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{{short description|British Naval officer and administrator}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = Sir Evan Nepean
| honorific-suffix = [[Baronet|Bt]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]
| image = SirEvanNepean.JPG
| image_size =
| caption =
| office1 = [[Governor of Bombay]]
| term_start1 = 1812
| term_end1 = 1819
| predecessor1 = [[George Brown (Governor of Bombay)|George Brown]]
| successor1 = [[Mountstuart Elphinstone]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1752|07|9}}
| birth_place = [[Saltash|St Stephens by Saltash]], Cornwall, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1822|10|2|1752|07|9}}
| death_place = [[Loders]], Dorset, England
| education =
| occupation = Politician, Colonial administrator.
| spouse = Margaret Skinner
| parents = Nicholas Nepean
| children = 8, including [[Charles Nepean]]
}}
'''Sir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet''', [[Privy Councillor|PC]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (9 July 1752 – 2 October 1822)<ref name="Sparrow n.d.">Sparrow (n.d.)</ref> was a British politician and colonial administrator. He was the first of the [[Nepean Baronets]].

==Family==
Nepean was born at St. Stephens near [[Saltash]], [[Cornwall]], the second of three sons of Nicholas Nepean, an innkeeper, and his second wife, Margaret Jones. His father was [[Cornish people|Cornish]] and his mother was from [[South Wales]].<ref name="Sparrow n.d."/> The name "Nepean" is thought to come from the village of [[Nanpean]] ("the head of the valley"), in Cornwall.

Nepean married Margaret Skinner, the only daughter of Capt. William Skinner, on 6 June 1782 at the Garrison Church at [[Greenwich]]. They had eight children,<ref name="Sparrow n.d."/> including Sir Molyneux Hyde Nepean, 2nd Bt., and Maj.-Gen. William Nepean, whose daughter Anna Maria Nepean married General Sir [[William Parke (British Army officer)|William Parke]]. Their youngest child, Rev. Canon Evan Nepean, became the [[Canon (priest)|Canon]] of [[Westminster Abbey|Westminster]] and a [[Ecclesiastical Household|Chaplain in Ordinary]] to [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]]. His son [[Charles Nepean|Charles]] was a [[Middlesex County Cricket Club|Middlesex]] county cricketer who also played [[association football|football]].<ref name=Times160374>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Association Challenge Cup |date=16 March 1874 |page=5 |issue=27951 |column=E}}</ref> Other descendants of Nepean include actors [[Hugh Grant]] (born 1960) and [[Thomas Brodie-Sangster]] (born 1990), who by chance both appeared in the same film, ''[[Love Actually]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fynvola Susan MacLean |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p18289.htm#i182887 |publisher=The Peerage.com|access-date=19 February 2011|date=26 January 2006}}{{Unreliable source?|failed=y |date=August 2012}}</ref>

==Career==
Nepean entered the [[Royal Navy]] on 28 December 1773, serving on {{HMS|Boyne|1766|6}} as a clerk to Capt. Hartwell. He was promoted to purser in 1775. During the [[American Revolutionary War]] he served as secretary to Admiral [[Molyneux Shuldham]], in [[Boston]] in 1776 and again at [[Plymouth]] (1777–78). From 1780 to 1782 he was Purser on {{HMS|Foudroyant|1758|6}} for Captain [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|John Jervis]] (later Lord St. Vincent).<ref name="Sparrow n.d."/>

On 3 March 1782 (aged only 29) he was appointed [[Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department]]. In this position, he came to have responsibility for naval and political intelligence which led to him running a network of spies across Europe. {{sfn|Knight|2013|p=6-13}} He served there until December 1791, when he became [[Under-Secretary of State for War]] in 1794, [[Secretary to the Admiralty|Secretary to the Board of Admiralty]] 1795–1804, [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] 1804–1805, [[Commissioner of the Admiralty]], and then [[Governor of Bombay]] 1812–1819.

He was [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Queenborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Queenborough]] from 1796 till 1802, then moving to [[Bridport (UK Parliament constituency)|Bridport]] where he remained until 1812. The [[Bridport Town Hall]], designed by architect [[William Tyler (architect)|William Tyler]] RA, was given a clock tower with [[cupola]], in about 1805, by Sir Evan.<ref name=PS>{{PastScape |num=450130 |desc=Town Hall |access-date=5 October 2015}}</ref> He was made a [[baronet]] in 1802 and was admitted to the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] in 1804.<ref name="Sparrow n.d."/>

In 1820 he was made a member of the [[Royal Society]]. In 1822 he was appointed [[High Sheriff of Dorset|Sheriff of Dorset]] but died in office the same year at his estate at [[Loders]].<ref name="Sparrow n.d."/><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nepean-evan-2504|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|chapter=Nepean, Evan (1752–1822)|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Places named after Evan Nepean include:

* [[Australia]] - the [[Nepean River]] in [[New South Wales]], the [[Nepean Highway]] and [[Point Nepean]] both in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Nepean Bay]] in [[South Australia]] and [[Nepean Island (Norfolk Island)|Nepean Island]] in the external territory of [[Norfolk Island]].
* [[Canada]] - the former city of [[Nepean, Ontario]],<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aNowAAAAIBAJ&pg=7069%2C5933544 | title=Courageous settlers first located in Carleton back in 1818 | work=Ottawa Citizen | date=28 April 1953 | access-date=2 December 2015 | pages=A20}}</ref> [[Nepean Point]], [[Nepean Bay (Canada)|Nepean Bay]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Nepean...Who's Nepean?|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25310037/nepeanwhos-nepean-august-17-1967/|access-date=2021-07-04|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|date=August 17, 1967}}</ref>
* [[India]] - the Nepean Road and [[Nepean Sea Road]] in [[Mumbai]].

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = Nepean Achievement.png
|escutcheon = Gules a fesse wavy Erminois between three mullets Argent.
|crest = On a mount Vert a goat passant Sable charged on the side with two Ermine spots in fesse Or collared and horned Gold
|motto = Respice (Look Back) <ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage |date=1896}}</ref>}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book |last=Knight |first= Roger |author-link=Roger Knight |year=2013 |title=Britain Against Napoleon: The Organization of Victory 1793-1815 |location=London |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-1-846-14177-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Sparrow |first=Elizabeth |url=http://0-www.oxforddnb.com.catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/view/article/19894 |title=Nepean, Sir Evan |work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |url-access=subscription |access-date=14 March 2014}}

==External links==

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120506132756/http://www.nepeanmuseum.ca/content/sir-evan-nepean The [[Nepean Museum]]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041205100024/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/hohist.html History of the Home Office 1782-1982]
*[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/nepean-evan-1752-1822 History of Parliament biography]

{{S-start}}
{{S-par|gb}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Queenborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Member of Parliament for Queenborough]]
| with = [[John Sargent (1750-1831)|John Sargent]] | before=[[Richard Hopkins (died 1799)|Richard Hopkins]] | before2=[[John Sargent (1750-1831)|John Sargent]] | after= Parliament of the United Kingdom | years=1796–1801 }}
{{S-par|uk}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Queenborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Member of Parliament for Queenborough]]
| with = [[John Sargent (1750-1831)|John Sargent]] | before= Parliament of Great Britain | after= [[John Prinsep]] | after2=[[George Peter Moore]] | years=1801–1802 }}
{{Succession box
| title = [[Bridport (UK Parliament constituency)|Member of Parliament for Bridport]]
| with = [[George Barclay (MP)|George Barclay]] 1802–1807
| with2 = [[Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet|Sir Samuel Hood]] 1807–1812
| before = [[Charles Sturt (1763–1812)|Charles Sturt]] | before2=[[George Barclay (MP)|George Barclay]] | after= [[William Best, 1st Baron Wynford|William Best]] | after2=[[Sir Horace St Paul, 1st Baronet|Sir Horace St Paul]] | years=1802–1812}}
{{S-off}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department]] | before=None | after=[[Thomas Orde]] | years=1782}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department]] | years=1782–1794 | before=John Bell| after=[[John King (1759-1830)|John King]]}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Under-Secretary of State for War]] | before=None | after=[[William Huskisson]] | years=1794–1795}}
{{Succession box | title=[[First Secretary to the Admiralty]] | years=1795–1804 | before=Philip Stephens | after=[[William Marsden (orientalist)|William Marsden]]}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] | years=1804–1805 | before=[[William Wickham (spymaster)|William Wickham]] | after=[[Nicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley|Nicholas Vansittart]]}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Governor of Bombay]] | before=[[George Brown (Governor of Bombay)|George Brown]] | after=[[Mountstuart Elphinstone]] | years=1812–1819}}
{{S-reg|uk-bt}}
{{S-new | creation}}
{{S-ttl
| title = [[Nepean Baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Bothenhampton)'''
| years = 1802–1822
}}
{{S-aft | after=[[Sir Molyneux Nepean, 2nd Baronet|Molyneux Hyde Nepean]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nepean, Evan}}
[[Category:1752 births]]
[[Category:1822 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Saltash]]
[[Category:Lords of the Admiralty]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Governors of Bombay]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Politicians from Cornwall]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]]
[[Category:British MPs 1796–1800]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1801–1802]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1802–1806]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1806–1807]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1807–1812]]
[[Category:High Sheriffs of Dorset]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers]]
[[Category:Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for the Home Department]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland]]
[[Category:Commissioners of the Treasury for Ireland]]
[[Category:Chief Secretaries for Ireland]]

Evan Nepean - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 12:23, 14 August 2023