Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/162

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148

BURN—BURNABY—BURNET—BURNETT—BURNEY.

married, 24 Feb. 1834, Capt. Michael Maxwell, then of the Royal Irish Fusileers, son of the late Lieut. Gen. Sir John Maxwell, Bart. Agents – Case and Loudonsack.



BURN. (Retired Commander, 1833. f-p., 13; h-p., 41.)

John Burn was horn 22 Oct. 1772.

This officer entered the Navy, 12 Aug. 1793, as A.B., on board the Argo 44, Capt. Wm. Clark, on the North Sea station; and after serving for some time off St. Helena, successively accompanied the same officer, as Master’s Mate, into the Sampson 64, and Victorious 74. In the latter ship he assisted at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope in 1795; and on 9 Sept. 1796, off the coast of Sumatra, participated, in company with the Arrogant 74, in a long conflict of nearly four hours with six heavy French frigates under M. Sercey, which terminated in the separation of the combatants, after each had been much crippled, and the Victorious occasioned a loss of 17 men killed and 57, including her Captain, wounded. Mr. Burn, who passed his examination 5 Oct. 1799, and next, in April, 1800, joined the Suffolk 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Peter Rainier, became, on 6 July in the latter year, Acting-Lieutenant of the Arrogant 74, Capt. Edw. Oliver Osborn. For several months of 1802 (on 6 April in which year he was officially promoted) he appears to have been employed at Lintin during a negociation with the Chinese for the garrisoning of Macao. Invahding home in March, 1803, he afterwards served, from 23 March until 4 Aug. 1804, in the Princess Royal 98, Capt. Herbert Sawyer, attached to the fleet in the Channel; and on 23 July, 1807, he accepted an appointment in the Sea Fencibles at Fowey, which he retained until the reduction of the corps in 1810. He continued thenceforward unemployed, and, on 8 Aug. 1833, was invested with the rank he now holds.

Commander Burn married, in 1804, Sophia, daughter of Jas. Scott, Esq., merchant, of Pinang, in the East Indies, and by that lady has a large family, of whom one son, George, an M.D. (1840), is Surgeon of the America 50. Another son, John Scott, died Assistant-Surgeon (1841) of H.M.S. Endymion 44, in 1846,



BURNABY, Bart. (Commander, 1814. f-p., 13; h-p., 31.)

Sir William Crisp Hood Burnaby is only son of the late Sir Wm. Chaloner Burnaby, Bart., by Elizabeth, second daughter of Crisp Molyneux, Esq., of Garboldesham, co. Norfolk; and grandson of Admiral Sir Wm. Bumaby, Bart., who successively held the chief command on the Leeward Islands and Jamaica stations, and died in 1777. He succeeded his father, as third Baronet, in 1794.

This officer entered the Royal Naval Academy in 1803, and embarked, 11 Oct. 1806, as Midshipman, on board the Montagu 74, Capt. Robt. Waller Otway, with whom, on proceeding to the Mediterranean, he assisted at the evacuation of Scylla, under a smart fire from the enemy on the Calabrian shore, and was afterwards actively employed in cooperating with the patriots on the coast of Catalonia, where he witnessed the capture of the fortress of Rosas. In Aug. 1808, he accompanied Capt. Otway into the Malta 80, which ship was paid off in the following Dec. He next served, for some months, with Capts. Laugharne and D. M‘Leod, in the 50-gun ships Isis and Antelope; then rejoined Capt. Otway in the Ajax 74; and, on 3 Nov. 1809, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. His succeeding appointments were – on 7 of the latter month, to the Jason frigate, employed off Flushing and Newfoundland – 10 Aug. 1811, to the Port Mahon, Capts. Villiers Fred. Hatton and Fred. Wm. Burgoyne, attached to the force in the Channel – and, 2 Feb. 1813, to the Junon 38, Capts. Jas. Sanders and Clotworthy Upton. Under the former of these officers he took part in many warm encounters with the American enemy, particularly on 20 of the following June, when, we believe, he contributed, in company with the Narcissus and Barrosa frigates, to the complete discomfiture, at the entrance of Norfolk river, of 15 gun-boats that had been despatched for the express purpose of capturing the Junon, after an action of three hours, during which the latter had 2 men killed and 3 wounded. He was promoted, 26 May, 1814, to the command of the Ardent prison-ship at Bermuda, and since May, 1816, when that vessel was placed out of commission, has been unemployed.

Sir Wm. Burnaby married, 2 May, 1818, the widow of Joseph Wood, Esq., of Bermuda.



BURNET. (Commander, 1832.)

Charles Burnet entered the Navy, 20 Sept. 1811, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Ulysses 44, Capt. Henry Edw. Reginald Baker, employed on the Jersey and Guernsey stations; removed, as Midshipman, 29 June, 1812, to the Cornwall 74, Capt. John Broughton, in the Channel; served, from Feb. 1813, until Aug. 1814, in the Duncan 74 and Royal Sovereign 100, both commanded by Capt. Robt. Lambert, in the Mediterranean; then joined the Norge 74, Capt. Chas. Dashwood, in which ship he attended the expedition to New Orleans in 1814-15; became attached, in March, 1816, to the Ramillies 74, Capt. Thos. Boys, on the Leith station; and, after a further servitude of nearly three years, the greater part of the time as Master’s Mate, in the Vigo 74, bearing the flag of his former Captain, Rear-Admiral Robt. Lambert, and employed for the secure detention of Napoleon Buonaparte at St. Helena, was appointed Acting-Lieutenant of the Brazen sloop, Capt. Shepheard. He obtained his first commission 9 Nov. 1821, and was subsequently appointed to the Spartiate 76, Capt. Fred. Warren, off Lisbon, and, 23 March, 1827, to the Ocean 80, Capt. Patrick Campbell, guardship at Plymouth. He has not been afloat since 1828. His promotion to the rank of Commander took place 4 Dec. 1832.



BURNETT. (Commander, 1846.)

William Farquharson Burnett passed his examination in 1834, and obtained his first commission 28 June, 1838. His subsequent appointments were – 26 July, 1838, to the Rodney 92, Capt. Hyde Parker, employed in the Mediterranean – 21 Aug. following, as First-Lieutenant, to the Vesuvius steam-sloop, Capts. Thos. Henderson, Granville Gower Loch, and Erasmus Ommanney, on the same station – and, 19 Dec. 1844, in a similar capacity, to the Eagle 50, Capt. Geo. Bohun Martin, employed in North America and the West Indies. He was promoted from the latter vessel to the rank of Commander 9 Nov. 1846, and is at present on half-pay.



BURNEY. (Captain, 1835. f-p., 20; h-p., 20.)

James Burney is son of the late Dr. Burney, of Gosport, co. Hants.

This officer entered the Navy, 6 Jan. 1807, as Ordinary, on board the Puissant 74, Capt. John Irwin, lying at Spithead; was transferred, as Midshipman, in May, 1808, to the Warspite 74, Capt. Hon. Henry Blackwood, employed in the North Sea and Channel; and afterwards served, from Nov. 1809, until Jan. 1814 – in the Arethusa 38, Capt. Robt. Mends, under whom he contributed to the destruction, in the summer of 1810, of all the batteries, with the exception of Castro, from St. Sebastian to St. Andero, mounting in the whole about 100 pieces of heavy cannon – Bellerophon 74, flagship off the Texel of Rear-Admiral John Ferrier – and Crocodile 28, Capt. Wm. Elliott, on the coast of Portugal. He then for several months, with his name on the books of the Rodney and San Juan 74’s, had charge of a Signal station at Fort St. Julian, and, while so occupied, received his first commission, dated 4 July, 1814. His next appointments were – 17 Nov. 1814, to L’Aigle 36, Capt.