Peter Rainier (Royal Navy officer, born 1741)
Peter Rainier | |
|---|---|
 Admiral Peter Rainier, by Arthur William Devis | |
| Born | 24 November 1741 England |
| Died | 7 April 1808 Westminster, England |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1756-1805 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | HMS Astraea HMS Monarch HMS Suffolk East Indies Station |
| Battles/wars | Seven Years War American Revolutionary War |
Peter Rainier (24 November 1741 – 7 April 1808) was a Royal Navy officer who served during the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. From 1794 to 1805, Rainier was commander-in-chief of the Navy's East Indies Station, covering all seas between the Cape of Good Hope and the South China Sea.
Mount Rainier in Washington, USA, was named after him by his friend George Vancouver.
[]
Rainier was born in Sandwich, Kent, England, on 24 November 1741. He was the grandson of Daniel Regnier, a Huguenot refugee who had fled France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the son of merchant Peter Rainier and his wife Sarah née Spratt. Rainier was educated at Tonbridge from 1754, before joining the Royal Navy in 1756.[1]
Rainier initially served on the 50-gun fourth rate HMS Oxford, but when she was broken up in 1758 he transferred to the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Yarmouth. In that ship he sailed to the East Indies Station, arriving in March, at which point Rainier moved from Yarmouth into the 60-gun fourth rate HMS Tiger, also on the station. In Tiger he fought at the Battle of Cuddalore on 29 April, the Battle of Negapatam on 3 August, and in another engagement off the Coromandel Coast on 10 September 1759. In June 1760 he transferred to serve aboard the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Norfolk, which was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Charles Steevens. In Norfolk Rainier served at the Siege of Pondicherry between September 1760 and January 1761. In April of the latter year Steevens died and was replaced on board by Vice-Admiral Samuel Cornish, under whom Rainier fought at the Battle of Manila between September and October 1762. Rainier returned home from the East Indies in Norfolk in 1764, at which point the ship was paid off.[1]
On 26 May 1768, working as the master of one of his family's merchant ships, Rainier was promoted to lieutenant. During the American Revolutionary War, Rainier was severely wounded on 8 July 1778, while capturing a large American privateer.[1] He was promoted in rank and went on to become Captain of the 32-gun frigate HMS Astraea. He commanded her on the Jamaica Station from 1786 to 1790.[1]
In 1790, he became the commander of HMS Monarch.[1] On 8 May 1792, George Vancouver named Mount Rainier in modern-day Washington after Captain Rainier:
- "The weather was serene and pleasant, and the country continued to exhibit between us and the eastern snowy range the same luxuriant appearance. At is northern extremity, Mount Baker bore by compass N. 22E.; the round snowy mountain, now forming its southern extremity, and which, after my friend, Rear Admiral Rainier, I distinguish by the name of Mount Rainier, bore N(S) 42 E."[2]
In early 1793, Rainier commissioned the 74-gun Suffolk.[1] From 1794 to 1805, Rainier commanded Royal Navy operations on the East Indies Station.[1] During his tenure, large swaths of territory came under British control.[1]
In 1795, Rainier was promoted to Rear-Admiral. Four years later, he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral.[1] He served in the East Indies as Commodore and commander-in-chief of a fleet.[1]
In 1800, he commanded an expedition to Java. On 23 August 1800 Sybille, Daedalus, Centurion, and entered Batavia Roads and captured five Dutch armed vessels in all and destroyed 22 other vessels.[3] The British took one vessel into service and Captain Henry Lidgbird Ball of Daedalus named her HMS Admiral Rainier, and ordered her manned, armed, and equipped.[3] (Admiral Rainier was sold in September 1803.)
In 1805 Rainier returned to England and retired from active duty.[1]
Later life[]
After Rainier's retirement, the ministry continued to consult him and in 1805 was promoted to Admiral of the Blue in the celebratory promotions following the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.[1] In 1807, he became a Member of Parliament (MP) for Sandwich. He died the following year at his home on Great George Street Westminster,[1] with his nephew, John Spratt Rainier, succeeding him as MP for Sandwich.[4]
Rainier left an estate valued at £250,000, largely prize money gained during his naval career. He was not married, and although the bulk of his estate was divided between his nephews, John and Peter Rainier,[1] ten percent was left to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to be used to reduce the national debt, in acknowledgement of:
...the national establishment of the Royal Navy, in which I have acquired the principal part of the fortune I now have, which has exceeded my merit and pretensions.[5]
Citations[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Breen (2011).
- ^ Vancouver (1798), p. 235.
- ^ a b "No. 15427". The London Gazette. 14 November 1801. pp. 1372–1373.
- ^ Collinge (1986).
- ^ United Service Magazine (1834), p. 422.
References[]
- Breen, Kenneth (2011). "Rainier, Peter". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Collinge, J. M. (1986). "Sandwich". History of Parliament. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
- The United Service Magazine. Vol. 1. London: Henry Colburn. 1834.
- Vancouver, George (1798). A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World. Vol. 1. London: G. G. and J. Robinson.
Authority control | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| National libraries | |
| Other | |
- 1741 births
- 1808 deaths
- Royal Navy admirals
- People from Sandwich, Kent
- Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1807–1812
- Huguenots