boat, and was for three months in almost daily action with the enemy. In Nov. 1812 he was nominated Acting-Master of the Briseis 10, Capt. John Boss, in the Baltic; he served next, from Nov. 1813 until May, 1815, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, in the Nymphen 36 and Liffey 50, both commanded by Capt. John Hancock, on the North Sea and Channel stations; and in March, 1817, and Sept. 1818, he became Admiralty-Midshipman of the Cadmus 10, Capt. John Gedge, again in the North Sea, and Rochfort 80, bearing the flags of Sir Thos. Fras. Fremantle and Sir Graham Moore, in the Mediterranean. At the general promotion in 1815, notwithstanding that a very urgent request was made in his favour to the First Lord of the Admiralty by the Magistrates of the city of Norwich, Mr. Thurtell was passed over; nor did he succeed in obtaining a commission until Oct. 1821, when, being at the top of the Admiralty list in the Mediterranean, he was appointed to a vacancy in the Medina 20, Capts. the Earl of Huntingdon, Rich. Anderson, and Patrick Duff Henry Hay. In Sept. 1820, being at the time in command of the Racer cutter, tender to the Rochfort, he was directed by Commodore Hon. Anthony Maitland, of the Glasgow 50, then at Malta, to proceed to Palermo with a despatch for Capt. John Donaldson Boswall of the Spey 20, and, in the event of not finding him at that place, to repair forthwith to the port of Messina, and thence to return to Malta. On his arrival at Palermo, not meeting with the Spey, and the city being in a state of insurrection and closely besieged by the Neapolitan naval and military forces, who were hourly expected to carry it by storm, he received through the hands of H.B.M.’s Consul-General an address couched in the strongest terms from the English merchants and other residents, entreating that, at a moment of such distress, he would remain by them, and afford them such protection as he could. With this solicitation he felt it his duty, under the circumstances, to comply. By his spirited interference he obtained from General Pepe, the Neapolitan Commander-in-Chief, permission for the British to seek safety either in his camp or on board the men-of-war in the Bay. The Racer afterwards, at the request of the chiefs of the contending parties, became the theatre on which, as the only neutral spot open to them, they entered into and concluded a treaty of peace. The moment the ratification was signed, she announced the joyful intelligence by a royal salute – a salute which was returned by the Neapolitan fleet and all the forts. The zeal and exertions thus displayed by Mr. Thurtell, and the important services he rendered, in a situation in which no Midshipman was perhaps ever before placed, obtained him the grateful thanks as well of the British residents as of General Pepe and of Prince Patterno, President of the Provisional Junta of Palermo. The history of his proceedings was made the subject of a special communication to the Foreign office by the present Lord Heytesbury, then Ambassador at the court of Naples; but, owing to the circumstance, perhaps, of no official representation being made of them at the Admiralty, he received not the least reward. His appointments after he left the Medina were – 24 July, 1822, and 3 May, 1824, as First, to the Chanticleer 10 and Dispatch 18, Capts. Burton Macnamara and Edw. Hinton Scott, both in the Mediterranean, whence he returned at the close of 1824 – 14 Sept. 1839, to the San Josef 110, bearing the flags at Plymouth of Admirals-Superintendent Fred. Warren, and Sir Sam. Pym – and, 26 Sept. 1842, again as First, to the Caledonia 120, bearing the flag of Sir David Milne, Commander-in-Chief at the same port. He was advanced to his present rank 12 Jan. 1843, and has since been on half-pay.
Remindful of his former services, the King of Naples, in 1838, made an application to Government for the promotion of Mr. Thurtell; and at other times the Corporation of Norwich, the Attorney- General (Sir Robt. Grant), the Dukes of Devonshire and Leeds, Admiral Sir Edw. Codrington,.and other distinguished personages similarly interested themselves in his behalf. The Commander married, 2 May, 1837, Ann Augusta, daughter of John Morgan, Esq., Surgeon R.N., by whom he has issue. Agents – Goode and Lawrence.
TICKELL. (Lieut., 1842. f-p., 16; h-p., 1.)
Thomas Tickell, born 28 Feb. 1817, is son of Major-General Tickell, C.B., Bengal Engineers. This officer entered the Royal Naval College 5 Aug. 1830; and embarked, 21 June, 1832, as a Volunteer, on board the Vernon 50, Capt. Sir Fras. Augustus Collier, part of an experimental squadron stationed in the Channel. From Nov. following until paid off on his return to England in Oct. 1836 he served, chiefly as Midshipman, in the Spartiate 76, flag-ship of Sir Michael Seymour, Conway 28, Capt. Henry Eden, Blonde 46, Commodore Fras. Mason, and North Star 28, Capt. Octavius Vernon Harcourt, all on the South American station. In Jan. 1827 (having passed his examination 20 July preceding) he was nominated Mate of the Excellent gunnery-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Sir Thos. Hastings; and from May, 1838, until Dec. 1842, he was employed in that capacity, on the coast of North America and at the Cape of Good Hope, in the Andromache 26, Capt. Robt. Lambert Baynes. He then took up a commission bearing date 29 March, 1842; and from 19 Oct. 1843 until the close of 1848 he served in the Fox 42, Commodore Sir Henry Martin Blackwood, in the East Indies.
TILLEY. (Lieut., 1812. f-p., 26; h-p., 26.)
James Tilley was born in 1781, in co. Somerset.
This officer entered the Navy, 21 May, 1795, as Fst.-cl. Boy, on board the Pallas 32, Capt. Hon. Henry Curzon; and on 16 and 17 June following was present in Admiral Hon. Wm. Cornwallis’ celebrated retreat. In July of the same year he removed to the Royal George 100, bearing the flag of Lord Bridport in the Channel; and from Aug. 1799 until April, 1802, he served at Woolwich, in the Downs, and at Sheerness, in the William armed-ship, Capt. Henry Combe, Vesuvius bomb, Capt. Sam. Warren, Zealand 64, Capt. Henry Lidgbird Ball, and Unité 36, Capt. Thos. Harvey. In June, 1804, he was received as Master’s Mate on board the Romulus 36, armée en flûte, Capt. Thos. Burton, under whom we find him, during the next two years, employed off Harwich and in the conveyance of troops home from Cuxhaven. He then in succession, in Aug. and Sept. 1806, joined the Ardent 64 and Magnificent 74, both commanded by Capt. Geo. Eyre. In the latter ship,[1] after serving off Bayonne, Cadiz, and Toulon, he united, in Nov. 1808, in the defence of the fortress of Rosas, when besieged by the French, and was actively engaged in landing and re-embarking the seamen and marines under a heavy fire of cannon and musketry. In Oct. 1809 he assisted at the reduction of the islands of Zante, Cephalonia, and Cerigo; in March, 1810, he served on shore with a detachment of seamen at the capture of Santa Maura; and in 1811-12 he co-operated with the patriots on the coast of Catalonia and north coast of Spain. Having acted as a Lieutenant of the Magnificent from 4 Aug. 1810 until 11 Jan. 1811, Mr. Tilley, who had passed his examination in June, 1806, was officially promoted to that rank 21 March, 1812. He continued in the Magnificent, latterly on the West India station, until Aug. 1815, and was the officer sent in 1814, in charge of one of her boats, with a flag of truce to Douarnenez Bay to meet the French deputation and announce the abdication of Buonaparte and the restoration of Louis XVIII. With the exception of a few months in 1823, he served, from Aug. 1819 until Dec. 1826, as District and Divisional Lieutenant in the Coast Blockade, with his name on the books of the Severn 50 and Ramillies 74, Capts. Wm. M‘Culloch and Hugh Pigot. During that period he made not less than 70 seizures. He has since been on half-pay.
- ↑ Commanded alternately by Capts. Willoughby Thos. Lake and John Hayes.
