COCHRANE, Sir Thomas John (1789-1872), of

Cochrane’s two years as Conservative MP for Ipswich proved merely a brief interlude in his distinguished naval career. His father, Admiral Hon. Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane (1758-1832), a younger son of the eighth earl of Dundonald, had likewise enjoyed an illustrious naval career and dabbled in politics, serving as MP for Stirling Burghs, 1800-2, 1803-6. He had been governor of Guadeloupe, 1810-14, and acquired estates in Trinidad (where he owned slaves), Bermuda and Nova Scotia.1HP Commons, 1790-1820, iii. 457; A. Mackenrot, Secret memoirs of the honourable Andrew Cochrane Johnstone: of the honourable vice-admiral Sir Alex. Forrester Cochrane, K.B., and of Sir Thomas John Cochrane, a captain in the Royal Navy… (1814), reviewed in Niles’ Weekly Register, 23 Sept. 1815. Cochrane unsuccessfully made a claim for compensation for slaves in Trinidad in 1838: Information from Legacies of British Slave-ownership project [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/]. Despite, or perhaps because of, their achievements, Cochrane and his father were said to have ‘excited a great deal of envy and provoked considerable acid comment against themselves’, with the Earl St. Vincent declaring that ‘Cochranes are not to be trusted. They are all mad, romantic, money-getting and not truth-telling’.2F.F. Thompson, ‘Cochrane, Sir Thomas John’, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, x (1871-1880) [www.biographi.ca]. This verdict was undoubtedly also a reflection upon the exploits of Cochrane’s first cousin, Thomas Cochrane, tenth earl of Dundonald, another naval officer and MP, who was convicted of fraud on the Stock Exchange in 1814: HP Commons, 1790-1820, iii. 461-7.

Born in Edinburgh, Cochrane enlisted in the navy at the age of seven on board his father’s ship the Thetis, and continued to serve under his father until 1805, joining expeditions against Quiberon, Belle Isle, Ferrol and Egypt, and serving on the Irish station. Paternal influence assisted his rapid promotion, reaching the rank of captain (of the Jason, stationed in the West Indies) at the age of 17, but this was accompanied by charges of nepotism and ‘gross jobbery’.3J.K. Laughton, revised by R.T. Stearn, ‘Cochrane, Sir Thomas John’, Oxf. DNB [www.oxforddnb.com]; W.R. O’Byrne, Naval biographical dictionary (1849), i. 203-4. Further details of Cochrane’s early naval career can be found in T.A. Heathcote, The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734-1995. A biographical dictionary (2002), 45-7. One hostile account, published in 1814, complained of ‘the fatal effects of misapplied power, patronage and family interest’, and claimed that he was ‘haughty, overbearing, and extremely tyrannical’ in command, having the Jason’s company flogged on a whim. It also alleged that he was ‘mean, covetous, mercenary and despicably false and treacherous’ in his personal life, having forsaken the daughter of a West India merchant, with whom he had fallen in love, once it transpired that she would only receive a small marriage settlement. She was said to have died of a broken heart, while Cochrane later married a wealthy heiress.4Niles’ Weekly Register, 23 Sept. 1815 [review of Mackenrot, Secret memoirs]. Neither set of parents was said to have approved of the proposed match. In 1807 he captured a French warship off the Surinamese coast and helped to take the Danish West Indies. He served at the capture of Martinique and Les Saintes in 1809. After two years on the half-pay list, he joined the North American station, commanding the Surprise, 1812-15, and acting in operations against Washington, Baltimore and the coast of Georgia. After another spell on half-pay he commanded the Forte in North America and the West Indies, 1820-4.5Laughton, ‘Cochrane, Sir Thomas John’; O’Byrne, Naval biographical dictionary, i. 203-4. He returned to Portsmouth via Mexico and Cuba in 1824, bringing with him a large amount of specie.6The Times, 20 Sept. 1824; O’Byrne, Naval biographical dictionary, i. 203. For one example of allegations of nepotism, see Niles’ Weekly Register, 23 Sept. 1815 [review of Mackenrot, Secret memoirs].

Cochrane, who had been knighted in 1812, was appointed governor of Newfoundland in 1825, at a salary of £4,200 (retrenched to £3,000 in 1828).7PP 1835 (473), vi. 36. Cochrane was knighted when appearing as proxy for his father at his installation as a Knight of the Bath: Laughton, ‘Cochrane, Sir Thomas John’. Histories of Newfoundland concur that his upbringing and naval training had given him ‘Tory principles, a quarterdeck manner, and a love of ceremony, dignity, and lavish display’, which manifested itself in a rather authoritarian manner, and in extravagant expenditure on the construction of a new residence, Government House in St. John’s, and an ornamental retreat, Virginia Cottage.8G.E. Gunn, The political history of Newfoundland 1832-1864 (1966), 4; Thompson, ‘Cochrane, Sir Thomas John’. See also A.H. McLintock, The establishment of constitutional government in Newfoundland, 1783-1832 (1941), 164. At £36,000 the former – considered by one historian to be ‘a huge pile of unredeemed ugliness’9D.W. Prowse, A history of Newfoundland from the English, colonial, and foreign records (1895), 425. – cost more than four times its original estimate, due to ‘frequent alterations at Cochrane’s wilful discretion’, which prompted an inquiry and earned him a reprimand from the treasury.10Thompson, ‘Cochrane, Sir Thomas John’; McLintock, Establishment of constitutional government, 165. However, he was considered to have tackled Newfoundland’s economic problems ‘with sense and energy’, encouraging agriculture and fisheries, and replacing unconditional poor relief with employment in public works such as road-building.11Gunn, Political history of Newfoundland, 4; McLintock, Establishment of constitutional government, 166-8.

Although he had strongly advised against the establishment of representative government in the colony, Cochrane nonetheless oversaw the creation of a new assembly and executive council in 1832. However, there were subsequently ‘constant, violent and even undignified’ quarrels between these two bodies, and the assembly and Cochrane.12Thompson, ‘Cochrane, Sir Thomas John’. He was also involved in disputes with Newfoundland’s Catholic bishop, a local landowner, and the ordnance department.13Gunn, Political history of Newfoundland, 24. The accumulation of grievances against him contributed to the colonial office’s decision not to extend his term of office when it expired in 1834, as did concerns about his handling of unrest in St. John’s in 1833.14Ibid.; Thompson, ‘Cochrane, Sir Thomas John’. Cochrane’s unpopularity was such that he and his daughter were pelted with filth as they departed to board their ship for England, but he also received several laudatory addresses.15Prowse, History of Newfoundland, 436. A history published in 1895 claimed that Cochrane ‘is now universally admitted to have been the best Governor ever sent to Newfoundland; everywhere are monuments erected to his memory’.16Ibid., 421.

Shortly after arriving back in England in December 1834 Cochrane accepted a requisition to offer as the Conservative candidate for Westminster, a seat previously held by his first cousin.17The Standard, 31 Dec. 1834; The Times, 5 Jan. 1835. Thomas Cochrane (later 10th earl of Dundonald) had served as MP for Westminster 1807-14, 1814-18. He informed Peel that finding the nation ‘in a state of peril’ when he landed at Portsmouth, he considered it his duty to stand in defence of the constitution.18Sir T. Cochrane to Sir R. Peel, 3 Jan. [1835], Add. MS. 40409, ff. 88-9. Cochrane espoused a reformist Conservatism, and approvingly cited Peel’s Tamworth manifesto.19The Times, 5 Jan. 1835, 7 Jan. 1835. He emphasised, however, that ‘while I strenuously advocate Reform I seek not to destroy’, but ‘to renovate and improve’, and tried to make a virtue of his inexperience of domestic politics by stating that he was ‘entirely free from any trammels of party, and altogether unfettered by any pledge or promise’.20Morning Post, 6 Jan. 1835. At one meeting he read at length from testimonials presented to him by Newfoundland’s Dissenters to prove his commitment to religious toleration.21The Times, 5 Jan. 1835.

Cochrane’s first hustings experience was a turbulent one: he was hit repeatedly by missiles and ‘struck severely on the eye with a cabbage-stump’.22The Times, 7 Jan. 1835. After standing his ground for 15 minutes, he retreated under police protection, but was badly hurt in the head by a stone.23Morning Chronicle, 7 Jan. 1835; Morning Post, 7 Jan. 1835. He subsequently complained that ‘he was favoured with as much garden-stuff as would have served a large family for a week’s dinner’.24Morning Chronicle, 8 Jan. 1835. During the contest he was forced to refute charges regarding his tyrannical command of the Jason.25Morning Post, 8 Jan. 1835. He polled a distant third, and avoided the declaration.26The Times, 14 Jan. 1835. At a dinner after the election he reiterated his support for moderate Church reform, and voiced his ‘uncompromising hostility’ to the ballot.27The Times, 17 Feb. 1835. In April 1835 he gave evidence to the select committee on colonial military expenditure, advising against reducing Newfoundland’s military force.28PP 1835 (473), vi. 44. That July he agreed to offer again for Westminster.29The Times, 24 July 1835. However, having received hints that he had failed to garner support because he ‘was not a tried man, and was not essentially known’,30The Times, 25 Apr. 1837. he withdrew his pretensions in August 1836 in favour of Sir George Murray.31The Times, 15 Aug. 1836; Morning Post, 15 Aug. 1836.

In July 1839 Cochrane offered as the Conservative for a vacancy at Ipswich, challenging the incumbent Thomas Milner Gibson, who had resigned to seek re-election as a Liberal following his conversion to free trade. Cochrane had previously been approached as a successor to Gibson, but had not wished to bind himself to the constituency, and he initially declined to contest the by-election, preferring to wait for the dissolution rather than fund two contests. However, he was persuaded to stand by Ipswich’s other Conservative MP, Fitzroy Kelly, who promised that Cochrane’s share of expenses would not exceed a certain sum.32Morning Chronicle, 17 Apr. 1841. Declaring himself ‘a liberal Conservative’, Cochrane again voiced his support for necessary reform, but condemned the Liberal ministry’s attacks on the Irish Church, particularly ‘the obnoxious principle of appropriation’, and criticised their efforts to separate religion and education. He made a robust defence of agricultural protection, and attacked Gibson’s ‘inconsistency and apostasy’.33Ipswich Journal, 8 July 1839; The Times, 9 July 1839. He won by just eight votes, and subsequently faced a petition, but was declared duly elected after Gibson abandoned the case.34The Standard, 1 Apr. 1840.

An infrequent attender, Cochrane generally voted with the Conservatives, supporting motions of no confidence in ministers, 31 Jan. 1840, 4 June 1841. He served on the select committee on the West India mails, which declined to endorse the admiralty’s preference for Dartmouth as the port of arrival and departure.35PP 1841 sess. 1 (409), viii. 224; PP 1841 sess. 1 (424), viii. 442. Cochrane also served on the committee on the Mill Bay pier bill: PP 1840 (570), xlv. 26. He and Kelly successfully introduced a bill to enable £20,000 to be borrowed for the development of Ipswich dock (4 & 5 Vict., c. lii).36Ipswich Journal, 13 Mar. 1841. Cochrane’s main contribution in the House was on naval matters, emphasising on several occasions the importance of maintaining the strength of the British fleet, reflecting the view he expressed in his maiden speech that ‘the welfare and prosperity of the country mainly depended on the efficiency of their naval establishments’, 21 Feb. 1840. He noted with approval that parliamentary criticism of the government’s neglect of the navy ‘had produced beneficial results’, 1 Mar. 1841, and continued to press the case for increased spending, 5 Mar. 1841. He also intervened on Canadian affairs, speaking (to no avail) against the third reading of the government of Canada bill, 18 June 1840, which he feared amounted to a virtual declaration of independence for the Canadas. He made a handful of other speeches, complaining of the treatment of passengers on Mediterranean steam packets, 20 Mar. 1840, and urging the benefits of lightning conductors on ships, 18 Feb. 1841. He argued against referring the case of Captain Laroche, dismissed from his command in 1808, to a select committee, his sympathies for a fellow officer being overborne by his belief that such appeals were damaging to military discipline, 18 Mar. 1841.

Meanwhile Cochrane had in September 1840 informed Ipswich’s Conservatives that he would not offer again, due to their excessive financial demands. Despite Kelly’s assurances that his election expenses would not exceed a certain sum – which Cochrane had paid up front, together with an additional sum after the contest – he was shocked to be asked for a further £2,000, of which Kelly offered to pay half, urging Cochrane that their seats would otherwise be unsafe. Cochrane demurred, but received another request for £500 in February 1840. He was prepared to pay this if assured of future support, but when it transpired that this would not be forthcoming unless he also paid the earlier demand, he severed his connection with the local party.37Morning Chronicle, 17 Apr. 1841. When these heavy demands were referred to in the Commons, Cochrane insisted, however, that ‘not one shilling was connected with bribery’, 8 June 1841.38Despite this disavowal of bribery, Cochrane’s correspondence was cited as evidence of Ipswich’s venality by MPs calling for the suspension of the writ for Ipswich following a later election petition: Hansard, 8 Aug. 1842, vol. 65, cc. 1155-7.

At the dissolution in 1841 Cochrane instead sought election at Greenock, citing his support for ‘our glorious constitution’.39Northern Star, 3 July 1841. On the hustings he claimed that the Whigs ‘had promised everything and delivered nothing’, and voiced his opposition to corn law repeal, which he believed would bring ‘ruin and destitution’.40The Times, 8 July 1841. Although The Times believed he had ‘considerable talent, and a mind richly stored with that description of practical knowledge which is generally found so useful in the House’, he failed to oust the Liberal incumbent.41The Times, 9 July 1841. In a letter to the Conservative organiser Francis Bonham during the contest, Cochrane had voiced his fears that the Scottish church patronage question would tell against him.42Sir T. Cochrane to F.R. Bonham, 21 June [1841], Add. MS. 40617, f. 99. Cochrane asked if Peel could delay replying to a letter from a local ‘red hot enthusiast’ on the matter until his contest was over.

That September Cochrane applied to Peel for official employment, declaring that he was open to contesting any vacancy if given an admiralty or ordnance appointment which required him to sit in the House. He cited his ‘strenuous and constant exertions’ for the Conservative cause, both in his own contests and in his eldest son Alexander’s costly efforts to secure a seat at Bridport, but nonetheless received a polite rebuff.43Sir T. Cochrane to Sir R. Peel, 2 Sept. [1841], Add. MS. 40487, ff. 84-6; Peel to Cochrane, 6 Sept. 1841, ibid., f. 87. Resuming his naval career, he was appointed second-in-command of the East India station in 1842. His imminent departure for China prompted a motion in the Commons that he should be called to the bar of the House to produce information relevant to the Ipswich election petition then pending, but this was withdrawn, 23 Feb. 1842. He was promoted to be commander-in-chief of the East India station, 1845-7, where he played a key role in putting down pirates in Borneo.44PP 1852-53 (850), lxi. 271; Pall Mall Gazette, 21 Oct. 1872.

Cochrane served as commander-in-chief at Portsmouth, 1852-5, overseeing much of the naval preparations for the Crimean war.45The Times, 1 Jan. 1856. He retired from active service thereafter.46Pall Mall Gazette, 21 Oct. 1872. His first wife had died in 1819, and in 1853 he remarried, having four more children. He spent much of his retirement on the Isle of Wight, where he purchased an estate at Quarr Abbey in 1858.47http://www.willisfleming.org.uk/estates/hants_and_iow/Quarr He continued his maritime interests as a generous supporter of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and a member of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club.48The Times, 2 Dec. 1859; The Standard, 23 Oct. 1872. In 1861 he was an expert witness to the select committee on the board of admiralty, which considered the admiralty’s structure and questions of naval education, promotion and patronage. Cochrane expressed the view that the admiralty board need not be a political one at all.49PP 1861 (438), v. 257. That same year he was aboard a ship sent to ascertain the state of the fortress at Gaeta, near Naples, which had been besieged during the Italian War of Independence.50The Times, 25 Feb. 1861. He was awarded a good service pension in 1862 and promoted to the rank of admiral of the fleet in 1865, and was the senior admiral of the fleet and the longest serving naval officer at the time of his death.51The Times, 27 Jan. 1862, 26 Oct. 1872.

Having been in ‘an exceedingly feeble state for some months’, Cochrane died at Quarr Abbey House in October 1872,52Hampshire Advertiser, 23 Oct. 1872; Morning Post, 21 Oct. 1872. and was buried in the family mausoleum at Kensal Green cemetery.53The Times, 26 Oct. 1872. He was succeeded in his estates in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight by his oldest son, Alexander Dundas Wishart Ross Baillie-Cochrane (1816-90), a leading member of the ‘Young England’ group, who served as Conservative MP for Bridport, 1841-6, 1847-52; Lanarkshire, 1857; Honiton, 1859-68; and the Isle of Wight, 1870-80, and was created Baron Lamington in 1880.54The Times, 7 Dec. 1872; M.G. Wiebe, ‘Baillie, Alexander Dundas Ross Cochrane-Wishart’, Oxf. DNB [www.oxforddnb.com]. Alexander Baillie-Cochrane’s only son, Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie, served as Conservative MP for St. Pancras North, 1886-90, and was subsequently governor of Queensland and of Bombay. Cochrane left estate proved under £200,000, and provided a generous annuity for his second wife, together with £60,000 for the children of that marriage, who included Anne Annette Minna Cochrane, lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Beatrice.55http://www.willisfleming.org.uk/estates/hants_and_iow/Quarr He also left £4,000 to Catherine Farquharson of Invercauld; £4,000 in trust for his sister Dame Anna Maria Troubridge and her heirs; and £10,000 from his first wife’s marriage settlement to be divided between their only surviving daughter and Alexander Baillie-Cochrane.56The Times, 7 Dec. 1872. Some of Cochrane’s papers are held by the National Library of Scotland and the National Maritime Museum’s Caird Library.