SYMONDS. (Retired Commander, 1847. f-p., 11; h-p., 43.)
William Ley Symonds entered the Navy, in 1793, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Theseus 74, Capt. Robt. Calder; and from 1795 until promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, 6 Oct. 1801, was employed, part of the time as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, in the Lively frigate, Capts. R. Calder and Lord Viscount Garlics, flag-ship at first of Sir John Jervis, Raven sloop, Capt. Wm. Prowse, Mahonesa 40, Capt. John Giffard, Alcmène frigate, Capts. Geo. Hope and Henry Digby, Elephant 74, Capt. Thos. Foley, and Prince of Wales 98, bearing the flag of Sir R. Calder. In the ships above mentioned he served on the Home, Mediterranean, and West India stations. His last appointments were, 13 May, 1805, to the Humber hired armed ship, Capt. John Hill, under whom he was for about two years stationed in the Downs; and, 17 April, 1809, for a short time, to the Diligence sloop, Capt. Rich. Smith, in the Baltic. He became a Retired Commander on the Junior List in May, 1832; and, on the Senior, in May, 1847.
SYMONS. (Commander, 1841.)
Richard Symons entered the Navy 2 Feb. 1821; passed his examination in 1827; obtained his first commission 19 April, 1837; and was appointed, 19 June following, to the Wellesley 72, Capt. Thos. Maitland. In that ship, which bore the flags of Sir Fred. Lewis Maitland and Sir Jas. John Gordon Bremer, he assisted in quelling an insurrection on the coast of Malabar, took part in diiferent operations on the coast of Sinde and in the Persian Gulf, and was warmly engaged during the hostilities in China. In the attack on the batteries at Chuenpee, 7 Jan. 1841, he ably managed the embarking and disembarking of the troops.[1] On 2 March following, being then Senior of the Wellesley, he was sent with three boats to tow the Sulphur, Capt. Edw. Belcher, up the Junk river, near Whampoa, for the purpose of reconnoitring. On rounding a point on the right bank the British came in front of a low battery of 25 guns, masked by thick branches of trees, which opened a heavy fire on them. Mr. Symons instantly cut the tow-rope, and gallantly dashed into the battery, driving the enemy before him and killing several of their number. The Sulphur anchored, and some shot from her completely routed them from the thick underwood in the vicinity in which they had taken shelter; the guns were destroyed; and the magazine and other consumable materiel were set on fire. The number of the troops was about 250; und these were of the chosen Tartars. The enemy’s loss amounted to 15 or 20 killed; that of the British, whose boats were repeatedly struck by grape-shot, to 1 man mortally wounded.[2] After contributing to the capture of Amoy, Mr. Symons, in Oct. 1841, landed with the right column under Capt. Herbert in the attack upon Chinghae.[3] He was promoted for his services to the rank of Commander by a commission bearing date 8 June, 1841. Since his return to England he has been on half-pay. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
SYMONS. (Commander, 1842. f-p., 25; h-p., 25.)
William Henry Symons was born 1 Sept. 1782. He was left an orphan at an early age, and was brought up under the care of his uncles, the Rev. Jelinger Symons, B.D. (Rector of Mitburn, near Sunderland, and Minister of Stamford Hill Chapel, Clapton), and Peter Symons, Esq., Merchant, of Plymouth.
This officer entered the Navy, 9 Dec. 1797, as a Volunteer, on board the Canada 74. bearing the broad pendant of Commodore Sir John Borlase Warren, under whom, and Capts. Hon. Michael De Courcy and Joseph Sydney Yorke, he continued employed as Midshipman on the Channel, Irish, and Mediterranean stations until transferred, in June, 1801, to the Naiad 38, Capt. Philip Wilkinson. In the Canada he assisted, in 1798, in driving a French frigate on shore near Oléron lighthouse, and contributed to the defeat of the French squadron under Commodore Bompart, intended for the invasion of Ireland; and in the boats of the Naiad he was present at the cutting out of several vessels near the Penmarcks. From Dec. 1801 until Aug. 1802 he served in the Channel in the Sirius 36, Capt. Sir Rich. King; and he was next, in Nov. of the latter year, and in Aug. 1804 and Jan. 1805, received on board the Culloden 74, Capts. Chas. Henry Lane, John Conn, Barrington Dacres, and Geo. Reynolds, Conqueror 74, Capt. Israel Pellew, and Victory 100, flag-ship of Lord Nelson. While attached as Master’s Mate to the Culloden he witnessed the capture of a French frigate by the fleet under Admiral Cornwallis; he partook, also, of a running action with the Duguay Trouin 74 and Guerrière 40, which lasted until the two latter had effected their escape into the Port of Corunna; and he aided in retaking the Lord Nelson East Indiaman. In the Victory, of which ship he was likewise Master’s Mate, he served at the blockade of Toulon, chased the combined fleets of France and Spain to the West Indies and back, and fought at the battle of Trafalgar. On the latter memorable occasion Mr. Symons lost the sense of hearing in his left ear, nor has he ever recovered it. Being made Lieutenant for his conduct, 22 Oct. 1805, into his former ship the Conqueror, commanded by Capts. Israel Pellew and Edw. Fellowes, he was employed in her, prior to the convention of Cintra, in cruizing about the Channel and in blockading the Tagus. He afterwards escorted to England the Russian fleet under Admiral Seniavin. On his return to Lisbon he was ordered, at a period when it was in contemplation to withdraw the British troops from that city, to take the command (he retained it for about three months) of the San Rafael, an 80-gun ship, in which it was intended that part of them should embark. His zeal in getting the San Rafael down the river below Belem, and placing her in a state of readiness, was such as to gain the marked approbation of Hon. Geo. Cranfield Berkeley, the Commander-in-Chief. In the course of 1809 we find the Conqueror conveying two Spanish ships-of-the-line and some captured French seamen from Cadiz to Teneriffe; and co-operating next with the patriots on the coast of Catalonia, where Mr. Symons once landed, and was near falling into the hands of a troop of French cavalry. His appointments, after he left the Conqueror, were – 20 Sept. 1809, to the Royal Sovereign 100, bearing the flag of the late Sir Edw. Thornbrough, under whom he served for two years and a half in the Mediterranean (where he united in the pursuit which led to the self-destruction of the ships-of-the-line Robuste and Lion) and in the Channel – 17 March, 1812, to the command, for upwards of six months, of the Idas cutter, off Flushing – 13 Sept. 1813, to the Dauntless 18, Capt. Daniel Barber, in which vessel (he invalided from her in 1815) he cruized on the Cork station, visited the coast of Labrador, and, after participating in much boat service in the Chesapeake, carried intelligence of the peace to Rio de Janeiro – and, 23 Nov. 1822 and 20 Sept. 1828, to the command of the Greyhound Revenue-cruizer and Meteor steamer. On leaving the Greyhound, in Jan. 1826, Mr. Symons, who had been stationed in her on the coast of Yorkshire, was presented by the Treasury with the sum of 300l., as a reward for the wonderful activity he had displayed in having captured 43 smugglers, in addition to three luggers, laden with tobacco and spirits. He commanded the Meteor for five years and a half; and during that period he was employed on a variety of arduous and important services. In 1830 he was sent with the mails from Falmouth to Corfu – the first steam-trip of the kind that was ever performed – and so satisfactory was the report made by him to the Admiralty on his return, that he was again ordered to the Mediterranean, whence he ultimately brought home Sir John Malcolm and the first overland India mail. On the arrival of Charles X. at
