Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons

Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons

Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons GCB GCMG KCH (* 21st November 1790 in Burton in Christchurch , Hampshire , † 23 / 24. November 1858 in Arundel Castle , Sussex ) was a British admiral and diplomat , who primarily as Commander in Chief of the British Black Sea Fleet during the Crimean War .

Life

Lyons joined the Navy when he was eleven. He served first in the Mediterranean and later in the East Indies, where he was promoted for bravery in 1810. In 1813 he became the commander of the corvette Rinaldo and in 1814 post-captain. 1826 he was appointed as commander of the frigate Blonde sent in Greek waters, blocked the port of Navarino , took in 1828 with the French in the conquest Moreas part and in 1832 after the imposition of King Otto to the Greek throne to the Messenger in Athens appointed, where he vigorously opposed the Russian and French influence. Just before his ship was paid off in 1835, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Order Guelphic to beat Knight and 1840 for hereditary baronet , of Christ Church in the County of Southampton , levied. In 1844 he became Knight Grand Cross (civil division) of the Order of Bath .

In 1849 he went to Stockholm as envoy and in 1850 was promoted to Rear Admiral of the Blue . After the outbreak of the Crimean War with Russia , he went to the Orient in January 1854 as deputy commander of the Mediterranean Fleet , took part in the bombardment of Odessa , then crossed the Circassian coast and occupied Redut-Kale on May 9 .

As the commander of the coastal squadron, he did excellent service in the transport of the Allied troops to the Crimea , which he directed with admirable energy and speed, and the first bombardment of Sevastopol on board the HMS Agamemnon .

After Admiral Dundas ' recall in 1854 he was given supreme command of the British fleet in the Black Sea . He led the expedition to Kerch , which he took on May 24, 1855, participated in the attack on Sebastopol on June 18, whereby his son, the captain Edmund Mowbray Lyons, was fatally wounded (* 1819, † June 24, 1855 in Constantinople), and captured Kinburn .

In June 1855 he was promoted to Vice Admiral and in July 1855 as Knight Grand Cross (military division) of the Order of Bath. 1856 with the title Baron Lyons , of Christ Church in the County of Southampton, to peer collected (25 June 1856), and in May 1858 as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George honored he died on 23 November 1858 in Arundel Castle.

Admiral Lord Lyons was buried in the tomb of Arundel Castle . The British diplomat Lord Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons (1817-1887) was his son and heir as 2nd Baron Lyons.

Honors

In 1860 a life-size marble statue was erected in St Paul's Cathedral in London in his honor . The Edmund River and the Lyons River in Australia are named after him.

Literature & web links

Commons : Edmund Lyons  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Adam S. Eardley-Wilmot, RN : Life of Vice-Admiral Edmund, Lord Lyons. With an account of Naval Operations in the Black Sea and Sea of ​​Azoff 1854-56. S. Low, Marston & C., London 1898.
• Lyons family website

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Baronet, of Christchurch 1840-1858	Richard Lyons
New title created	Baron Lyons 1856-1858	Richard Lyons