158
BYNG—BYNON—BYRON.
Midshipman, in 1799, of the Madras 54, Capt. John Dilkes, with whom, on quitting the North Sea, he proceeded to China, where he witnessed, early in 1800, a very serious dispute with the natives; served afterwards, chiefly as Master’s Mate, in the Galatea 32, Capt. Hon. Geo. Byng (his brother), Centaur 74, flag-ship at Plymouth of Rear-Admiral Jas. Rich. Dacres, Imogene 18, Capt. Henry Vaughan, in which vessel he took out despatches to the Cape of Good Hope, and Texel 64, Capt. Hon. G. Byng, guard-ship in the river Medway; was appointed Acting-Lieutenant, in 1803, of the Sulphur bomb, Capt. Donald M‘Leod, in the Channel; and, on 5 May, 1804, was confirmed to the Sagesse, Capt. Conway Shipley, on the West India station. As Lieutenant, Mr. Byng’s subsequent appointments were – 19 Feb. and 31 July, 1805, to the Hindostan 50, Capt. Alex. Fraser, and Lancaster 64, Capt. Wm. Fothergill – 2 June, 1808, to the Centurion 50, Capt. Monk – and, 15 July, 1809, to the command of the Bream schooner. Towards the close of 1806, while Second of the Lancaster, he conveyed, after having escorted the homeward-bound East India trade as far as St. Helena, the 38th Regiment, and two troops of cavalry, to the Rio de la Plata; and, at the first unsuccessful attack on Monte Video, he was honoured by Sir Home Popham with the conduct of the forlorn hope. During the subsequent operations against that fortress, Mr. Byng was for several days engaged, on board a transport, in cannonading the fortifications; and on the morning of its glorious assault and capture, 3 Feb. 1809, he entered the breach at the head of the 38th. He then aided in seizing and destroying the men-of-war and other vessels in the harbour. On 12 Dec. 1809, Capt. Byng was confirmed in the command of the Goree sloop of 18 guns, 9-pounders, in which he afterwards had a very long running fight with a large American brig, the Tom of Baltimore, of 20 24-pounders and 200 men. He next joined, on 4 March, 1813, the Mohawk 16. In the many brilliant scenes which were about that period enacted in the Chesapeake under Sir Geo. Cockburn, Capt. Byng took a very distinguished part, but especially in the expedition, of 6 May, against George Town and Frederick Town, up the Sassafras river, where the skill and bravery he chanced as commanding officer (being at one time exposed to the united fire of 400 men, entrenched on the two opposite banks of the river) procured him the hearty and publicly expressed thanks of the Commander-in-Chief.[1] After assisting in the attack upon Craney Island, he was appointed Acting-Captain of the Diadem 64, in which ship he conveyed, early in 1814, a body of troops to Quebec for the reinforcement of Sir Geo. Prevost. Being officially promoted to Post-rank, 9 March following, he subsequently held, for 15 years, a command on the Lakes of Canada. He was appointed, 28 May, 1833, Captain of the Ordinary at Portsmouth, where he remained until 1836; and was lastly, 26 July, 1842, nominated Commodore on the Jamaica station, with his broad pendant in the Imaum 72. He invalided home at the end of 1843, after having acquired, in the discharge of his high official duties, the marked esteem of the mercantile community and constituted authorities of the island. He was placed upon retired half-pay 1 Oct. 1846.
Capt. Byng married, 2 Oct. 1810, Maria Jane, daughter of the Hon. J. B. Clerke, Member of H.M. Council for Cape Breton, and has, with two daughters, three sons, two of whom are in the Navy, the eldest, Henry, a Commander. The other is in the Indian army, and was lately aide-de-camp to Major-General Sir Chas. Napier, in Scinde. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.
BYNG. (Lieutenant, 1845.)
The Honourable John Russell Morris Byng, born 4 Aug. 1823, is youngest son of the late Vice-Admiral Viscount Torrington,[2] by his second wife, Frances Harriet, daughter of Admiral Sir Robt. Barlow, G.C.B. He is brother of the present Viscount Torrington; nephew of Capt. Hon. H. D. Byng, R.N.; and brother-in-law of Capt. W. H. Hall, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy 31 March, 1837, on board the Princess Charlotte 104, Capt. Arthur Fanshawe, bearing the flag in the Mediterranean of Hon. Robt. Stopford, under whom he shared in the operations of 1840 on the coast of Syria, including the bombardment of St. Jean d’Acre. He passed his examination 12 April, 1843; and after serving, as Mate, on the Mediterranean and Home stations, of the Belvidera 38, Vesuvius steamer. Excellent gunnery-ship, and Victoria and Albert steam-yacht, Capts. Hon. Geo. Grey, Erasmus Ommanney, Sir Thos. Hastings, and Lord Adolphus FitzClarence, was awarded a commission dated 25 Sept. 1845. He has been employed, since 12 Nov. in the latter year, on board the Retribution steam-frigate, and Vengeance 74, both commanded by Capt. Stephen Lushington.
BYNON. (Commander, 1842.)
John Corrie Bynon passed his examination in 1827; obtained his first commission 10 Jan. 1837; was appointed, on 25 of the same month, to the Talavera 74, Capt. Wm. Bowen Mends, in the Mediterranean; joined, 10 April, 1839, the Druid 44, Capts. Lord Henry John Spencer Churchill and Henry Smith; and, for his services as her First-Lieutenant on the coast of China, was advanced to the rank of Commander 23 Dec. 1842.[3] He was paid off in the spring of 1843, and has not since been afloat.
BYRON, Lord. (Captain, 1814. f-p., 15; h-p., 32.)
The Right Honourable George Anson, Lord Byron, born 8 March, 1789, is eldest son of Capt. Geo. Anson Byron, R.N., who died in 1793, by Charlotte Henrietta, daughter of Robt. Dallas, Esq., of Dallas Castle, Jamaica; grandson of Admiral Hon. John Byron, a Midshipman under Lord Anson in his voyage round the world, who died in 1786; first cousin of the immortal poet, whom he succeeded in the family honours and estates, 19 April, 1824; and cousin also of the late Rear-Admiral Rich. Byron, C.B., who commanded the Belvidera in her celebrated retreat from the American squadron under Coramodore Rodgers, and died in 1837.
This officer entered the Navy, in Dec. 1800, as a Volunteer, on board the Hindostan 50, Capts. Jas. Mulock and Sam. Mottley, stationed at the Cape of Good Hope; removed, as Midshipman, in March, 1801, to the Tremendous 74, Capt. John Osborn, with whom he sailed for the East Indies; and, from March, 1802, until the spring of 1807, was successively employed, on that station, in the Chiffonne 36, Capt. Henry Stuart, Centurion 50, Capt. John Spratt Rainier, Tremendous again, Capt. Osborn, and Culloden 74, flag-ship of Sir Edw. Pellew. He then returned to England with convoy in the Concorde frigate; obtained his first commission 24 Aug. in the same year; and, in Feb. 1808, joined the Tartar 32, Capts. Geo. Edm. Byron Bettesworth and Joseph Baker. On 15 May ensuing, Lieut. Byron was present, off Bergen, when Capt. Bettesworth was killed and the Tartar severely cut up by the fire of a Norwegian armed schooner and five gun-boats. He was also, on various occasions, actively employed in the Tartar’s boats. We next find him serving from 8 Dec. 1808, until advanced to the rank of Commander, 1 Feb. 1812, in the Barfleur 98, flag-ship of Vice- Admiral Hon.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1813, p. 1333.
- ↑ Viscount Torrington was born 5 Jan. 1768, and entered the Navy 23 Feb. 1778. He was Midshipman of the Thunderer in the action between Keppel and D’Orvilliers, and of the Superb in two of Sir Edward Hughes’ encounters with De Suffrein. He afterwards commanded the Belliqueux 64, at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope, and the destruction of several Dutch men-of-war in Batavia Roads, in 1806; and when in the Warrior 74, he conveyed the Prince of Orange to Holland in 1813. The Viscount died a Vice-Admiral of the Blue 18 June, 1831.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1843, p. 2950.
