First Viscount, born at Dover on 19 April, descended from a
family which came originally from Normandy, but had for many
centuries been settled in the west of Cornwall. At the age of
thirteen, he entered the navy, and even then his smartness and
activity, his feats of daring, and his spirit of resolute
independence awakened a remark. On the outbreak of the French War
in 1793, he was appointed to the Nymph, a frigate of 36 guns, and, not withstanding that for the sake of the expedition
she was manned chiefly by Cornish miners, he captured, after a
desperate conflict, the French frigate La Cléopâtra, a
vessel of equal strength. For this act he obtained the honour of
knighthood. In 1802 Sir Edward Pellew was elected member
parliament for Barnstable. In 1804 he was made rear-admiral of the
blue, and appointed Commander-in-chief in India. He returned to
England in 1809, and in 1810 was appointed Commander-in-chief in
the North Sea, and in 1811 Commander-in-chief in the
Mediterranean. Shortly before his death, on 23 January, he was made
vice-admiral.
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