HODDER. (Lieut., 1817. f-p., 8; h-p., 30.)
Robert Hodder is brother of Lieut. Peter Hodder, R.N., and ninth son of Geo. Hodder, Esq., of Fountainstown.
This officer entered the Navy, 19 June, 1809, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Jamaica 26, Capt. Arthur Lysaght, stationed at Newfoundland. In Nov. 1810 he joined the Southampton 32, Capt. Jas. Lucas Yeo, lying at Spithead; and in the following Feb. he removed to the Defiance 74, Capt. Rich. Raggett. During his servitude in the latter ship, which bore the flag for some time of Rear-Admiral Geo. Hope, we find him employed at the blockade of Flushing and the Texel, and superintending the transport of troops from Carlskrona to Swedish Pomerania. Between Oct. 1813 and June, 1814, he was borne on the books of the Devonshire 74, Capt. Ross Donnelly, and Harlequin 18, Capt. Wm. Kempthorne, both fitting at Sheerness; and in the next Nov. he was received on board the Ethalion 36, Capt. Wm. Hugh Dobbie. On a subsequent occasion, while in escort of a convoy from Gibraltar to Cork, he very courageously volunteered, in company with Mr. Lane, another Midshipman, to take charge of one of the merchantmen which had been dismasted in a gale and abandoned by her master and crew. He accordingly went on board the vessel with his friend, and, having rigged jury-masts, retained possession of her for a period of 12 days, when they were both burnt out by the effects of a spontaneous combustion which took place in the hold. In Oct. 1815 Mr. Hodder was appointed Master’s Mate of the Congo sloop, Capt. Jas. Hingston Tuckey, for the purpose of exploring the river of that name on the coast of Africa. Being ultimately the only officer spared by the ravages of the climate, he assumed, in Oct. 1816, the rank of Acting-Lieutenant, although he had not yet passed his examination. He brought the Congo home from Bahia in the spring of 1817, and on 24 May in that year, as soon as he had passed, was officially promoted. He has not been since afloat.
Lieut. Hodder has been employed in the Customs since Aug. 1819. He married, in March, 1834, Ellen Jane, eldest daughter of Capt. Wm. Henry Craig, R.M.
HODDER. (Lieutenant, 1824.)
Thomas Eyre Hodder is third son of the late Wm. Henry Moore Hodder, Esq., of Hoddersfield, co. Cork, by Harriet, daughter of the Right Hon. Henry Theophilus Clements, brother of the first Earl of Leitrim. He is grandson of the late Capt. Henry Moore, of the 48th Foot; and brother of the present Wm. Henry Moore Hodder, Esq., of Hoddersfield, Colonel of the North Cork Militia, and a Magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant for that county.
This officer entered the Navy 26 Jan. 1811; was made Lieutenant, 19 June, 1824, into the Eden 26, Capt. John Lawrence, on the West India station; and from 24 April, 1828, until paid off in April, 1829, was employed, on Home service, in the Clio sloop, Capt. Robt. Deans. With the exception of a brief attachment in 1836 to the Vanguard 80, Capt. Hon. Duncombe Pleydell Bouverie, fitting at Portsmouth, he has not been since afloat.
Lieut. Hodder is at present Emigration Agent at Liverpool.
HODGE. (Commander, 1846. f-p., 33; h-p., 9.)
Stephen Hodge was born 12 Jan. 1792.
This officer entered the Navy, in 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Autumn sloop, Capt. Thos. Searle; and in the course of the same year he partook, as Midshipman, of an action with the Boulogne flotilla. He next joined the Regulus 44, Capt. Chas. Worsley Boys, with whom he served, on the Home station, until April, 1806, when he was again placed under the orders of Capt. Searle, in the Fury bomb. On subsequently accompanying the same officer to the Mediterranean in the Grasshopper, of 18 guns and 120 men, he shared, 11 Dec. 1807, in a gallant action with three Spanish vessels-of-war, carrying in the whole 30 guns and 226 men, the largest of which, the San Josef, of 12 24-pounders and 99 men, was in 15 minutes compelled to strike her colours. He was also, on 4 April, 1808, present, in company with the Mercury frigate, in a successful attack made off the town of Rota upon a Spanish convoy passing alongshore under the protection of about 20 gun-boats, and a numerous train of flying artillery on the beach; on which occasion the Grasshopper, who sustained very serious damage, actually silenced the batteries at the above place, and attracted general admiration by her noble conduct. Nineteen days after the latter event we find him participating in the capture, at the end of a severe action of two hours and a half, fought among shoals and within grape-shot distance of a battery, of two Spanish vessels laden with cargoes worth 30,000l. each, and further protected by four gun-boats, two of which were forced to surrender, and the remainder driven on shore. The collective loss of the Grasshopper in the three engagements above recorded amounted to 1 man killed and 10 wounded. In Sept. 1809 (the Grasshopper having been latterly commanded by Capt. Henry Fanshawe) Mr. Hodge rejoined Capt. Searle for a short time as Master’s Mate on board the Frederickstein 32. He next served for 18 months on the Channel station in the Coquette 18, Capts. Robt. Forbes and Geo. Hewson; and on then removing to the Druid 32, Capts. Thos. Searle, Fras. Stanfell, and Wm. King (of which vessel he was created an Acting-Lieutenant 17 July, 1811), he was successively employed at the defence of Cadiz and Tarifa. On the night of 17 Sept. in the latter year he was severely wounded during a mutiny of his boat’s crew in Cadiz Harbour, where he was stripped of his clothes, and thrown overboard in a state of insensibility. On recovering his senses in the water, he swam a distance of nearly four miles, and was ultimately picked up by some Spanish fishermen on the beach in a state of great exhaustion. He was confirmed in the rank of Lieutenant 16 Feb. 1813, and, leaving the Druid in the ensuing July, was next appointed, 5 Oct. 1813, and 18 Oct. 1814, to the Wolverene and Bittern sloops, Capts. Chas. Kerr and Geo. Augustus Hire, both in the Channel. After nearly six years of half-pay Mr. Hodge, on 3 Oct. 1821, obtained an appointment to the Genoa 74, Capt. Sir Thos. Livingstone; in command of a tender belonging to which ship it fell to his lot to form part of George IV.’s escort, on the occasion of His Majesty’s visit to Ireland. Having been in the Coast Guard since 19 March, 1823, he was at length advanced to the rank of Commander 5 Jan. 1846. He has since been on half-pay.
Commander Hodge married, in June, 1821, Miss Trout, of East Looe, Cornwall, and by that lady has issue five children.
HODGKINSON. (Lieutenant, 1841.)
Thomas Hodgkinson entered the Navy 18 Dec. 1828; passed his examination in 1833; and obtained his commission 4 May, 1841. His appointments have since been – 30 Aug. 1841, to the Excellent gunnery-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Sir Thos. Hastings – 14 June, 1842, to the Pique 36, Capts. Henry Forbes and Hon. Montagu Stopford, in which frigate he served for two years on the North America and West India station – 23 May, 1845, as Additional, to the Caledonia 120, Capt. Manley Hall Dixon, lying at Devonport – and, 29 Jan. 1847, as Senior, to his former ship, the Excellent, Capt. Henry Ducie Chads, with whom he is now serving. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
HODGSKIN. (Lieutenant, 1841. f-p., 13; h-p., 7.)
James Archibald Hodgskin is son of the late John Arundel Hodgskin, Esq., Lieutenant R.N. (1793.)
This officer entered the Navy, 3 Aug. 1827, as A.B., on board the Albion 74, Capt. John Acworth Ommanney,. After participating in the
