George Nicholas Hardinge

Captain George Nicholas Hardinge (11 April 1781 – 8 March 1808) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Possessing an ability to endear himself to senior officers through his intellect and good manners, he served under several important naval commanders, whose patronage allowed him to rise through the ranks. His own skill and bravery were also important factors in his promotion to his own command, a fact he demonstrated in 1804 when he led a daring cutting-out operation against two Dutch ships. Promotion to post captain left him temporarily without a command, and he was to be disappointed in a number of the ships he was offered when they turned out to be either unfit for service, or still under construction. Having ended up in the East Indies he was forced to make do with an elderly frigate he had first served on as a midshipman much earlier in his career. While commanding this ship he fought an action with a superior French opponent, and after a gruelling three-day battle the British were victorious and the French captain surrendered. Hardinge did not live to see the moment, having been killed by grapeshot shortly before. He was buried with full military honours and monuments to his memory were erected in St. Thomas Cathedral, Bombay and St Paul's Cathedral, London. Family and early life George Hardinge was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey on 11 April 1781, the second son of Reverend Henry Hardinge, and his wife Frances. His education was taken in hand by his uncle, George Hardinge, a judge, who sent him to Eton to study law. George Nicholas did not do well at school, and instead asked to go to sea, perhaps influenced by his uncle, Sir Richard Hardinge, who was a captain of an East Indiaman. He consequently joined the Royal Navy in 1793 as a midshipman aboard the 32-gun frigate under Captain Charles Tyler, and saw action at the Siege of Toulon and the reduction of Corsica. When Tyler moved to take command of the captured French frigate Minerve, which had been taken into Royal Navy service as , he took Midshipman Hardinge with him. This was the ship that Hardinge would die in command of 15 years later. Hardinge continued to move ships to remain in Tyler's service, and both were present aboard at the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands on 13 July 1794.