the French Fleet across the Atlantic. Later career In spring 1805, a liver complaint forced Bickerton to return to England. He was promoted to vice-admiral on 9 November 1805 and then appointed to the Board of Admiralty in April 1807. He became First Naval Lord in the second Portland ministry in May 1808. On 31 July 1810 Bickerton attained the rank of full admiral and in March 1812 he left the Admiralty Board and, one month later, was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth with Puissant as his flagship. Bickerton still held this post in 1814 when the Treaty of Paris was celebrated with a Grand Naval Review at Spithead, which was his last active service. The event took place on 24 and 25 June, before the Prince Regent and his allies. Bickerton was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) on 2 January 1815. On 5 January 1818 Bickerton was promoted to Lieutenant-general of the Marines, then General of the Marines in June 1830. Political career Bickerton was elected a Conservative Member of Parliament for Poole in February 1808, but he did not run for re-election in 1812. He did not often speak in Parliamentary debates, except on naval issues. Death Bickerton died at his home, No. 15 The Circus, Bath, at the age of 72 on 9 February 1832. His wife outlived him, dying on 2 March 1850. As the couple had no children, the estate passed to Anne's nephew, Vice-admiral Sir Richard Hussey Moubray. The lack of male issue also meant the baronetcy became extinct with his death. A memorial to Bickerton, by Francis Leggatt Chantrey, was erected in Bath Abbey in 1834. Bickerton Island off the east coast of Australia's Northern Territory was named for him by the British navigator and cartographer, Matthew Flinders, who was the first to circumnavigate the continent. Notes References Sources External links |- |- |- 1759 births 1832 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Royal Navy admirals UK MPs 1807–1812 Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Fellows of the Royal Society Knights of the Order of the Crescent British naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars