Difference between revisions of "Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman"

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*"Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman" (Obituaries).  ''The Times''.  Tuesday, 19 February, 1929.  Issue '''45131''', col A, pg. 19.
 
*"Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman" (Obituaries).  ''The Times''.  Tuesday, 19 February, 1929.  Issue '''45131''', col A, pg. 19.
 
*"Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman" (Obituaries).  ''The Times''.  Friday, 22 February, 1929.  Issue '''45134''', col E, pg. 9.
 
*"Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman" (Obituaries).  ''The Times''.  Friday, 22 February, 1929.  Issue '''45134''', col E, pg. 9.
 +
*{{BibBennettCharlieB}}
 
*Lambert, Nicholas A. (1995).  Murfett, Malcolm H.. ed.  ''The First Sea Lords: From Fisher to Mountbatten''.  Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.  ISBN 0-275-94231-7.
 
*Lambert, Nicholas A. (1995).  Murfett, Malcolm H.. ed.  ''The First Sea Lords: From Fisher to Mountbatten''.  Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.  ISBN 0-275-94231-7.
 
*Ross, Stewart (1998).  ''Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman: The Life and Times of an Officer and a Gentleman''.  Cambridge: Baily's. ISBN 0952362880.
 
*Ross, Stewart (1998).  ''Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman: The Life and Times of an Officer and a Gentleman''.  Cambridge: Baily's. ISBN 0952362880.

Revision as of 15:57, 13 July 2012

Admiral Sir Francis C. B. Bridgeman, portrayed in 1925.
Portrait: Ernest Moore.

Admiral SIR Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman (born Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman-Simpson), G.C.B., G.C.V.O., J.P., Royal Navy (7 December, 1848 – 17 February, 1929) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He twice commanded the British Home Fleet in the run-up to the First World War, and served as Second Sea Lord, Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, and First Sea Lord. In 1912 he was dismissed in acrimonious circumstances by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill and went into retirement a year later.

Early Life & Career

Commander

Bridgeman-Simpson was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1884.[1] At the end of the year he went through the Lieutenants' short course of Torpedo on half-pay, and on 1 January, 1885, commissioned as Commander (Second-in-Command) the battleship Triumph for service as flagship on the Pacific Station. The Commander-in-Chief was Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, Bart. Towards the end of the commission he developed an "oblique inguinal hernia" and went sick from March to May, 1888.[2]

On 19 May, 1888, Bridgeman-Simpson was appointed Commander of Excellent. On 18 July, 1889, he was lent to the battleship Howe for the annual manœuvres.[3] On 6 November he married Emily Charlotte (1842–1922), daughter of Thomas and Mary Shiffner. Emily was six years older than Bridgeman-Simpson, and had inherited Copgrove, a mansion near Harrogate.[4]

Bridgeman-Simpson was promoted to the rank of Captain on 1 January, 1890.[5]

Captain

Bridgeman-Simpson was superseded in Excellent on 3 January, and on 22 May was appointed Captain of H.M.S. Camperdown as Flag Captain to Culme-Seymour, now Vice-Admiral and Senior Officer in Command of the Channel Squadron. Camperdown paid off on 30 May, 1892, and Culme-Seymour paid Bridgeman fulsome tribute, writing: "V.G., zealous and has a thorough knowledge of his profession. Has carried out difficult duties of Flag Captain to my satisfaction."[6]

On 11 July, 1893, he was appointed in command of Iphigenia for the annual manœuvres, paying her off on 19 August.[7] On 17 October he commissioned the new battleship Ramillies as Flag Captain to Culme-Seymour, now an Admiral and serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean in succession to the late Sir George Tryon.[8]

Bridgeman-Simpson was superseded on 17 January, 1895, at his own request on account of ill health,[9] and then went on half-pay. It was noted on 4 November, 1896, that he "abandons" the name of Simpson in his surname, becoming Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman. On 17 December he took command of the first-class protected cruiser Blenheim in the Channel Squadron. He once again became Culme-Seymour's Flag Captain on 10 August, 1897, upon the latter becoming Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.[10]

He was appointed a Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King, dated 24 May, 1901, vice Parr.[11] He took command of the new armoured cruiser Drake on 13 January, 1903.[12] He was appointed a Member of the Fourth Class of the Royal Victorian Order (M.V.O.) on 5 May.[13]

Flag Rank

He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral dated 12 August, 1903, vice Aldrich.[14] On 25 June, 1904 he hoisted his flag as Second-in-Command in the Channel Fleet in succession to Rear-Admiral the Honourable Hedworth Lambton.[15]

On 6 March, 1906, he was appointed Rear-Admiral Second-in-Command in the Mediterranean Fleet, again under Beresford. Upon departing as Commander-in-Chief in January, 1907, Beresford wrote of Bridgeman, "A delightful personality & most loyal & painstaking second. Knows the Service thoroughly & will make a brilliant C in C. Perfect knowledge of tactics."[16] At the same time Bridgeman was granted the Acting Rank of Vice-Admiral.[17]

He was confirmed in the rank of Vice-Admiral dated 16 February, 1907.[18]

Home Fleet

At the time of his appointment, Bridgeman was still placed seventh on the list of Rear-Admirals.

Shortly before becoming Commander-in-Chief, Bridgeman wrote to Sturdee:

Preparedness for battle is what we must work for, and so long as I am taken fully and freely into the counsels of the senior C.-in-C., I shall help him to the best of my ability … expecting him to receive with sympathy and patience whatever I may … propose. There are plenty of rocks to get stranded on in this scheme, and careful pilotage will be the surest road to success. I don't mind saying that Lord Charles [Beresford] is fortunate in having you to help him.[19]

On 3 August, 1907, Bridgeman was knighted and promoted Knight Commander in the Royal Victorian Order (K.C.V.O.), on the occasion of the King's visit to the Home Fleet.[20]

On the occasion of the King's birthday he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, of the Military Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) on 26 June, 1908.[21]

Bridgeman struck his flag as Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, on 24 March, 1909, and on 25 March became Second Sea Lord on the Board of Admiralty.[22] On 12 April he was confirmed in the rank of Admiral.[23]

First Sea Lord

Dr. John S. Sanders, Arthur Balfour's former Private Secretary and a friend of Bridgeman's, wrote to the former:

I asked Bridgeman how he came to leave command of the Home Fleet. He said that Winston had sent for him, never mentioning what he wanted him for, and to his great surprise he was pressed to accept the post of Fist Sea Lord, although he had been Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet less than a year. He did his best to decline, but Winston was insistent. Winston told him that he was satisfied he should never be able to work with Wilson, and that he had satisfied himself that he could work with him (Bridgeman). In the result much against the grain Bridgeman had to consent.[24]

Retirement

In accordance with the provisions of the Order in Council of 22 February, 1870, Bridgeman was placed on the Retired List on 7 December, 1913.[25]

Bridgeman was popular in his home county of Yorkshire, and after his retirement devoted himself to the pursuits of a country squire. After the war he was chairman of the divisional council for demobilization and resettlement in the Yorkshire and East Midland areas. He died at Nassau in the Bahamas on 17 February, 1929; his burial took place at St. Michael and All Angels, Copgrove, on 4 March, 1929.

Bridgeman was appointed Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom when Sir Michael Culme-Seymour resigned, dated 2 February, 1920.[26] Upon the death of Lord Fisher, Bridgeman served as one of the honorary pallbearers along with former First Sea Lords Jellicoe and Jackson, and five other admirals.[27] The following year he served as a honorary pallbearer at the funeral of Lord Charles Beresford. On 25 November[28] Lady Bridgeman died at the age of eighty. Her funeral took place on 29 November at St. Michael and All Angels Church, Copgrove.[29] Allegedly Bridgeman regarded Battenberg (later Marquess of Milford Haven) as a leading figure in his removal as First Sea Lord, and later blocked the election of Battenberg's son Lord Louis Mountbatten to the Royal Yacht Squadron.[30]

Wealth at death; £138,354 5s. 11d.: Probate; 31 July, 1929.

Assessment

Arthur Marder, writing in 1961, wrote of Bridgeman:

Although not a particularly forceful person, and more a follower than a leader, Bridgeman did possess sound judgment and he might have made a moderately successful First Sea Lord, had he served under anybody but Churchill. The two simply did not get along, the root trouble being Bridgeman's resentment against the First Lord's interference in everything.[31]

Marder was hardly in a position to judge who would be a "successful" First Sea Lord, let alone a "moderately successful" one. It is difficult to deny however that Bridgeman was put in a bad position. Having been appointed by a man who made a career of sidelining people, and with Battenberg in the wings as a First Sea Lord-in-waiting, Bridgeman, in this writer's opinion, never had a chance. Notwithstanding, his repeated absences from the Admiralty did him no favours when he was eventually compelled to resign. — SIMON HARLEY, Co-editor.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ London Gazette: no. 25372. p. 3009. 1 July, 1884.
  2. ↑ ADM 196/39. f. 1167.
  3. ↑ ADM 196/39. f. 1167.
  4. ↑ Ross. p. 87.
  5. ↑ London Gazette: no. 26007. p. 7553. 31 December, 1889.
  6. ↑ ADM 196/39. f. 1187.
  7. ↑ ADM 196/39. f. 1187.
  8. ↑ ADM 196/39. f. 167.
  9. ↑ ADM 196/39. f. 167.
  10. ↑ ADM 196/39. f. 167.
  11. ↑ London Gazette: no. 27322. p. 3926. 11 June, 1901.
  12. ↑ ADM 196/39. f. 167.
  13. ↑ London Gazette: no. 27560. p. 3526. 2 June, 1903.
  14. ↑ London Gazette: no. 27589. p. 5223. 18 August, 1903.
  15. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Monday, 27 June, 1904. Issue 37431, col D, pg. 12.
  16. ↑ ADM 196/86. f. 171.
  17. ↑ ADM 196/39. f. 167.
  18. ↑ London Gazette: no. 27998. p. 1281. 22 February, 1907.
  19. ↑ Letter of 5 February, 1907. Churchill Archives Centre. Sturdee MSS. Quoted in Bennett. p. 293.
  20. ↑ London Gazette: no. 28048. p. 5390. 6 August, 1907.
  21. ↑ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 28151. p. 4641. 26 June, 1908.
  22. ↑ ADM 196/39. f. 167.
  23. ↑ London Gazette: no. 28485. p. 2967. 14 April, 1911.
  24. ↑ Quoted in Churchill. Winston S. Churchill. II. p. 523.
  25. ↑ London Gazette: no. 28780. p. 9083. 9 December, 1913.
  26. ↑ "News in Brief" (News in Brief). The Times. Saturday, 14 February, 1920. Issue 42334, col G, pg. 14.
  27. ↑ "Lord Fisher" (News). The Times. Wednesday, 14 July, 1920. Issue 42462, col C, pg. 12.
  28. ↑ "Deaths" (Deaths). The Times. Monday, 27 November, 1922. Issue 43199, col A, pg. 1.
  29. ↑ Ross. Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman. p. 265.
  30. ↑ Hough. Louis and Victoria. p. 260.
  31. ↑ Marder. From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow. I. p. 258.

Bibliography

  • "Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman" (Obituaries). The Times. Tuesday, 19 February, 1929. Issue 45131, col A, pg. 19.
  • "Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman" (Obituaries). The Times. Friday, 22 February, 1929. Issue 45134, col E, pg. 9.
  • Template:BibBennettCharlieB
  • Lambert, Nicholas A. (1995). Murfett, Malcolm H.. ed. The First Sea Lords: From Fisher to Mountbatten. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-94231-7.
  • Ross, Stewart (1998). Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman: The Life and Times of an Officer and a Gentleman. Cambridge: Baily's. ISBN 0952362880.

Service Records


Template:ApptCaptTemplate:ApptCapt
Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Sir Harry T. Grenfell 		Second-in-Command,
Mediterranean
1906 – 1907 		Succeeded by
H.S.H. Prince Louis of Battenberg
Preceded by
New Command 		Commander-in-Chief,
Home Fleet
1907 – 1909 		Succeeded by
Sir William H. May
Preceded by
Sir William H. May 		Second Sea Lord
1909 – 1911 		Succeeded by
Sir George Le C. Egerton
Preceded by
Sir William H. May 		Commander-in-Chief,
Home Fleet
1911 		Succeeded by
Sir George A. Callaghan
Preceded by
Sir Arthur K. Wilson 		First Sea Lord
1911 – 1912 		Succeeded by
H.S.H. Prince Louis of Battenberg

See Also

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