Charles Middleton , 1st Baron Barham Admiral Charles Middleton , 1st Baron Barham PC ( 14 October 1726 – 17 June 1813 ) was a British naval officer and politician . He was born at Leith , Midlothian to Robert Middleton , a customs collector of Bo ' ness , Linlithgowshire , and Helen , daughter of Captain Charles Dundas RN and granddaughter of Sir James Dundas of Arniston . Brigadier - General John Middleton ( 1678 – 1739 ) was his uncle . Naval career . Middleton entered the Royal Navy in 1741 as captain ' s servant aboard and HMS " Duke " , and later served aboard HMS " Flamborough " as midshipman and master ' s mate . He became lieutenant in 1745 , serving aboard the frigate HMS " Chesterfield " , after 1748 on the west Africa station . During the Seven Years ' War , from 1754 , Middleton was stationed aboard during her apprehension and capture of two French ships at Louisbourg , after which he was stationed in the Leeward Islands . In January 1757 , an incident over rum rations , during which Middleton lost his temper and physically attacked a sailor ended with the sailor being court martial led and Middleton being transferred and promoted to command of the sloop HMS " Speaker " . In 1759 he was given command of the frigate HMS " Arundel " being promoted to post - rank for the first time . The following year , while in command of , distinguished himself in the West Indies , taking sixteen French ships and several privateers , and received the gratitude of the merchants in the British colony of Barbados . From March 1762 Middleton took command of the frigate " Adventure " , patrolling the coast of Normandy . In December 1761 Middleton married Margaret Gambier , niece of Captain Mead , who he had encountered aboard HMS " Sandwich " some twenty years earlier . Margaret moved to Teston in Kent , to be close to her friend Elizabeth Bouverie . In 1763 , after service aboard the " Adventure " , he moved to join Margaret at Teston , and for the next twelve years he farmed the land belonging to Mrs Bouverie , taking on the role of a country gentleman . In 1775 , at the outbreak of the American War of Independence , Middleton was given a guardship at the Nore , a Royal Navy anchorage in the Thames Estuary , and was subsequently appointed Comptroller of the Navy in 1778 , a post he held for twelve years . In 1781 was created a baronet , with a special remainder , failing any male issue , to his son in law , Gerard Noel . In 1784 , Sir Charles Middleton was elected Tory Member of Parliament ( MP ) for UK Parliament constituency , a seat he held for six years , and three years later was promoted Rear Admiral . By 1793 a Vice Admiral , he was the following year made a Lord of the Admiralty . In 1795 became Admiral of the Blue . He was finally , in 1805 , appointed First Lord of the Admiralty , and was created Baron Barham , of Barham Court and Teston in the County of Kent , with a special remainder , failing male issue , to his only child , his daughter , Diana Noel , 2nd Baroness Barham , and her male heirs . In September 1805 , Lord Barham attained the rank of Admiral of the Red . He died eight years later , aged 86 , at his home of Barham Court . Abolitionist . In addition to his service in the Royal Navy , Sir Charles Middleton played a crucial role in the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire . He had been influenced by a pamphlet written by Rev . James Ramsay , who served as a surgeon under Middleton aboard HMS " Arundel " in the West Indies , but later took holy orders and served on the Caribbean island of St Christopher ( now St Kitts ) , where he observed first - hand the treatment of slaves . On his return in 1777 , exhausted by the continuing conflict with influential planters and businessmen , Ramsay returned to Britain and briefly lived with Sir Charles and Lady Middleton at Teston . He later became vicar of Teston and rector of Nettlestead , Kent , the livings being in the gift of Middleton . Ramsay ' s pamphlet " Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies " , published in 1784 , especially affected Lady Middleton . Feeling inadequate to take up the issue of the slave trade in Parliament himself , and knowing that it would be a long , hard battle , Sir Charles Middleton suggested the young Member of Parliament William Wilberforce as the one who might be persuaded to take up the cause . ( Whether or not this was the first time that the issue had been suggested to Wilberforce or not is debatable ) . In 1787 Wilberforce was introduced to James Ramsay and Thomas Clarkson at Teston , as well as meeting the growing group of supporters of abolition , which also included Edward Eliot , Hannah More , the evangelical writer and philanthropist and Beilby Porteus , Bishop of London . Clarkson had first made public his desire to spend his life fighting for emancipation at Middleton ' s home , Barham Court , overlooking the River Medway at Teston , Kent . In order to make a case for abolishing the slave trade , Clarkson did much research over many years , gathering evidence by interviewing thousands of sailors who had been involved in the slave trade . Barham Court was effectively used for planning the campaign by Lord and Lady Barham , with numerous meetings and strategy sessions attended by Wilberforce , Clarkson , Eliot and Porteus before presenting legislation to Parliament . While Middleton never played a direct role in the effort to abolish the slave trade ( finally accomplished in 1807 ) and slavery itself ( in 1833 ) he played a very important part as a behind the scenes facilitator . His efforts were motivated by his evangelical faith . HMS Barham . The Battleship HMS Barham was named after him . Fictional portrayals . He is a character in " Treason ' s Tide " by Robert Wilton , set during the summer of 1805 . It was published in February 2013 by Corvus , an imprint of Atlantic Books , and originally appeared under the title " The Emperor ' s Gold " in June 2011 .