Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman

Admiral Sir Francis C. B. Bridgeman, portrayed in 1925.
Portrait: Ernest Moore.

Admiral SIR Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., J.P., Royal Navy (7 December, 1848 – 17 February, 1929) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He twice commanded the British Home Fleet in the run-up to the First World War, and served as Second Sea Lord and First Sea Lord. He was dismissed in acrimonious circumstances by Winston Churchill in 1912, and went into retirement a year later.

Early Life & Career

Bridgeman was born Francis Charles Bridgeman-Simpson at Babworth, Nottinghamshire, on 7 December, 1848. He was the fourth son of the Reverend William Bridgeman Simpson (1813–1895), rector of Babworth (who was nephew of Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Earl of Bradford), and his wife, Lady Frances Laura Fitzwilliam (1813–1887), daughter of Charles William, 5th Earl Fitzwilliam. He resumed the family name of Bridgeman in 1896. He entered the Britannia as a naval cadet in 1862, and after serving as Midshipman in the Pacific and the Channel fleets, in 1868 went for nearly four years to the Blanche on the Australian station, being promoted Sub-Lieutenant in 1869. Bridgeman was promoted Lieutenant in 1873, and, having taken up gunnery, served for nearly four years on the China station in the Encounter as Gunnery Lieutenant: while doing the same duty in the Téméraire in the Mediterranean he was promoted Commander in 1884. In this rank he served in the Triumph, Sir Michael Culme-Seymour's Flagship in the Pacific, from 1885 to 1888, and afterwards in the gunnery training ship Excellent until he was promoted Captain in 1890. On 6 November, 1889, he married Emily Charlotte (1842–1922), daughter of Thomas and Mary Shiffner. Emily was six years older than Bridgeman, and had inherited Copgrove, a mansion near Harrogate.

Captaincy and Flag Rank

Bridgeman's first ten years as Captain were mainly employed as Flag Captain to Culme-Seymour in the Channel Fleet and the Mediterranean, and at Portsmouth. In October, 1900 he went on half pay until January, 1903, when he commissioned the Drake and joined Admiral W. H. Fawkes's cruiser squadron. In August of that year he was promoted Rear-Admiral; on 25 June, 1904 he hoisted his flag as Second-in-Command in the Channel Fleet in succession to Rear-Admiral the Honourable Hedworth Lambton.

Home Fleet

Shortly before becoming Commander-in-Chief, Bridgeman wrote to Sturdee:

Preparedness for battle is what we must work for, and so long as I am taken fully and freely into the counsels of the senior C.-in-C., I shall help him to the best of my ability … expecting him to receive with sympathy and patience whatever I may … propose. There are plenty of rocks to get stranded on in this scheme, and careful pilotage will be the surest road to success. I don't mind saying that Lord Charles is fortunate in having you to help him.

First Sea Lord

Bridgeman had had no previous administrative experience at the Admiralty before he became Second Sea Lord, but he was regarded as a man of sound judgement and commanded confidence in the fleet. When Churchill became First Lord and reconstituted the Board of Admiralty, he chose Bridgeman as his First Sea Lord. Bridgeman was a loyal supporter of Churchill in his plans for the constitution of a naval war staff. Nevertheless he soon became annoyed at Churchill's methods, such as sending signals to the fleet without the authority of the Board and circulating peremptory orders to the other Sea Lords. Churchill, in turn, after a year apparently found Bridgeman unsatisfactory and used his poor health as an excuse to require his resignation. He loyally accepted the decision, but the form in which it was communicated to him caused much resentment, and was the subject of an acrimonious debate in the House of Commons.

Retirement

On 7 December, 1913, Bridgeman was placed on the Retired List. Bridgeman was popular in his home county of Yorkshire, and after his retirement devoted himself to the pursuits of a country squire. After the war he was chairman of the divisional council for demobilization and resettlement in the Yorkshire and East Midland areas. He died at Nassau in the Bahamas on 17 February, 1929; his burial took place at St. Michael and All Angels, Copgrove, on 4 March, 1929.

Bridgeman was appointed Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom when Sir Michael Culme-Seymour resigned, dated 2 February, 1920. Upon the death of Lord Fisher, Bridgeman served as one of the honorary pallbearers along with former First Sea Lords Jellicoe and Jackson, and five other admirals. The following year he served as a honorary pallbearer at the funeral of Lord Charles Beresford. On 25 November Lady Bridgeman died at the age of eighty. Her funeral took place on 29 November at St. Michael and All Angels Church, Copgrove. Allegedly Bridgeman regarded Battenberg (later Marquess of Milford Haven) as a leading figure in his removal as First Sea Lord, and later blocked the election of Battenberg's son Lord Louis Mountbatten to the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Wealth at death; £138,354 5s. 11d.: Probate; 31 July, 1929.

Assessment

Arthur Marder, writing in 1961, wrote of Bridgeman:

Although not a particularly forceful person, and more a follower than a leader, Bridgeman did possess sound judgment and he might have made a moderately successful First Sea Lord, had he served under anybody but Churchill. The two simply did not get along, the root trouble being Bridgeman's resentment against the First Lord's interference in everything.

Marder is hardly in a position to judge who would be a "successful" First Sea Lord, let alone a "moderately successful" one. It is difficult to deny however that Bridgeman was put in a bad position. Having been appointed by a man who made a career of sidelining people (as well as being sidelined), with Battenberg in the wings as a First Sea Lord-in-waiting, Bridgeman, in this writer's opinion, never had a chance. Simon Harley 14:56, 30 March 2010 (UTC)

Bibliography

• "Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman" (Obituaries). The Times. Tuesday, 19 February, 1929. Issue 45131, col A, pg. 19.
• "Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman" (Obituaries). The Times. Friday, 22 February, 1929. Issue 45134, col E, pg. 9.
• Lambert, Nicholas A. (1995). Murfett, Malcolm H.. ed. The First Sea Lords: From Fisher to Mountbatten. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-94231-7.
• Ross, Stewart (1998). Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman: The Life and Times of an Officer and a Gentleman. Cambridge: Baily's. ISBN 0952362880.

Service Record

• The National Archives. ADM 196/39.

Naval Office
Preceded by Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson	First Sea Lord 1911 – 1912	Succeeded by H.S.H. Prince Louis of Battenberg