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Admiral Peter Rainier (24 November 1741 – 7 April 1808) was a Royal Navy officer who served during the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. From 1794 to 1805, Rainier was commander-in-chief of the Navy's East Indies Station, covering all seas between the Cape of Good Hope and the South China Sea .
- 1756–1805
- Royal Navy
- 24 November 1741, Sandwich, Kent, England
- 7 April 1808 (aged 66), Westminster, England
Advertisement. Peter Rainier V. Birth. 24 Nov 1741. England. Death. 7 Apr 1808 (aged 66) Westminster, City of Westminster, Greater London, England. Burial. St. Mary's Churchyard. Sandwich, Dover District, Kent, England Add to Map. Plot. Memorial in the nave. Memorial ID. 47622086. · View Source. Suggest Edits. Memorial. Photos 3. Flowers 25.
- Sandwich, Kent
- November 24, 1741
- England
- Overview
- Naval career
- Later life
- References
Peter Rainier (24 November 1741 – 7 April 1808) was a Royal Navy officer who served during the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. From 1794 to 1805, Rainier was commander-in-chief of the Navy's East Indies Station, covering all seas between the Cape of Good Hope and the South China Sea.
Mount Rainier in Washington, USA, was named after him by his friend George Vancouver.
Rainier was born in Sandwich, Kent, England, on 24 November 1741. He was the grandson of Daniel Regnier, a Huguenot refugee who had fled France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the son of merchant Peter Rainier and his wife Sarah née Spratt. Rainier was educated at Tonbridge from 1754, before joining the Royal Navy in 1756.
Rainier initially served on the 50-gun fourth rate HMS Oxford, but when she was broken up in 1758 he transferred to the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Yarmouth. In that ship he sailed to the East Indies Station, arriving in March, at which point Rainier moved from Yarmouth into the 60-gun fourth rate HMS Tiger, also on the station. In Tiger he fought at the Battle of Cuddalore on 29 April, the Battle of Negapatam on 3 August, and in another engagement off the Coromandel Coast on 10 September 1759. In June 1760 he transferred to serve aboard the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Norfolk, which was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Charles Steevens. In Norfolk Rainier served at the Siege of Pondicherry between September 1760 and January 1761. In April of the latter year Steevens died and was replaced on board by Vice-Admiral Samuel Cornish, under whom Rainier fought at the Battle of Manila between September and October 1762. Rainier returned home from the East Indies in Norfolk in 1764, at which point the ship was paid off.
After this Rainier was not immediately employed by the navy again, and it is possible that he instead went to sea with the East India Company. Despite this, he passed his examination for the rank of lieutenant on 26 May 1768. In January 1774 he was appointed as such to serve on the 28-gun frigate HMS Maidstone, serving in the West Indies. The commander in chief there, Vice-Admiral Clark Gayton, promoted Rainier to commander on 3 May 1777, giving him command of the 14-gun sloop HMS Ostrich. On 8 July of the following year Rainier engaged and captured a large American privateer, and was badly wounded in the battle. In reward for this action Rainier was promoted to post-captain on 29 October. He received his next command, that of the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Burford, in January 1779.
In Burford Rainier joined the fleet of Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes that sailed for the East Indies Station on 7 March of the same year.
In early 1793, Rainier commissioned the 74-gun Suffolk. From 1794 to 1805, Rainier commanded Royal Navy operations on the East Indies Station. During his tenure, large swaths of territory came under British control.
In 1795, Rainier was promoted to Rear-Admiral. Four years later, he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral. He served in the East Indies as Commodore and commander-in-chief of a fleet.
After Rainier's retirement, the ministry continued to consult him and in 1805 was promoted to Admiral of the Blue in the celebratory promotions following the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. In 1807, he became a Member of Parliament (MP) for Sandwich. He died the following year at his home on Great George Street Westminster, with his nephew, John Spratt Rainier, succeeding him as MP for Sandwich.
Rainier left an estate valued at £250,000, largely prize money gained during his naval career. He was not married, and although the bulk of his estate was divided between his nephews, John and Peter Rainier, ten percent was left to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to be used to reduce the national debt, in acknowledgement of:
•Breen, Kenneth (2011) "Rainier, Peter" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.) Oxford University Press https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/23028 (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
•Collinge, J. M. (1986). "Sandwich". https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/constituencies/sandwich.
•The United Service Magazine. 1. London: Henry Colburn. 1834. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_United_Service_Magazine/2MCMT9YrOPYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq.
•Vancouver, George (1798). A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World. 1. London: G. G. and J. Robinson.
Captain Peter Rainier CB (24 August 1784 – 13 April 1836) was a Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Due to the patronage of his uncle, Vice-Admiral Peter Rainier, he was promoted quickly through the ranks so that by the age of twenty he was already a captain.
- 24 August 1784
- 13 April 1836, age 51, Southampton
He was born on 24 November 1741, the second of four sons of a merchant, Peter Rainier of Sandwich, and his wife, Sarah Spratt. His grandfather, Daniel Regnier, was of French Huguenot extraction.
Naval Sailor. Service 1778-1830. Peter Rainier (1741-1808), name, date of birth, date of death, marriage, children, genealogy, naval service, ships owned, actions, battles and other major events, honours, awards and appointments.
Rainier was the senior Royal Navy officer in the East Indies 1794-1805 during the French revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. He amassed approximately £250,000, primarily through prize money. In his will he referred to his naval career ‘in which I have acquired the principal part of my fortune I now have, which has exceeded my merit and pretensions’.
