View source for Sir Charles Rich, 3rd Baronet

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir Charles Rich, 3rd Baronet
|birth_date= 1680
|death_date= 17 October 1706
|birth_place=
|death_place=
|placeofburial=[[St Margaret's Church, Westminster]]
|placeofburial_label=
|image=
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flagicon|England}} [[England]]
|serviceyears=
|rank= [[Post Captain]]
|branch=[[Royal Navy]]
|commands={{HMS|Hunter|1690|6}}<br>{{HMS|Feversham|1696|6}}
|unit=
|battles= [[Battle of Vigo Bay]]
|awards=
|laterwork=
|spouse=
}}

'''Sir Charles Rich, 3rd Baronet''' (1680 – 17 October 1706) was an officer in the [[Royal Navy]] during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]].

Born in 1680, the eldest of four sons of the politician and [[List of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty|Lord of the Admiralty]] [[Sir Robert Rich, 2nd Baronet]], Charles Rich embarked on a naval career.<ref name="JC"/> He was commissioned a [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]] on 9 January 1697 and appointed as second lieutenant of the 60-gun {{HMS|Gloucester|1695|6}}.<ref name="3D"/> His commission was confirmed by the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] on 24 March 1697 and on 14 April 1697 he joined the 100-gun [[HMS Royal Charles (1673)|HMS ''Queen'']] as her fifth lieutenant. From the ''Queen'' he transferred into the 50-gun {{HMS|Weymouth|1693|6}} on 25 November 1697 as her [[first lieutenant]], and then the 32-gun {{HMS|Winchelsey|1694|6}} on 23 March 1698. On 17 July 1699 Rich was appointed first lieutenant of the 48-gun {{HMS|Advice|1650|6}}. On 25 September 1699, he succeeded his father as [[List of Vice-Admirals of Suffolk|Vice-Admiral of Suffolk]], several days before his father's death on 1 October 1699.<ref name="3D"/> As his father's heir, Charles succeeded to the family baronetcy as [[Rich baronets|third baronet, of London]], but continued his naval career.<ref name="3D">{{cite web|url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=12217#CSORN|title=Sir Charles Rich (3rd Baronet Rich, of London)|publisher=threedecks.org|accessdate=20 March 2019}}</ref>

On 28 February 1701 Rich was appointed second lieutenant of the 64-gun {{HMS|Swiftsure|1673|6}}, transferring to the 70-gun {{HMS|Lenox|1678|6}}, again as second lieutenant, on 1 December 1701.  On 19 January 1702 Rich was promoted to [[Commander (Royal Navy)|commander]] and given command of the 28-gun {{HMS|Hunter|1690|6}}. He captained her for the following year, during which time he relinquished his position as [[List of Vice-Admirals of Suffolk|Vice-Admiral of Suffolk]] to [[Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart]] on 8 July 1702, and saw action against the French and Spanish at the [[Battle of Vigo Bay]] on 12 October 1702 as part of an allied Anglo-Dutch fleet under Admirals [[George Rooke]] and [[Philips van Almonde]].<ref name="3D"/> Promoted to [[post captain]], Rich took command of the 32-gun {{HMS|Feversham|1696|6}} on 19 January 1703, remaining in command until 17 October that year.<ref name="JC"/><ref name="3D"/> Sir Charles died on 17 October 1706 at the age of 26, and was buried on 19 October 1706 in [[St Margaret's Church, Westminster]].<ref name="JC"/><ref name="SMC">{{cite web|url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/sir-charles-rich|title=Sir Charles Rich|publisher=[[Dean and Chapter of Westminster]]|accessdate=20 March 2019}}</ref> The burial register noted that he was "of [[Beccles]] in Suffolk", and was "Captain of the Feversham man of war". No gravestone or memorial has survived.<ref name="SMC" /> This entry notwithstanding, [[John Charnock]] recorded in his ''Biographia Navalis'' that according to a "private M.S. memorandum, which we believe authentic" that Rich was captain of the 32-gun {{HMS|Falcon|1704|6}} at the time of his death.<ref name="JC">{{cite book|first=John|last=Charnock|author-link=John Charnock|title=Biographia Navalis, Or, Impartial Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of Officers of the Navy of Great Britain, from the Year 1660 to the Present Time; Drawn from the Most Authentic Sources, and Disposed in a Chronological Arrangement |volume=3|publisher=R. Faulder|year=1795|pages=280–1}}</ref> As he died without issue, the baronetcy descended to his younger brother [[Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet|Robert]], a distinguished army officer.<ref name="SMC" />
	
==References==
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*{{Rayment-bt|date=March 2012}}

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{{Succession box | before=[[Sir Robert Rich, 2nd Baronet|Sir Robert Rich, Bt]] | title=[[Vice-Admiral of Suffolk]] | years=1699&ndash;1702| after=[[Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart|The Earl of Dysart]]}}
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{{Succession box | title=[[Rich Baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of London)''' | years=1699&ndash;1706 | before= [[Sir Robert Rich, 2nd Baronet|Robert Rich]] |  after=[[Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet|Robert Rich]]}}
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[[Category:1680s births]]
[[Category:1706 deaths]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of England]]
[[Category:Royal Navy captains]]
[[Category:British naval commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession]]
[[Category:Burials at St Margaret's, Westminster]]