Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/340

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326

EDMUNDS—EDRIDGE—EDWARDES—EDWARDS.

his present rank 23 Nov. 1841; and has been employed, since 6 April, 1844, as an Inspecting Commander in the Coast Guard.

Commander Edmonstone married, 13 July, 1841, Mary Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Lieut.-Col. T. W. Parsons, Resident of the Island of Zante.



EDMUNDS. (Commander, 1841. f-p., 24; h-p., 10.)

Charles Edmunds entered the Navy, 19 Dec. 1813, as Fst.-cl.. Vol., on board the Medway 74, Capt. Augustus Brine, bearing the flag of Sir Chas. Tyler at the Cape of Good Hope, where he served until 1816. Re-embarking, in Dec. 1818, on board the Dauntless 24, Capts. Hon. Valentine Gardner and Geo. Cornish Gambier, he sailed for India. On his return home, towards the close of 1823, he successively joined, as Mate, the Queen Charlotte 100, and Victory 104, flag-ships at Portsmouth of Sir Jas. Hawkins Whitshed and Sir Geo. Martin, the Herald yacht, Capt. Henry John Leeke, and Druid frigate, Capt. Sam. Chambers. He was officially promoted, while serving as Acting-Lieutenant of the Magnificent receiving-ship at Jamaica, Capt. Wm. Molyneux, by commission dated 26 Oct. 1826, and was afterwards appointed – 2 June, 1828, 24 Sept. 1829, and 11 May, 1831, to the Ramillies 74, Talavera 74, and Barham 50, all commanded by Capt. Hugh Pigot, on the Downs and Mediterranean stations – 4 Oct. 1834, to the Winchester 50, in which ship he served for nearly four years under the flag of Hon. Sir Thos. Bladen Capel, Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies – and, 22 Aug. 1840, as First-Lieutenant, to the Calcutta 84, Capt. Sir Sam. Roberts, stationed in the Mediterranean. He rose to the rank he now holds 23 Nov. 1841; and, since 29 Aug. 1845, has been in command of the Heroine sloop, on the coast of Africa.



EDRIDGE. (Lieutenant, 1810.)

John Edridge obtained his commission 23 Oct. 1810; and since the peace has been on half-pay.



EDWARDES. (Commander, 1827. f-p., 12; h-p., 21.)

The Honourable William Edwardes, born 3 Feb. 1801, is eldest surviving son of Lord Kensington, by Dorothy, daughter of Rich. Thomas, Esq.; and brother-in-law of Sir Edw. Cholmeley Dering, Bart.

This officer entered the Navy, 13 Feb. 1814, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Bellerophon 74, Capt. Edw. Hawker, flag-ship at Newfoundland of Sir Rich. Goodwin Keats; served afterwards, as Midshipman of 11 different men-of-war, chiefly on the Mediterranean station; and obtained his first commission 2 Aug. 1823. He was appointed, 6 Oct. 1826, to the Asia 84, bearing the flag of Sir Edw. Codrington in the Mediterranean, and, for his conduct at the battle of Navarin, was invested on the following day, 21 Oct. 1827, with the acting-command of the Gannet 18. He returned to England in 1828, having been confirmed to the rank of Commander by commission dated 22 Oct. 1827; and has not since been employed.

He married, 12 Oct. 1833, Laura Jane, fourth daughter of Cuthbert Ellison, Esq., of Hepburn, co. Durham, and has issue two sons and five daughters. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.



EDWARDS. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 21; h-p., 22.)

Adams Edwards entered the Navy, 6 Nov. 1804, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Courageux 74, Capt. Chas. Boyles; on accompanying Whom into the Windsor Castle 98, he bore a part in Sir Robt. Calder’s action, 22 July, 1805, witnessed Sir Sam. Hood’s capture of four French frigates near Rochefort, 25 Sept. 1806, and passed the Dardanells in Feb. 1807. Shortly after his removal to the Amethyst, of 42 guns and 261 men, Capt. Mich. Seymour, he assisted at the capture, 11 Nov. 1808, off L’Orient, of the French frigate La Thetis, of 44 guns and 436 men, including soldiers, which was boarded and carried at the close of a furious contest of more than three hours, in which the British lost 19 men killed and 51 wounded, and the enemy 135 killed and 102 wounded. On 6 April, 1809, he also shared in a severe intermittent action of about four hours, which terminated in the capture, with a loss to the Amethyst of 8 men killed and 37 wounded, of another of the enemy’s frigates, Le Niemen, of 46 guns and 339 men, of whom 47 were slain and 73 wounded. After attending the expedition to Flushing, Mr. Edwards followed Capt. Seymour, in Sept. 1809, into his prize, the Niemen, which had been added to the British Navy as a 38-gun frigate. With the exception of about two months, from April to June 1811, during which we find him officiating as Acting-Lieutenant of the Jalouse 18, Capt. Henry Gage Morris, he continued to serve with Capt. Seymour, latterly in the Hannibal 74, on the Home station, until 1812. He obtained his commission 13 March, 1815; and since 10 March, 1835, has been employed in the Coast Guard.



EDWARDS. (Commander, 1827. f-p., 15; h-p., 37.)

David Edwards entered the Navy, 31 July, 1795, as a Volunteer, on board the San Fiorenzo of 42 guns, Capts. Sir Harry Burrard Neale and Wm. Chas. Paterson. While in that ship, besides being much in attendance on the King off Weymouth, he assisted, in company with La Nymphe, at the capture of La Résistance of 48, and La Constance of 24 guns, 9 March, 1797 – passed, soon afterwards, through the mutinous fleet at the Nore – took part in a very warm conflict of nearly two hours, which terminated in the defeat, by the San Fiorenzo and her consort, the Amelia 38, of a French squadron, consisting of three frigates and a gun-vessel, 9 April, 1799 – and was present, 2 July following, in an attack made by Rear-Admiral Chas. Morice Pole on a Spanish squadron lying in Aix Roads. Towards the close of 1801 Mr. Edwards proceeded to the West Indies, as Master’s Mate of the Centaur 74, Capt. Bendall Robt. Littlehales, and, on 5 Sept. 1803, was there promoted to a Lieutenancy in the Ulysses 44, Capt. Edwin Henry Columbine. From 27 Oct. 1804, to 24 June, 1806, he next served in the Mediterranean with Capt. Geo. Digby, on board the Beagle 18, and Swiftsure 74, one of the prizes taken at Trafalgar; and in July, 1809, he assumed command, under Capt. Philip Carteret, of the first division of gun-boats employed on the Walcheren expedition. During the two last years of the war Mr. Edwards appears to have been attached, on the Leith station, to the Adamant 50, and Latona 38, Capts. Matthew Buckle and Andrew Smith. He was advanced to the command, 11 May, 1827, of the Barham 50, Capt. Sir John Louis, on the Jamaica station, where he removed, on 12 Sept. in the same year, to the Fairy sloop. He returned to England in 1828; and has since been on half-pay.



EDWARDS. (Lieut., 1837. f-p., 15; h-p., 12.)

David Edwards, born 6 Jan. 1803, is only son of the late David Edwards, Esq., of Monmouth House, Chelsea, by Sarah, third daughter of Robt. Mourton Wood, Esq., of Newton Hall, Cheshire.

This officer entered the Navy, 25 July, 1820, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Camelion 10, Capt.Wm. Jas. Mingaye, on the Home station, and, after serving for some time also in the Phaeton 46, Capt. Wm. Augustus Montagu, became successively Midshipman, in 1823, of the Ramillies 74, and Ganges 84, guard-ships at Portsmouth, commanded by Capt. Edw. Brace, by whom he was for some time detached into the Viper tender, for the purpose of cruizing in the Channel. From 1823 until Feb. 1827, when he passed his examination, Mr. Edwards was next employed in South America on board the Mersey 26, Capt. John Macpherson Ferguson. He soon afterwards joined the Coast Blockade, as Mate of the Hyperion 42, Capt. Wm. Jas.