View source for Shuldham Peard

{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name          = Shuldham Peard
|image         = Memorial-Shuldham-Peard.jpg
|caption       = Memorial to Shuldham Peard, in Exeter Cathedral
|birth_date    = 1761
|death_date    = {{Death date|1832|12|27|df=y}}
|birth_place   = [[Penryn, Cornwall]]
|death_place   = Barton Place, near [[Exeter]]
|placeofburial =  [[Exeter Cathedral]]
|placeofburial_label =
|placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
|nickname      =
|birth_name    =
|allegiance    =[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom of<br>Great Britain and Ireland]]
|branch        =[[File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|23px]] [[Royal Navy]]
|serviceyears  =1771 (de facto from 1776)&nbsp;– 1832
|rank          =[[Vice admiral (Royal Navy)|Vice-Admiral]]
|servicenumber =
|unit          =
|commands      = {{Plainlist|
*{{HMS|Fleche|1794|6}}
*{{HMS|Censeur|1795|6}}
*{{HMS|Britannia|1762|6}}
*{{HMS|St George|1785|6}}
*{{HMS|Success|1781|6}}
*{{HMS|Audacious|1785|6}}
}}
|battles       =
{{tree list}}
* [[American Revolutionary War]]
** [[Great Siege of Gibraltar|Relief of Gibraltar]]
* [[French Revolutionary Wars]]
** [[Siege of Malta (1798–1800)|Blockade of Malta]]
** [[Battle of the Malta Convoy (1800)|Battle of the Malta Convoy]]
** [[Battle of Algeciras Bay]]
* [[Napoleonic Wars]]
{{tree list/end}}
|battles_label =
|awards        =
|relations     = [[John Whitehead Peard]] (son)
|laterwork     =
|signature     =
}}

'''Shuldham Peard''' (1761&nbsp;– 27 December 1832) was an officer of the [[Royal Navy]]. He rose to the rank of [[Vice admiral (Royal Navy)|vice-admiral]] after seeing service in the [[American War of Independence]], and the [[French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolutionary]] and [[Napoleonic Wars]].  He was the father of [[John Whitehead Peard]], who was known as '[[Garibaldi]]'s Englishman'.

==Family and early life==
Shuldham Peard was born at [[Penryn, Cornwall]] in 1761, the third son of Captain George Peard. Shuldham was baptised at [[St Gluvias]] on 29 October. At the age of ten he was entered on the books of {{HMS|Fly|1776|6}}, and afterwards on those of {{HMS|Racehorse|1757|6}}, as an [[able seaman]]. He probably first went afloat in 1776, in the 64-gun {{HMS|Worcester|1769|6}}, with Captain [[Mark Robinson (Royal Navy officer)|Mark Robinson]]; he was afterwards in {{HMS|Martin|1761|6}} with Captain [[Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet, of Harburn|William Parker]], and in {{HMS|Thetis|1773|6}} with Captain [[John Gell (Royal Navy officer)|John Gell]] on the [[Newfoundland Station]]. In 1779, having been sent away in command of a prize, he was taken prisoner and carried into [[Cadiz]]. On his return to England he passed his examination on 6 April 1780, and on 26 April was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In June 1780 he was appointed to the 74-gun {{HMS|Edgar|1779|6}}, one of the ships of the [[Channel Fleet]], and continued in her until February 1782, taking part in the [[Great Siege of Gibraltar|relief of Gibraltar]] in April 1781. From 1785 to 1790 he was in the 74-gun {{HMS|Carnatic|1783|6}}, the [[guardship]] at [[Plymouth]]; in 1790–1, during the [[Spanish armament]], he was in {{HMS|Princess Royal|1773|6}}, [[flagship]] of Rear-Admiral [[William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham|William Hotham]], at [[Portsmouth]], and was again in the ''Carnatic'' in 1791–2. In January 1793, after the outbreak of the [[French Revolutionary Wars]] he joined Hotham's new flagship, the 100-gun {{HMS|Britannia|1762|6}}, and went out to the Mediterranean with him. On 30 January 1795 Peard was promoted to command the sloop {{HMS|Fleche|1768|6}}.

==Command==
On 5 May he was posted to {{HMS|Censeur|1795|6}}, and in July was appointed to the ''Britannia'' as [[flag captain|second captain]]. From her, in January 1796, he was moved into the 98-gun {{HMS|St George|1785|6}}, which he still commanded on 18 January 1797, when, as the fleet was leaving [[Lisbon]], she ran aground, had to cut away her masts, and was left behind disabled, while the fleet went on to fight the [[Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797)|battle of Cape St. Vincent]]. The ship afterwards rejoined the flag off Cadiz, and was still there in the beginning of July, when a violent mutiny broke out on board. Peard, with his own hands, assisted by the first lieutenant, seized two of the ringleaders, dragged them out of the crowd, and had them put in irons. His daring and resolute conduct struck terror into the rest, and they returned to their duty; but the two men were promptly tried, convicted, and hanged on 8–9 July. Of Peard's conduct on this occasion [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|St. Vincent]] thought very highly, and many years afterwards wrote, 'his merit in facing the mutiny on board the St. George ought never to be forgotten or unrewarded'.

In March 1799 Peard commissioned the frigate {{HMS|Success|1781|6}} for the Mediterranean, and on his way out, when off Lisbon, fell in with and was chased by the [[Brest, France|Brest]] fleet. He, however, made good his escape, and joined [[George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith|Lord Keith]] off Cadiz on 3 May, in time to warn him of the approaching danger. In the following February the ''Success'' formed part of the squadron employed in the [[Siege of Malta (1798–1800)|blockade of Malta]], and on the 18th, at the [[Battle of the Malta Convoy (1800)|Battle of the Malta Convoy]], had a large share in the capture of the [[French ship Généreux (1785)|''Généreux'']], hampering her movements as she tried to escape, and raking her several times. On 9 February 1801 the ''Success'' was lying at [[Gibraltar]], when [[Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801|a strong French squadron]], under Rear-Admiral [[Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume|Honoré Ganteaume]], passed through the [[Straits of Gibraltar]]. Peard conjectured—as was the fact—that they were bound for [[Egypt]], and thinking that Keith ought to have warning of their presence in the Mediterranean, he immediately followed, hoping to pass them on the way. He fell in with them off [[Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park|Cape Gata]], but was prevented by calms and variable winds from passing, and, after a chase of three days, was overtaken and captured. From the prisoners Ganteaume learned that the route to Egypt might be full of danger to himself, and turned aside to [[Toulon]], whence Peard and his men were at once sent in a [[Cartel (ship)|cartel]] to [[Port Mahon]]. On his return to England he was appointed in June to {{HMS|Audacious|1785|6}}, in which he joined the squadron at Gibraltar under [[James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez|Sir James Saumarez]], and took part in the [[Battle of Algeciras Bay|actions at Algeciras on 6 July, and in the Straits on the night of the 12th]]. The ''Audacious'' was afterwards sent to the [[West Indies]], and was paid off in October 1802. In 1803 and during the Napoleonic Wars Peard commanded the [[sea fencibles]] on the coast of [[Cornwall]].

==Flag rank and later life==
On 5 July 1814 he was superannuated as a rear-admiral, but was restored to the active list on 5 July 1827, advanced to be vice-admiral on 22 July 1830, and died at Barton Place, near [[Exeter]], on 27 December 1832. He married Elizabeth Bligh, the daughter of Sir [[Richard Rodney Bligh]], whom he divorced for adultery. Together they had one son, George, who died, a captain in the navy, in 1837; he remarried and had a second son [[John Whitehead Peard|John Whitehead]], became famous as "Garibaldi's Englishman". His granddaughter was the novelist [[Frances Mary Peard]].

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DNB|wstitle=Peard, Shuldham}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peard, Shuldham}}
[[Category:1761 births]]
[[Category:1832 deaths]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:People from Penryn, Cornwall]]