Editing Edward Codrington (section)

==Early life and career==
The youngest of three brothers born to Edward Codrington the elder (1732–1775) and Rebecca Lestourgeon (Sturgeon) (1736–1770), Codrington came from a long military tradition. His father was the youngest son of [[Sir William Codrington, 1st Baronet]]. Their aristocratic, landowning family, was descended from John Codrington, reputed to be standard-bearer to [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] at [[Battle of Agincourt|Agincourt]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=John |title=A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, Vol. 1 |date=1832 |publisher=H. Colburn and R. Bentley |location=London |page=270 |edition=4th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cq8KAAAAYAAJ |access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref> and related to the [[Codrington baronets]],<ref name="Geni">{{cite web |title=Adm. Sir Edward Codrington, GCB, RN |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Adm-Sir-Edward-Codrington-GCB-RN/6000000022670123013?through=6000000078926455604 |website=Geni.com |access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref> Codrington was educated by an uncle named Mr Bethell. He was sent for a short time to [[Harrow School|Harrow]], and entered the [[Royal Navy]] in July 1783. He served off the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, in the Mediterranean and in home waters, until he was promoted to [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]] on 28 May 1793, when [[Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe|Lord Howe]] selected him to be signal lieutenant on the flagship of the [[English Channel|Channel]] fleet at the beginning of the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. In that capacity he served on the 100-gun {{HMS|Queen Charlotte|1790|6}} during the operations which culminated in the battle of [[the Glorious First of June]].{{sfn|Hannay|1911}}

As a reward for his actions at the battle, on 7 October 1794 he was promoted to [[commander]], and on 6 April 1795 attained the rank of [[Post-Captain]] and the command of the 22-gun {{HMS|Babet|1794|2}} from which he observed the [[Battle of Groix]] on 23 June 1795.{{sfn|Hannay|1911}} His next command, from July 1796 to March 1797,<ref name="Threedecks EC">{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Simon |title=Sir Edward Codrington |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=242 |website=Threedecks |access-date=1 June 2018}}</ref> was the frigate {{HMS|Druid|1783|2}} whom he commanded in the Channel and off the coast of [[Portugal]]. On 7 January 1797, ''Druid'', along with {{HMS|Doris|1795|2}} and {{HMS|Unicorn|1794|2}} captured the French frigate ''Ville de L'Orient'', armed [[en flûte]] and carrying 400 [[Hussar#Hussars of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars|hussars]] to join the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|rebels in Ireland]].<ref name="Druid SON">{{cite web |title=Druid |url=http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=0783 |website=Michael Phillips' Ships of the Old Navy |access-date=1 June 2018}}</ref>

Following this, Codrington spent a period largely on land and on half-pay for some years. In December 1802, he married Jane Hall, an English woman from [[Kingston, Jamaica]] (with whom he had 3 sons and 3 daughters),<ref name="Threedecks EC"/> and remained without a ship until the [[Peace of Amiens]] came to a close in 1803.

In 1797, Edward Codrington, his brother William John, and his sister Caroline, jointly inherited their uncle Christopher Bethell's residuary estates, including a slave plantation in Antigua.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Summary of Individual {{!}} Legacies of British Slave-ownership|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146639303|access-date=2020-06-15|website=ucl.ac.uk}}</ref>

His eldest brother [[Christopher Bethell Codrington]] inherited their uncles main estates and [[Dodington Park|Dodington park]], which was later rebuilt by [[James Wyatt]] between 1798 and 1816.