the 11th he was actively employed in destroying fire-rafts, which were sent by the Burmese in great numbers down the river. He was shortly afterwards, on the Sophie being ordered to Calcutta, lent with a party of seamen (he had volunteered to remain at the seat of war) to the Larne 20, Capt. Fred. Marryat; by whom we find him soon directed to proceed in a small armed schooner up the Irawady, accompanied by the Mercury and Thetis of the Indian Navy, on an exploring mission above the enemy’s works. While thus employed he succeeded, with the assistance of the present Lieut. Henry Lister Maw, in towing a number of large fire-rafts clear of the British vessels. On his way back to the Larne he was again engaged with the stockades at Pagoda Point. He was next placed by Capt. Marryat in charge of the flotilla stationed in advance at Kemmendine, consisting, besides the Thetis cruizer, of 7 armed brigs and schooners, and 10 row-boats, provided with a company of the Bombay Artillery to fight the guns. At the end of 10 days Mr. Winsor, who had had 1 man shot in his own boat while reconnoitring, was attacked by a severe fever brought on by the exertions he had undergone. On 4 Aug. he assisted at the capture of the fort of Syriam, where the natives had stockaded themselves. On the 8th he commanded one of the advanced boats, and had 2 men killed, at the capture, by a force under Lieut.-Colonel Kelly and Lieutenant Fraser, of two stockades up the Dallah Creek. A week or two afterwards he again ascended the river, sounded 20 miles of it, and forwarded the result of his observations in a chart to Capt. Henry Ducie Chads, of the Arachne, who, in a letter to Capt. Thos. Coe, the Senior officer, warmly praised his “exertions and ability.” He was in consequence placed in charge of the E.I.Co.’s steamer Diana, and sent with the Satellite armed transport, which vessel he towed and piloted 25 miles up the Panlang branch, to the attack there of several stockades, the whole of which were taken. For this service he likewise received the thanks of Capt. Chads. Proceeding next, with the Satellite as before, to Than-ta-bain, he behaved with much judgment in the brilliant and decisive operations which led to the capture of that fortified village. On 15 Dec. 1824 the Diana, with the Company’s cruizer Prince of Wales and the pinnaces of the Arachne and Sophie (then again in the Irawady) in tow, went in pursuit of a large number of the enemy’s boats, having cleared a fire-raft laid across the river, she slipped, put on her full steam, and contrived to capture and destroy at least 40 war, provision, and ammunition boats. In a fresh attack made, 9 Feb. 1825, upon Than-ta-bain, whither she had again towed and piloted the Satellite, the Diana, having anchored within pistol-shot of a 36-gun stockade, received in her side as many as 160 shot, one of which passed through the wrought-iron paddle. On this occasion she threw rockets from the bows with great effect. She was subsequently present in an equally conspicuous manner in attacks upon the enemy at Panlang and Donoobew, and in a variety of other operations, too numerous to admit of detail. On the conclusion of hostilities, in April, 1826, Mr. Winsor (who had been in the meanwhile appointed to the Alligator 28, Capt. Thos. Alexander) conveyed sick soldiers to Rangoon, and on then resigning the command of the Diana, was placed in charge of the tender belonging to the Boadicea 46, Commodore Sir Jas. Brisbane. His extremely gallant conduct, we may here state, had caused him to be frequently mentioned in terms of very high praise in the despatches of the latter officer and of Capts. Alexander, Chads, and Marryat. In the words of Capt. Chads, “he commanded the Diana through the war in Ava with courage, energy, and prudence, under a variety of service, frequently the most difficult and perilous.”[1] He returned to England with Capt. Chads in the Alligator; and on his arrival, in Dec. 1826, was presented with a commission dated 22 July in that year. His last appointments were – 30 April, 1830, to the Talbot 28, Capt. Rich. Dickinson, in which ship he was for about four years employed at the Cape of Good Hope and at the Mauritius – 3 Sept. 1841, as Senior Lieutenant, for a few weeks, to the Cambrian 36, Capt. Chads, fitting at Plymouth – and 11 Nov. following, in a similar capacity, to the Belleisle 72, troop-ship, Capt. John Kingcome. The rapidity with which the Belleisle was got ready for sea elicited from the Admiralty a letter extolling the great exertions of her Captain, officers, and crew. She sailed 20 Dec. for China, with General Lord Saltoun, the 98th Regiment and 55 of the Royal Artillery, with in the whole, including women and children, 1278 persons on board. On her arrival in the Yang-tse-Kiang Mr. Winsor, in command of her boats, landed Lord Saltoun. He assisted also in disembarking the second division of troops in the attack upon Chin-Kiang-Foo; and for his conduct was thanked by Capt. Peter Richards of the Cornwallis, who declared that the boats of the Belleisle had done more than those of any other ship. After having suffered much from sickness she returned to England, bringing the 75th Regiment with her from the Cape of Good Hope. On her being paid off, Mr. Winsor was promoted to the rank of Commander 20 Sept. 1843.
WINTERBOTTOM. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 8; h-p., 32.)
John Winterbottom entered the Navy, 11 Feb. 1807, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Philomel sloop, Capts. Geo. Crawley and Geo. Davies; in which vessel he was for upwards of three years employed in the Mediterranean and Channel, the greater part of the time as Midshipman and Master’s Mate. In the latter capacity he followed Capt. Davies, in June, 1810, into the Sapphire sloop; and in her he served in the West Indies and at Portsmouth until promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, 16 Feb. 1815. He acted as Master from 8 Aug. until 7 Nov. 1814. Since his promotion he has been on half-pay. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
WINTHROP. (Lieutenant, 1846.)
George Teal Sebor Winthrop passed his examination 28 June, 1842; served as Mate at Portsmouth, on the south-east coast of America, at Woolwich, and in the East Indies, in the St. Vincent 120, flag-ship of Sir Edw. Codrington, Curaçoa 24, Capt. Sir Thos. Sabine Pasley, Cockatrice schooner, Lieut.-Commander Justus Oxenham, Spitfire steamer, Lieut.-Commander Jas. Archibald Macdonald, and Calliope 26, Capt. Edw. Stanley; and on the occasion of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, 23 June, 1846, was nominated Additional of the Agincourt 72, flag-ship of Sir Thos. John Cochrane on the station last named; where he was appointed, 1 Nov. following, to the Castor 36, Capt..Chas. Graham. He returned to England and was paid off at the close of 1847; was employed next, from 1 March until May, 1848, in the Ganges 84, Capt. Henry Smith, at Sheerness; and since 14 Oct. in the latter year has been in charge of a station in the Coast Guard.
WINTHROP. (Commander, 1846.)
Hay Erskine Shipley Winthrop is eldest son of the late Robt. Winthrop, Esq., Vice-Admiral of the Blue.[2]
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1625, pp. 501, 1493, 2277, and Gaz. 1826, p. 1446.
- ↑ Vice-Admiral Winthrop was born about 1762, in America and entered the Navy in 1779. He fought as Midshipman in the Formidable 98, flag-ship of Sir Geo. Brydges Rodney, in the action of 12 April, 1782; attained the rank of Lieutenant 3 Nov. 1790; commanded a detachment of seamen at the reduction of Martinique in March, 1794; was promoted to the rank of Commander 6 Oct. 1795; served as such in the Albacore sloop at the capture of Ste. Lucie in May, 1796; was wrecked in a heavy gale on the Morant Keys, while acting as Captain in the Undaunted frigate 27 Aug. following; and on 16 Dec. in the same year was advanced to Post-rank. He was subsequently employed in the Circe 32, Stag 32, Ardent 64, and Sybille 38. In the Circe he accompanied an expedition sent under Sir Home Popham and Major-General Coote, to destroy the locks and sluice gates of
