Phipps Hornby

Hornby was born in 1785, the 5th son of Rev. Geoffrey Hornby (1750–1812), of Scale Hall, near Lancaster in Lancashire, Rector of Winwick, High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1774 and a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire, Colonel of a regiment of Lancashire militia, by his wife Lucy Smith-Stanley (d.1833) a daughter of James Smith-Stanley, Lord Strange (1716–1771), (son and heir apparent of Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby (1689–1776) of Knowsley Hall in Lancashire) and a sister of Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby (1752–1834). Phipps Hornby's sister Charlotte Margaret Hornby (d.1817) married their first cousin Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby (1775–1851), KG, and was the mother of Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869), thrice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1852, 1858–9, 1866–8), thus Phipps Hornby's nephew. His eldest brother was Edmund Hornby (1773–1857) of Dalton Hall near Burton, Westmorland, a Member of Parliament for Preston, Lancashire, from 1812 to 1826, who married his first cousin Lady Charlotte Stanley (d.1805), a daughter of Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby. The close association between the Earls of Derby and the Hornby family would play a significant role in Phipps Hornby's career and politics. ==Career==

Hornby received education at Sunbury-on-Thames and joined the Navy as a midshipman in 1797 aged 12. In 1797, Britain was embroiled in the French Revolutionary Wars, and Hornby's ship became caught up in the Nore Mutiny just weeks after he joined her. ''Latona's'' captain, John Bligh, took Hornby with him when he moved ships, and Hornby saw service on , and , mainly serving in the Americas. ==Napoleonic Wars==

in 1811 In 1804 following the Peace of Amiens, Hornby joined Horatio Nelson's flagship in the Mediterranean briefly before being posted to with the admiral's recommendation. Excellent was detached from Nelson's fleet soon afterwards and in 1805 and 1806 participated in numerous operations on the Italian coast, particularly at Gaeta. Excellent was also present at the capture of Capri. Hornby was granted his first independent command in 1806, the small armed vessel HMS Duchess of Bedfordshire and in her fought off two large Spanish privateers. In 1807 he was promoted to commander and took over the sloop in which he fought numerous engagements with Spanish gunboats off Cádiz. at which his ship fought a much larger French vessel and despite losing all but one gun, remained in combat throughout. For this action, he was much later awarded the Naval General Service Medal. Recovering from his injuries, Hornby took command of off the Cape of Good Hope the next year and later moved to in the Mediterranean. While commander of Spartan, Hornby participated in the capture of Elba from the French, for which he was invested with the Austrian order of St Joseph of Würzburg. ==Later service==

Hornby was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 4 June 1815, as part of the first list of Companions appointed after the restructuring of the Order earlier that year, and the following year paid off Spartan and entered semi-retirement. During his retirement, Hornby dabbled in politics, a supporter of the Earls of Derby. In 1841 he became comptroller-general of the Coast Guard until 1846 when he was promoted to rear admiral. In order to further his son's career, Hornby then accepted the position of commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, raising his flag in in 1847. He was promoted from rear-admiral of the blue to rear-admiral of the white in 1848, and then to rear-admiral of the red in 1851. In 1852 Hornby returned to Europe to serve as a Second Naval Lord under the Duke of Northumberland and was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). He remained in post until his final retirement in 1853, shortly after the fall of Lord Derby's government. vice-admiral of the white in 1855, vice-admiral of the red in 1857,), eventually being promoted full admiral (of the blue) in 1858 and becoming a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1861 Birthday Honours. He was promoted to admiral of the white in 1862, and to admiral of the red in 1863. He was appointed Rear Admiral of the United Kingdom in 1866. He died a widower at his estate in the village of Little Green near Petersfield in Hampshire on 19 March 1867. ==Personal life==

In 1814, Hornby married Sophia Maria Burgoyne, daughter of General John Burgoyne. The couple had five daughters and three sons, including: • Phipps Hornby (24 April 1820 – 8 April 1848), British Army officer and cricketer • Sir Geoffrey Hornby (10 February 1825 – 3 March 1895), Royal Navy officer • James Hornby (18 December 1826 – 2 November 1909), academic and headmaster of Eton College ==See also==