Dec. 1810, on the Jamaica station, in the Melpomène 38 and Shark sloop, bearing each the flag of Vice-Admiral Bartholomew Sam. Rowley, Fleur-de-la-Mer schooner, Lieut.-Commander Thos. Huskisson, Franchise 36, Capt. Chas. Dashwood, Avon 18, Capt. Henry Tillieux Fraser, Shark again, Capt. Wm. Barnham Rider, Hebe frigate, Capt. John Fyffe, and, a second time, in the Avon. While with Capt. Rider in the Shark he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant by a commission bearing date 3 April, 1810. He had received two sabre-cuts in the head, when in the Thetis, in boarding a French privateer; and in the Avon he had been again severely wounded, in the left arm, in a long and destructive action fought (the Rainbow 22 in company) with the French 40-gun frigate La Nériéde 14 Feb. 1810. His last appointment was, 23 March, 1812, to the Leonidas 38, Capts. Anselm John Griffiths, Hon. Fred. Wm. Aylmer, Geo. Fras. Seymour, and Wm. King, in which ship he served on the Cork station until June, 1815.
He married, 21 July, 1821, Miss Louisa Sage. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
SHAPCOTE. (Lieut., 1811. f-p., 19; h-p., 33.)
Thomas Shapcote entered the Navy, in Jan. 1795, as Ordinary, on board the Nautilus sloop, Capt. Wm. Geo. Rutherford, in which vessel and the Repulse 64, Capt. Wm. Geo. Fairfax, he was for nine months employed in the West Indies and North Sea. He next, in Sept. 1798, joined La Tourterelle, Capt. John West; and from the following Nov. until Feb. 1805 he served, with activity, as A.B., in the Channel and Mediterranean, and off the port of Cadiz, in the Renown 74, Capts. Albemarle Bertie, John Chambers White, Pulteney Malcolm, and Thos. Eyles, flag-ship, part of the time, of Sir John Borlase Warren, under whom he was in frequent pursuit of the French fleet. We subsequently, during two years and a half, find him cruizing in the Channel, Downs, and Baltic, as Midshipman, in the Bellona 74, Capt. Chas. Dudley Pater, and Arrow 12, Lieut.-Commander Rich. Hawkes. He then, in Jan. 1808, became Sub-Lieutenant of the Bloodhound gun-brig, commanded in succession by Lieut. Sam. Ward Flinders, by himself, and by Lieut. Thos. Warrand, on the Home station; where, from Feb. 1809 until Dec. 1810, he served, in the same capacity, in the Rapid 10, Capt. Wm. Mather. On 19 March, 1811, he was made full Lieutenant into the Reynard 10; in which vessel, commanded by Capts. Hew Steuart, Geo. Brine, and David Latimer St. Clair, he continued employed in the Baltic until Jan. 1814. His next and last appointment was, 26 Oct. 1841, to the San Josef 110, Capts. Fred. Wm. Burgoyne and Manley Hall Dixon, guard-ship at Devonport, where he remained until the early part of 1845.
Lieut. Shapcote is married and has issue.
SHAPLAND. (Lieut., 1823. f-p., 14; h-p., 24.)
Henry Shapland was born 9 July, 1793.
This officer entered the Navy, 5 Nov. 1809, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Tonnant 80, Capts. Sir Chas. Hamilton and Sir John Gore. After serving for two years off Brest, at the defence of Cadiz, and off Lisbon, where he was frequently sent up the Tagus for the purpose of conveying troops and despatches, he became, in Dec. 1811, Midshipman (a rating he had attained in the preceding Jan.) of the Teazer gun-brig, stationed off L’Orient. He next, from Nov. 1812 until Nov. 1815, served off Lisbon and in the Mediterranean, in the Andromeda 22, Capt. Rich. Arthur; and, from May, 1816, until April, 1823, he was employed, in the West Indies, at Newfoundland, in the East Indies, at Plymouth, in the Mediterranean, and again in the West Indies, in the Fly 18, Capt. John Baldwin, Curlew 16, Capt. Wm. Walpole, Minden 74, Capt. Wm. Paterson, Impregnable 104, flag-ship of Lord Exmouth, Windsor Castle 98, Capt. Caulfeild, Seringapatam 46, Capt. Sam. Warren, and Thracian 18, Capt. John Walter Roberts. He often during that period performed the duties of Lieutenant. In 1815 he passed a distinguished examination; in 1816, during his passage in the Fly from Halifax to Newfoundland, he jumped overboard in a heavy sea and saved the life of a man; in 1820, having in the Curlew accompanied an expedition against the pirates of the Persian Gulf, he landed and assisted in storming the enemy’s fortifications; and, on 31 March, 1823, being then in the Thracian and in company with the Tyne 26, he aided in boarding, in a harbour of the island of Cuba, the piratical schooner Zaragozana. For the gallantry he displayed on the latter occasion he was nominated, 26 April following, Acting-Lieutenant of the Hyperion 42, Capts. Jas. Lillicrap and Geo. Fred. Rich, and presented by the Admiralty with a commission dated 29 May in the same year. He went on half-pay 14 Sept. 1823; and was lastly, from 26 July, 1828, until 25 April, 1829, employed in the Coast Blockade as Supernumerary-Lieutenant of his former ship the Hyperion, Capt. Wm. Jas. Mingaye.
SHARPE, C.B. (Rear-Admiral of the Blue, 1848. f-p., 25; h-p., 23.)
Alexander Renton Sharpe is brother of General Matthew Sharpe.
This officer, at one time in the Army, entered the Navy, 22 May, 1799, as A.B., on board the Kent 74, Capt. Wm. Johnstone Hope, in which ship, bearing the flag at first of Lord Duncan, he took part in the expedition to Holland and continued employed off the port of Cadiz, latterly in the capacity of Midshipman, until Aug. 1800. Joining next, in Jan. 1801, the Bellerophon 74, Capts. Lord Viscount Garlics and John Loring, he sailed in that ship for the West Indies; where, from July, 1802, until 1807, he served in succession in the Leviathan and Hercule 74’s, flag-ships of Admirals Duckworth and Dacres, Veteran 64, Capt. Andrew Fitzherbert Evans, Shark sloop, bearing the flag of Admiral Dacres, Veteran again, Capt. Evans, and Franchise 36, Capt. Chas. Dashwood. He was present in the Hercule, in 1803-4, at the blockade of Cape Francois, St. Domingo, and in the unsuccessful attack upon Curaçoa; he was nominated, 18 May, 1806, Sub-Lieutenant of the Shark, and 15 July following Acting-Lieutenant of the Veteran; and he was confirmed a Lieutenant, while serving in the Franchise, 8 Dec. in the same year. After he had been for five months stationed at Woolwich and Plymouth in the Elizabeth and Bellerophon 74’s, Capts. Hon. Henry Curzon and Edw. Rotheram, he was appointed, 21 Nov. 1807, to the Topaze 36, Capts. Anselm John Griffiths and Henry Hope; under the former of whom, after having visited Vera Cruz, he proceeded to the Mediterranean, and took part, 12 March, 1809, near Corfu, in a very spirited action, which terminated in the beating off, by the Topaze, of the French 40-gun frigates Danaé and Flore. He was promoted to the rank of Commander 25 of the same month, but did not leave the Topaze until the following Aug., and on 16 of the next month was appointed to the Scout 18. In that sloop he was warmly praised by Capt. Robt. Barrie, the senior officer present, for his spirited exertions, and cordial co-operation with the Pomone 38 and Unité 36, at the destruction, 1 May, 1811, of the French store-ships Giraffe and Nourrice, each mounting from 20 to 30 guns, and both protected by a 5-gun battery, a martello tower, and a body of 200 regular troops, in Sagone Bay, island of Corsica – a service which was accomplished at the close of a gallant action of an hour and a half, attended with a loss to the British of 2 men killed and 25 wounded.[1] From 14 Dec. 1812 until 30 Sept. 1818, Capt. Sharpe (whose Post-commission bears date 22 Jan. 1813, and who was nominated a C.B. 8 Dec. 1815) commanded the Hyacinth 24, in the Mediterranean, North Sea, Channel, and South America; from 18 March, 1836, until the early part of 1840, he served on the Home, Lisbon, and Mediterranean stations, in the Minden 72; and from 8 Sept. 1843 until Sept. 1845, he was employed as Commodore at Jamaica with his broad pendant in the Imaum 72. He was awarded the
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1811, pp. 1248-9.
