Sir Richard Beach (died 1692) was an English officer in the Royal Navy.
Career
Richard Beach was captain of the
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
''St. Michael'' in 1651. By 1654 he commanded a squadron of three frigates sailing out of Brest, and bent on his capture were the
Parliamentary
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
admirals
Robert Blake Robert Blake (or variants) may refer to:
Sports
* Bob Blake (American football) (1885–1962), American football player
* Robbie Blake (born 1976), English footballer
* Bob Blake (ice hockey) (1914–2008), American ice hockey player
* Rob Blake ...
and
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...
. Beach's ship, the ''
Royal James'', was finally taken in March 1654, off the Isles of Sicily, by the ''
Constant Warwick'' under Captain Potter. Beach was brought back to Plymouth, but was freed in an exchange of prisoners on 29 April, and went back to his old practice of
privateer
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
ing until the
Restoration in 1660.
Beach was made captain of the ''
Crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...
'' about 1661. In 1663, he was promoted to the ''
Leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
'' of fifty-fix guns, and sent as convoy to the Turkey fleet; his commission for this purpose, bearing date 14 December 1663, being inserted in the ''Memoirs of Naval Affairs'', from the year 1666 to the year 1672, commonly called ''The Duke of York's Memoirs''. He continued to command this ship till 1666, when the joint admirals,
Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...
and the
Duke of Albemarle
The Dukedom of Albemarle () has been created twice in the Peerage of England, each time ending in extinction. Additionally, the title was created a third time by James II in exile and a fourth time by his son the Old Pretender, in the Jacobit ...
, removed him into the ''
Fairfax''. In the following year the
Duke of York
Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...
appointed him to the ''
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...
''; and, in 1669, to the ''
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
''.
Barbary Coast
In 1670, he was appointed commodore of the fleet, in the
Straits
A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...
, under Sir
Thomas Allen Thomas Allen may refer to:
Clergy
*Thomas Allen (nonconformist) (1608–1673), Anglican/nonconformist priest in England and New England
*Thomas Allen (dean of Chester) (died 1732)
*Thomas Allen (scholar) (1681–1755), Anglican priest in England
* ...
and Sir
Edward Spragge
Sir Edward Spragge ( – 21 August 1673) was a Royal Navy officer. He was a fiery, brilliantly accomplished seaman who fought in many great actions after the Stuart Restoration of King Charles II of England in 1660.
Life
Spragge was son of Lichf ...
. In this station, through the assistance rendered by him to the Dutch, under
Van Ghendt, six AIgerine
corsairs, mounting from forty-four to thirty-eight guns each, were taken and destroyed at one time.
[Charnock 1794, p. 52.]
Soon afterwards he fell in (singly) with two Algerine frigates, whom he brought to action, which ended so much to their disadvantage, though he was unable to capture either, in consequence of the assistance they derived in flight from their oars; that the largest, in particular, with the greatest difficulty reached Algiers, having received seventeen shot between wind and water, and twenty-five men killed, besides fifty wounded. He soon afterwards returned to England with a convoy, and arrived in the Downs on 4 February 1671.
In 1672, having hoisted his flag on board the ''
Monmouth
Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...
'', he served as rear-admiral of the blue with Sir Edward Spragge, on his expedition against the Algerines, and had the good fortune to meet with one of their best ships, mounting forty guns, and carrying three hundred and fifty men. After a short but successful action he captured her.
Promotions
The peace with Holland taking place soon after his return from the Straits, he quitted the active line of service for some time. On 24 March 1673 he was appointed commissioner of the navy; and still retaining his place at the navy board, was, on 13 March 1682–3, appointed, by the commissioners for executing the office of lord high admiral, commander of the ''
Royal James''. Nearly about the same period he had the honour of knighthood conferred on him.
On 19 April 1686, Sir Richard was made commissioner-resident at Portsmouth, and continued to receive every positive mark of attention from King James, who, when he ascended the throne in 1685, not only continued him in office, but, after a short time, promoted him to a more consequential employment than that which he had held in the previous reign.
[Charnock 1794, pp. 52–53.] John Charnock
John Charnock (28 November 1756 – 16 May 1807) was a Royal Navy volunteer and author. He wrote a book on the history of marine architecture, a book on Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, and ''Biographia Navalis'' about leading figures in B ...
writes, "yet so far was he from espousing measures he did not approve, and such the opinion entertained of his real integrity, at a time when it was considered as a very sufficient ground for distrust, to have received the smallest favour, or remained merely passage, as Sir Richard, from his appointment being merely of a civil nature, was, in a, great measure, compelled to be, that he was not only continued in office after the revolution, but … promoted".
[Charnock 1794, p. 53.]
Sir Richard was not only continued in office after the
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
, but, in 1690, was appointed to the comptrollership of the victualling accounts. This he did not long continue to enjoy, for, covered with age and infirmities, the necessary consequences of a long and active service, he died in 1692.
References
Sources
*
"Beach and Van Ghent destroy six Barbary ships near Cape Spartel, Morocco, 17 August 1670" ''Royal Museums Greenwich''. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
Attribution:
*
Charnock, John (1794)
"Beach, Richard" ''Biographia Navalis''. Vol. 1. London: Printed for R. Faulder. pp. 51–53.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beach, Richard
1692 deaths
Royal Navy rear admirals
Knights Bachelor