Home Riggs Popham

Home Popham was born in Gibraltar on 12 October 1762, the fifteenth child of Joseph Popham, British consul at Tétouan in Morocco, and his first wife Mary, née Riggs. It is likely that the child's first name was chosen to honour Gibraltar's former Governor William Home. Mary Popham died an hour after Home was born, from complications associated with the birth. Nine months later Joseph married Catherine Lamb, who became responsible for raising Home and his siblings. The couple also had six more children.[1]

In 1769 Joseph Popham was forced to resign as consul after a personal dispute with the Moroccan Emperor regarding piracy against English merchantmen. The British Government subsequently blamed Joseph Popham for the disagreement, with Gibraltar Governor Edward Cornwallis describing him as an "honest well meaning man" who had met with "little success" and was henceforth "an improper person to serve His Majesty [as consul]."[1] The Popham family returned to England, settling first in Chichester and then Guernsey. Joseph sought further diplomatic postings but was successful only in securing an annual government pension of £200 which was insufficient to cover debts incurred during his Moroccan consulship. The family was forced to rely on income earned by Home's brothers, particularly Stephen Popham who was then a successful barrister. In 1772 Home was sent to Westminster School in London, where he remained for three years. His father Joseph died in Guernsey in 1774.[1]

On 3 January 1776 Home was admitted to further study at Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] His education may have been paid for by his brother Stephen or by Captain Edward Thompson, a family friend. There is no record of Home actually residing in Cambridge or attending lectures. In April 1778 he abandoned his studies and enlisted in the Royal Navy as an able seaman aboard Thompson's newly built frigate HMS Hyaena.[1]

Popham served with the flag of Admiral George Rodney till the end of the American War of Independence. In 1781 he was aboard HMS Shelanagig when the French under the Comte de Grasse captured her near Saint Lucia. Popham was exchanged and returned to service.

In 1783 he was promoted to lieutenant, and was for a time engaged on survey service on the coast of Africa.[3]

Between 1787 and 1793 he was engaged in a series of commercial ventures in the Eastern Sea, sailing, first for the Imperial Ostend Company, and then in Etrusco, a vessel that he purchased and in part loaded himself.[3]

During this time he took several surveys and rendered some services to the British East India Company, which were officially acknowledged. In 1793, however, his ship was seized, partly on the grounds that he was carrying contraband, and partly because he was infringing the East India Company's monopoly. The value of his loss was put at £70,000, and he was entangled in litigation. In 1805 he obtained compensation to the amount of £25,000. The case was a hard one, for he was undoubtedly sailing with the knowledge of officials in India.[3]

In early 1801 Popham brought out to the Cape of Good Hope several regiments. He then embarked the 22nd and 61st Regiments of Foot and the garrison on his transports and was expected on 28 February to leave on a secret expedition. At the time the speculation was that he would sail to attack the Spanish colonies in the Río de la Plata.[8]

Instead, Popham sailed to the Red Sea to support General Baird's expedition to Egypt to help General Ralph Abercromby expel the French there. On 23 May 1801, he drew 6,000 Spanish dollars for His Majesty's ships on the expedition from the treasury on Cuvera while she was in the Judda roads.[9]

On 14 June 1802 the transport Calcutta wrecked on the Egyptian coast in the Red Sea. She was carrying 331 men of the 80th Regiment of Foot and 79 native Indian followers. Romney arrived the next day, as did two transports. Only Romney was able to get her boats out but they were able to rescue and deliver to the shore all but seven men who had died in an early attempt to reach shore. Popham, in Romney, left HMS Duchess of York to salvage anything that could be salvaged and then sailed to Suez from whence he dispatched HMS Wilhelmina to pick up the troops on the 15th and carry them back to India.[10]

Commissioned by prime minister Pitt in 1805 to study the military plans being proposed by Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda to the British Government, Popham then persuaded the authorities that, as the Spanish Colonies were discontented, it would be easy to promote a rising in Buenos Aires.[4] After co-operating with Sir David Baird in recovering the Cape of Good Hope Station from the Dutch in January 1806,[11] he led the British invasions of the Río de la Plata on Buenos Aires by General Beresford's brigade of 1500 men with his squadron. Over 100 men died from sickness leaving 1400 weakened soldiers when they arrived; but the Spanish colonists, though discontented, were not disposed to accept British rule. They rose up against the soldiers who had landed, and took them prisoners. Popham's ships bombarded the taken citadel, but he was recalled, and censured by a court martial for leaving his station.[12] In spite of his embarrassment the City of London presented him with a sword of honour for his endeavours to "open new markets", and the sentence did him limited harm.[3]

In 1806 Popham was appointed a groom of the bedchamber to the Duke of Gloucester. With a collaborator, John Goodhew, he published A General Code of Signals for the use of His Majesty's Navy, in which there were only twelve flags doubled backed to make twenty-four flags were used and no numbers. Variation was provided by a pendant, and changes were made to the key to maintain secrecy. But Popham's original system offered the Admiralty a huge variety of signals to be sent interpolated by tables with places marked around the world. Popham's was both complex and sophisticated for the time, but limited by a bifurcated alphabet.[13]

In 1807 Lord Gambier appointed him captain of the fleet for the Second Copenhagen Expedition.[4] In 1809 he went on to command HMS Venerable, which he continued to command with success against the French in Spain.[14] Popham's instructions were in general use by 1812 throughout the Royal Navy. But there were doubters, such as a major sceptic Admiral Sir George Berkeley who refused to use the signals and could not see their point.[15] In 1812 and 1813 he was stationed on the northern coast of Spain where he worked with the Spanish guerrillas to successfully harry the French troops and assault French fortresses on the Basque coast while Wellington was advancing through Spain.[4] He was promoted to rear admiral in 1814, appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1815.[16] This was capped off with a personal gift from Prince Regent in the Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1818.[4] He served as Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station from 1817 to 1820.[17]