- Evan Nepean
Infobox Person
name = Sir Evan Nepean
image_size =
caption =
birth_date = 9 July 1751
birth_place = St. Stephens, Cornwall, UK
death_date = 2 October 1822
death_place = Dorset, UK
education =
occupation = politician
spouse = Margaret Skinner
parents = Nicholas Nepean
children = one daughter, two sonsSir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet PC (
9 July 1751 or 1753, St Stephens nearSaltash ,Cornwall –2 October 1822 ) was a British politician and colonial administrator.Early career
Nepean entered the
Royal Navy on December 28, 1773, serving onHMS Boyne as a clerk to Capt. Hartwell. He was promoted to purser in 1775. During theAmerican Revolutionary War he served as secretary to AdmiralMolyneux Shuldham , inBoston in 1776 and again atPlymouth (1777-78). From 1780-1782 he was Purser on HMS Foudroyant for Captain John Jervis (later Lord St. Vincent).On March 3, 1782 (aged only 29) he was appointed Permanent
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department . He served effectively there until December 1791, when he becameUnder-Secretary of State for War in 1794, secretary to the Board ofAdmiralty 1795-1804,Chief Secretary for Ireland 1804-1805,Commissioner of the Admiralty , and thengovernor ofBombay 1812-1819.He was
Member of Parliament for Queenborough from 1796 till 1802, then moving to Bridport where he remained until 1812. He was made abaronet in 1802 and was admitted to thePrivy Council of the United Kingdom in 1804.Family
Evan Nepean was the second of three sons of "Nicholas Nepean, Gent" and his wife, Margaret Jones. His father was Cornish and his mother was from
South Wales . The name "Nepean" is thought to come from the village ofNanpean (“the head of the valley”), in Cornwall. Nepean married Margaret Skinner, the only daughter of Capt. William Skinner, onJune 6 ,1782 at the Garrison Church atGreenwich . They had one daughter and four sons, including Sir Molyneux Hyde Nepean, 2nd Bt. and Maj.-Gen. William Nepean whose daughter Anna Maria Nepean married General SirWilliam Parke . Their youngest child, Rev. Canon Evan Nepean, became the Canon ofWestminster and a Chaplain In Ordinary to Queen Victoria. Rev. Canon was also the great-great-grandfather of Fynvola MacLean, the mother of British film starHugh Grant .cite web|last=Lundy |first=Darryl |title=Person Page 23883:Rev. Canon Evan Nepean |publisher=thePeerage.com |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p23883.htm#i238829 |accessdate=2007-09-28]Legacy
The city of
Nepean, Ontario ,Canada , theNepean River thus Nepean High School, Emu Plains inNew South Wales ,Australia , theNepean Highway from Melbourne to Portsea (and nearbyPoint Nepean ) in the south east of Victoria,Australia and two roads inMumbai ,India , Nepean Road andNepean Sea Road , were all named after him.References
External links
* [http://www.nepeanmuseum.on.ca/sir_evan_nepean.htm The Nepean Museum]
* [http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/hohist.html History of the Home Office 1782-1982]
*Rayment
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