Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/517

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HEWES—HEWETT.
503

servitude in that ship he assisted at the blockade of the enemy’s ports from Brest to the Dardanells; was present, 22 Aug. 1805, in Admiral Hon. Wm. Cornwallis’ attack on the French fleet close in with Brest harbour, on which occasion the Montagu exchanged fire with L’Alexandre of 80 guns; aided, in the winter of 1807, at the evacuation of Scylla, a fortified rock in the Faro of Messina, the garrison of which was embarked under a smart fire from the enemy on the Calabrian shore; and co-operated with the patriots on the coast of Catalonia. In 1808 he removed with Capt. Otway to the Malta 80, off Toulon; and in the course of 1809 we find him joining the Ville de Paris 110, and Neptune 98, flag-ships in the Mediterranean and West Indies of Lord Collingwood and Hon. Sir Alex. Cochrane. On 8 Nov. 1810, nearly four months after he had been appointed to act as Lieutenant, Mr. Hetherington was confirmed to that rank in the Bellette 18, Capt. David Sloan, under whom he continued to serve, still in the West Indies, until 1 May, 1811, when, we believe, he was taken prisoner in a cutting-out affair. His subsequent appointments, it appears, were – 30 Oct. 1811, to the Princess Caroline 74, Capt. Hugh Downman, employed in cruizing among the Western Islands – 14 Sept. 1812, to the Arab sloop, Capts. John Wilson, Robt. Standley, and Geo. Elliott, from which vessel, successively stationed in the West Indies and off Passages, he invalided in March, 1813 – and 31 Jan. 1814, to the Martial 12, Capts. Edw. Collins and Henry Forbes, lying at Plymouth. He went on half-pay in the following Aug., and has not been since employed.



HEWES. (Retired Captain, 1842. f.p., 16; h-p., 37.)

Thomas Oldacres Hewes entered the Navy, 2 Sept. 1794, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Ruby 64, Capts. Hon. Henry Edwin Stanhope, John Wm. Spranger, and Jacob Waller, in which ship he was present, as Midshipman, at the detention of five Dutchmen-of-war, and of a large convoy, in Plymouth Sound, 19 Jan. 1795 – also at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope – and, on 17 Aug. 1796, at the surrender of the Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay. From Aug. 1797, until promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, 15 Oct. 1800, Mr. Hewes served, chiefly with Capt. Stanhope, although likewise with Sir Erasmus Gower and Capt. Geo. Murray, in the Neptune 98, and Achille 74, on the Home station. He was then employed for upwards of three years on board the Snake sloop, Capts. John Mason Lewis, Chas. Tinling, and Wm. Roberts, in the Channel, off the coast of Africa, and in the West Indies; after which he served, until Oct. 1808, with Capt. Zachary Mudge, in the Blanche and Phoenix frigates, on the Jamaica station, and again in the Channel. While in the former of those vessels Mr. Hewes, on 19 July, 1805, participated, as First Lieutenant, in an action of 45 minutes, which terminated in her surrender, after a loss of 8 men killed and 15 wounded, and when on the verge of sinking, to a powerful French squadron, consisting of La Topaze frigate, of 44 guns and 410 men, one ship of 22 guns and 236 men, a corvette of 18 guns and 213 men, and a brig of 16 guns and 123 men. His last appointments were – 10 April, 1809, to the Heroine 32, Capt. Hood Hanway Christian, part of the Walcheren expeditionary armament, and one of the 10 frigates which, under Lord Wm. Stuart, forced the passage between Flushing and Cadsand – and, 2 March, 1810, as First, to the Edgar 74, Capt. Stephen Poyntz. On 7 of the following July he took command of the boats of the Edgar and Dictator, and captured three Danish row gun-boats, each mounting 1 long gun and 4 brass howitzers, with a complement of 28 men – an exploit which so won the approbation of Rear-Admiral Manley Dixon that to one of the prizes he gave the name of Hewes. The British on the occasion sustained a loss of 1 man killed and 3 wounded; the enemy, who were under the protection of a fire of guns and musketry from the shore near Granna, of 6 men killed and 16 wounded.[1] Lieut. Hewes, who left the Edgar in Dec. 1810, acquired the rank of Commander 1 Aug. 1811, and accepted that he now holds 10 Feb. 1842.



HEWETT. (Commander, 1845.)

Graham Hewett entered the Navy 22 Feb. 1808; passed his examination in 1814; obtained his first commission 27 May, 1825; and was afterwards appointed – 10 June, 1826, to the Coast Blockade, in which he was for upwards of three years employed as Supernumerary-Lieutenant of the Ramillies 74, Capt. Hugh Pigot – and 18 Feb. 1832, to the Coast Guard. He left the latter service on advancement to his present rank, 16 Jan. 184.5, and has since been on half-pay.



HEWETT. (Retired Commander, 1843. f-p., 16; h-p., 34)

James Hewett is the son of a Captain in the Navy, and has many relations in both services.

This officer entered the Navy, 17 July, 1797, as A.B., on board the Plumper, Lieut.-Commander M. T. Hewett; served next for a year and a half with Capt. David Milne in the Seine 36, on the coast of Africa and in the West Indies; and on 8 July, 1800, was appointed Midshipman of the Queen 98, Capt. Man Dobson. Between the close of the latter year and the peace of Amiens, he was further employed under the flag of Sir Hyde Parker on board the Royal George 100, and London 98, and during that period was present in the latter ship at the battle of Copenhagen, 2 April, 1801. In 1802 he sailed in the Glatton 50, Capt. Jas. Colnett, for New Holland, on his return whence, in 1803, he successively joined the Utrecht 64, Capt. John Wentworth Loring, Fortunée 36, Capt. Henry Vansittart, and Inconstant 36, Capt. Edw. Stirling Dickson. On the night of 7 March, 1804, immediately previous to the capture of the African island of Goree, we find Mr. Hewett assisting in the boats of the last-mentioned frigate at the cutting-out of a ship under a heavy fire from its batteries, which, however, although it sank one of the boats, wounded but one man. In Nov. 1804, he became Acting-Lieutenant of L’Aimable 32, Capts. Clotworthy Upton, Hon. Duncomhe Pleydell Bouverie, and Lord Geo. Stuart, under whom (his appointment being confirmed by a commission dated 8 March, 1805) he continued successively to serve until April, 1809. He was chased, during that period, by a French squadron under M. Richery, when proceeding to join Lord Nelson’s fleet off Cadiz, and (after having escorted Sir Arthur Wellesley’s army from Cork to Vimiera, and been an eye-witness, as we understand, of the battle of Vimiera) was present at the capture, on 3 Feb. 1809, of L’Iris French National ship, pierced for 32, but mounting only 24 guns, which did not surrender until she had herself sustained a loss of 2 men killed and 8 wounded, and the Aimable, besides being materially damaged in masts, spars, sails, and rigging, of 2 wounded. Removing, in April, 1809, to the Sceptre 74, Capts. Joseph Bingham and Sam. Jas. Ballard, Lieut. Hewett accompanied the ensuing expedition to the Walcheren, and on being ordered to the West Indies contributed, antecedently to a participation in the operations against Guadeloupe, to the destruction, 18 Dec. 1809, of the French 40-gun frigates Loire and Seine, lying under the protection of several strong batteries in L’Ance la Barque. Quitting the Sceptre in March, 1811, he next and lastly, in the course of 1812, joined the Asia 74, Capt. Geo. Scott, and Crocodile 28, Capt. Wm. Elliott. He invalided home from the Mediterranean in 1814; and accepted the rank he now holds 18 April, 1843 – exactly a week after he had been admitted to the out-pension of Greenwich Hospital.

Commander Hewett is Agent for Beachy Head Lights.

  1. Vide Gaz. 1810, p. 1162.