# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bertie, Thomas

1904 Errata appended.
​BERTIE, Sir THOMAS (1758–1825), vice-admiral, son of George Hoare, Esq., of London and formerly of Middleton Era, Durham, entered the navy in 1773, on board the Seahorse, where he was messmate of both Nelson and Troubridge, with whom he kept up a close intimacy till their deaths (Nelson's Despatches, freq., see index). He afterwards served with Sir Edward Hughes in the Salisbury, and with Captain Rowley in the Monarch, in which he was present in the battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778. He followed Rowley to the Suffolk, and was engaged at Grenada, 6 July 1779; and again to the Conqueror, as lieutenant, and was in Rodney's three actions with De Guichen, 17 April, 15 and 19 May 1780. He continued with Admiral Rowley until made commander, 10 Aug. 1782.
On 20 May 1788 he married Catherine Dorothy, daughter of Peregrine Bertie, Esq., whose name he assumed, in accordance with the terms of Bertie's will.
Captain Bertie was advanced to post rank on 22 Nov. 1790, and appointed for a short time to the Leda frigate. In 1795 he was sent out to the West Indies in command of the Hindostan, 54 guns; but, after a severe attack of yellow fever at Port-au-Prince, was obliged to return home in October 1796. The following year he commanded the Braakel, 54 guns, at Plymouth, and in October was appointed to the Ardent. The Ardent, though only of 64 guns, was a large and roomy ship: ​"the finest man-of-war upon her decks that ever I saw" wrote Nelson in congratulating him (ib. iii. 2). For the next three years she was employed in the North Sea, under Lord Duncan and Vice-admirals Mitchell and Dickson, and in the beginning of 1801 was sent into the Baltic with Sir Hyde Parker. It was Bertie's good fortune to be in the division detached under Lord Nelson against Copenhagen, and to have am important share in that hard-fought battle, 2 April. Early on the morning after the action Lord Nelson went on board the Ardent to thank her commander, officers, and men for their conduct and exertions, and on 9 April Sir Hyde Parker appointed Bertie to the Bellona, 74 guns, in room of Sir Thomas B. Thompson, who had lost a leg in the battle. The Bellona remained in the Baltic with Nelson till the July following, when she was sent to England and thence to join the blockade of Cadiz. On the peace she was sent to the West Indies, and was eventually paid off in June 1802. On the renewal of the war Bertie was appointed to the Courageux, but was compelled by family affairs to give up the command after a few months. In December 1805 he was appointed to the St. George, in the Channel, and continued in her until his promotion to flag rank, 28 April 1808. He was shortly after sent to the Baltic, and was actively engaged in that very arduous service till 10 Feb. 1810, when he was obliged by ill-health to strike his flag and go on shore, nor was he able again to accept employment before the peace. In June 1813 he was knighted, and received also the royal permission to accept and wear the insignia of the Swedish order of the Sword. He became vice-admiral on 4 Dec. 1813, and died on 13 June 1825.
[Marshall's Roy. Nav. Biog. i. 380; Naval Chronicle, xxxvi. 1 (with portrait); Gent. Mag. (1825), xcv. ii. 177]
J. K. L.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.25 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| | | 28 | Bertie, Sir Thomas: for vice-admiral read admiral |
| 410 | i | 20 f.e. | after 1813 insert and full admiral 27 May 1825 |