With Joseph Sydney Yorke, afterwards Admiral and a K.C.B., opens a chapter of family history with which this volume will be mainly concerned; and the navy rather than the law or politics henceforth becomes the chief interest of the story in its public aspect. Sir Joseph, indeed, may be looked upon as a sort of second founder of the family. Although Wimpole in Cambridgeshire, which the Chancellor purchased from the Harleys, Earls of Oxford, was for many generations the principal seat of the family, Sydney Lodge, on Southampton Water, [Footnote: Attached to Sydney Lodge on the shore of Southampton Water is a white battery containing guns taken from a French frigate and bearing an inscription, written by my father, commemorating his last parting with my grandfather, Sir Joseph. The battery encloses a well, known as 'Agneta's Well,' which has refreshed many a thirsty fisherman. The inscription is as follows:-- IN MEMORIAM THESE GUNS WERE THE FORECASTLE ARMAMENT OF THE DUTCH FRIGATE 'ALLIANCE' OF 36 GUNS CAPTURED ON THE COAST OF NORWAY IN 1795 AFTER A CLOSE ACTION WITH H.M.S. 'STAG' OF 32 GUNS COMMANDED BY CAPTAIN YORKE OF SYDNEY LODGE THE FATHER OF THE FOURTH EARL OF HARDWICKE WHO ON THIS SPOT IN 1829 PARTED FROM HIS BELOVED PARENT FOR THE LAST TIME AND SAILED IN COMMAND OF H.M.S. 'ALLIGATOR' FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN. HE PLACES THIS STONE TO HIS FATHER'S MEMORY September 4th, 1871] the charming house which Sir Joseph built out of prize-money earned during the French wars, has all the associations of a home for our branch of the family, and the love of the sea is an inheritance which we all derive from him. His professional ability is shown by the position he won in the service. Entering the navy in 1780 when he was fourteen, he had plenty of opportunity of active service in those stirring times. After serving on board one or two other vessels, Joseph Yorke joined the _Duke_ commanded by Sir Charles Douglas, whom he followed to the _Formidable_. That vessel was one of Rodney's fleet in the West Indies, and the boy fought in her at the famous action of April 12, 1782 in which that admiral completely defeated the French under De Grasse. He remained in the _Formidable_ until she paid off in 1783, and spent the years 1784-1789 on the Halifax station. In the latter year he was promoted Lieutenant in the _Thisbe_ under Captain Sir Samuel Hood and returned in her to England. Promotion followed rapidly. Yorke became a Commander in 1790 and Captain in 1793, in which capacity he served continuously on the home station, taking part in the blockade of Brest, until the Peace of Amiens.