1ST

BARON

See also:

• WILLIAM
• WILLIAM (1143-1214)
• WILLIAM (1227-1256)
• WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
• WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
• WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
• WILLIAM, 13TH

WILLIAM

See also:

• HOTHAM, SIR JOHN (d. 1645)
• 1ST BARON WILLIAM HOTHAM HOTHAM (1736-1813)

HOTHAM HOTHAM (1736-1813)  , British Admiral, son of Sir Beaumont Hotham (d . 1771), a lineal descendant of the above Sir John Hotham, was educated at Westminster School and at the Royal Naval Academy, Portsmouth . He entered the navy in 1751, and spent most of his midshipman's time in American waters . In 1755 he became lieutenant in Sir Edward Hawke's flagship the " St George," and he soon received a small command, which led gradually to higher posts . In the " Syren " (20) he fought a sharp action with the French " Telemaque " of superior force, and in the " Fortune " sloop he carried, by boarding, a 26-gun privateer . For this service he was rewarded with a more powerful ship, and from 1757 onwards commanded various frigates . In 1759 his ship the " Melampe," with H.M.S . " Southampton,".fought a spirited action with two hostile frigates of similar force, one of which became their prize . The " Melampe " was attached to Keppel's squadron in 1761, but was in the main employed in detached duty and made many captures . In 1776, as a commodore, Hotham served in North American waters, and he had a great share in the brilliant action in the Cul de Sac of St Lucia (Dec . 15th, 1778) . Here he continued till the spring of 1781, when.he was sent home in charge of a large convoy of inerchantmen Off Scilly Hotham fell in with a powerful French squadron, against which he could effect nothing, and many of the merchant-men went to France as prizes .

In 1782 Commodore Hotham was with

Howe at the relief of Gibraltar, and at the time of the Spanish armament of 1790 he flew his flag as rear-admiral of the red . Some time later he was made vice-admiral . As' Hood's second-in-command in the Mediterranean he was engaged against the French Revolutionary navy, and when his chief retired to England the command devolved upon him . On March 12th, 1794 he fought an indecisive fleet action, in which the brunt of the fighting was borne by Captain Horatio Nelson, and some months later, now a full admiral, he again engaged, this time under conditions which might have permitted a decisive victory; of this affair Nelson wrote home that it was a " miserable action." A little later he returned to England, and in 1797 he was made a peer of Ireland under the title of Baron Hotham of South Dalton, near Hull . He died in 1813 . Hotham lacked the fiery energy and genius of a Nelson or a Jervis, but in subordinate positions he was a brave and capable officer . As Hotham died unmarried his barony passed to his brother, Sir Beaumont Hotham (1737-1814), who became 2nd Baron Hotham in May 1813 . Beaumont, who was a baron of the exchequer for thirty years, died on the 4th of March 1814, and was succeeded as 3rd baron by his grandson Beaumont Hotham (1794-1870), who was present at the battle of Waterloo, being afterwards a member of parliament for forty-eight years . He died unmarried in December 187o and was succeeded by his nephew, Charles (1836-1872), and then by another nephew, John (1838-1907) . In 1907 his cousin Frederick William (b . 1863) became the 6th baron . Other distinguished members of this family were the 2nd baron's son, Sir Henry Hotham (1777-1833), avice-admiral, who saw a great deal of service during the Napoleonic wars; and Sir William Hotham (1772-1848), a nephew of the 1st baron, who served with Duncan in 1797 off Camperdown and elsewhere .

See

Charnock, Biographic navalis, vi . 236 .