Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/1299

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WHITEHEAD—WHITEWAY—WHITSHED.
1285

gent 56, Capt. Henry Thos. Davies, on Lake Ontario; where he removed, 15 July, 1815, to the St. Lawrence 98, Capt. Chas. Fred. Payne. He went back, 23 Oct. ensuing, to the Prince Regent, then commanded by Capt. Wm. Fitzwilliam Owen; he was nominated, 12 Nov. in the same year, Acting- Master of the Montreal, Capt. Allan Otty; he returned, as Acting-Lieutenant, 21 Feb. 1816, to the Prince Regent, Capts. W. F. Owen and Wm. Augustus Baumgardt; and on 25 Aug. and 9 Nov. following, he assumed command in succession, with the rank last mentioned, of the Sank and another vessel, stationed on Lakes Erie and Huron. In the summer of 1817, having been promoted at home by a commission bearing date 20 March, 1815, he returned to England in the Prévoyante store-ship, Master-Commander Thos. Stokes. He was afterwards, in 1824-5, employed in the Coast Blockade, as a Supernumerary Lieutenant of the Ramillies 74, Capts. Wm. M‘Cullooh and Hugh Pigot. He has since been on half-pay. He was often during the war engaged in cutting-out enemy’s vessels. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.



WHITEHEAD. (Lieutenant, 1815.)

William Whitehead entered the Navy, 19 Nov. 1808, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Achille 74, commanded by the late Sir Rich. King and by Hon. Geo. Heneage Lawrence Dundas; with the latter of whom he served, from April, 1811, until May, 1814, in the Euryalus 36 and Edinburgh 74. In the Euryalus he cruized in the Channel and assisted at the defence of Cadiz; and in the Edinburgh he was actively employed, as Midshipman, on the coasts of Sicily, Naples, Tuscany, and Genoa. He was present, 5 Oct. 1813, in an attack made by the latter ship, the Impérieuse 38, and Swallow, Éclair, and Pylades sloops, upon the batteries of Port d’Anzo, where a convoy of 29 vessels fell into the hands of the British. In the following Dec. he took part in the unsuccessful operations against Leghorn; and in April, 1814, he contributed to the reduction of Genoa and its dependencies. He returned to England in the summer of 1814 in the San Josef 110, flag-ship of Sir Rich. King; and he was afterwards, from Aug. in the same year until presented in Aug. 1815 with a commission bearing date 4 March preceding, employed on the Irish, North American, and West India stations, in the Centaur 74, Capts. John Chambers White and Thos. Gordon Caulfeild, Vengeur 74, Capt. Tristram Robt. Ricketts (part of the force attached to the expedition against New Orleans), Tonnant 80, and Bulwark 74, flag-ships of Admirals Hon. Sir Alex. Cochrane and Edw. Griffith, and, as Acting-Lieutenant, in the Araxes 38, Capt. Geo. Miller Bligh. His last appointments were – in June, 1819, and Sept. 1823, to the Bulwark 74, flag-ship of Sir John Gore at Chatham, and, as First-Lieutenant, to the Weazle 10, Capt. Timothy Curtis, in the Mediterranean.



WHITEWAY. (Retired Commander, 1846. f-p., 19; h-p., 33.)

Samuel Whiteway entered the Navy, 2 Dec. 1795, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Invincible 74, Capts. Wm. Cayley and John Rennie, in which ship he continued employed, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, on the West India and North Sea stations, latterly under the flag of Rear-Admiral Thos. Totty, until she was lost, with about 490 of her officers and crew, near Yarmouth, 16 March, 1801. He cooperated as Master’s Mate, in May, 1796, Feb. 1797, and Aug. 1799, in the reduction of Ste. Lucie, Trinidad, and Surinam. After the wreck of the Invincible he served, from 2 April, 1801, until 24 July, 1802, in the Zealous 74, Capt. Sam. Hood Linzee, off Cadiz and in the West Indies and North Sea; from 25 July, 1803, until Aug. 1804, in the Virginie 38, Capt. John Poo Beresford, on the station last named; from Aug. 1804 until Jan. 1805, part of the time as Acting-Lieutenant, in the Agamemnon 64, Capt. John Harvey, again off Cadiz; and from 7 Jan. until Oct. 1805, as Master’s Mate and Acting-Lieutenant (order dated 4 July), in the Glory 98, flag-ship of Admirals Sir John Orde and Chas. Stirling. Under the latter officer he fought in Sir Robt. Calder’s action with the combined fleets off Cape Finisterre 22 July, 1805. On leaving the Glory he became Sub-Lieutenant of the Wizard brig, Capt. Edm. Palmer, in the Mediterranean, where he was present, in March, 1807, at the reduction of Alexandria, and nominated, 18 Feb. 1808, Acting-Lieutenant of the Thames 32, Capts. John Taylor, Hon. Granville Geo. Waldegrave, and Chas. Napier. In that frigate, to which he was confirmed 21 Dec. following, he was present, 25 July, 1810, in company with the Weazle and Pilot brigs, at the capture and destruction, under the batteries of Amantea, of a convoy of 31 vessels laden with provisions and stores for the enemy’s army at Scylla, together with seven large gun-boats and five armed scampavias. He was present at the cutting-out, also, 5 Oct. in the same year, by the boats of the Thames and Éclair sloop, of 10 transports collected near Agricoli, in the Gulf of Salerno; and commanded a detachment from the Thames and Cephalus sloop at the destruction, 16 June, 1811, of a similar number of armed feluccas on the beach near Cetraro.[1] On 21 July, 1811, after the Thames and Cephalus, the latter commanded by the present Sir Augustus Wm. Jas. Clifford, had succeeded in silencing the fire of a flotilla of 11 gun-boats, together with a felucca, carrying in the whole 13 guns and 280 men, moored across the harbour of Porto del Infreschi, Mr. Whiteway, then Senior of the Thames, landed with the marines under Lieut. David M‘Adams, and assisted in successfully storming a round tower, and in taking prisoners an officer and 80 men, besides putting to flight a troop of musketeers who lined the adjacent hills. On his return to the shore he united, under Capt. Clifford, in the operation of launching and bringing off 14 merchant-vessels and 34 spars. “I hope,” says Capt. Napier, in his official account of this very gallant affair addressed to the Senior officer off Palermo, “it will not be thought presumptuous in me begging you will recommend Capt. Clifford and my First-Lieutenant, Whiteway, to the Commander-in-Chief, particularly as this is the third convoy the former has discovered and contributed to destroy since his appointment to the Cephalus; the latter has been likewise at the taking of two and destroying one since his joining the Thames.” The total loss sustained by the British, we may add, did not exceed 2 men badly and 3 slightly wounded. In Dec. 1811 Mr. Whiteway removed to the Leyden 64, troop-ship, Capts. Edw. Chetham and John Davie, under the latter of whom he successively visited Lisbon, Alicant, Palermo, Zante, Ponza, Santander, Kronstadt, and Danzig. The Leyden being paid off in Dec. 1814, he was appointed, 15 May following, to the charge, which he retained until April, 1816, of a telegraph station. He accepted the rank of Commander on the Retired List 3 Nov. 1846. Agents – Messrs. Ommanney.



WHITSHED, formerly Hawkins, Bart., G.C.B. (Admiral of the Fleet, 1844.)

Sir James Hawkins Whitshed, born in 1762, is third son of the late Jas. Hawkins, D.D., Lord Bishop of Raphoe. His grandfather and great-grandfather, Wm. and John Hawkins, each filled the appointment of Ulster King-of-Arms. He assumed the surname and arms of Whitshed, by an Act of the Irish Legislature, in 1791.

This officer entered the Navy, in 1773, on board the Ranger sloop, on the Irish station. He removed soon to the Kent 74, Capt. Fielding, guardship at Plymouth; and he was afterwards, until rewarded for the zeal and alacrity he had displayed in the discharge of his duties with a commission dated 4 Sept. 1778, employed chiefly at Newfoundland and on the coast of North America in the Aldborough, Capt. Bennett, Canada schooner,

  1. Vide Gaz. 1811, p. 1864.