minated, after having enacted a part in Lord Bridport’s action, Acting-Captain, in March and May, 1796, of the Impregnable 98, and Queen Charlotte 100. Being awarded a second promotal commission, bearing date 19 Sept. 1796, Capt. Owen, in Jan. 1797, rejoined his friend Admiral Colpoys, as a Volunteer, on board the London; on leaving which ship in the ensuing May he was for two months employed in command of the gun-brigs stationed in the river Thames and at the Nore, under the orders of Commodore Sir Erasmus Gower. He obtained Post-rank, 23 April, 1798, in the Northumberland 74, lying at Sheerness; and he was subsequently appointed – for a short period in the summer of the same year, to the Irresistible 74, stationed in the river Medway – 1 Jan. 1801, to the Nemesis 28 – 11 May, 1802, to the Immortalité 36 – 21 March, 1806, to the Clyde 38 – 6 Dec. 1810, to the Inconstant 36 – 17 Feb. 1813, to the Cornwall 74 – 30 July, 1814, to the Dorset yacht, off Deptford – 12 Dec. 1814, to the chief command on the lakes of Canada – 6 Feb. 1816, for six years, to the Royal Sovereign yacht – and 25 Nov. 1822, to the Gloucester 74. In the Nemesis Capt. Owen commanded a detachment of vessels off the Scheldt and in the neighbourhood of Dunkerque; and in the Immortalité he was at first employed, as Senior Officer, during the peace of Amiens, of a squadron of frigates lying in readiness for service in the Downs. On the renewal of hostilities we find him stationed with several sloops and smaller vessels under his orders on the coast of France, where his activity and zeal kept the enemy in a constant state of alarm. In June, 1803, he drove on shore, near Cape Blanc-nez, Le Commode and L’Inabordable, a French brig and schooner, each mounting 4 guns.[1] On 14 Sept. following he bombarded with effect the towns of Dieppe and St. Valery-en-Caux;[2] and in July, 1804, he directed an attack upon a powerful division of the French invasion flotilla, consisting of 45 brigs and 43 luggers, part of which was endeavouring to effect a passage from Boulogne to Etaples.[3] In Aug. of the same year he was for several days engaged with the enemy, particularly on the 25th and 26th, when the interchange of fire with their vessels and batteries in the vicinity of Boulogne was frequent and heavy. On 23 Oct. 1804 the Immortalité and her consorts sustained a running action of an hour, between Capes Blanc-nez and Gris-nez, with three praams, seven brigs, and fifteen luggers,[4] and in July, 1805, they took part in a very smart affair with the enemy near Ambleteuse. On the latter occasion the Immortalité had her foremast, maintopmast, spanker-boom, and three boats shot through, her rigging and sails much cut, her hull struck in several places, 2 carronades disabled, and 4 men killed and 12 wounded, several of them severely. She had previously, 7 March, 1805, captured El Entrepeda Corune Spanish privateer of 44 guns and 66 men. On his removal (after having had command of a squadron stationed in the rivers Elbe and Weser, for the purpose of embarking the troops under Lord Cathcart) to the Clyde, Commodore Owen (he had been ordered to hoist a broad-pendant) superintended, in Oct. 1806, a decisive and very successful experiment made with Congreve’s rockets on the town of Boulogne, where many of the buildings and several vessels were destroyed.[5] Accompanying the expedition of 1809 to the Walcheren, the Commodore throughout the operations which there took place distinguished himself in a high degree by his gallant and animated conduct, and obtained warm commendation for the manner in which he discharged the various arduous duties he had to perform. His skill and judgment were in particular demonstrated in the position he assigned to the bomb and other vessels under his orders in the attack upon Flushing, and his activity and zeal in the assistance he afforded the St. Domingo, the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, when aground under the enemy’s fire, which, through his exertions, was speedily slackened.[6] In the Inconstant Commodore Owen made a voyage to Vera Cruz and back, and was for some time attached to the fleet off the Scheldt; where, on his appointment to the Cornwall, he assumed command of the advanced portion of the shipping. At the close of 1813 he rendered himself conspicuous by his exemplary conduct at the head of a body of seamen and marines landed to co-operate with the Dutch royalists in the defence of the island of South Beveland.[7] While in command of the Royal Sovereign yacht he had the honour of conveying to this country the present Queen Dowager, the Dukes and Duchesses of Kent, Cumberland, Cambridge, and Hesse Homburg, and the Grand Duke Michael of Russia. With the exception of some months in 1823-4, Sir Edw. Owen (who had been nominated a K.C.B. 2 Jan. 1815, invested with the honour of Knighthood 14 May, 1816, and appointed a Colonel of Royal Marines 19 July, 1821) continued in the Gloucester, on the West India station (where the House of Assembly at Jamaica passed a vote of thanks to him for his prompt attention to commercial and naval interests), from the date above mentioned until that of his promotion to Flag-rank 27 May, 1825. On 20 Dec. 1828 he was appointed to the chief command on the East India station, whence he returned in Oct. 1832; and he was next, from 14 Oct. 1841 until Feb. 1845, intrusted with the chief command (he had attained the rank of Vice-Admiral 10 Jan. 1837) in the Mediterranean, with his flag successively in the Queen 110 and Formidable 84. His nomination to the G.C.H. took place 24 Oct. 1832; and to the G.C.B. 8 May, 1845.
Sir Edw. W. C. R. Owen sat in Parliament in 1826 as Member for Sandwich. In May, 1827, he was appointed Surveyor-General of the Ordnance; he was selected, in March, 1828, to form a member of the Council of the Lord High Admiral; and in Dec. 1834 he was called to office as Clerk of the Ordnance. He married, in 1829, Miss Selena Hey. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.
OWEN. (Captain, 1837.)
Richard Owen is the son of a clergyman in co. Wexford.
This officer entered the Navy, 30 May, 1811, and was employed during the remainder of the war in the Scipion 74 and Lion 64, flag-ships of Hon. Robt. Stopford at the Cape of Good Hope, and in the Blenheim 74, Capt. Sam. Warren, in the North Sea and Mediterranean. In July, 1817, after a servitude of three years on the coast of Africa and in the West Indies in the Ulysses 44, Capt. Thos. Browne, and Primrose 18, Capt. Chas. Geo. Rodney Phillott, he passed his examination; and on 16 Feb. 1821, while attached to the Kangaroo surveying vessel, he was promoted to a Lieutenancy in the Euryalus 42, Capt. Wilson Braddyll Bigland, on the Jamaica station. His next appointment was, 14 Nov. 1821, to the Leven 24, Capt. Wm. Fitzwilliam Owen, employed on a surveying expedition to the coast of Africa, where, during a continuance of nearly five years, he was for some time intrusted with the command of the Cockburn and Albatross schooners. In the Albatross it was his fortune, during the Ashantee war, to obtain the best thanks of Major-General Chas. Turner for his unceasing and successful exertions in getting his vessel up the river, and for his forwardness both in the boats and on shore in an attack made, 19 Feb. 1826, on the town of Maccaba.[8] As a reward for his services, he was promoted to the rank of Commander 30 Sept. 1826. In 1828 he was employed by the Admiralty in surveying on the south coast of Wales, in connection with the Ordnance Survey; and on 9 May, 1829, he commissioned the Blossom 16, for the purpose of conducting a survey in the West Indies.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1803, p. 711.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1803, p. 1273.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1804, p. 891.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1804, p. 1320.
- ↑ Commodore Owen had very zealously and usefully cooperated in the famous Catamaran display made in Oct. 1804 against the enemy’s flotilla. – Vide Gaz. 1804, p. 1237.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1809, p. 1325, 2006, 2055.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1813, p. 2676-77.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1826, p. 1159.
