Eliab Harvey

Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey GCB (5 December 1758 – 20 February 1830) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was as distinguished for his gambling and dueling as for his military record. Although Harvey was a significant naval figure for over twenty years, his martial reputation was largely based on his experiences at the Battle of Trafalgar, when he took his ship HMS Temeraire into the thick of the action. Harvey used Temeraire to force the surrender of two French ships of the line and later created his family motto from the names of his opponents in the engagement; "Redoutable et Fougueux".

In his civilian life, Harvey pursued political interests and spent three spells as a Member of Parliament for Maldon and later Essex. During this period he was also knighted. However, Harvey was not a peaceable man and his life both in and out of the Navy was frequently punctuated by disputes with fellow officers and politicians. One such dispute, a consequence of the Battle of Basque Roads, eventually cost Harvey his career; a bitter exchange with Lord Gambier forcing Harvey into early retirement in 1809. Although reinstated a year later, Harvey was never again employed in an official capacity and further promotions were only bestowed as a matter of seniority.

Harvey was also notable in his time for his extravagant lifestyle. The deaths of his father and elder brother while he was still a young man provided Harvey with a considerable fortune, much of which he squandered gambling in London. Harvey's exploits at the gaming tables became legendary, one story claiming that he once bet £100,000 on a single game of chance and lost, only to win most of it back on the following throw. Despite his dissolute lifestyle, Harvey was married and had numerous children; he was survived by six daughters and had three sons who predeceased him.

Eliab Harvey was born in Chigwell, Essex to William and Emma Harvey. His father William Harvey (1714-1763) was a Member of Parliament for Essex, but died when Harvey was only five years old. Eliab was named after his great grandfather, Eliab Harvey, brother to the most famous William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood.

Until 1768, Harvey was raised at the family estate of Rolls Park in Chigwell, which had passed to his elder brother William on the death of their father. Harvey then attended Westminster School for two years before moving to Harrow School in 1770. At the age of thirteen in 1771, Harvey was entered onto the books of the naval schooner HMS Mary, although he did not actually serve aboard the ship. Utilising a standard legal fiction of the time, Harvey's name was entered on the ship's books without his actual presence, a ruse that would provide him with sufficient seniority to gain rapid promotion when he did enter the navy. In his summer holidays from school, Harvey served at sea, joining HMS Orpheus in 1773.

Entering the Navy fully in May 1774, Harvey became a midshipman aboard the sloop HMS Lynx and spent the next two years in the West Indies. Briefly returning to Britain at the outbreak of the American War of Independence, Harvey returned to the eastern seaboard of North America late in 1776 aboard HMS Mermaid, before transferring to the flagship of the North America Station HMS Eagle. From there Harvey joined HMS Liverpool on temporary assignment, only to be wrecked on Long Island aboard the frigate in 1778. Harvey rejoined Eagle after the wreck and returned to Britain in her. He was promoted to lieutenant on 25 February 1779.

Following his promotion, Harvey took a leave of absence from the Navy which would last three years. He took over the parliamentary seat for Maldon in Essex in 1780 on the death of Richard Savage Nassau, and then won it again in the general election a few months later, holding the seat for the next four years. In 1781 Harvey briefly commanded HMS Dolphin, but took leave once again four months later. In 1782 Harvey again returned to the Navy just as peace was agreed and was promoted to commander on 21 March 1782, briefly taking over the sloop HMS Otter before rapidly making the jump to Post Captain less than a year later, on 20 January 1783.

With the peace of 1783, Harvey again took leave from the navy, seeing out his parliamentary term and continuing his notorious lifestyle of gambling and debauchery. The young death of Harvey's elder brother William Harvey, MP in April 1779 had provided Harvey with a substantial fortune, which he immediately began squandering in epic nights at London's fashionable drinking and gambling establishments. Harvey gained a reputation among this crowd for playing exceptionally high stakes; one often repeated story concerns his loss, on his 21st birthday in 1779, of over £100,000 in a single game of hazard to a Mr O'Byrne. O'Byrne, recognising that such a sum would bankrupt his opponent, refused to take more than £10,000, insisting that they roll the dice again to determine the fate of the remaining £90,000. Harvey won and kept his fortune, but reportedly still failed to pay the £10,000.