Captain Edward Riou, 1762 - 1801

Rectangular miniature in a gilt metal presentation frame with a central suspension ring. The sitter is shown almost half-length turned to his right but looking to the viewer. He has brown eyes and greying hair, wears the captain's full-dress of 1795-1812 [?] a white waistcoat and neckcloth, and is shown against a greenish almost architectural background, with a hint of shadowed wall to the right and an arch (or false oval) above his head.

Riou, third son of a Guards officer, was a midshipman in the 'Discovery' and later the 'Resolution' on Cook's last voyage (1776-80). As a lieutenant he sailed from England late in 1789 commanding the storeship 'Guardian', to supply the newly established convict colony at Port Jackson (Botany Bay). On Christmas Eve, thirteen days after leaving Cape Town, the ship's rudder and part of her keel were torn off when she struck the submerged spur of an iceberg in the Southern Ocean. Half the crew abandoned ship in the boats, only 15 of these surviving, but by brilliant seamanship and force of personality Riou got the crippled 'Guardian' and her remaining 60 men back to the Cape, where she was beached and abandoned. Many of her stores were salvaged, however, and sent on to Australia later. Riou was received in England as a minor hero and quickly promoted captain, serving mainly in frigates after war broke out in 1793. In 1799 he was appointed to the 38-gun frigate 'Amazon' and in her commanded Nelson's frigates at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, where he was killed leading them against the Trekroner Fort. At the head of Nelson's line, and already wounded, he saw Parker's signal to break off the action and felt obliged to obey it, remarking 'What will Nelson think of us?' As the ship turned her stern towards the fort a roundshot from it cut him down. This portrait was engraved and published by James Heath in May 1801, just after his death; see PAD3056.