Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Randolph, George Granville
RANDOLPH, Sir GEORGE GRANVILLE (1818–1907), admiral, born in London on 26 Jan. 1818, was son of Thomas Randolph, prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral from 1812 till his death in 1875, chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria and rector of Hadham, Hertfordshire. Dr. John Randolph [q. v.], bishop of London, was his grandfather. George entered the navy as a first-class volunteer on 7 Dec. 1830. He passed his examination in 1837, and received his commission as lieutenant on 27 June 1838. In Sept. following he was appointed to the North Star, frigate, Captain Lord John Hay [q. v], commodore on the north coast of Spain, and next, from 1840 to 1844, served on board the Vernon in the Mediterranean, being first lieutenant during the latter part of the commission. In Oct. 1844 he became first lieutenant of the Daedalus, of 20 guns, on the East India station, and on 19 Aug. 1845 commanded her barge at the destruction of Malloodoo, a piratical stronghold in Borneo. The force landed on this occasion numbered 540 seamen and marines, under the command of Captain Charles Talbot of the Vestal; there was sharp fighting, and the British loss amounted to 21 killed and wounded. On 9 Nov. 1846 Randolph was promoted, and a year later was appointed to the Bellerophon, in which ship and in the Rodney he served for six years in the Mediterranean. He was present in the Rodney at the attack on Fort Constantine, Sevastopol, took part in other operations in the Black Sea, and received for his services the Crimean medal with clasp, the Turkish medal, and the fourth class of the Medjidie. He was also made a knight of the Legion of Honour, and promoted to captain on 18 Nov. 1854. In that rank he commanded the Cornwallis, coastguard ship in the Humber, and afterwards the Diadem and Orlando, screw frigates, on the North American station. The Orlando was transferred to the Mediterranean in 1863, and Randolph remained in her till May 1865, when he was appointed to the guardship at Sheerness. He was awarded a good service pension in March 1867, and from Sept. of that year till March 1869 was commodore at the Cape of Good Hope. He received the C.B. in June 1869, and was promoted to his flag on 24 April 1872. From Dec. 1873 to June 1875 he commanded the detached squadron, this being his last active employment. He was promoted to vice-admiral on 16 Sept. 1877, retired on 26 July 1881, and was advanced to the rank of admiral on 8 July 1884. At Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee of 1897 he was raised to the K.C.B.
Randolph published in 1867 a treatise on 'The Rule of the Road at Sea,' and in 1879 his 'Problems in Naval Tactics'; he was also a corresponding member of the Royal United Service Institution and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He died on 16 May 1907 at Hove, Brighton, and was buried there.
Randolph married, in 1851, Eleanor Harriet, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Arkwright of Mark Hall, Essex. She died in April 1907.
[O'Byrne's Naval Biography; The Times, 18 May 1907.]