William Hotham , 1st Baron Hotham Admiral William Hotham , 1st Baron Hotham ( 1736 – 1813 ) was an officer in the Royal Navy . He was the son of Sir Beaumont Hotham ( died 1771 ) , a lineal descendant of Sir John Hotham . Hotham was educated at Westminster School and at the Royal Naval Academy , Portsmouth . He entered the navy in 1751 , and spent most of his midshipman ' s time in American waters . In 1755 he became lieutenant in Admiral Sir Edward Hawke ' s flagship " St George " and he soon received a small command , which led gradually to higher posts . In " Syren " ( 20 ) he fought a sharp action with the French " Telemaque " of superior force , and in the sloop " Fortune " he carried , by boarding , a 26 - gun privateer . For this service he was rewarded with a more powerful ship , and from 1757 onwards commanded various frigate s . In 1759 his ship " Melampe " , with " Southampton " , fought a spirited action with two hostile frigates of similar force , one of which became their prize . " Melampe " was attached to Augustus Keppel ' s squadron in 1761 , but was in the main employed in detached duty and made many captures . In 1776 , as a Commodore , Hotham served in North American waters , and he had a great share in the Battle of St . Lucia ( 15 December 1778 ) . Here he continued till the spring of 1781 , when he was sent home in charge of a large convoy of merchantmen . Off Scilly Hotham fell in with a powerful French squadron , against which he could effect nothing , and many of the merchant - men went to France as prizes . In 1782 Commodore Hotham was with Richard Howe at the relief of Gibraltar , and at the time of the Spanish armament of 1790 he flew his flag as Rear Admiral of the Red . By 1791 he was made Vice Admiral . He hoisted his flag aboard HMS " Britannia " that year . As Lord Hood ' s second - in - command in the Mediterranean , from August 1793 , he was engaged against the French Revolution ary navy , and when his chief retired to England in December the command of the Mediterranean Fleet devolved upon him . On 12 March 1795 he fought an indecisive fleet action at the Naval Battle of Genoa , in which the brunt of the fighting was borne by Captain Horatio Nelson , and some months later , now a full admiral , he again engaged a French fleet , at the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands on 13 July 1795 , this time under conditions which might have permitted a decisive victory ; of this affair Nelson wrote home that it was a " miserable action . " In November 1795 , he was replaced as commander of the Mediterranean Fleet by Admiral Jervis and returned to England , and in 1797 he was made a peer of Ireland under the title of Baron Hotham of South Dalton , near Hull . He died in 1813 . Hotham lacked the fiery energy and genius of a Nelson or a Jervis , but in subordinate positions he was a brave and capable officer . As Hotham died unmarried his barony passed to his brother , Sir Beaumont Hotham ( 1737 – 1814 ) , who became 2nd Baron Hotham in May 1813 . Beaumont , who was a baron of the exchequer for thirty years , died on 4 March 1814 , and was succeeded as 3rd baron by his grandson Beaumont Hotham ( 1794 – 1870 ) , who was present at the Battle of Waterloo , being afterwards a member of parliament for forty - eight years . He died unmarried in December 1870 and was succeeded by his nephew , Charles ( 1836 – 1872 ) , and then by another nephew , John ( 1838 – 1907 ) . In 1907 his cousin Frederick William ( born 1863 ) became the 6th baron . Other distinguished members of this family were the 2nd baron ' s son , Sir Henry Hotham ( 1777 – 1833 ) , a vice - admiral , who saw a great deal of service during the Napoleonic Wars ; and Sir William Hotham ( 1772 – 1848 ) , a nephew of the 1st baron , who served with Adam Duncan in 1797 at the Battle of Camperdown .