tenant) in saving the crew, and the able manner in which he afterwards detailed the particulars connected with the catastrophe to the court-martial, procured him the thanks of the President, Sir Chas. Thompson. During the after part of the war he served in the North Sea and West Indies in the Acasta 40, Capts. Rich. Lane and Edw. Fellowes, and Sans Pareil 80, flag-ship of Admirals Lord Hugh Seymour and Robt. Montagu. Under Capt. Fellowes he assisted at the capture of a large number of the enemy’s vessels. In command of the boats of the Acasta, aided by those of the Ceres, he cut out on one occasion a privateer, La Mutine, of 16 guns and 90 men; and on another he succeeded in a small prize with 15 men, in taking, in the Bay of Venezuela, a guarda costa brig of 10 guns and 70 men, which had the day before beaten off the boats of the Magicienne frigate. In an attempt made by him in a six-oared gig to capture 30 or 40 of the mutineer-crew of H.M. late ship Hermione, who were on their passage in an American bottom from Puerto Cabello to Laguira, he had 5 men wounded, 1 of them mortally. He was also, in a small schooner with only 15 men, present, near Laguira, in an affair with 19 gun-boats, in which the Governor’s son, while attempting to board him, was shot dead. On his joining the Sans Pareil, the ship above named, Mr. Thompson had the gratification of being informed by Lord Hugh Seymour, publicly on the quarter-deck, that he had been removed to her asareward for his good conduct. On the death of that nobleman he was retained on board by Admiral Montagu, who, availing himself of the first vacancy that occurred, promoted him, 28 April, 1802, into the Tisiphone sloop. Although the Commander of that vessel had only invalided, the appointment was confirmed. Returning to England about Jan. 1803, Capt. Thompson was next, for about 12 months, employed in the Sea Fencible Service. In Jan. 1806 he obtained command of the Fly sloop; and after again visiting the West Indies and cruizing on the coast of North America in quest of the French squadron in which Jerome Buonaparte had embarked, he proceeded first to the Cape of Good Hope, and then to the Rio de la Plata. On his arrival there he was selected by Rear-Admiral Murray, in preference to two senior Commanders, to take charge of the flotilla destined to co-operate in the unfortunate attack upon Buenos Ayres. While so employed he rendered such essential service in reconnoitring the river as to obtain the thanks of Lieut.-General Whitelocke.[1] He assisted likewise in landing the army, attended it in its progress along the banks, opened a destructive fire upon the enemy’s castle and batteries, and was active in cutting off their supplies. Ultimately, he aided in re-embarking the troops. He was then nominated Acting-Captain of La Fuerte, a prize frigate, and sent home in charge of convoy. As the expedition against Buenos Ayres, however, had been a failure, he was superseded from La Fuerte after he had had command of her for about six months, and was obliged to rejoin the Fly. He was subsequently engaged in blockading the enemy’s ports along the coast of France; and in the summer of 1809 he had command of a division of the flotilla employed during the operations in the Scheldt. He was at length, 21 Oct. 1810, advanced to Post-rank; but he did not again go afloat. He accepted his present rank 1 Oct. 1846.
While attached to the Acasta Rear-Admiral Thompson was often thanked for his services by Sir Hyde Parker, who was part of the time Commander-in- Chief. He married, in 1805, a sister of Dr. Pickering, of the Military College at Sandhurst, and has a large family. One of his sons, Thos. Pickering, is a Captain R.N.
THOMPSON. (Retired Commander, 1848. f-p., 10;[2] h-p., 34.)
John Thompson (a) entered the Navy, 6 April, 1803, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Clyde 38, Capt. John Larmour, stationed in the North Sea; and from Sept. 1804 until promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, 7 June, 1809, was employed in the Mediterranean and Channel, part of the time as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, in the Beagle sloop, Capts. Digby and Fras. Newcombe. Under the latter officer he contributed to the capture, 2 Oct. 1808 and 24 Jan. and 18 Feb. 1809, of the privateers 'Hazard' of 14 guns and 49 men, Vengeur of 16 guns and 48 men, and Fortune of 14 guns and 58 men. He was also present in Lord Cochrane’s celebrated attack upon the French shipping in Aix Roads, 12 April, 1809. The Beagle on that occasion particularly signalized herself; and on the 18th she was for five hours in action, at the mouth of the Charente, and under a fire of shells from Ile d’Aix, with L’Océan 120, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Willaumez, a two-decker, and a frigate; at the close whereof she had only three barrels of powder left besides the cartridges, which were filled. Mr. Thompson’s last appointments were – 14 Oct. 1809, to the Caesar 80, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Wm. Albany Otway, off Flushing and Lisbon – 30 May, 1810, for nearly five months, to the Talbot sloop, Capt. Hon. Alex. Jones, on the Irish station – 22 Feb. 1811, to the gun-boat service at Cadiz – 8 May following and 12 April, 1813, to the Stately 64 and Impétueux 74, Capts. Edw. Stirling Dickson and Chas. Philip Butler Bateman, stationed at Cadiz and at Lisbon – 11 May, 1815, after nearly two years of half-pay, to the gun-boat service at Deal, where he remained until the following Aug. – and 1 Nov. 1823, to the Transport-service. He was admitted to the out-pension of Greenwich Hospital 24 Jan. 1845; and placed on the list of Retired Commanders 5 Jan. 1848. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
THOMPSON. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 11; h-p., 32.)
John Thompson (b) was born in 1793.
This officer entered the Navy, 1 Jan. 1804, as Third-ol. Vol., on board the Viper cutter, Lieut.- Commander Dan. Carpenter; in which vessel he was for three years stationed in the Channel. Joining next, in the early part of 1807, the Goliath 74, Capt. Peter Puget, he accompanied Admiral Gambier in the course of the same year in the expedition against Copenhagen, and was actively employed, during the siege, with the in-shore squadron. On the surrender of the Danish capital he assisted in navigating to England the prize ship of the line Kron-Princesse Maria. In Dec. 1808 he removed to the Blake 74, Capt. Edw. Codrington; with whom he continued to serve until transferred, as Master’s Mate, in May, 181.3, to the Endymion 40, Capt. Henry Hope. In 1809 the Blake, during the attack upon Flushing, grounded under the enemy’s batteries, and was for two hours and three-quarters exposed to a fire which crippled her masts and rigging and occasioned her a loss of 2 men killed and 9 wounded. While engaged, in Aug. 1810, at the defence of Cadiz, she was sent to Minorca with four Spanish ships of the line; the whole of which, although old and leaky, quite destitute of men to navigate them, only half-provisioned, and crowded with refugee passengers, were ultimately anchored in safety at Port Mahon, after a distressing passage of 38 days. She was next, during the years 1811-12-13, employed in active co-operation with the patriots on the south coast of Spain, and bore a prominent part in the defence of Tarragona, from the Mole at which place Mr. Thompson assisted, in command of a boat, in cutting out, in one instance, as many as eight of the enemy’s vessels. While serving in the Endymion, in which ship he remained until June, 1814, we find him contributing to the capture, on the coast of North America, of 15 sail of merchantmen and privateers. In Jan. 1815 he joined the Malta 84, Capt. Wm. Chas. Fahie, on the Mediterranean station; where, it appears, he served with the in-shore squadron of gunboats at the siege of Gaeta, and on the surrender of that fortress was sent at the head of a detachment of seamen to take possession of it. Having passed
