JACKSON. (Lieutenant, 1836.)
Cyril Jackson, born 23 Feb. 1812, is son of the late Wm. Ward Jackson, Esq., of Normanby Hall, co. York (N.R.).
This officer entered the Royal Naval College in 1825; and embarked, in 1827, on board the Hussar 46, Capt. Edw. Boxer, bearing the flag of Sir Chas. Ogle in North America. In 1831 he became Mate of the Undaunted 46, commanded at the Cape of Good Hope by Capt. Howard Harvey. On his removal from that ship, in 1833, to the Belvidera 42, Capt. Chas. Borough Strong, he proceeded to the West Indies; and he subsequently, we find, took an active part in quelling some disturbances which had broken out at Para, where the ringleaders were pursued into the interior of the country and captured. On obtaining his commission, 28 Nov. 1836, Mr. Jackson was appointed Additional-Lieutenant of the Melville 74, flag-ship of Hon. Sir Chas. Paget on the North America and West India station. His next appointment was, 1 June, 1837, to the Wolverene 16, in the Mediterranean, whence he returned in 1839; and his last, for a short period in 1840, to the Howe 120, Capt, Sir Watkin Owen Pell.
JACKSON. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 12; h-p., 32.)
George Jackson died 24 Nov. 1845.
This officer entered the Navy, in Feb. 1803, as Ordinary, on board the Puissant 74, Capt. John Irwin, lying at Spithead; and in May, 1804, became Midshipman of the Wasp 18, Capt. Hon. Fred. Wm. Aylmer; which vessel, when in convoy of a ship from Gibraltar in Feb. 1805, was attacked by a fleet of Spanish gun-boats, and only escaped capture by a breeze springing up and enabling her to bring her guns to bear on the enemy, two or three of whom were sunk. In the following Aug. the Wasp was chased by the celebrated Rochefort squadron; from which however she contrived to free herself by an effort of gallant perseverance, so marked that the Captain, John Simpson (the successor of Capt. Aylmer), his officers, and crew, received the public thanks of the Commander-in-Chief, and the strong approbation of the Admiralty. In Oct. 1808, Mr. Jackson, who until then had continued to serve with the last-named Captain in the Star and Wolverene sloops, on the Newfoundland and Halifax stations, obtained command of the Cuttle schooner, and was sent to Boston to await the President’s Message after the well-known affair of the Leander and Chesapeake. Joining next in the operations which led to the capture of Martinique in Feb. 1809, he was one of the first that landed on that island, where, it appears, he wrested a musket from the hands of a sentinel and hoisted the British flag. After the conquest he successively joined the Martin, Halifax, and Observateur sloops, Capts. John Evans, Alex. Fraser, and Wm. Simpson, under the last mentioned of whom we find him sharing in an action with a French corvette, who made off during the night. Immediately on passing his examination, on which occasion, 8 Feb. 1811, he produced certificates of his having had charge of a watch three years previously, Mr. Jackson was ordered on board the Aquilon 32, Capts. Hon. Wm. Pakenham and Wm. Bowles, employed at first off Leith, and then in the Channel. Towards the close of the same year he joined the Arethusa 38, flagship of Vice-Admiral Chas. Stirling, for a passage to the West Indies; on which and the North American station he served until 1815, as Mate and Acting Lieutenant, in the Thetis 38, Capt. Wm. Henry Byam, Brazen sloop, Capt. Jas. Stirling, Amelia 38, Capt. Hon. Fred. Paul Irby, Rivoli 74, Capt. Graham Eden Hamond, Niemen 38, Capt. Sam. Pym, Mohawk sloop, Capt. Henry Litchfield, and Cockchafer schooner, of 5 guns (4 12-pounder carronades and 1 long 12-pounder) and 22 men. While in the latter vessel, the command of which was given to him in March, 1814, he was employed in the performance of much valuable service. He was in the first place sent to Nassau, New Providence, for the purpose of affording protection to the coasting-trade, and of escorting convoys to the Havana and the Gulf of Mexico. He was also employed in negotiating with the Creek, Chocktaw, and other tribes of Indians at Pensacola, whom he induced to join the British against the Americans, conducting several of their chiefs to the officer in command at Apalatchabola, and thence back again with arms and ammunition, and a British Agent appointed to organise them, to Pensacola. He was then sent with despatches for the Commander-in-Chief in the Chesapeake, and on his arrival there he was ordered up the Potomac to assist the British in their descent of that river, after the capture of Alexandria. He subsequently led the starboard division in the attack upon Baltimore, on which occasion he took the soundings that are now laid down in Anthony Demain’s Chart. These operations over, Mr. Jackson returned to his station off New Providence, taking with him a brig laden with valuable government stores and presents for the Indian Chiefs. He afterwards had the good fortune, while yet in the Cockchafer, to effect the capture of six of the enemy’s vessels, two of which, were greatly his superiors, namely, the letters of marque Aurora of 10 long 9-pounders and 28 men, and Java, of 8 long nines and 22 men. In May, 1815, he took up a commission dated on 8 of the previous March, but he did not again go afloat.
Lieut. Jackson married, 15 Aug. 1839, Ann, daughter of the late John Shaw, Esq., of Idenshall Hall, co. Cheshire.
JACKSON. (Lieutenant, 1845.)
George Melville Jackson entered the Navy in 1831; passed his examination 21 April, 1838; served in the Mediterranean, from 1840 until paid off in 1844, as Mate on board the Indus 78, Capt. Sir Jas. Stirling; then joined in succession the St. Vincent 120, Queen 110, and Trafalgar 120, flag-ships at Portsmouth and Sheerness of Sir Chas. Rowley and Sir John Chambers White; and on 24 March, 1845, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. He has been since serving on the S.E. coast of America in the Grecian 16, Capts. Alex. Leslie Montgomery and Louis Symonds Tindal.
JACKSON. (Capt., 1841. f-p., 26; h-p., 20.)
George Vernon Jackson, born 13 July, 1787, at Chalwood, co. Surrey, is eldest son of the late Geo. Jackson, Esq., of the Isle of Wight; and brother of the present Commander Caleb Jackson, R.N. Three of his brothers lost their lives in the service, viz., Thos. Vernon, who died Lieutenant of the Isis in 1809, from over exertion in bringing home despatches from Portugal; – William, who was lost off the Isle of France, when Purser of the Delight, in Feb. 1824; – and Chas. Reynolds, Midshipman of the Redwing, who was murdered on the coast of Africa in Nov. 1825.
This officer (whose name had been borne, since 5 May, 1795, on the books of the Trident, Minerva, Princess Augusta, and Maidstone) first embarked, in 1801, as Midshipman, on board the Trent 36, Capt. Sir Edw. Hamilton. After serving for some time in the Lapwing 28, Capt. Edw. Rotheram, in one of whose boats he narrowly escaped destruction, he joined, in Nov. 1802, the Carysfort 28, Capt. Robt. Fanshawe, who, on their arrival with convoy in the West Indies, caused a Lieutenant’s commission to be made out for Mr. Jackson, but was dissuaded from handing it to him by reason of his extreme youth. In June, 1804, on leaving the hospital at Antigua, our officer – one of the only two survivors out of 14 who had entered it together – was received on board the Ste. Lucie sloop, Capt. Geo. Edm. Byron Bettesworth. When next in the Busy 18, Capt. Wm. Henry Byam, he happened to be on duty at the fore-topmast-head of that brig when both topmasts were carried away, and again at the mast-head when she rolled her mainmast over the side. While attached, between May, 1805, and Nov. 1808, to the Cleopatra 32,
