James Bremer

Sir James John Gordon Bremer, KCB, KCH (26 September 1786 – 14 February 1850) was a British Royal Navy officer. He served in the Napoleonic Wars, First Anglo-Burmese War, and First Anglo-Chinese War. In China, he served twice as commander-in-chief of British forces.

Born in Portsea, Portsmouth, Bremer joined the Royal Navy in 1794. While serving in the East Indies, he became commander of HMS Rattlesnake. He was promoted to captain in 1814 and was nominated a CB the following year. After becoming commander of HMS Tamar, he was sent to Melville Island, Australia, in 1824 to establish a colony. Under his leadership, the north coast of Australia from 129° to 135° longitude was claimed as British territory.

Bremer served twice as commander-in-chief of British forces in the First Anglo-Chinese War from 1839 to 1841. During the war, he took formal possession of Hong Kong Island for the United Kingdom in 1841. He was made a KCB the same year. In 1846, he was appointed second-in-command of the Channel Fleet and was superintendent of Woolwich Dockyard from which he retired in 1848. He died in 1850, having risen to the rank of rear-admiral.

Early career
Bremer was born on 26 September 1786 in Portsea. He was the only son of Royal Navy lieutenant James Bremer (who went missing in the East Indiaman Halswell off the coast of Dorset, England, on 6 January 1786) and his wife Ann, daughter of Captain James Norman. In 1794, he joined the Royal Navy as a first-class volunteer on board the flagship of HMS Sandwich at the Nore of Rear-Admiral Skeffington Lutwidge, from which he was discharged in June 1795. He became a student of the Royal Naval Academy in Portsmouth, and re-embarked on 2 April 1802 as a midshipman on board HMS Endymion of Captain Philip Durham. Until July 1805, Bremer served in the flagship of HMS Isis under Vice-Admiral James Gambier and Rear-Admiral Edward Thornbrough, on the Newfoundland and North Sea stations. Shortly after passing his examination, he was appointed sub-lieutenant of the gun-brig HMS Rapid. On 3 August 1805, he became a lieutenant on board HMS Captain as part of William Cornwallis' force in pursuing a French fleet in Brest, France.

On 9 May 1806, Bremer was appointed to HMS Diana of Captain Thomas James Maling in the Mediterranean Station, from where he proceeded to the Davis Strait. On 6 October 1806, he served on board HMS Imogen of Captain Thomas Garth in the Mediterranean. On 28 May 1807, he was appointed to the Psyché of Captain William Wooldridge in the East Indies, where he became commander of HMS Rattlesnake on 13 October. He became a captain on 7 June 1814. On 4 June 1815, he was nominated a Companion of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath (CB).

Australia
On 18 September 1823, Bremer was appointed commander of HMS Tamar. In February 1824, he was sent to Melville Island, Australia, to establish a colony. It was intended as a military settlement to secure British trade in the region. It was hoped that a market would open to British merchants in the Malay Archipelago. In June 1824, Bremer arrived in Sydney where he spent a month collecting troops and stores. On 24 August 1824, he left Port Jackson, Sydney, on board the Tamar, accompanied by the Countess of Harcourt and the Lady Nelson. The ships transported Royal Marines and forty-four convicts guarded by the 3rd Regiment. After sailing through the Torres Strait, he arrived in Port Essington on 20 September. The north coast of Australia from 129° to 135° longitude was declared British territory. Bremer rejected Port Essington as a settlement due to its lack of fresh drinking water. On 26 September, the party landed at King Cove in Melville Island to build a settlement, which was named Fort Dundas on 21 October. However, the site was unhealthy, expensive to maintain, and did not develop into an advantageous commercial trading post. In November 1828, orders were given to abandon the post.

In November 1824, Bremer sailed for India where he served in the First Anglo-Burmese War. On 25 January 1836, he was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order (KCH). In 1837, Port Essington was again selected as a possible trading station by Baron Glenelg. Bremer, who commanded the Alligator and Britomart, was again given charge of the expedition. He established a new post in October 1838, calling it Port Victoria. The port was active until 1843 and by 1849, Port Essington was abandoned after it had no commercial or military usefulness. Under the encouragement of New South Wales Governor George Gipps, Bremer left Port Essington for China in June 1839, with the ships under his command, after news of trouble in the Chinese city of Canton.

China


After Rear-Admiral Frederick Maitland died in November 1839, Commodore Bremer served as commander-in-chief of British forces in the First Anglo-Chinese War until he was replaced by Rear-Admiral George Elliot in July 1840. After Elliot's return home, Bremer again assumed the post from November 1840 until the arrival of Sir William Parker in August 1841. Bremer commanded the capture of Chusan (5–6 July 1840), Second Battle of Chuenpee (7 January 1841), Battle of the Bogue (23–26 February 1841), Battle of First Bar (27 February 1841), Battle of Whampoa (2 March 1841), and Battle of Canton (18 March 1841).

After Plenipotentiary Charles Elliot declared the cession of Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom on 20 January 1841, Bremer reported on 26 January that he "proceeded to Hong Kong, and took formal possession of the island in Her Majesty's name, and hoisted the colours on it, with the usual salutes and ceremonies." This area became known as Possession Point. On 1 February, he issued a joint proclamation with Elliot to the inhabitants, declaring the island British territory. On 24 August, he left China aboard the Atlanta with Elliot. For his services, Bremer received a vote of thanks from both houses of parliament, and on 29 July 1841, he was made a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath (KCB).

Later career
On 30 April 1846, under Admiral Francis Augustus Collier, Bremer was appointed second-in-command of the Channel Fleet, with his broad pennant on board HMS Queen. On 24 November, he became superintendent of Woolwich Dockyard, where he held command of the William and Mary yacht. He retired from the dockyard on 13 November 1848. Bremer was promoted to rear-admiral on 15 September 1849. He served as a magistrate in Devonshire. He died of diabetes mellitus on 14 February 1850 at Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

Family
On 27 March 1811, Bremer married Harriet, daughter of Thomas Wheeler (a Royal Marines officer) and widow of Reverend George-Henry Glasse. They had two sons and four daughters:


 * Edward-Gordon (18 September 1819 – 7 April 1847 ); Royal Navy officer
 * John de Courcy (born 1822, died 6 January 1891 at Rose Bay, Sydney, New South Wales )
 * Emma-Margaret; married Royal Navy officer Augustus Kuper on 20 June 1837
 * Isabel-Harriet-Ann; married British Army officer Henry-Sabine Browne on 26 February 1840
 * Emily
 * Ellen-Susan

After Harriet's death in 1846, Bremer married Jemima Mary Harriet, the eldest daughter of Royal Navy officer James Brisbane, on 8 February 1848 at Tunbridge Wells.

Places named after him

 * Bremer River in Queensland, Australia, was named by explorer John Oxley in 1828.
 * Bremer Bay in Western Australia was named by John Septimus Roe, who served under Bremer on board the Tamar from 1824 to 1827.
 * Bremer Range and its highest peak, Mount Gordon, in Western Australia were named by Roe in 1848–49.
 * Bremer Island, Northern Territory, Australia.