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{{about||the British politician|Sir John Rivett-Carnac, 2nd Baronet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
Admiral '''John Rivett-Carnac''' or '''John Rivett Carnac''' (27 June 1796 – 1 January 1869) was an officer in the [[Royal Navy]] who became an early explorer in Western Australia. He later attained the rank of [[admiral]].

==Biography==
John Rivett-Carnac was born in [[Mumbai|Bombay]], [[India]] on 27 June 1796. He was the seventh and youngest son of the eleven children of James Rivett (1759{{ndash}}1802) of the [[East India Company]] (EIC) by his wife Henrietta Fisher (1765{{ndash}}1837), daughter of James Fisher, of Bombay. His eldest brother was [[James Rivett-Carnac]] who would become the Sir James Rivett-Carnac, 1st Bt., and a [[Governor of Bombay]]. His father assumed the name of Rivett-Carnac by [[Sign Manual]] on 17 July 1801 in compliance with the last will and testament of General [[John Carnac]]. General Carnac had married his father's sister Elizabeth<ref>A portrait of Mrs Carnac by Sir Joshua Reynolds hangs in the Wallace Collection in London [https://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&biw=1660&bih=893&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=portrait+of+mrs+carnac+reynolds&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=]</ref> and in 1776 his father went to live with them in Bombay, where he remained until his death in 1802.<ref>Throughout his life, John Rivett-Carnac and his sons used the name of Rivett-Carnac, while his elder brothers were inconsistent in their surname.</ref> John Rivett-Carnac emigrated to [[England]] with his mother in 1804, two years after his father's death.
[[File:Grand Port mg6974.jpg|thumb|French frigate ''Bellone'', renamed HMS ''Junon'']]
He entered the [[Royal Naval Academy|Royal Naval College]] at [[Portsmouth]] in 1810, and in 1813 was appointed [[midshipman]] on the 38-gun {{HMS|Junon|1810|2}}. He saw action in the [[War of 1812]], taking part in operations under Sir [[George Cockburn]] and Lieutenant [[Philip Westphal]]. In October 1814 he joined the 38-gun {{HMS|Sybille|1794|2}}, with whom he went to [[Greenland]] to search for the American Commodore [[John Rodgers (1772–1838)|John Rodgers]]. He later transferred to the 74-gun {{HMS|Berwick|1809|2}}, then the 98-gun {{HMS|Boyne|1810|2}}, and finally the 100-gun {{HMS|Queen Charlotte|1810|2}}. After passing his Navy examinations in May 1816, he was involved in the [[Bombardment of Algiers (1816)|Bombardment of Algiers]]. From 1816 to 1818, Rivett-Carnac served as an admiralty-midshipman on the {{HMS|Inconstant|1783|2}}, and later on the {{HMS|Vengeur|1810|2}}. On 1 October 1818 he was promoted to [[lieutenant]] in the {{HMS|Albion|1802|2}}. In January 1819 he joined the {{HMS|Racehorse|1806|2}}, and in November 1821 transferred to the {{HMS|Rochfort|1814|2}}. He served on that ship until August 1825, when he was transferred to the {{HMS|Galatea|1810|2}}. On 23 January 1826, John Rivett-Carnac joined {{HMS|Success|1825|2}} under Captain (later Admiral Sir) [[James Stirling (Australian governor)|James Stirling]] as First Lieutenant. Three months later he married Maria Jane Davis, daughter of EIC director and orientalist [[Samuel Davis (orientalist)|Samuel Davis]]<ref>{{cite book|title=A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire|last=Burke|first=Bernard|author-link=Bernard Burke|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCZBAQAAMAAJ|year=1860|publisher=Harrison and Sons|location=London|page=271}}</ref> at St. Marylebone, [[London]].

Rivett-Carnac was on board the ''Success'' in March 1827 when the ''Success'' arrived at the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]] in what is now [[Western Australia]], to undertake the [[Swan River expedition of 1827]], an exploring expedition for the purpose of assessing the area's suitability for establishing a British colony there. The ''Success'' explored the coastal waters off the Swan, during which time Stirling renamed the island named "Isle Berthelot" by the French in 1801 to [[Carnac Island]] in honour of Rivett-Carnac. Stirling then formed a party to explore up the Swan River, leaving the ''Success'' under Rivett-Carnac's command.

In April 1827, Rivett-Carnac received a military award and was promoted to Commander. Later that year, the ''Success'' spent two months in [[Penang]], during which time sickness hit the crew. Rivett-Carnac was so ill that on 1 November he was sent home on half pay. In September 1830 he was appointed Second-Captain on the {{HMS|Wellesley|1815|2}}. After leaving the ship in January 1832 he did not go to sea again, settling in London.

Rivett-Carnac was promoted to [[Captain (Royal Navy)|captain]] on 1 October 1837, [[rear admiral]] on 18 June 1857, and [[vice admiral]] on the Reserved List on 30 November 1863.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22795| page=6441|date=8 December 1863}}</ref> He was promoted to full [[admiral]] on 8 April 1868, but died eight months later on 1 January 1869.

Although widely referred to in Western Australian sources as "John Rivett Carnac", sources relating to his later career refer to him as "John Rivett-Carnac". It is known that some of his brothers adopted "Carnac" as a surname, treating the "Rivett" as an extra forename, and it is probable that John did the same in his early career, but reverted to the hyphenated surname in later life.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|first=Pamela|last=Statham-Drew|year=2003|title=James Stirling: Admiral and Founding Governor of Western Australia|publisher=University of Western Australia Press|location=Nedlands, Western Australia|isbn=1-876268-94-8}}
*{{cite web|title=The Usher Family of Scotland Admiral John Rivett-Carnac|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~usher/ushersct/58.htm|accessdate=9 March 2006}}
* {{cite wikisource |first=William Richard |last=O'Byrne |chapter=Rivett-Carnac, John |title=A Naval Biographical Dictionary |year=1849 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivett-Carnac, John}}
[[Category:1796 births]]
[[Category:1869 deaths]]
[[Category:Explorers of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Bombardment of Algiers (1816)]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812]]
[[Category:Rivett-Carnac family|John]]

John Rivett-Carnac - Revision history

UpdateBot at 09:46, 16 May 2022