 1 January 1761 in Boston, Massachusetts [ [http://www.jphs.org/colonial/capt-benjamin-hallowell-homestead.html Benjamin Hallowell Homestead on the Jamaica Plain Historical Society website] ] , where his British father, a former naval captain also named Benjamin, was Commissioner of the Board of Customs. His Loyalist family was forced to leave Boston at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and after a time in Canada they settled in England where Hallowell entered the Royal Navy, receiving his promotion to lieutenant on 31 August 1781.

Naval career

Benjamin Hallowell's naval career spanned the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, and he took part in a number of important actions in all three. As a lieutenant in Admiral Lord Hood's fleet, he saw action in the Battles of St. Kitts and the Saintes in 1782. He continued on active service after the end of the war and was promoted to the rank of commander in about 1791cite web|url=http://www.aandc.org/research/sir_benjamin_hallowell_bio1.htm|title=Benjamin Hallowell Biography Part 1|publisher=Archives and Collections Society, Picton, Ontario|accessdate=2008-09-04 Abstracted from Captain A Crawford, RN, "Reminiscences of a Naval Officer, During the Late War. With Sketches and Anecdotes of Distinguished Commanders. In Two Volumes. Embellished with Portraits of Admirals Sir Edward Owen and Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew". London, Colburn, 1851] . Commissioned as a post-captain in August 1793, he and his ship took part in the evacuation following the Siege of Toulon in that year. He was involved in the Siege of Bastia under the command of Lord Hoodcite book|last=James|first=William|title=The Naval History of Great Britain|publisher=Richard Bentley|location=London|date=1837|volume=Volume 1|pages=190-191|chapter=British and French Fleets|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval_History/Vol_I/P_190.html] , and then as a volunteer at the capture of Calvi, Corsica, in 1794 (in which Nelson lost the sight of his right eye); he was mentioned in despatches by Lord Hood for his part in this action, and was subsequently given command of HMS|Lowestoffe|1761|6.

By 1795 he was in command of "HMS Courageux", and took part with her in the Battle of Hyeres. He was not aboard in December 1796 when the vessel was wrecked after an incident in the Bay of Gibraltar during bad weather. Her mooring cable parted and she was driven within range of Spanish shore batteries; Hallowell, ashore to sit at a court-martial, was denied permission to rejoin the ship and take her to safety, and she was subsequently wrecked off Monte Hacho in high winds during her officers' attempts to move to a safer anchorage, with the loss of almost 500 lives [ [http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval_History/Vol_I/P_315.html James 1837 Vol I pp 316-317] ] . Following her loss, Hallowell served as a volunteer aboard HMS|Victory during the Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797), was commended to the Admiralty by Admiral Sir John Jervis for his actions during the battle [Several historians relate an anecdote concerning this. When Jervis, a stern and imposing figure, was told of the superior odds facing him, he expressed determination to attack no matter how strong the opposition. Hallowell, standing with Jervis on the deck of Victory, is said to have expressed loud approbation and thumped his commander-in-chief on the back in a startling display of familiarity (Crawford 1851).] and was given another command: HMS|Lively|1794|6, in which he took part in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1797), where Nelson lost an arm [ [http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval_History/Vol_II/P_055.html James 1837 Vol II 55] ] .

Nelson's coffin

Hallowell is probably best known as the man who made Nelson a present of what would become his own coffin, after the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. Hallowell commanded HMS "Swiftsure" during the battle, a 74-gun ship of the line which bombarded the French flagship "L'Orient" at close quarters and played a major role in her destruction. Some time later he sent Nelson a coffin he had ordered to be made from a salvaged piece of "L'Orient"'s mainmast, with an accompanying note: Quote|Sir, I have taken the liberty of presenting you a coffin made from the main mast of L'ORIENT, that when you have finished your military career in this world you may be buried in one of your trophies. But that that period may be far distant is the earnest wish of your sincere friend, Benjamin Hallowell|"The Life of Horatio, Lord Nelson", Robert Southey, Chapter V [ [http://www.paintedships.com/nelson5.asp Transcribed at www.paintedships.com] ] Nelson is said to have been pleased with the gift, keeping it propped against the wall of his cabin for some time, behind the chair in which he sat for dinner, and taking it with him to his next command. After he was killed in 1805 during the Battle of Trafalgar, he was buried in Hallowell's coffin [ [http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval_History/Vol_IV/Vol_IV_P_096.htm James 1837 Vol IV 96] ] .

Hallowell himself, now in command of HMS "Tigre", missed the Battle of Trafalgar. His ship, along with five others in his squadron, had been sent to Gibraltar for water and on convoy duty [ [http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval_History/Vol_IV/Vol_IV_P_092.htm James 1837 Volume IV 92] ] . However his old command, "Swiftsure", took part on the French side. She and her officers and crew, including Hallowell, had been captured in 1801 after a fight with a squadron of five French warships. Hallowell faced a court-martial over this incident when he was returned to England after a short time as a prisoner of war, but he was honorably acquitted of any failure of duty. [ [http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval_History/Vol_III/Vol_III_P_094.htm James 1837 Vol III 94] ] . Hallowell remained a serving naval officer after Nelson's death. He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue on 1 August 1811; Rear-Admiral of the White in 1812; Vice-Admiral of the Blue on August 12 1819; Vice-Admiral of of the White on July 19 1821; [LondonGazette|issue=17727|startpage=1511|date=20 July 1821|accessdate=2008-09-05] and Admiral of the Blue in 1830. [LondonGazette|issue=18709|startpage=1539|date=23 July 1830|accessdate=2008-09-05]

Honours

Hallowell was awarded the Neapolitan Order of Saint Ferdinand and Merit [LondonGazette|issue=15333|startpage=140|date=31 January 1801|accessdate=2008-09-05] for his actions during the siege of Corsica, an honour also presented to Nelson. He was appointed a Colonel of Royal Marines on July 31 1810, [LondonGazette|issue=16391|startpage=1119|date=28 July 1810|accessdate=2008-09-05] and was number 61 amongst those appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the restructuring of the Order on 2 January 1815, [LondonGazette|issue=16972|startpage=19|date=4 January 1815|accessdate=2008-09-05] and promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) on 6 June 1831. [LondonGazette|issue=18810|startpage=1107|date=7 June 1831|accessdate=2008-09-05]

Inheritance and change of name in later life

In 1828, Sir Benjamin Hallowell succeeded to the estates of the Carew family of Beddington, Surrey, on the death of his cousin, who had herself inherited them from her brother-in-law. In accordance with the terms of her will, he assumed the Carew name and coat of arms, becoming known as Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew. [LondonGazette|issue=18483|startpage=1273|date=1 July 1828|accessdate=2008-09-05] He died on 2 September 1834.

In fiction

*Hallowell appeared as a character in Dudley Pope's novel "Ramage and the Drum Beat" (1968).

References

Further reading

*Elson, Bryan, "Nelson's Yankee Captain: The Life of Boston Loyalist Sir Benjamin Hallowell" (2008) ISBN10 0-88780-751-8; ISBN13 978-0-88780-751-0
*Laughton, J. K., [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4624 ‘Carew, Sir Benjamin Hallowell (1760–1834)’] , rev. Roger Morriss, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2007, doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/4624

External links

* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?search=as&grp=1108%3BThe+Revolutionary+Wars&lDate=&LinkID=mp00745&rNo=1&role=sit Portrait of Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew by John Hayter at the National Portrait Gallery in London]
* [http://http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/images/200/F/48/F4834-001.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/object.cfm%3FID%3DUNI0168&h=267&w=200&sz=25&hl=en&start=10&sig2=x7DhIhxwYHiJK-GKice1EQ&usg=__hZxNL0zReVkinQSrLzvoX6MAf5A=&tbnid=_NqKIhk86ReH0M:&tbnh=113&tbnw=85&ei=-fm-SMvTGJSO0QT73KiOAw&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBenjamin%2BHallowell%2BCarew%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew's robes as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, displayed at the National Maritime Museum, London]
* [http://manuscripts.co.uk/stock/21311.HTM Manuscript letter from Sir Benjamin Hallowell to Captin Lempriere of "HMS Trent", 1815]