Gilbert Heathcote

Gilbert Heathcote (1779 – 22 April 1831) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Heathcote was born into a gentry family in 1779, the youngest son of a baronet. He and a brother entered the navy, with Gilbert reaching officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was promoted to his first command early in the Napoleonic Wars, but his ship was wrecked in a gale. His career survived largely unscathed however, and he commanded several more ships, reaching the rank of post-captain during a period of service in the East Indies, before his health obliged him to return to Britain. He undertook a final spell of active service in the closing years of the Napoleonic Wars in command of a frigate, before retiring ashore, and dying in 1831. Family and early life Heathcote was born in 1779, the youngest son of Sir William Heathcote, 3rd Baronet and his wife, Frances. William Heathcote was Member of Parliament for Hampshire between 1790 and 1806, and had his seat, Hursley House, in that county. Gilbert's elder brother Henry, Sir William's fourth son, was also a naval officer, and would rise to the rank of admiral of the blue. Gilbert Heathcote joined the navy, and after some years of service, was promoted to lieutenant on 10 December 1799. A further promotion to master and commander came on 29 April 1802, and in 1803 he was appointed to command the 14-gun brig-sloop HMS Suffisante, taking over from Commander Christopher Nesham. Suffisante outfitted at Plymouth between July and September 1803, after which Heathcote took her to sea. His first command was short-lived; Suffisante was caught in a heavy gale, and wrecked on Spike Island, off Queenstown on 25 December 1803. Heathcote underwent a customary court-martial for the loss, at which he was reprimanded but not punished. Further commands Heathcote's career does not appear to have been unduly affected by the loss of Suffisante, and by September 1804 he was in command of , the guardship at Lymington. He left her in January 1805 and appears to have been without a ship until he undertook a period of service in the East Indies. He was promoted to post-captain on 25 September 1806 and succeeded to the command of the 38-gun HMS Sir Edward Hughes, replacing Commander Hood Hanway Christian, who had commissioned her in 1805.