279
DENNYS—DENSTEN—DENT.
Amoy, and in a boat at the reduction of Chinghae, was rewarded with a commission dated 8 Oct. 1841.[1] He does not appear to have been since afloat.
DENNYS. (Lieut., 1812. f-p., 11; h-p., 31.)
Lardner Dennys, whose family is of high and ancient extraction, is youngest son of the late Nicholas Dennys, Esq., formerly of Ashley Park, near Tiverton, co. Devon; and grandson of Nicholas Dennys, Esq., for many years M.P. for Barnstaple.
This officer entered the Navy, about April, 1805, as Midshipman, on board the Achille 74, commanded by the late Sir Rich. King. While in that ship, independently of many cutting-out affairs, he was present at the battle of Trafalgar, 21 Oct. 1805; witnessed Sir Sam. Hood’s capture of four French frigates off Rochefort, 25 Sept. 1806; served on shore during the operations connected with the expedition to Walcheren in 1809; and was employed, in 1810, at the siege of Cadiz. In the early part of 1811 he accompanied the same Captain into the San Josef 110, flag-ship in the Mediterranean of Sir Chas. Cotton; and after a subsequent attachment of four months, as Signal Mate, to the Caledonia 120, flag-ship of Sir Edw. Pellew, to whom his knowledge of French signals enabled him on one occasion to intimate the approach of a French squadron, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 6 Feb. 1812. From 25 Nov. foUowmg until June, 1816, Mr. Dennys next served in various parts of the globe on board the Horatio 38, Capts. Lord Geo. Stuart and Wm. Henry Dillon; under the former of whom he assisted at the capture, in Dec. 1813, of the Dutch islands of Schouwen and Tholen. He returned home from the East Indies, in Dec. 1816, as Acting-Captain of the Elk 18; and, being then paid off, has not since been employed.
In 1815 Lieut. Dennys received a reward from Lloyd’s, for services rendered to a ship in danger on the coast of Ireland. He married a great-grand-daughter of Admiral Sir Rich. Haddock; and, on 1 May, 1845, was left a widower with 11 children. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
DENSTEN. (Lieut., 1812. f-p., 26; h-p., 18.)
Thomas Densten entered the Navy, 20 Sept. 1803, as A.B., on board the Plover 18, Capts. Rich. Turner Hancock and Philip Browne, stationed in the Channel; where, in Nov. following, he attained the rating of Master’s Mate. In Jan. 1807 he removed to the Fortunée 36, Capt. Henry Vansittart, off the coast of Ireland; and on next joining the Neptune 98, flag-ship of the Hon. Sir Alex. Cochrane, he assisted at the reduction of Guadeloupe in Feb. 1810. He soon afterwards removed to the Julia 16, Hon. Capt. Gardner, of which sloop he was confirmed a Lieutenant 15 June, 1812. Being appointed, 19 Oct. following, to the Sparrow 16, Capts. Joseph Needham Taylor, Fras. Erskine Loch, and Robt. Walker, he next, in May and Aug. 1813, co-operated in the arduous defence of Castro, and served in a battery at the siege of St. Sebastian. Invaliding home in Nov. 1814, Lieut. Densten remained on half-pay until 18 Oct. 1825; from which period, however, until 1835, we find him employed in the Coast Guard. While next officiating, between 1841 and 1843, as Agent for Transports afloat, he beheld the various attacks on Chapoo, Woosung, Chin-Kiang-Foo, and Nanking. He has filled the post, since 12 Feb. 1844, of Admiralty Agent in a contract mail steam-vessel.
DENT. (Commander, 1828. f-p., 21; h-p., 16.)
Charles Calmady Dent, born 26 Sept. 1793, is younger brother of Commander Digby Dent, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 9 Aug. 1810, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Achille 74, Capt. Sir Rich. King, then at the siege of Cadiz; after which he served, from Feb. 1811 to Aug. 1815, with the Hon. Henry Duncan in the Impérieuse 38, and Glasgow 50. During that period, while in the Impérieuse, he assisted in the boats under Lieut. Eaton Travers at the capture and destruction, in face of a heavy fire and of trebly superior numbers, of a fort and three gun-boats, near the town of Possitano, in the Gulf of Salerno, 11 Nov. 1811; was similarly present, 2 Nov. following, at the annihilation and seizure, near Palinuro, of a tower, two batteries, 10 gun-vessels, and 22 richly-laden feluccas, defended by a force of 700 troops and armed peasantry; further witnessed, 27 June, 1812, a gallant assault on the enemy’s batteries at Languelia and Alassio, where 18 valuable vessels were destroyed; took part also, on 17 Aug. in the same year, in a spirited skirmish with a powerful Neapolitan squadron in the Bay of Naples; and, in 1813-14, was present at the capture of Port d’Anzo, and in the operations against Leghorn and Genoa. The collective loss of the British in the boat affairs above detailed amounted to 34 men killed and wounded. On leaving the Impérieuse, Mr. Dent cruized for some months off the coast of Ireland in the Cyrus 20, Capt. Wm. Fairbrother Carroll. He then joined the Minden 74, Capt. Wm. Paterson; for his services as Master’s Mate of which ship at the bombardment of Algiers, where he was slightly wounded, we find him promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, 16 Sept. 1816.[2] He next proceeded to the East Indies in the same ship under the flag of Sir Rich. King; and, on his arrival on that station, joined in succession – 10 March, 1817, the Iphigenia 36, Capt. John Tancock – 25 July following, as First-Lieutenant, the Challenger 18, Capt. Philip Henry Bridges – and, 12 Oct. 1818, the Eden 26, Capt. Fras. Erskine Loch. In the boats of the latter ship, Mr. Dent was on one occasion half killed by a thrust in the head from a boarding pike, while attempting to gain the poop of a vessel belonging to the pirates of the Persian Gulf; where, in Dec. 1819, he served on shore in the batteries and otherwise during a series of operations under Major-General Sir Wm. Grant Keir and Capt. Fras. Augustus Collier, R.N., which terminated in the complete destruction of Ras-al-Khyma, the great stronghold of those marauders. From 6 Feb. 1821 until Jan. 1824, Mr. Dent further served at Plymouth in the Impregnable and Britannia, flagships of Hon. Sir Alex. Cochrane. He was afterwards appointed First-Lieutenant, 6 Nov. 1825 and 19 Jan. 1806, of the Procris 10, and Espiègle 18, Capts. Hon. Wm. Waldegrave and Rich. Augustus Yates, at Home and in the West Indies; on which latter station, prior to assuming the command, in May, 1827, of the Union schooner, he took, with but two small boats, a piratical vessel greatly his superior in force. He attained his present rank 5 Jan. 1828; and, with the exception of a command in the Coast Guard, which he held from 13 July, 1838, until the same month in 1843, has since been on half-pay.
Commander Dent married, first, in Sept. 1829, Eliza, third daughter of the late Thos. Shepherd, Esq., of Butcombe Court, co. Somerset; and, secondly, in 1839, the Hon. Selina Arabella Lucy Hastings, second daughter of the late Earl of Huntingdon, Capt., R.N., sister of Captain the Hon. Geo. Fowler Hastings, R.N., and sister-in-law of Commander Henry Parker, R.N. He has issue five children. Agent – J. Chippendale.
DENT. (Commander, 1820. f-p., 16; h-p., 26.)
Digby Dent is son of the late Commander Digby Dent, R.N., who died in command of H.M.S. Saturn, 15 Nov. 1798; grandson of Admiral Sir Digby Dent; and brother of the present Commander C. C. Dent, and of the late Arthur Philip Dent, Esq., Purser, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 31 March, 1805, as Midshipman, on board the Achille 74, commanded by the late Sir Rich. King; under whom he served at the battle of Trafalgar, 21 Oct. 1805, witnessed Sir Sam. Hood’s capture of four French frigates off Rochefort, 25 Sept. 1806, and co-operated in the reduction of Flushing in Aug. 1809. In the early
