O’Brien Drury; and during the remainder of the war was employed, principally in the capacity of Midshipman, in escorting convoys from the Humber to Wingo Sound and in cruizing on the coast of Norway and Denmark. In Feb. 1815 he removed to the Cadmus 10, Capt. John Gedge, stationed, for the suppression of smuggling, in the North Sea and Channel; from the following Sept. until Nov. 1818 he served at Sheerness and at Cork in the Albion and Bulwark 74’s, Capts. Jas. Walker and Geo. M‘Kinley, and Tonnant 80, flag-ship of Sir Benj. Hallowell; and at the close of 1821, after he had been for nearly three years attached to the Coast Blockade as Admiralty-Midshipman of the Severn 40, Capt. Wm. M‘Culloch, he sailed in the Iphigenia 42, Commodore Sir Robt. Mends, for the coast of Africa, where, for his services, he was promoted, 20 March, 1822, to the rank of Lieutenant, and nominated First of the Morgiana 18, Capt. Christ. Knight. He served in that vessel on the Brazilian and West India stations until the ensuing Dec.; and was subsequently appointed – 1 May, 1823, to the Gannet 18, Capt. Wm. Simpson, on the coast of Ireland – 9 Oct. 1824, for 10 months, to the Egeria 24, Capt. Sam. Roberts, whom he accompanied to the West Indies – next, to the Coast Guard in Ireland – again, about Oct. 1829, to the Coast Blockade, as Supernumerary-Lieutenant of the Talavera 74, Capt. Hugh Pigot – 31 March, 1831, a second time to the Coast Guard in co. Kent – and, 27 June, 1832, to the command of the Lapwing Revenue-cruizer. As a reward for his distinguished services against the smugglers, particularly in affairs with them off Hythe and Dover, he was advanced to his present rank 18 April, 1833. He afterwards, from 30 June, 1834, until 1837, and again, from 13 July, 1838, until 1843, performed the duties of an Inspecting-Commander in the Coast Guard. He received the honour of Knighthood from the Marquess of Normanby, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, for his heroic conduct in going off to a wreck at Malahide, in a gale of wind, 27 Nov. 1838.
Sir Thos. Ross married, 29 April, 1835, Anna Maria, daughter of Geo. French, Esq., Q.C., of Mountjoy Square, Dublin, niece of the second Lord Castlemaine, and first-cousin of the present Lord De Freyne, by whom he has issue five children.
ROSS. (Lieutenant, 1839.)
Thomas Courtis Ross entered the Navy 6 May, 1824; passed his examination in 1830; obtained his commission 26 March, 1839; was nominated, 7 May following, Additional-Lieutenant of the Melville 72, flag-ship of Hon. Geo. Elliot at the Cape of Good Hope; and assumed command, 8 Dec. in the same year, of the Curlew 10, on the coast of South America; whence, after performing for a short time the duties of First-Lieutenant in the Fantome 16, Capt. Philip Geo. Haymes, he returned, in 1842, to England. He has been employed in the Coast Guard since 1 Aug. 1846.
ROTHERY. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 27; h-p., 20.)
John Rothery entered the Navy, in Dec. 1800, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Alligator 28, Capt. Bowen, attached to the force in the Mediterranean; on which station he continued employed as Midshipman in two other vessels, commanded by Capts. Langford and Henry Edw. Reginald Baker, until Sept. 1803. He served subsequently in the West Indies and Channel in the Pandora, Capt. John Nash, Alligator again, Capt. Chas. Richardson, Hibernia 120, flag-ship of Lords Gardner and St. Vincent, and Thunderer 74, Capt. Wm. Bedford. In 1807, being then in the London, 98, Capt. Thos. Western, he accompanied the royal family of Portugal in its flight to the Brazils. In July, 1809, he became Acting-Lieutenant (a rank he had held on board the London) of the Rosario sloop, Capt. Booty Harvey, lying in the Downs, where, and in the Baltic, North Sea, and Channel, he served as Midshipman and as Master’s Mate, from May, 1810, until July, 1813, in the Princess of Orange and Princess Caroline 74’s, Capts. Fras. Beauman and Hugh Downman. In Oct. of the latter year he was nominated Second-Master of the Montagu 74,’Capt. Peter Heywood, under whom he continued serving as Acting-Lieutenant and Lieutenant (commission dated 8 Feb. 1815) in the North Sea and Mediterranean until July, 1816. Deducting a three years’ command, held from Oct. 1834 until Sept. 1837, of the Cheerful Revenue-vessel, he has been in charge of a station in the Coast Guard since 10 Nov. 1829.
ROUS. (Captain, 1823. f-p., 17; h-p., 22.)
The Honourable Henry John Rous, born 23 Jan. 1795, is second son of John, first Earl of Stradbroke, by his second wife, Charlotte Maria, daughter of Abraham Whittaker, Esq.; and brother and heir presumptive of the present Peer. His half-sister (his father’s only child by his first marriage) is the widow of Vice-Admiral Hon. Sir Henry Hotham, G.C.B., G.C.M.G.
This officer entered the Navy, 28 Jan. 1808, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Royal William, Capt. Hon. Courtenay Boyle, flag-ship of Sir Geo. Montagu at Portsmouth. In Feb. 1809 he removed to the Repulse 74, Capt. Hon. Arthur Kaye Legge; and in the following Nov., after having attended the expedition to Flushing, he became Midshipman of the Victory 100, bearing the flag of Sir Jas. Saumarez in the Baltic. He joined next, in March, 1811, the Tonnant 80, Capt. Sir John Gore, employed off Lisbon and in the Channel; and from 26 Dec. in the same year until promoted, 18 May, 1814, to the rank of Lieutenant, he served on the Mediterranean station in the Bacchante 38, commanded by the late Sir Wm. Hoste. On the night of 31 Aug. 1812 he assisted in the boats under Lieut. Donat Henchy O’Brien, at the cutting-out from the port of Lema of seven vessels laden with ship-timber for the Venetian government, together with La Tisiphone French national xebec, of 1 6-pounder, 2 3-pounders, and 28 men, one gun-boat with a 9-pounder, 2 3-pounders, and 24 men, and another of 1 9-pounder and 20 men, intended for the protection of the trade on the coast of Istria, from Pola to Trieste. He next, 6 Jan. 1813, united in a successful attack made by the boats of the Bacchante and Weasel sloops on five of the enemy’s gun-vessels in the neighbourhood of Otranto; on 15 May following he assisted at the capture and destruction of the castle and batteries of Karlebago, mounting 2 long 12-pounders and 2 brass 5’s; and on 12 June in the same year he commanded the Bacchante’s yawl, and was highly spoken of for his conduct, at the capture from under the town of Gela Nova, on the coast of Abruzzo, of seven large gun-boats, mounting each 1 long 18-pounder in the bow, three smaller gun-vessels with a 4-pounder in the bow, and 14 sail of merchantmen, four of which also had guns in their bow. The British, as they advanced, were exposed to a heavy fire of grape and musketry; and it was not until they were fairly alongside the gun-boats that the crews of the latter slackened their fire; they were then driven from their vessels with great loss. The shore astern of the assailed was at the commencement lined with 100 troops, who, however, fled on the first fire, leaving behind them 2 field-pieces, which were destroyed by the marines under Lieut. Haig. In performing this brilliant exploit the boats of the Bacchante sustained a loss of 2 seamen and 1 marine killed, and 5 seamen and 1 marine wounded. In the ensuing night one of the merchant-vessels, laden with oil, of which Mr. Rous had been placed in charge, filled and upset, but did not, owing to the buoyancy of her cargo, go down. Although the wind was blowing strong, her commander and his prize-crew were providentially enabled to hang on by the starboard gunwale from midnight until 4 a.m., when to their joy they were discovered and picked up by the sternmost vessel of the convoy, in charge of Hon. Mr. Waldegrave, and under a press of sail for Lissa. In 1813-14 Mr. Rous was concerned in the opera-
