Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Frederick Hotham GCB, GCVO (20 March 1843 – 22 March 1925) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he was a member of the naval brigade that fought the Māori people at the Battle of Rangiriri during the invasion of the Waikato and was also present at the Battle of Gate Pā during the Tauranga Campaign. He later took part in the bombardment of Alexandria during the Anglo-Egyptian War and then went ashore as Chief of Staff of the naval brigade, formed under Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour, which was dispatched to restore the authority of Khedive Tewfik Pasha in the face of Ahmed ‘Urabi's nationalist uprising against the administration.
Hotham went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station. He sought to intervene in the Chilean Civil War by arranging a peace agreement between the forces of President José Manuel Balmaceda and those of the National Congress of Chile who opposed the President. Unfortunately Hotham was shot at while going ashore, no agreement was signed and the Civil War rumbled on until a much larger international peace-keeping force arrived to restore order. Hotham later became Commander-in-Chief, The Nore and then Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.
Promoted to rear admiral on 6 January 1888, Hotham became Junior Naval Lord later that month and then went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station, with his flag in the armoured cruiser HMS Warspite, in February 1890 He sought to intervene in the Chilean Civil War in February 1891 by arranging a peace agreement between the forces of President José Manuel Balmaceda and those of the National Congress of Chile who opposed the President. Unfortunately Hotham was shot at while going ashore, no agreement was signed and the Civil War rumbled on until August 1892 when a much larger international peace-keeping force arrived to restore order. Promoted to vice admiral on 1 September 1893, he was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 25 May 1895.
Hotham became Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in December 1897 and, having been promoted to full admiral on 13 January 1899, he became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in October 1900. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) on 8 March 1901, in recognition of directing the naval ceremonial events at the funeral of Queen Victoria. Following the coronation of King Edward VII the following year, Hotham was in command of the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902, his flagship HMS Royal Sovereign. For his service he was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the November 1902 Birthday Honours list. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 30 August 1903. He retired in March 1913 and died in London on 23 May 1925.