Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 2.djvu/333

BRIDPORT 317 VISCOUNTCY. of the Blue, 1794; of the White, 1795; Vice Admiral I. 1800 OF Great Britain 1796, and of U.K. 1 801 till his death; to Com. in chief of the Channel Fleet, 1797-1800; Lieut. 1814. ^^"' 1799-1800, and Gen. of Marines, 1800-14; ^^'^ Adm. of the Red, 1805. He was M.P. (Tory) for Bridgwater, 1784-90, and for Buckingham, 1790-96. In 1757 he captured two French ships of war in Hyeres Bay; in 1781 he recap- tured, with great bravery, an English man of war, called T/ie Warwick; in 1782 he distinguished himself, as Rear Adm., at the relief of Gibraltar under Lord Howe. K.B. 7 May 1788. He was second in command, on board T/ie Royal George, zt the famous victory of Lord Howe, i June 1794. By patent, 14 Nov. 1794, he was a: BARON BRIDPORT [I.], with a spec. rem., failing heirs male of his body, to Samuel Hood, 2nd s. of [his nephew] Henr)' Hood, of Catherington, Hants, rem. to the heirs male of the body of [his uncle] Alexander Hood, late of Mosterton, Dorset, deed. ,(*) both in like manner. On 23 June 1795, he, with a force superior in all respects, gained a partial victor)- (*■) over the French fleet (twelve ships of the line and two frigates) off Port L'Orient. He was, on 13 June 1796, cr. BARON BRIDPORT OF CRICKET ST. THOMAS, co. Somerset, and, on 1 6 June 1 800,^ was cr. VISCOUNT BRIDPORT OF CRICKET ST. THOMAS. He »;., istly, 176 1, Mary (with whom he is said to have had a large fortune),('^) da. of Richard West, D.D., Prebendary ture. He bequeathed ^^8,000 for the best work on the Goodness of God as manifested in the Creation. This was divided among eight different persons, authors of eight dif- ferent treatises {e.g. Sir Charles Bell on the Hand, Dr. Buckland on Geologv, i?c.), called the Bridgnvater Treatises. His valuable MSS. he bequeathed to the British Museum, with a sum of ;{^i 2,000, of which the interest was partly for the Custodian and partly for the augmentation, is'c. thereof. These are called " The Egerton MSS." and relate chiefly to French and Italian literature. (f) These were the two surv. sons of Samuel Hood, of Kingsland, Dorset, the only s. that had issue of the said Alexander, viz.: (i) Alexander, Capt. R.N., who d. 21 Apr. 1796, leaving an only son Alexander Hood, who, in 1815, sue. his uncle, Sir Samuel Hood, Bart., as 2nd Baronet; (2) Samuel Hood, Vice Admiral, who in 1809 was cr. a Baronet, with a spec. rem. to his nephew Alexander Hood abovenamed, and who d. 24 Dec. 1S14. C") This victory, though made much of in England at the time, reflects little credit on Bridport, and proves him, though personally brave, to have been but a timorous tactician. It is not too much to say that any of his great contemporaries, Jervis, Duncan, or his own brother Samuel (Lord Hood), would in like case have wiped out the weaker, smaller, and worse disciplined fleet under Villaret. In person he was of middle size and well looking; in disposition he is said to have been penurious. " One of the naval family of Hood, but whose career does not bear the impress of great ability which distinguished so many of its members." (Mahan, Influence of Sea Poiuer). V.G. if) Doyle and Diet. Nat. Biog. both wrongly give the date as 1 80 1. V.G. C^) The Diet. Nat. Biog. points out that he was on active service during all 1 76 1 till Apr. 1763, so that "shortly after Apr. 1763 " is a more likely date for his first marriage. V.G.