AdmiralSir Anthony Hiley Hoskins, GCB (1 September 1828 – 21 June 1901) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he took part in the Cape Frontier War of 1851 and then saw action at the Battle of Canton in December 1857 and the Battle of Taku Forts in May 1858 during Second Opium War. Once promoted to flag officer rank, he acted as Second-in-Command of the Fleet at the bombardment of Alexandria in July 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War. He went on to be First Naval Lord in September 1891 but in that role took a relaxed view of the size of the Fleet and did not see the need for a large shipbuilding effort on the scale envisaged by some of his colleagues, such as Admiral Sir Frederick Richards and Admiral Sir John Fisher who were concerned about French and German naval expansion.
Promoted to full admiral on 20 June 1891,[10] Hoskins became First Naval Lord in September 1891.[2] As First Naval Lord he took a relaxed view of the size of the Fleet and did not see the need for a large shipbuilding effort on the scale envisaged by some of his colleagues such as Admiral Sir Frederick Richards and Admiral Sir John Fisher who were concerned about French and German naval expansion.[1] He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on his retirement on 17 November 1893.[11]
In 1865 Hoskins married Dorothea Ann Eliza Robinson, daughter of Sir George Stamp Robinson, 7th Baronet. Lady Hoskins died shortly after her husband, on 7 October 1901, aged 62.[12] The couple had no children.[1]