to Quebec, and the Queen Dowager to and from the island of Malta; and under Capt. Lawrence he took an active part in the operations of ISIO on the coast of Syria. In command of the boats of his own ship and of the Edinburgh 72, he led a gallant and hazardous attack upon the castle and magazine at Beyrout, and succeeded in destroying a train which had been laid to the latter for the purpose of exploding it on the landing of the British.[1] He afterwards, having handsomely volunteered his services, united in a second attack made by the boats of the same ships, under the orders of Commander Fras. Decimus Hastings of the Edinburgh;[2] and on this occasion he received a severe contusion. As a reward for his conduct he was promoted to the rank he now holds 5 Nov. 1840. He left the Hastings in the following Jan.; and has been in command, since 12 Dec. 1845, of the Calypso 18, in the Pacific.
Capt. Worth married, 2 Oct. 1838, Charlotte Augusta, daughter of the late Rear-Admiral Thos. Searle, C.B. He was left a widower 31 Dec. 1841. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
WORTHINGTON. (Lieutenant, 1813. f-p., 11; h-p., 32.)
Benjamin Worthington entered the Navy, 18 Jan. 1804, as Midshipman, on board the Utrecht 64, Capts. John Wentworth Loring and Fras. Pickmore, stationed in the Downs. From April, 1805, until Feb. 1813 he was employed in the Trusty 50, Capt. Geo. Argles, Latona 38, Capt. Jas. Athol Wood, Puissant 74, Capt. John Irwin, Dromedary store-ship, Master-Commander Sam. P. Pritchard, Roebuck 44, Capt. Rich. Curry, Briseis and Leveret sloops, Capts. Chas. Thurlow Smith and Geo. Wickens Willes, and Hibernia 120, flag-ship of Sir Wm. Sidney Smith. In the Dromedary he circumnavigated the globe; and in the other ships he served on the Home, West India, and Mediterranean stations. He acted as a Lieutenant in the Briseis; and on 2 Feb. 1813, the date of his commission, he was appointed to the Swiftsure 74, Capt. Edw. Stirling Dickson, from which ship he removed, in the following month, to the Ajax 74, Capts. Sir Robt. Laurie, Robt. Waller Otway, and Geo. Mundy. In her he co-operated in the siege of St. Sebastian, assisted at the capture, 17 March, 1814, off Scilly, of L’Alcyon corvette, of 16 guns and 120 men, and escorted from Bordeaux to Quebec a squadron of transports, having on board 5000 troops, destined to reinforce the English army in Canada. He has been on half-pay since 23 Nov. 1814.
WRAY. (Commander, 1824. f-p., 18; h-p., 31.)
Luke Henry Wray entered the Navy, 19 June, 1798, as Midshipman, on board the Seagull sloop, Capt. Henry Wray, stationed in the Channel. From May, 1799, until Jan. 1801, he served on the coast of North America in the Boston 32, Capt. John Erskine Douglas; and in the course of the latter year he joined the Fortunée 36, Capt. Henry Vansittart; with whom, after cruizing in the North Sea and Channel, he sailed for the West Indies, where he removed in 1804 to the Hercule 74, flagship of Sir John Thos. Duckworth, and was made Lieutenant, we believe, 14 April, 1805, into the Theseus 74, Capt. Temple. His next appointment was to the Port Mahon sloop, Capt. Sam. Chambers. In that vessel he united, 25 June, 1806, in chasing the San Josef Spanish letter-of-marque brig (armed with 1 long 18-pounder on a pivot amidships, and 4 12-pounder carronades and 2 long 4-pounders on her sides, with swivels, pikes, and muskets, and 30 men) into the intricate harbour of Banes, in the island of Cuba; and then, in the boats under Lieut. John Marshall, assisted, with the utmost gallantry, in cutting her out, without the loss of a man, although the vessel was protected by the fire from, and moored by a line to, a tower mounting 2 heavy guns, and notwithstanding too, that, in conducting her out of the harbour, she grounded within pistol-shot of the battery, and was struck by several shot from it.[3] Mr. Wray had previously contributed to the capture, among other vessels, of the El Galgo Spanish packet. He continued to serve in the West Indies, as First-Lieutenant, in the Ferret 18, Capt. Peter John Douglas, Tweed 20, Capt. Thos. Edw. Symonds, and Guerrière 40, Capt. Alex. Skene, until 1809 : he was next, until Feb. 1813, employed,[4] in a similar capacity, in the Channel, Baltic, East Indies, and again in the Channel, in the Guerrière and Hussar frigates, and Minden and Illustrious 74’s, all commanded by Capt. Skene; and on 1 Nov. 1821 he was appointed Senior of the Andromache 44, fitting for the broad pendant of Commodore Joseph Nourse, whom he accompanied to the Cape of Good Hope. On the death of the Commodore, 4 Sept. 1824, he appointed himself to the command of the Andromache, then returning to the Mauritius from the eastern coast of Africa. He was made Commander, 29 Dec. following, into the Espiègle 18; and came home in that vessel from the Cape of Good Hope in Dec. 1825. He has since been on half-pay.
Commander Wray married, in 1838, Charlotte Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Commander Edw. Burt, R.N. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
WRAYFORD. (Retired Commander, 1836.)
Michael Wrayford died about the commencement of 1847.
This officer entered the Navy, 7 May, 1777, as Captain’s Servant, on board the Bristol, Capt. John Raynor, with whom he continued to serve on the coast of North America and in the Channel, in the Iris and Inflexible, until 1780. He was next, from 1783 until 1786, stationed at Plymouth in the Blenheim 90, flag-ship of Vice-Admiral Milbank, Diadem 64, Capt. Symonds, and Viper cutter, Lieut.-Commander Webber. In June, 1794, he was received on board the Hermione 32, Capt. John Hill, in the West Indies: he was confirmed in the rank of Lieutenant (after having acted for some time as such) 10 Nov. 1795; and he was subsequently appointed – 6 Jan. 1797 and 24 June, 1799, to the Scourge sloop and Hydra frigate, Capts. Sam. Warren and Sir Fras. Laforey, employed in the Channel and again in the West Indies – 27 March, 1801, for about 12 months, to the Zealous 74, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Thos. Totty in the North Sea and West Indies – 15 March, 1803, to the Sceptre 74, Capt. Sir Arch. Collingwood Dickson, in which ship, after cruizing in the Channel, he proceeded to the East Indies, whence he invalided in Aug. 1807 – in the course of 1809-10 to the Alcmène frigate, Neptune 98, bearing the flag of Sir Alex. Cochrane, Surinam sloop, Capt. Andrew Hodge, and another vessel, all on the West India station – 1 Nov. in the year last mentioned, to the charge of a Signal station at the Saintes – 29 Dec. 1813 and 8 June, 1814, to the Asia 74 and Tonnant 80, flag-ships of Hon. Sir Alex. Cochrane on the coast of North America – 9 June, 1814, to the acting command of the Doterel sloop, on the same station – and, in June, 181.5, for a short time, to the Royal Sovereign 100, Capt. Wm. Robt. Broughton, at Plymouth. He was placed on the Senior List of Retired Commanders 28 April, 1836.
WRIFORD. (Commander, 1815. f-p., 21; h-p., 29.)
Samuel Wriford entered the Navy, 1 March 1797, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Royal Sovereign 100, Capt. Wm. Bedford, flag-ship of Sir Alan Gardner and Sir Henry Harvey in the Channel, where he continued to serve, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, until April, 1802. He was next for upwards of six years, employed under the late
