Charles Bethune

El almirante Charles Ramsay Drinkwater Bethune CB (27 de diciembre de 1802 – 14 de febrero de 1884) fue un oficial británico de la Marina Real . Ascendió al rango de almirante durante su carrera. ^{[ 1 ]}

Nacido el 27 de diciembre de 1802 en Little Ealing , Middlesex , hijo del coronel John Drinkwater y Eleanor Congalton, adoptó el nombre de Bethune en 1837, cuando su madre heredó las propiedades de su hermano, George Congalton-Bethune. ^{[ 2 ] [ 3 ]}

Bethune sirvió en la Marina Real desde los 13 años, uniéndose a su primer barco, el HMS Northumberland, en 1815. ^{[ 3 ]} Sirviendo bajo el mando del capitán Charles Ross , escoltó a Napoleón al exilio en Santa Elena . ^{[ 3 ]} Luego sirvió en el HMS Leander , el HMS Superb y el HMS Creole . ^{[ 3 ]} El 24 de marzo de 1822 aprobó su examen para teniente y luego sirvió con ese rango en el HMS Doris . ^{[ 3 ]} Luego sirvió en varios barcos y el 22 de julio de 1830 fue ascendido a capitán . ^{[ 4 ] [ 3 ]} Comandó el HMS Conway  ^{[ 5 ]} en Australasia y el Lejano Oriente desde 1836 hasta 1842. Informó sobre el arrecife Conway en 1838.

Sirvió en la Primera Guerra del Opio operando en la costa china. ^{[ 2 ]} En junio de 1840 comandó una serie de transportes a la costa china. ^{[ 3 ]} El 5 de julio de 1840 comandó un grupo de desembarco que participó en la captura de Chusan . ^{[ 3 ]} Su barco participó luego en el bloqueo de Ningbo antes de ser asignado a trabajos de reconocimiento. ^{[ 3 ]} Fue nombrado Compañero de la Orden del Baño en 1841 por sus servicios.

In 1845, he was sent to Borneo by the Admiralty to report on the best location for a British base against piracy. In the course of this mission he painted a number of watercolour views in Sarawak which were published in 1847 in James Augustus St. John's Views in the Eastern Archipelago.^[6]

In 1846 he joined the Council of the newly formed Hakluyt Society, for which he subsequently edited two volumes. The first edited volume, written by Sir John Hawkins, was published in 1847.^[7] The second edited volume, written by Antonio Galvano, was published in 1862.^[8] In 1851, on the death in India of his elder brother John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, he became 24th Laird of Balfour, part of Clan Bethune in Fife.^[2] He also served as a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Fife.^[2]

He was promoted to rear admiral on 3 October 1855.^[4] On 10 November 1862, he was promoted to vice admiral.^[4] He was promoted Admiral 2 April 1866.^[9][4] By 1877, he was on the retired list of admirals on half pay.^[4]

He died in 1884.^[10] He is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.

In 1846, he had married Frances Cecilia (1819–1888), only child of Henry Edward Staples, and they had six children. His eldest son was Charles Congalton.^[10] Of his other sons, #2 Edward Cecil Bethune (1855–1930) became a Lieutenant-General in the British Army, #2 Henry Leonard Drinkwater Bethune (1858–1939) became a captain in the Royal Navy, and #3 Francis John Brownlow Bethune (1860–1954) became a King's Counsel in Australia. His eldest daughter, Mary Frances Drinkwater Bethune (1847–1929), in 1867 married John George Frederick Hope-Wallace (1839–1900), son of the Honourable James Hope and his wife Lady Mary Frances Nugent. Mary Frances Drinkwater Bethune had seven children.

• O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). "Bethune, Charles Ramsay Drinkwater"  . Diccionario biográfico naval  . John Murray – vía Wikisource .