Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet

He was born on 27 November 1762, the 3rd son of Samuel Hood (1715–1805), a purser in the Royal Navy, of Kingsland in the parish of Netherbury in Dorset, by his wife Anne Bere, a daughter of James Bere of Westbury in Wiltshire. His father's first cousins were the famous brothers Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (1724–1816) and Admiral Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport (1726–1814), sons of Rev. Samuel Hood (1691/2-1777), Vicar of Butleigh and prebendary of Wells Cathedral both in Somerset and Vicar of Thorncombe in Devon. The 1st Baronet's two elder brothers were also naval officers, like Samuel all "gallant Dorset sailors" (as the latter's 1914 monument in Netherbury Church records), namely Captain Arthur Hood (1755–1775) (drowned while serving in the West Indies on board ) and Captain Alexander Hood (1758–1798) (killed in the hour of victory while commanding in her famous duel with the French ship 'Hercule'). The mural monument in Butleigh Church to the 1st Baronet and his brothers is inscribed with verse by the poet Robert Southey, including the lines referring to their early lives and kinsmen: :Divided far by death were they whose names :In honour here united as in birth :This monumental verse records they drew :Among the western hills their natal breath :And from those shores beheld the ocean first :Whereon in early youth with one accord :They chose their way of fortune; to that course :''By HOOD and BRIDPORT's bright example drawn'' :Their kinsmen, children of this place, and sons :Of one who in his faithful ministry :Inculcated within these hallowed walls :''The truths of mercy to mankind reveal'd '' ==Naval career==

He entered the Royal Navy in 1776 at the start of the American War of Independence. His first engagement was the First Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778, and, soon afterwards transferred to the West Indies, he was present, under the command of his cousin, at all the actions which culminated in Admiral George Rodney's victory of 12 April 1782 in the Battle of the Saintes. After the peace, like many other British naval officers, Hood spent some time in France, and on his return to England was given the command of a sloop, from which he proceeded in succession to various frigates. In the 32-gun fifth-rate frigate Juno his gallant rescue of some shipwrecked seamen won him a vote of thanks and a sword of honour from the Jamaica assembly. Island after island fell to him, and soon, outside Martinique, the French had scarcely a foothold in the West Indies. Amongst other measures Hood took one may mention the garrisoning of Diamond Rock, which he commissioned as a sloop-of-war to blockade the approaches of Martinique. For these successes he was, amongst other rewards, appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath (KB). ==Later career==

Having been present in the roads of A Coruña at the re-embarkation of the army of Sir John Moore after the Battle of A Coruña, Hood thence returned to the Mediterranean, where for two years he commanded a division of the British fleet. On 1 August 1811 he was promoted to vice admiral. "In the summer of 1814 [Admiral Hood] made a voyage, in his majesty's ship Minden, to the eastern parts of his station.” He eventually arrived at Semarang, Java on 29 June 1814. Hood then "sailed on the Minden from Batavia on 1 August 1814 for Madras. While serving in the East Indies Station - "His command was uneventful, the war [in that area] having been brought to an end with the reduction of Java and Mauritius: and the time was mainly occupied in regulating and reforming points of organization or discipline and the methods of victualling, in which he introduced some substantial reforms, effecting a saving to the government of something like thirty per cent." ==Marriage==

He married Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie, eldest daughter and heiress of Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, but left no issue. ==Death, burial and succession==

Hood was about to retire and return to England. Rear-Admiral Sir George Burlton had been appointed to succeed him, but before the exchange could take place Hood died at Madras on 24 December 1814 after a three-day fever following a visit to Tippoo Sahib's former palace at Srirangapatna. He was buried at St. Mary's Church, Madras, where survives his mural monument. The heir to his baronetcy, under special remainder, was his nephew Sir Alexander Hood, 2nd Baronet (1793–1851), son of his elder brother Captain Alexander Hood (1758–1798) by his wife Elizabeth Periam, daughter and sole heiress of John Periam (1714–1788) of Wootton House (alias "Butleigh Wootton") in the parish of Butleigh, Somerset. ==Monuments==

, Butleigh, Somerset A lofty column, the Admiral Hood Monument, was raised to his memory on a hill on the Wootton House estate, to the south-west of Wootton House, Butleigh, Somerset, inherited by his nephew and heir Sir Alexander Hood, 2nd Baronet (1793–1851) from his mother Elizabeth Periam. The Butleigh connection started with Sir Samuel Hood's great uncle (and the father of his two famous Admiral cousins) Rev. Samuel Hood (1689–1777) who was Vicar of Butleigh and of Thorncombe in Somerset and was a Prebendary of Wells Cathedral. The south face of its base is inscribed: :This monument is dedicated to the late Commander by the attachment and reverence of British officers of whom many were his admiring followers in these awful scenes of war; in which, while they call forth the grandest qualities of human nature, in his likewise gave occasion for the exercise of its most amiable virtues. He died at Madras, December 24th 1814. Other monuments survive in Butleigh Church (with an inscription written by the poet Robert Southey) and in St. Mary's Church, Madras. The Hoods Tower Museum in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, gains its name from the fire control tower named after him at Fort Ostenburg. ==References==