Thomas Graves (1725–1802) was born on 23 October 1725, the second son of Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves of Thanckes in Cornwall and his second wife, Elizabeth Budgell. He belonged to a wide naval dynasty that produced admirals across several generations, including his half-brother David, his cousin Samuel, and the younger Admiral Sir Thomas Graves. His elder brother William sat in Parliament for the Looe constituencies for many years. In later life he purchased Bishop’s Court at Bishop’s Clyst, beginning the long transformation of the former bishops’ palace that his son would continue before the estate passed to the Garratt family.
Graves entered the Navy early, serving first aboard the Romney with Commodore Henry Medley at Newfoundland and then with his father in the Norfolk. He was present at the failed Cartagena expedition of 1741 and later saw service in the Mediterranean. Commissioned lieutenant in 1743, he fought at the Battle of Toulon the following year and took part in the expedition to Lorient in 1746. He also served in Anson’s action off Cape Finisterre in May 1747 and in Hawke’s battle off the same cape that October.
After the peace of 1748 he devoted time to professional study and to improving his French, and he served as first lieutenant on two voyages to Africa. In March 1754 he was appointed to command the sloop Hazard, in which he twice reconnoitred Brest at close quarters, bringing back valuable intelligence on the French fleet. Lord Anson rewarded this boldness by posting him captain of the Sheerness in July 1755. He quickly made his mark, capturing the French letter‑of‑marque Treize Cantons and sending several prizes into Falmouth and Plymouth.
On Boxing Day 1756 the Sheerness encountered a large vessel which Graves declined to engage, believing it to be a French ship of the line. A court martial found that it had been a French East Indiaman and reprimanded him for an error of judgement, but the incident did not impede his career. By the end of the year he had captured the French man‑of‑war Bien Acquis with a valuable cargo of fur. He then moved to the Unicorn, in which he helped destroy the privateer Calypso in 1758 and captured several other French privateers during the following year.
In 1761 Graves was appointed lieutenant‑governor and commander‑in‑chief of Newfoundland, sailing out in the Antelope. During his tenure the French briefly occupied St John’s in 1762, and he narrowly avoided sailing into their hands when warned off by a signal from the shore. He organised the defence of Placentia and summoned assistance that enabled the recapture of St John’s in September. He returned to Newfoundland the following year with instructions to enforce the post‑war fishing rights, but in 1764 he was replaced by Captain Hugh Palliser, a decision that drew some criticism in the press.
Graves then returned to home service, commanding the Téméraire and later the Edgar, in which he led a small squadron to West Africa to settle disputes between merchants and the governors of the forts. He held a succession of Channel commands during the 1770s, including the Cambridge and the Raisonnable, and in 1775 he was appointed a colonel of marines. In 1777 he commissioned the Conqueror and sailed with Byron’s storm‑dispersed squadron to North America, later joining the West Indies station before being recalled to England upon his promotion to rear‑admiral in 1779.
He flew his flag in the Formidable and then the London, serving under Admiral Sir Charles Hardy in the Channel fleet. In 1780 he was sent across the Atlantic with reinforcements for New York, capturing a valuable French East Indiaman en route. His arrival came too late to prevent the French occupation of Rhode Island, and he was later criticised for the delay. He served under Arbuthnot at the indecisive Battle of Cape Henry in March 1781 and succeeded him as temporary commander‑in‑chief that summer.
Reinforced by Rear‑Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, Graves sailed south to confront the Comte de Grasse and fought the Battle of Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1781. His adherence to the rigid Fighting Instructions and his poor coordination with Hood left his van exposed while his rear remained unengaged. The failure to defeat de Grasse prevented the relief of Cornwallis at Yorktown and contributed directly to the loss of the American colonies. Graves returned to New York and was soon superseded by Rear‑Admiral Digby.
Ordered to Jamaica, he sailed in the London and later escorted the great convoy of merchantmen and French prizes captured at the Battle of the Saintes. The convoy was struck by the Central Atlantic Hurricane of 1782, which destroyed many ships and cost thousands of lives. The Ramillies, his flagship, was dismasted and had to be abandoned and blown up. Graves survived, but he lost his possessions and became embroiled in a bitter dispute with Captain William Cornwallis over the handling of the disaster. His conduct during the hurricane was nevertheless widely praised.
In 1786 he became commander‑in‑chief at Plymouth, hoisting his flag in the Powerful and later the Impregnable. He was promoted vice‑admiral in 1787 and played a prominent role in fitting out the fleet during the Dutch and Spanish armaments. With the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War he again took command at Plymouth before joining Lord Howe as second‑in‑command in the Channel fleet. At the Glorious First of June in 1794 he commanded the van and was badly wounded in the right arm early in the action, forcing him to resign his command. He was created Baron Graves of Gravesend later that year and granted a pension.
In his later years he turned his attention to Bishop’s Court, the former bishops’ palace at Bishop’s Clyst, which he had bought and begun to remodel. His alterations marked the first major transformation of the house since the Tudor period, and the work was continued by his son before the estate eventually passed to the Garratt family, who completed the nineteenth‑century development of the property. Lord Graves died on 9 February 1802 at Cadhay near Ottery St Mary. In 1771 he had married Elizabeth Peere Williams, heiress of William Peere Williams of Cadleigh and cousin of Lady North. They had five children, and his youngest daughter married Admiral Christopher Nesham. Graves briefly served as M.P. for East Looe in 1775 but took no part in parliamentary debate. He was regarded as a diligent and methodical officer, skilled in engineering and gunnery, though cautious in command and sometimes unlucky. His captains might have served him better at the Chesapeake, but his steadiness during the hurricane of 1782 earned him lasting respect.
