{{short description|British Naval officer and Governor of Newfoundland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Use British English|date=December 2014}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = Vice-Admiral |name=Francis Pickmore |birth_date=c.1756 |death_date= 24 February 1818 |image= |caption= |nickname= |birth_place=Chester, England |death_place= St. John's, Newfoundland |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= Royal Navy |service_years={{circa}}1777–1818 |rank=Vice-admiral |unit= |commands=HMS ''Surprise''<br/>HMS ''Vaughan''<br/>HMS ''Keppel''<br/>HMS ''Thalia''<br/>HMS ''Royal William''<br/>HMS ''Utrecht''<br/>HMS ''Ramillies''<br/>Governor of Newfoundland |battles={{Tree list}} *American Revolutionary War *French Revolutionary Wars *Napoleonic Wars **Invasion of the Danish West Indies {{tree list/end}} |awards= |relations= |other_work= }} Vice-Admiral '''Francis Pickmore''' ({{circa}} 1756 – 24 February 1818) was a Royal Navy officer and colonial governor.
==Naval career== Francis Pickmore was born in Chester in England and joined the Royal Navy around 1770.
He was in service in Newfoundland when he received his commission as a lieutenant in December 1777. In June 1782 he was given his first command, HMS ''Vaughan'', moving to HMS ''Keppel'' six months later. He was promoted to captain in September 1780 and given command of the 36-gun HMS ''Thalia''. In 1794 he took command of HMS ''Royal William'' one of the largest ships in the Royal Navy, with 84 guns and a crew of 750 men.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=2036 | title=Francis Pickmore (D.1818) }}</ref>
In August 1812<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/Britain/Navy/c_flagranks.html|title=Promotion in the Flag Ranks in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars}}</ref> Pickmore reached the rank of vice-admiral. He was appointed governor of Newfoundland in 1816.<ref name=dcb>{{DictCanbio|ID=2608}}</ref> Pickmore's term was marked by strife and severe economic depression that had hit the island following the Napoleonic Wars and influx of Irish immigrants. Pickmore is noted as the first governor of Newfoundland to stay the winter. He died in St. John's and Captain John Bowker, a senior officer under Pickmore's command and commander of Pickmore's flagship HMS ''Sir Francis Drake'', acted as governor until Sir Charles Hamilton arrived.<ref name=dcb/>
Pickmore's body was returned to England for burial.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/pickmore_francis_5E.html | title=Biography – PICKMORE, FRANCIS – Volume V (1801-1820) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography }}</ref>
== See also == * Governors of Newfoundland * List of people from Newfoundland and Labrador
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.heritage.nf.ca/govhouse/governors/g40.html Biography at Government House ''The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador'']
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box|title=Commodore Governor of Newfoundland | before=Sir Richard Goodwin Keats | after=John Bowker | years=1816–1818}} {{s-end}} {{NLLG}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickmore, Francis}} Category:1750s births Category:1818 deaths Category:Royal Navy vice admirals Category:Governors of Newfoundland Colony Category:People from Chester Category:Military personnel from Chester Category:18th-century Royal Navy personnel Category:19th-century Royal Navy personnel {{canada-viceroy-stub}}