by
John Flaxman to Barrington in
St Andrew's Church, Shrivenham Early career Barrington went to sea in 1740. By 1745 he had passed the examination making him eligible for promotion to
lieutenant. He was promoted to that rank in October 1746. His elder brother
William, Viscount Barrington, was then a junior Admiralty lord, and pestered the
First Lord of the Admiralty, the civilian
John Russell, Duke of Bedford, to promote Samuel to the rank of
master and commander, which was done in November. Next year, at the age of eighteen, he was made
post-captain.
Seven Years' War He was in continuous service during the peace of 1748–56, and on the outbreak of the
Seven Years' War served with Admiral
Edward Hawke in the
Basque Roads in command of . In 1759
Achilles captured a powerful French
privateer, after two hours' fighting. In the
Havre-de-Grace expedition of the same year Barrington's ship carried the flag of Rear-Admiral
George Brydges Rodney, and in 1760 sailed with
John Byron to destroy the French
Fortress of Louisbourg in
Nova Scotia. At the peace in 1763 Barrington had been almost continuously afloat for twenty-two years. He was appointed in 1768 to the
frigate as governor to the
Duke of Cumberland, who remained with him in all ranks from
midshipman to
rear admiral. Between 1772 and 1775 he accompanied Captain
John Jervis to Russia where they spent time in
St Petersburg and inspected the
arsenal and dockyards at
Kronstadt, and took a tour of the yacht designed by
Sir Charles Knowles for
Catherine the Great. The pair continued on to Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany. All the while Jervis and Barrington made notes on defences, harbour charts and safe anchorages. They came home via the Netherlands, the two once again making extensive studies of the area and taking copious notes describing any useful information.
American Revolutionary War In 1778 Barrington became commander-in-chief of the
Leeward Islands Station. While in post he organised the construction of Fort Barrington in Montserrat to enhance the defences of the capital Plymouth. Barrington and Jervis then took a private cruise along the Channel coast calling at various harbours including
Brest and making and improving their charts as they went. Barrington and Jervis, later Earl St. Vincent remained firm friends throughout their lives. On his return home, Barrington was offered, but declined, the command of the Channel fleet. He accepted the position of second in command of the fleet, under Admiral
Francis Geary, in May 1780. The fleet patrolled far into the Atlantic, ensuring the safety of British
convoys, preventing a junction of the opposing French and Spanish fleets, and capturing twelve merchant ships from a French convoy. The extended cruise caused an outbreak of
scurvy and the fleet returned to England in August. Geary went ashore sick and Barrington assumed command. The Admiralty ordered him to return to sea with the fleet. Barrington refused to obey, which was seen as at least partially motivated by political machinations, and he was relieved of command. After a change of government, Barrington was again appointed second in command of the Channel Fleet in 1782, this time under Admiral
Richard Howe. After a summer of manoeuvring, mostly against the Spanish, the fleet sailed to relieve the
siege of Gibraltar on 11 September. After successfully resupplying the garrison the British fleet of 35
ships of the line encountered a Spanish force of 46 ships. After some
inconclusive skirmishing the British were able to evade them and returned to port. The war ended in February 1783. As admiral he flew his flag for a short time in 1790, but did not serve in the
French Revolutionary Wars. He died in August 1800. ==Legacy==