Constantine Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave
Encyclopedia
Constantine John Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave, PC (19 May 1744 – 10 October 1792) was an English
explorer and officer in the Royal Navy
. He served during the Seven Years War and the American War of Independence, seeing action in a number of battles and engagements. Inheriting a title, he also went on to have a successful career in Parliament
, and occupied a number of political offices during his later years.
and his wife, Lepell Phipps. Phipps studied at Eton College
with Joseph Banks
.
during Hervey's 21-week watch on the French fleet in 1759. Phipps remained with his uncle on the latter’s appointment to the 74-gun in 1761 and was present at the reduction of Martinique and St Lucia
. His good service led to his promotion to lieutenant on 17 March 1762 by Sir George Rodney
, and Phipps went on to serve in the battle of Havana.
He was further promoted on 24 November 1763 to command the 12-gun sloop
, moving to the 24-gun sixth rate on 20 June 1765. In 1766 he sailed to Newfoundland as Lieutenant on HMS Niger. Banks accompanied him as ship's naturalist
. From 1767 to 1768 Phipps commanded in the English Channel
.
in the 1768 general election
as Member for the constituency of Lincoln
. On 4 June 1773 Phipps set off from Deptford
on a voyage towards the North Pole
. He had two ships, the Racehorse and the Carcass
. Phipps took with him Dr Irving as naturalist and doctor
, and Israel Lyons (1739–1775) as astronomer. The Carcass was commanded by Skeffington Lutwidge
, while one of her midshipmen was a young Horatio Nelson. They sailed beyond Svalbard
to the Seven Islands
, but were forced back by the ice and returned to Orfordness on 17 September. During the voyage Phipps was the first European to describe the Polar Bear
and the Ivory Gull
, which were included in his A Voyage towards the North Pole undertaken ... 1773 (1774). Notably, the early descriptions of the characteristics of the polar bear in particular can be found in his voyage log book entries, dated 12 May 1773, and now kept in the British Library
archives.
On 13 September 1775, he succeeded his father as Baron Mulgrave
in the Peerage of Ireland
. He became MP for Huntingdon
in 1777, and was also appointed as one of the Lords of the Admiralty. Continuing an active naval career, he commissioned the 74-gun in 1778, and played a leading role in the Battle of Ushant
on 27 July that year. Phipps led the attack on the 90-gun Ville de Paris
, but the indecisive nature of the engagement meant that the French ship was able to escape. Phipps returned to Britain and gave evidence at the subsequent court-martial, his evidence favouring Hugh Palliser
. The Courageux remained under his command until 1781, with Phipps serving mostly in the Channel under Admirals Charles Hardy
, Francis Geary
, George Darby
and Richard Howe
. On 4 January 1781 he captured the 32-gun French frigate Minerve in heavy weather off Brest
. The Courageux was paid off at the end of the American War of Independence, and Phipps went ashore, never to serve at sea again.
. In April that year he became Paymaster of the Forces
and on 18 May he was appointed a commissioner for the affairs of India, and one of the Lords of 'Trade and Plantations', until being forced to resign in 1791 due to ill health. In 1790 he was created Baron Mulgrave
, of Mulgrave in the County of York in the Peerage of Great Britain
, thus entering the House of Lords
. He also was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries
. He once entertained his miners underground in the Blue John Cavern
s in Castleton, Derbyshire
. The particular cavern where they all dined as his guests is now named after him.
He died at Liège on 10 October 1792. The title of Baron Mulgrave in the British peerage then became extinct, though his brother Henry Phipps
succeeded him in the Irish barony.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
explorer and officer in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. He served during the Seven Years War and the American War of Independence, seeing action in a number of battles and engagements. Inheriting a title, he also went on to have a successful career in Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
, and occupied a number of political offices during his later years.
Family and early life
Phipps was born on 19 May 1744, the eldest son of Constantine Phipps, 1st Baron MulgraveConstantine Phipps, 1st Baron Mulgrave
Constantine Phipps, 1st Baron Mulgrave was an Irish peer. Phipps was baptised on 22 August 1722. On 26 February 1743, he married Hon. Lepell Hervey, the daughter of John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey and Mary Lepell...
and his wife, Lepell Phipps. Phipps studied at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
with Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
.
Seven Years War
In January 1759 he joined the 70-gun as a cadet under his uncle Captain The Hon. A. J. HerveyAugustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol
Augustus John Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, PC was a British admiral and politician.-Naval career:As a young man, he entered the Navy, where his promotion was rapid...
during Hervey's 21-week watch on the French fleet in 1759. Phipps remained with his uncle on the latter’s appointment to the 74-gun in 1761 and was present at the reduction of Martinique and St Lucia
British expedition against Martinique
The British expedition against Martinique was a military action from January to February 1762, as part of the Seven Years' War.- Prelude :...
. His good service led to his promotion to lieutenant on 17 March 1762 by Sir George Rodney
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782...
, and Phipps went on to serve in the battle of Havana.
He was further promoted on 24 November 1763 to command the 12-gun sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
, moving to the 24-gun sixth rate on 20 June 1765. In 1766 he sailed to Newfoundland as Lieutenant on HMS Niger. Banks accompanied him as ship's naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
. From 1767 to 1768 Phipps commanded in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
.
Political career and command
Phipps was elected to ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the 1768 general election
British general election, 1768
The British general election, 1768 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 13th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707.-Summary of the Constituencies:...
as Member for the constituency of Lincoln
Lincoln (UK Parliament constituency)
Lincoln is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
. On 4 June 1773 Phipps set off from Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
on a voyage towards the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
. He had two ships, the Racehorse and the Carcass
HMS Carcass (1759)
HMS Carcass was an of the Royal Navy, later refitted as a survey vessel. A young Horatio Nelson served aboard her as a midshipman on an expedition to the Arctic.-Design and construction:The Infernal class were designed by Thomas Slade...
. Phipps took with him Dr Irving as naturalist and doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, and Israel Lyons (1739–1775) as astronomer. The Carcass was commanded by Skeffington Lutwidge
Skeffington Lutwidge
Skeffington Lutwidge was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...
, while one of her midshipmen was a young Horatio Nelson. They sailed beyond Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
to the Seven Islands
Sjuøyane
Sjuøyane is the northernmost part of the Svalbard archipelago, just north of Nordaustlandet. As the name implies, this is a group of seven islands , although three are mere islets. The principal islands are Phippsøya, Parryøya, Martensøya, Nelsonøya and Waldenøya, the islets are Tavleøya, Vesle...
, but were forced back by the ice and returned to Orfordness on 17 September. During the voyage Phipps was the first European to describe the Polar Bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
and the Ivory Gull
Ivory Gull
The Ivory Gull Pagophila eburnea is a small gull, the only species in its genus. It breeds in the high arctic and has a circumpolar distribution through Greenland, northernmost North America, and Eurasia.-Taxonomy:...
, which were included in his A Voyage towards the North Pole undertaken ... 1773 (1774). Notably, the early descriptions of the characteristics of the polar bear in particular can be found in his voyage log book entries, dated 12 May 1773, and now kept in the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
archives.
On 13 September 1775, he succeeded his father as Baron Mulgrave
Baron Mulgrave
Baron Mulgrave is a title that has been created three times for members of the Phipps family, once in the Peerage of Ireland and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain....
in the Peerage of Ireland
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
. He became MP for Huntingdon
Huntingdon (UK Parliament constituency)
Huntingdon is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
in 1777, and was also appointed as one of the Lords of the Admiralty. Continuing an active naval career, he commissioned the 74-gun in 1778, and played a leading role in the Battle of Ushant
Battle of Ushant (1778)
The Battle of Ushant took place on 27 July 1778, during the American War of Independence, fought between French and British fleets 100 miles west of Ushant, a French island at the mouth of the English Channel off the north-westernmost point of France...
on 27 July that year. Phipps led the attack on the 90-gun Ville de Paris
French ship Ville de Paris (1764)
The Ville de Paris was a large three-decker French ship of the line that became famous as the flagship of the Comte de Grasse during the American Revolutionary War....
, but the indecisive nature of the engagement meant that the French ship was able to escape. Phipps returned to Britain and gave evidence at the subsequent court-martial, his evidence favouring Hugh Palliser
Hugh Palliser
Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, 1st Baronet was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War...
. The Courageux remained under his command until 1781, with Phipps serving mostly in the Channel under Admirals Charles Hardy
Charles Hardy
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Hardy was a Royal Navy officer and colonial governor of New York.-Early career:Born at Portsmouth, the son of a vice admiral, Charles Hardy joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in 1731....
, Francis Geary
Sir Francis Geary, 1st Baronet
Sir Francis Geary was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American War of Independence, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral.-Family and early life:...
, George Darby
George Darby
Vice Admiral George Darby was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was the second son of Jonathan Darby III Esq. , of Leap Castle, in King's County, Ireland.-Early career:Darby joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer...
and Richard Howe
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
. On 4 January 1781 he captured the 32-gun French frigate Minerve in heavy weather off Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
. The Courageux was paid off at the end of the American War of Independence, and Phipps went ashore, never to serve at sea again.
Later life
Phipps remained as MP for Huntingdon until 1784, when he became MP for NewarkNewark (UK Parliament constituency)
Newark is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since 1885, it has elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
. In April that year he became Paymaster of the Forces
Paymaster of the Forces
The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office, which was established 1661 after the Restoration, was responsible for part of the financing of the British Army. The first to hold the office was Sir Stephen Fox. Before his time it had been the custom to appoint...
and on 18 May he was appointed a commissioner for the affairs of India, and one of the Lords of 'Trade and Plantations', until being forced to resign in 1791 due to ill health. In 1790 he was created Baron Mulgrave
Baron Mulgrave
Baron Mulgrave is a title that has been created three times for members of the Phipps family, once in the Peerage of Ireland and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain....
, of Mulgrave in the County of York in the Peerage of Great Britain
Peerage of Great Britain
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...
, thus entering the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. He also was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
. He once entertained his miners underground in the Blue John Cavern
Blue John Cavern
The Blue John Cavern is one of the four show caves in Castleton, Derbyshire, England. The cavern, which takes its name from the semi-precious mineral "Blue John" or "Derbyshire Spar", is still mined for the mineral outside of the tourist season. The small amounts taken are turned into locally-made...
s in Castleton, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. The particular cavern where they all dined as his guests is now named after him.
He died at Liège on 10 October 1792. The title of Baron Mulgrave in the British peerage then became extinct, though his brother Henry Phipps
Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave
Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave GCB, PC , styled The Honourable Henry Phipps until 1792 and known as The Lord Mulgrave from 1792 to 1812, was a British soldier and politician...
succeeded him in the Irish barony.
External links
- http://www.derbyshire-peakdistrict.co.uk/bluejohncavern.htm Blue John cavern - Peak District