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OGLE, Sir Charles, 2nd bt. (1775-1858), of Worthy, nr. Winchester, Hants and 4 Belgrave Square, Mdx.
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Family and Education
b. 24 May 1775, 3rd but 1st surv. s. of Sir Chaloner Ogle, 1st bt., of Worthy and Hester, da. and coh. of Rt. Rev. John Thomas, bp. of Winchester. m. (1) 22 Apr. 1802, Charlotte Margaret (d. Sept. 1814), da. of Gen. Hon. Thomas Gage, 1s. 2da. (1 d.v.p.); (2) 4 Sept. 1820, Letitia (d. 13 Nov. 1832), da. of Sir William Burroughs†, 1st bt., of Castle Bagshaw, co. Cavan, 1s.; (3) 10 Apr. 1834, Mary Anne, da. of George Cary of Tor Abbey, Devon, wid. of Sir John Hayford Thorold, 10th bt., of Syston Park, Lincs., s.p. suc. fa. as 2nd bt. 27 Aug. 1816. d. 16 June 1858.Offices Held
Entered RN 1787, midshipman 1791, lt. 1793, cdr. 1795, capt. 1796, r.-adm. 1819, v.-adm. 1830, adm. 1841.
C.-in-c. N. America 1827-30, Portsmouth 1845-8; adm. of the fleet 1857-d.
Biography
Ogle’s naval pedigree was impeccable. His great-uncle Sir Chaloner Ogle, Member for Rochester, 1746-50, had died admiral of the fleet, 11 Apr. 1750, while his father was created a baronet for his naval services and died as most senior admiral, 27 Aug. 1816. Ogle appears to have been intended for Winchester School, but he entered the navy in 1787, serving off the coast of Africa and in home waters. In 1793 he was made lieutenant in the Vengeance, as part of the fleet sent to subjugate the French West Indies, where he distinguished himself by capturing two schooners off Martinique, 6 Feb. 1794, and a few days later by taking Pigeon Island, which enabled the British to anchor at Fort Royal Bay and supply their army. He subsequently commanded the divisions of seamen put ashore at Port Negro to assist in Martinique’s final conquest and at Guadaloupe, where on 12 Apr. 1794 he was conspicuous in the storming of Fort Fleur d’Epee. The following month, at the age of 19, he was appointed acting-captain of the Assurance, supposedly the youngest man ever to hold such a post. He saw active service on the Jamaica station before being transferred to the Mediterranean, where he commanded numerous frigates; his elder brother Major Thomas Ogle was killed at Aboukir Bay in 1801. From 1805 he was employed chiefly in the Channel and home stations, until September 1816, after succeeding to his father’s baronetcy and Hampshire estate. (By his father’s will, dated 14 Apr. 1808 and proved under £90,000, he inherited personal property valued at £76,229.)1 He became a flag officer in 1819 and was commander-in-chief on the North American station from April 1827 until July 1830.2
At the general election that summer Ogle stood for Norwich with a large purse and the backing of the corporation, who had been unable to secure a local candidate, prompting jibes that he was a political ‘ogle eye’. Following his defeat he was returned unopposed for Portarlington as the paying nominee of its spendthrift patron, the 2nd earl of Portarlington.3 He was listed by the Wellington ministry as one of their ‘friends’, but was absent from the crucial division on the civil list, 15 Nov. 1830. Ogle, who is not known to have spoken in debate, voted against the second reading of the Grey ministry’s reform bill, 22 Mar., and for Gascoyne’s wrecking amendment, 19 Apr. 1831. At the ensuing dissolution he retired. On 22 Feb. 1835 he informed the new premier Peel that he had ‘obtained some information relative to the malt tax’ and requested ‘a five minute conversation’. Two days later he again pressed for an interview ‘without loss of time’.4 He died as admiral of the fleet at Tunbridge Wells in June 1858.5 He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his elder son Chaloner (1803-59).
