# Edward Bingham > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Edward_Bingham > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Edward_Bingham.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bingham > Source revision: 1352394416 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) For other people, see [Edward Bingham (disambiguation)](/source/Edward_Bingham_(disambiguation)). [Rear-Admiral](/source/Rear-Admiral_(Royal_Navy)) [The Honourable](/source/The_Honourable) **Edward Barry Stewart Bingham**, [VC](/source/Victoria_Cross), [OBE](/source/Officer_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (26 July 1881 – 24 September 1939) served in the [Royal Navy during the First World War](/source/Royal_Navy_during_the_First_World_War) and was awarded the [Victoria Cross](/source/Victoria_Cross) for his actions in engaging the German fleet during the [Battle of Jutland](/source/Battle_of_Jutland). ## Military career The third son of [Lord Clanmorris](/source/John_Bingham,_5th_Baron_Clanmorris), Edward Bingham was born in [Bangor Castle](/source/Bangor_Castle), [County Down](/source/County_Down), Ireland. Educated at [Arnold House](/source/Arnold_House,_Llanddulas)[1] and in [HMS *Britannia*](/source/HMS_Prince_of_Wales_(1860)), he entered the Royal Navy in 1895 as an acting sub-lieutenant. He was confirmed as a [sub-lieutenant](/source/Sub-lieutenant) 15 March 1901.[2] At the beginning of the First World War, he was appointed [Commander](/source/Commander) (Executive Officer) of [HMS *Invincible*](/source/HMS_Invincible_(1907)), which saw action at the [Battle of the Falkland Islands](/source/Battle_of_the_Falkland_Islands) in December 1914. On 31 May 1916, during the [Battle of Jutland](/source/Battle_of_Jutland) off Denmark, Commander Bingham was in command of a [destroyer](/source/Destroyer) division. He led his division in their attack, first on enemy destroyers and then on the battle cruisers of the German [High Seas Fleet](/source/High_Seas_Fleet). Once the enemy was sighted Bingham ordered his own destroyer, [HMS *Nestor*](/source/HMS_Nestor_(1915)), and the one remaining destroyer of his division, [HMS *Nicator*](/source/HMS_Nicator), to close to within 2,750 meters of the opposing battle fleet so that he could bring his [torpedoes](/source/Torpedo) to bear. While making this attack *Nestor* and *Nicator* were under concentrated fire of the secondary batteries of the German fleet and *Nestor* was subsequently sunk. For his actions, Bingham earned the [Victoria Cross](/source/Victoria_Cross), one of relatively few awarded for naval bravery during [World War I](/source/World_War_I).[3] Bingham was picked up by the Germans at Jutland, and remained a [prisoner of war](/source/Prisoner_of_war) (latterly at [Holzminden](/source/Holzminden_prisoner-of-war_camp)) until the [Armistice](/source/Armistice). After the war, he remained with the Royal Navy and retired as a [Rear Admiral](/source/Rear_Admiral) in 1932. He was made an [Officer of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Officer_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire). Bingham died in 1939 and is buried in the [Golders Green](/source/Golders_Green) cemetery in northwest [London](/source/London). ## Family In 1915, Bingham married Vera Patterson; they had a son and a daughter. The marriage was dissolved in 1937. ## Victoria Cross medal Bingham's Victoria Cross was [auctioned](/source/Auction) by [Sotheby's](/source/Sotheby's) in 1983 and was purchased by the North Down Borough Council, County Down, who outbid a Canadian millionaire. It is on display at the North Downs Museum in [Bangor Castle](/source/Bangor_Castle).[4] Bingham's Victoria Cross and his Order of St Stanislaus medal were both stolen by an opportunist thief in 2001. He was quickly caught and when the items were valued with help from the [Imperial War Museum](/source/Imperial_War_Museum), at tens of thousands of pounds,[5] the thief was charged with a major theft.[citation needed] ## References 1. ["Arnold House Preparatory School, Llanddulas"](https://www.llanddulasremembers.co.uk/arnold-house.php). *Llanddulas and Rhyd-y-Foel Remembers*. Retrieved 16 February 2025. 1. No. 27421. 1 April 1902. p. 2235. 1. No. 29751. 15 September 1916. p. 9067. 1. ["North Down Museum"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131214033140/http://www.northdownmuseum.com/Collections/Bangor-Castle). Archived from [the original](http://www.northdownmuseum.com/Collections/Bangor-Castle) on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013. 1. ["Victoria Cross theft bid thwarted"](https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/victoria-cross-theft-bid-thwarted/28359728.html). *Belfasttelegraph.co.uk*. 21 April 2001. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240701225830/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/victoria-cross-theft-bid-thwarted/28359728.html) 1 July 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 July 2024. - *[The Register of the Victoria Cross](/source/The_Register_of_the_Victoria_Cross)* (1981, 1988 and 1997) - Clarke, Brian D. H. (1986). "A register of awards to Irish-born officers and men". *[The Irish Sword](/source/The_Irish_Sword)*. **XVI** (64): 185–287. - *[Ireland's VCs](/source/Ireland's_VCs)* (Dept of Economic Development, 1995) - *[Monuments to Courage](/source/Monuments_to_Courage)* (David Harvey, 1999) - *[Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross](/source/Irish_Winners_of_the_Victoria_Cross)* (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000) ## External links - [Location of grave and VC medal](https://web.archive.org/web/20090623050143/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/golders.htm) *(Golders Green)* - [Commander Bingham's action at the Battle of Jutland](http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/commander-barry-bingham-vc) *Imperial War Museums* --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Edward Bingham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bingham) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bingham?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.