appointed First-Lieutenant, 13 March, 1804, of the Spartiate 74, Capt. Sir Fras. Laforey, Mr. M‘Kerlie in the year following went with Lord Nelson to the West Indies in pursuit of the combined fleets of France and Spain, and on his return shared in the battle of Trafalgar. Although advanced in consequence to the rank of Commander, 24 Dec. 1805, he did not succeed in procuring another appointment until 1808, in June and Aug. of which year we find him assuming successive command of the Diligence 12, fitting for service in the straits of Gibraltar, and Calliope of 10 guns (8 18-pounder carronades and 2 long sixes) and 75 men, destined for the North Sea station. In that vessel Capt. M‘Kerlie accompanied the expedition to the Scheldt, where, after the fall of Flushing, he was invested with the charge of a division of gun-brigs, and gave so much satisfaction that Sir Rich. Strachan gave him the north coast of Holland and the neighbourhood of Heligoland for a cruizing-ground. On 25 Oct. 1810 he contrived, at the end of a running-fight of an hour and a half, fought with much spirit, and attended with a loss to the British of 3 persons wounded, to make prize of a large privateer, the Comtesse d’Hambourg schooner of 14 guns (8 12-pounders and 6 8-pounders) and 51 men. In March, 1813, after having driven another privateer of 16 guns into the Vlie passage, Capt. M‘Kerlie was appointed to the command of the naval force stationed at Heligoland; and in the ensuing April he was directed to employ the sloops, gun-brigs, and other vessels at his disposal as much in co-operation as possible with the Allies in the rivers Ems, Elbe, Weser, and Jade. In the month of May he was the senior officer off Cuxhaven when that place was reoccupied by the French. He continued to command the Heligoland squadron until Oct. 1813, when he was superseded by Capt. Arthur Farquhar, who, it appears, directed him soon afterwards to proceed, with a gun-boat and a strong division of row-boats, up the Weser as far as Braak, for the purpose of there seizing two 20-gun corvettes building, as well as all other vessels, naval stores, &c., which could be found, belonging to the enemy.[1] These orders he fully executed; and when the corvettes were ready for sea he was sent with them to England; on his arrival where, at the close of Dec. 1813, he had the satisfaction of learning that he had been promoted to Post-rank on 4 of that month. Capt. M‘Kerlie’s last appointments were, 14 Feb. and 27 Aug. 1834, to the President 52 and Vernon 50. In the former of those ships he conveyed Sir Colin Campbell, K.C.B., Governor-General of Nova Scotia, to Halifax; and in the latter, an experimental ship, he served for two years and a half in the Mediterranean, outsailing and beating during that period every vessel that competed with him. He accepted his present rank 1 Oct. 1846.
In 1806 Rear-Admiral M‘Kerlie (who is a Magistrate for Wigtonshire, and is in the receipt of a pension of 300l. for the loss of his arm) was instructed by the Admiralty to assist Mr. T. Telford, a Civil Engineer, in making a survey of the line of communication between the north of England and the north of Ireland, and also in surveying the harbours on each side of the Channel. He married Harriet, second daughter of Patrick Stewart, Esq., of Cairnsmore and Burness, by whom he has issue one daughter. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.
M‘KILLOP. (Lieut., 1812. f-p., 9; h-p., 34.)
John M‘Killop, born in March, 1788, at Glenarm, co. Antrim, is son of the late David M‘Killop, Esq., 50 years a Lieutenant in the R.N., and brother of the late Rich. M‘Killop, who held the same rank for a period of 18 years.
This officer entered the Navy, 10 Oct. 1804, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Loire 46, Capt. Fred. Lewis Maitland, with whom he continued almost uninterruptedly to serve, in the same ship, and in the Volontaire 38 and Emerald 36, until Sept. 1810. He was under the fire, during that period, of the batteries in Muros Bay, when they were gallantly stormed and carried,,and the privateers Confiance and Bélier taken, by the boats under the late Sir Jas. Lucas Yeo, 4 June, 1805; assisted, on 25 of the same month, in capturing Le Vaillant of 30 guns; was in company, 24 Dec. following, with L’Egyptienne frigate, at the capture, after an obstinate resistance, of La Libre of 40 guns; conveyed, in July, 1806, to Sir Rich. Keats, off L’Orient, intelligence which led to the capture of Le Rhin of 44 guns; contributed further, in the course of 1807, to the capture of many other vessels and the blockade of Rochefort; witnessed, on the night of 13 March, 1808, the destruction, in Vivero harbour, in face of a desperate opposition, of a large French schooner, L’Apropos of 8 guns and 70 men; and was present, as Midshipman, in April, 1809, at the destruction of the French shipping in Basque Roads. Becoming Master’s Mate, in Sept. 1810, of the Astraea of 42 guns and 271 men, Capt. Chas. Marsh Schomberg, Sir. M‘Killop proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope; and on 20 May, 1811, when in company, off Madagascar, with the s[c] and Galatea frigates, similar in force to the Astraea, and 18-gun brig Racehorse, he assisted – after a long and warmly contested action with the French 40-gun frigates Renommée, Clorinde, and Néréide, and a loss to the Astraea of 2 killed and 16 wounded – at the capture of the Renommée, and, on 25 of the same month, of the Néréide and the settlement of Tamatave. As a reward for his conduct on the occasion he was nominated, 30 June following, Acting-Lieutenant of the Astraea. He was confirmed to her 8 May, 1812, but went on half-pay on her return, under Capt. John Eveleigh, to England in Sept. 1813, and has not been since afloat.
He married Anne, eldest daughter of the late Thos. Dickey, Esq., of Ballymena, co. Antrim, by whom he has issue five children.
MACKINNON. (Lieutenant, 1842.)
Lahchlan Bellingham MacKinnon, born 21 April, 1815, is second son of Wm. Alex. Mackinnon, Esq., a Magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant for cos. Middlesex, Hants, and Essex, M.P. for Lymington, and Chief of the Clan Mackinnon in the Western Highlands of Scotland, by Emma, daughter and sole heiress of Joseph Palmer, Esq., of Rush House, co. Dublin, and Palmerstown, co. Mayo. He is nephew of Col. Dan. Mackinnon, of the Coldstream Guards, and grand-nephew of Major-General Henry Mackinnon, of the same corps, who fell at Ciudad Rodrigo 19 Feb. 1812, and to whom a tablet has been erected by the country in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
This officer entered the Navy, 1 Oct., 1829, on board the Prince Regent 120, lying at Chatham, and was afterwards employed, as Midshipman and Mate, in the Columbine 18, Belvidera 42, Arrow 6, and Vanguard 80, on the West India, North and South American, and Mediterranean stations. When in the Belvidera in the West Indies, under Capt. Chas. Borough Strong, he was lent in 1834 for a period of 12 months to H.M. steam-vessel Flamer, and was the only person on board during that time who was not attacked by the yellow fever. In Nov. 1835, having made himself thoroughly acquainted with the theory of the steam-engine, he volunteered and took charge, in the capacity of engineer, of the Meteor steamer, which he conducted from the island of St. Thomas to English Harbour, Antigua, and thence to Carlisle Bay, Barbadoes – again escaping the ravages of the yellow fever, although most fatal in its effects to the officers and crew. Having passed his examination in Feb. 1836, he was promoted, 10 Feb. 1842, to the rank of Lieutenant. His appointments have since been – 17 March, 1842, for a few months, to the St. Vincent 120, flag-ship of Sir Edw. Codrington at Portsmouth – 22 Aug. 1844, as Additional-Lieutenant, to the Formidable 84, bearing the flag of Sir Edw. W. C. K. Owen in the Mediterranean – 17 Dec. 1844, to the Superb 80, Capt. Armar Lowry Corry, fitting at Devonport – 12 Nov. 1845, to the Alecto steam-sloop, Capt.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1813, p. 2302.
