#2535, Charles John GRAVES-SAWLE

Charles was the second son of Sir Charles Brune Graves-Sawle, 2nd Baronet, (1816-1903) and member of Parliament for Bodmin.

  His grandfather took the additional name of Sawle, having inherited the estates of that ancient Cornish family at Penrice, Sir Joseph Sawle Graves Sawle, 1st Baronet (1795-1865).  Charles's family had included Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves, who led the van at the 'Glorious First June' in 1794 and Sir Thomas Graves, Vice-Admiral of the Blue and second-in-command to nelson at Copenhagen.  He continued his family's naval tradition, after attending Somerset College, Bath.  His obituary in The Times, published on 19th February 1932 takes up the story:

"He entered the Royal Navy in March 1865.  He served in the Hercules and Bellerophon and was promoted to Lieutenant in April 1876.  he went to the Mediterranean in October 1880 as Lieutenant of the Superb and served there about six years.  he was present at the bombardment of Alexandria in July 1882 and during the operations of the Egyptian War, for which he received the Medal with clasp 'Alexandria 11th July' and the Khedive's Bronze Star.

In 1888 he became Second in Command of the Canada on the North American Station.  He was appointed in January 1890 as First Lieutenant of the battleship Anson, Flagship of Rear-Admiral Tracey in the Channel Squadron and was promoted to Commander in December 1890. 

The following summer he went to the Cape as Commander of Raleigh, Flagship of the Commander in Chief Rear-Admiral Frederick Bedford KCB.  It fell to the Rear-Admiral to conduct certain punitive expeditions in West Africa in one of which Commander Graves-Sawle took a prominent part. After Flag Captain Gamble had been wounded he took command of the Naval Brigade landed from Raleigh, Alecto, Satellite, Magpie and Widgeon at Bathurst, on the River Gambia, in February 1894, in co-operation with two companies of the West India Regiment, to punish a rebellious slave trading chief named Fodi Silah.  For his services he was Mentioned in Despatches and received the General Africa Medal with clasp 'Gambia 1894.'  In the following August he received his first independent command, the light cruiser Mohawk, in North American waters and, in December 1896 he was promoted to Captain,

His first service as Captain was as Flag Captain to Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford in Crescent, on the North American station.  In 1900 he went to China as Captain of the Bonaventure.  As Captain of the cruiser Aboukir in the Mediterranean on the occasion of King Edward's visit to Malta in 1903 he was made an MVO.  Following his father's death in April 1903, and the death of his brother without issue in August of the same year, re succeeded to the Baronetcy and property.  He did not seek another appointment and retired.

He was ADC to King Edward VII in 1906 and was advanced to Rear-Admiral on the Retired List in 1907.  He became High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1913

His father, the 2nd Baronet, Charles Brune Graves Sawle (1816-1903) married Rose Caroline Paynter (1848-1901) on 18th February 1846.  Their elder son Colonel Sir Francis Aylmer Graves-Sawle, 3rd Baronet (1848-1903) died a few months after his father  so the title passed to his younger brother the 4th Baronet.  As shown his son pre-deceased him so the estate passed to his daughter Joan Rosemary (1890-1971) who died without issue.  The estate became a hospital and the rugby pitch now houses a supermarket.