cessity of throwing overboard her guns, boats, all her anchors and cables but one, and all but one week’s provisions and water. In Oct. of the same year he removed with Capt. Skene to the Leander 50, commanded next by Capts. John Talbot, Henry Whitby, and Salusbury Pryce Humphreys; and, on 23 Feb. 1805, he was present, under Capt. Talbot, at the capture of La Ville de Milan French frigate oi 46 guns, and re-capture of her prize the Cleopatra 32. Following Capt. Humphreys, in Aug. 1806, into the Leopard 50, Mr. Leigh was in that ship on 22 June, 1807, when she compelled the U.S. frigate Chesapeake to surrender, in consequence of a refusal on the part of the latter to allow the British to search her for deserters. In April, 1808, he joined the Triumph 74, Capt. Sir Thos. Masterman Hardy, and after serving, as Master’s Mate, in the North Sea and at the blockade of L’Orient, became attached with that officer to the Barfleur 98, bearing the flag off Lisbon of Hon. Geo. Cranfield Berkeley, who, on 26 June, 1809, nominated him Acting-Lieutenant of the Norge 74, Capts. Edm. Boger and John Sprat Rainier. In the course of the same summer we find Mr. Leith engaged in fitting out some Spanish men-of-war at Ferrol, then threatened by the French. In the following Oct., on 10 of which month he was confirmed a Lieutenant, he went back to the Barfleur, and on the promotion, in Dec. 1810, of the present Capt. Berkeley, succeeded him in the office of Flag-Lieutenant. Previously, however, to that event, he had been invested with the command (which he retained until the final expulsion of the French army under Massena from Portugal) of the telegraph posts on the lines of Torres Vedras. During the last siege of Badajos Mr. Leith, it appears, was present at the head-quarters of Lord Wellington; and in April, 1811, he was there when it was stormed and carried. The Barfleur being ordered home in 1812, he was next (after an interval of a few months, the first he had enjoyed since his entrance into the Navy) appointed, in April, 1813, to the Sceptre 74, Capt. Chas. Bayne Hodgson Ross, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Geo. Cockburn; previously to accompanying whom into the Albion 74, he took part in the attack upon Hampton, the capture of Ocracoke and Portsmouth islands (whence were brought off the Anaconda of 20, and Atlas of 12 guns), the occupation of Kent Island, and other services. In June, 1814, he returned to England on board the St. Domingo 74. He attained the rank of Commander 13 June, 1815, but was not again employed until Sept. 1822, on 4 of which month we find him appointed to the Bellette 18, fitting for the West Indies, where he removed, 28 June, 1825, to the Pylades 18, was appointed, 28 June following, Acting-Captain of the Isis 50, and was confirmed, 11 Nov. in the same year, into the Rattlesnake 28. Being paid off on his return home with the Duke of Manchester, late Governor of Jamaica, in Sept. 1827, Capt. Leith remained on half-pay until appointed, 6 Feb. 1837, to the Seringapatam 46, in which frigate he was again ordered to the West Indies, there to take charge of the Barbadoes station. On his passage out he took with him the Romney 50, destined to form a dépôt for liberated negroes at the Havana, where he succeeded in installing her after encountering much opposition from the governor. With the exception of a visit to Jamaica, on the occasion of Sir John Strutt Peyton being sent home in 1838, he remained senior officer at Barbadoes until July, 1841, when he sailed for Halifax to recruit his own health and that of his crew. Before his departure, however, he had the satisfaction of being presented with an address and a piece of plate by the inhabitants. He invalided at last from Halifax in Oct. 1841; and has since been on half-pay.
Capt. Leith is married, and has issue.
LEITH. (Lieutenant, 1815. f-p., 10; h-p., 33.)
Lockhart Leith entered the Navy, 24 July, 1804, as Midshipman, on board the Devastation bomb, Capt. Alex. Milner, and, until discharged in the following Dec, was employed off Boulogne and in the Downs. Re-embarking, in July, 1806, on board the Monarch 74, Capt. Rich. Lee, we find him, in company with a squadron under Sir Sam. Hood, at the capture, 25 Sept. following, of four heavy French frigates from Rochefort, on which occasion the above ship enacted a very conspicuous part, compelled La Minerve, of 44 guns and 650 men, to surrender, and sustained a loss of 4 men killed and 25 wounded. The Monarch, it appears, was afterwards employed in blockading the Tagus, in escorting, towards the close of 1807, the Royal Family of Portugal to the Brazils, and in the expedition to the Walcheren in Aug. 1809. In Dec. 1811 Mr. Leith removed to the Marlborough 74, Capt. Matt. Henry Scott, stationed off Flushing and in the Channel, where he served until Aug. 1812. In the following month, the latter officer having hoisted his flag in the Chatham 74, he rejoined him on board that ship, in which he continued employed, under Capts. Wm. Lukin and David Lloyd, on the Home and Cork stations, until July, 1815. He then took up a commission dated on 10 of the previous March; and has not been since afloat.
LEITH. (Commander, 1814. f-p., 16; h-p., 35.)
William Forbes Leith entered the Navy, 18 Dec. 1796, as A.B., on board the Prince George 98, Capt. Wm. Bowen, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Wm. Parker, with whom he continued to serve, in the Channel, off Cadiz and Lisbon, and in the Mediterranean, as Midshipman of the Blenheim 98, and again of the Prince George, until Sept. 1799. During the next three years and a half we find him employed, on the Home station, in the Amethyst frigate, Capts. Cook, Glynn, and Campbell; and, on 7 May, 1804, after having for a few months acted as Lieutenant of the Malta 80, and Ganges 74, Capts. Edw. Buller and Thos. Fras. Fremantle, formally promoted to that rank. His succeeding appointments were – 19 June, 1804, to the Nemesis 28, Capt. Philip Somerville, lying at Plymouth – 16 April, 1805, to the Druid 32, in which frigate, commanded by Capts. Broke, Astley, Bennett, Mackay, Bolton, and Louis, he served for nearly six years on the Cork and Cadiz stations, and assisted at the capture of Le Pandour national brig of 18 guns and 114 men – and 30 Sept. 1811, to the Repulse 74, Capt. Rich. Hussey Moubray, attached to the force in the Mediterranean, whence he invalided in Jan. 1813. He attained his present rank 15 June, 1814; and has since been on half-pay.
LE MESURIER. (Lieutenant, 1815. f-p., 10; h-p., 30.)
Edward Le Mesurier entered the Navy, in Sept. 1807, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Inconstant 36, Capt. Edw. Stirling Dickson, in which ship and in the Diomede 50, and Victory 100, all flag-ships of Sir Jas. Saumarez, he continued to serve as Midshipman, on the Guernsey station, until April, 1810, He then joined the Euryalus 36, commanded off Toulon by Hon. Geo. Heneage Lawrence Dundas, and after a short attachment to the Ville de Paris 110, Capt. John Duff Markland, was received, in March, 1811, on board the Unité 36, Capt. Edwin Henry Chamberlayne; under whom, on 1 of the following May, he assisted, in company with the Pomone 38, and Scout, at the destruction, after a gallant action of an hour and a half in Sagone Bay, of the store-ships Giraffe and Nourrice, each mounting from 20 to 30 guns, and both protected by a 5-gun battery, a martello tower, and a body of about 200 regular troops. On 29 May in the same year we find him further contributing to the capture, at the close of a severe running fight of four hours, of the 26-gun store-ship La Persanne, supposed, until the moment of her capture, to be a fully armed frigate. Removing, in July, 1814, to the Undaunted 38, Capt. Chas. Thurlow Smith, Mr. Le Mesurier was present, in that ship, during the war of 100 days, at the reduction of the Tremiti
