297
DORNFORD—DORVILLE—DOUGAL.
of a five years’ command, from June, 1839, to July, 1844, of the Greyhound Revenue-cruizer, he has held an appointment in the Coast Guard. Agents – Messrs. Chard.
DORNFORD. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 11; h.p., 31.)
Francis Dornford is brother of Lieut. Josiah Dornford, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, in April, 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Diamond 38, Capts. Thos. Elphinstone and Geo. Argles; in which ship he sailed for the West Indies, and served, latterly as Midshipman, until his removal, in Sept. 1809, to the Rainbow 22, Capt. Jas. Wooldridge. On 14 Feb. 1810, we find him bearing part (the 18-gun sloop Avon in company) in a long and destructive action with the French 40-gun frigate La Néréide, near St. Domingo. From April to Sept. 1811, Mr. Dornford next served, as Master’s Mate, on board the Thisbe 28, Capts. Wm. Rogers and Thos. Dick, guard-ship at Greenwich. He afterwards joined, in succession, on the Home and American stations, the Venerable 74, Capt. Sir Home Popham, Pyramus 36, Capt. Jas. Whitley Deans Dundas, and Royal Oak 74, Capt. Pulteney Malcolm. While in the latter ship, he shared in most of the hostilities on the coast of North America; where he was present at the storming of Washington – commanded a gun-boat in the attack on Baltimore – and (previous to a similar participation in the operations against New Orleans) assisted in the boats at the capture, on Lake Borgne, 14 Dec. 1814, of a flotilla of five American gun-vessels under Commodore Jones, which did not surrender until after a fierce contest, in which the British sustained a loss of 17 men killed and 77 wounded. Mr. Dornford, who obtained his commission 2 Feb. 1815, was afterwards employed for four months on board the Brune 38, armée en flûte Capt. Wm. Stanhope Badcock. He has been on half-pay since 9 Sept. 1815.
DORNFORD. (Lieut., 1802. f-p., 43; h-p., 9.)
Josiah Dornford, born in Dec. 1785, is son of a gentleman who for some time was Deputy-Commissary-General in the West Indies; where his uncle, the late Josiah Dornford, Esq., was at the same period Commissary-General.
This officer entered the Navy, in Feb. 1795, as a Volunteer, on board the Active 38, Capt. Thos. Wolley; previously to the sailing of which ship for Newfoundland, he received a severe wound in the head, and another in the knee, by the falling of two blocks from the mizen-top. Between Jan. 1796 and his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, 29 April, 1802, he afterwards served, chiefly on the Home station, and principally as Midshipman, in the Princess Augusta yacht, Capt. Edw. Riou, Arethusa 38, Capt. T. Wolley, Barfleur 98, Capt. Jas. Rich. Dacres, Arethusa again, Megaera fire-ship, Capts. Peter Turner Bover, Tristram Robt. Ricketts, Henry Hill, and John Newhouse, and, a third time, in the Arethusa. When in the latter frigate, in 1799, he accompanied the Duke of Kent to Halifax, where he officiated on shore as attendant Midshipman to His Royal Highness: in the Megaera we find him chiefly occupied in repeating the signals made from the flag-ship. A short time previously to the peace of Amiens, Mr. Dornford appears to have been taken captive by the French privateer Le Brave while returning to port in charge of a prize. During the five years immediately subsequent to his promotion, he successively joined the Neptune 98, Capts. Fras. Wm. Austen and Wm. O’Brien Drury, L’Aigle 36, Capt. Geo. Wolfe, Acasta 40, Capt. Rich. Dalling Dunn, Loire 38, Capt. Fred. Lewis Maitland, and, as First-Lieutenant, the Phoebe 36, all employed on Home service. From 28 July, 1807, to 14 July, 1814, he next commanded the Thrasher gun-brig; and, during that period, he joined in an attack made in April, 1809, on a strong division of the Boulogne flotilla, a great part of which was either captured, destroyed, or greatly damaged. Towards the close of the latter year he took an active part also in the expedition to the Walcheren; after which, in 1813, he brought over to England the officer charged with the important intelligence of the French having been driven across the Rhine, and, on another occasion, the Russian General Tchaplitz, to whom had been intrusted the keys of Hamburgh. Mr. Domford’s next appointment was, 25 March, 1820, to the Coast Guard; in which service he continued until his admission to Greenwich Hospital, 1 June, 1844.
He married, in Dec. 1810, Miss Elizabeth Macnab, of Dumfries, by whom he has, with five other children, a son, Josiah James, Lieutenant, R.N., and a daughter, married to Commander Sam. Mercer, R.N. Agents – Pettet and Newton.
DORNFORD. (Lieutenant, 1842.)
Josiah James Dornford is eldest son of Lieut. Josiah Dornford, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy 18 April, 1828; passed his examination 25 Feb. 1837; and, after serving for some time in the Mediterranean, as Mate of the Howe 120, Capt. Robt. Smart, was promoted to his present rank 10 March, 1842. His appointments have since been – 16 April, 1842, to the Hecate steam-vessel, Capt. Jas. Hamilton Ward, on the same station – 26 July, 1843, and 28 March, 1844, to the Star 6, Capt. Robt. John Wallace Dunlop, and, as First-Lieutenant, to the Ferret 6, Capt. Josiah Oake, off the coast of Africa – and, 8 Jan. 1846, to the Scout 14, Capt. Wm. Loring, in which vessel he is now serving in the East Indies, also as Senior-Lieutenant.
DORVILLE. (Lieutenant, 1841.)
John William Dorville entered the Navy, 8 May, 1828, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Samarang 28, Capt. Wm. Fanshawe Martin, stationed in the Mediterranean; where he afterwards served, as Midshipman and Mate, in the Stag 46, Capt. Sir Edw. Thos. Troubridge, Malabar 74, and Canopus 84, both commanded by Capt. Hon. Josceline Percy, and Bellerophon 74, Capts. Sam. Jackson and Chas. John Austen. While in the latter ship he took part in the Syrian operations of 1840; and, on the evening of the day after the bombardment of Beyrout, attracted general admiration by his cool determination and undaunted bravery in alone landing, and capturing an Egyptian flag, in face of the most startling obstructions, all of which he gallantly surmounted, although ultimately discovered and pursued. Mr. Dorville, who had passed his examination 19 Aug. 1834, obtained his commission 23 Nov. 1841, and soon after sailed for China in the Minden hospital-ship, Capt. Mich. Quin. He has been employed in the Pacific since 27 Sept. 1845, on board the Juno 26, Capt. Pat. John Blake, latterly as First-Lieutenant.
DOUGAL. (Commander, 1815. f-p., 13; h-p., 35.)
George Dougal was born 2 Oct. 1778. His father was a merchant in London.
This officer entered the Navy (into which he was impressed, after an employment of six years in the merchant service, latterly as Mate), 27 June, 1799, as A.B., on board the Brunswick 74, Capt. Wm. Gordon Rutherford, then at Jamaica; where, attaining soon the rating of Midshipman, he appears to have been frequently invested with the charge of prize-vessels. On accompanying Capt. Rutherford into the Décade 36, in which frigate he continued until paid off 7 Oct. 1802, Mr. Dougal beheld the surrender, in Sept. 1800, of the island of Curaçoa. After an intermediate re-attachment to the merchant service, he again entered the Navy, 16 March, 1804, as Master’s Mate, on board the Theseus 74, commanded in succession by Capts. John Bligh, Edw. Hawker, Harrington Dacres, and Fras. Temple; under the second of whom he was nearly lost during a violent hurricane, in which the Theseus was dismasted, and her main-deck guns
