R.N.; nephew of Capt. Joseph Lamb Popham, R.N. (1806), who died in 1833; and brother-in-law of Capt. John Pakenham, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, in May, 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Diadem 64, commanded by his father, under whom, while holding the ratings of Midshipman and Master’s Mate, he assisted at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope, and served on shore with the naval brigade at the capture of Buenos Ayres. Between 1807 and the date of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant 14 Feb. 1812, he was employed on the St. Helena, Baltic, Brazilian, Home, and Mediterranean stations, in the Sampson 64, Capt. Wm. Cuming, Surveillante 38, Capt. Geo. Ralph Collier (part of the force attached to the Copenhagen expedition), Venerable 74, Capt. Sir H. K. Popham, Caledonia 120, Capt. Jas. Nash, Royal George 100, Capt. Andrew King, and Caledonia again, flag-ship of Sir Edw. Pellew. He next, from June, 1812, until advanced to the rank of Commander 23 Dec. 1814, served in the West Indies and on the coast of North America in the Narcissus 32 and Loire 38, Capts. John Rich. Lumley and Jas. Nash. In the former ship he saw much boat-service; and on one occasion in particular, 24 Nov. 1812, assisted, under Lieut. John Cririe, in boarding and carrying, under a shower of grape and langridge, productive to the British of a loss of 1 man killed and another wounded, the Joseph and Mary a mischievous privateer, mounting 4 guns, with a complement of 73 men, on a cruize between St. Domingo and Cuba. Capt. Popham’s last appointments were – on his promotion, as above, to the Pandora 16, lying in the Downs – 27 July, 1816 (12 months after he had left the Pandora), to the Hecla bomb, in which vessel he served under Lord Exmouth at the battle of Algiers[1] – 4 Oct. following, to the Cordelia 10, at Sheerness – 1 Jan. 1817 and 9 Oct. 1818, to the Tyrian and Beaver of 10 guns each, both on the West India station – and, 2 Feb. 1819, as Acting-Captain, to the Sybille 44, bearing his father’s flag at Jamaica. In the ship last mentioned, to which he was confirmed 19 May following, he continued until Aug. 1820. He accepted the retirement 1 Oct. 1846.
He married in Aug. 1843, and has issue two children. Agents – Collier and Snee.
POPPLEWELL. (Lieutenant, 1842.)
George Otway Popplewell entered the Navy 14 Feb. 1832; passed his examination 14 June, 1836; and on his return from South America (where he had been serving for some time as Mate) in the Curaçoa 24, Capt. Jenkin Jones, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 18 Nov. 1842. His appointments have since been – 24 May, 1843, to the Excellent gunnery-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Sir Thos. Hastings – and, 22 Oct. 1844, to the Daedalus 19, Capt. Peter M‘Quhae, fitting for the East Indies, where he is now employed.
POPPLEWELL. (Commander, 1813. f-p., 16; h-p., 35.)
Matthew James Popplewell is son of the late Mr, Thos. Popplewell, Master R.N. (1793).
This officer entered the Navy, 2 May, 1796, as a Volunteer, on board the Flora 36, Capt. Robt. Gambier Middleton, in which ship he served on the Lisbon and Cadiz stations until Oct. 1799. In July, 1801, he re-embarked on board the Goliath 74, Capt. Wm. Essington, whom, in April, 1802, being at the time in the West Indies, he followed as Midshipman into the Sans Pareil 80. He next, in Sept. of the latter year, joined L’Oiseau, Capt. John Phillips, lying at Plymouth; and, after serving for two years on the Mediterranean, Baltic, and Home stations in the William store-ship and Orestes 14, both commanded by Capt. Thos. Brown, and Royal Sovereign 100, Capt.Sir Harry Burrard Neale, was successively, in Jan. and Oct. 1805, nominated Sub-Lieutenant of the Safeguard, Lieut.- Commander Robt. Balfour, and Raven brig, Capt. Thos. Brown. On 22 Jan. 1806 he was promoted to the full rank of Lieutenant. In the course of the same year he was appointed (to the Aeolus 32, Capt. Lord Wm. FitzRoy, and Glory 98, commanded by the late Vice-Admiral Wm. Albany Otway, under whom, from Jan. 1808 until officially advanced to his present rank 6 Nov. 181S, we find him filling the post of Flag-Lieutenant in the Lively 38, Ganges 74, Barfleur 98, Gladiator 50, Monarch 74, Caesar 80 (the two latter forming part of the Walcheren expeditionary force). Gladiator again, Thisbe 28, and Adamant 50, on the Lisbon, Portsmouth, and Leith stations. During that period, besides having brought the Venteur home from Flushing, he was at times intrusted with the command, on the coast of Norway, of the Clio, Nightingale, and Sarpedon. Since the date last mentioned he has been on half-pay.
Commander Popplewell is married and has issue.
PORCHER. (Lieutenant, 1846.)
Edwin Augustus Porcher is second son of the Rev. Geo. Porcher, of Maiden Erlegh, Berks, by Amelia, daughter of John Chamier, Esq., and sister of Commander Frederick Chamier, R.N. His grandfather, Josias Dupre Porcher, Esq., of Winslade House, co. Devon, many years M.P. for Old Sarum, married a daughter of Admiral Sir Wm. Burnaby, Bart.; and his uncle, Henry Porcher, Esq., of Arborfield, Berks, was lately M.P. for Clitheroe.
This officer passed his examination 8 June, 1844; obtained his commission 9 Nov. 1846; and since 18 of that month has been serving in the Sidon steam-frigate, of 560 horse-power, Capt. Wm. Honyman, now on the Mediterranean station.
PORTEOUS. (Lieutenant, 1842.)
Francis Pender Porteous entered the Navy 2 Aug. 1827; and on 20 Oct. following was present in the Genoa 74, Capt. Walter Bathurst, at the battle of Navarin. He passed his examination 4 June, 1834; and, after serving for a time at Plymouth and in the Mediterranean, in the Caledonia 120, flag-ship of Sir Graham Moore, and Malabar 72, Capt. Sir Geo. Rose Sartorius, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 29 March, 1842. His appointments have since been – 5 April, 1842, to the Queen 110, bearing the flag of Sir Edw. W. C. R. Owen in the Mediterranean – 23 Feb. 1843, to the Devastation steamer, Capts. Hastings Reginald Henry, Hon. Swynfen Thos. Carnegie, and Wm. Hewgill Kitchen, on the same station, whence he returned at the close of 1845 – 8 April, 1846, as Additional, to the Vernon 50, hearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Sam. Hood Inglefield on the southeast coast of America – 1 July following, as First, to the Racer 16, Capt. Archibald Reed, similarly stationed – and, 10 Dec. 1847, to the Prince Regent 92, Capt. Wm. Fanshawe Martin, lying at Portsmouth.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1816, p. 1792.
In 1798 he commanded, in conjunction with Major-General Coote, an expedition sent to destroy the locks and sluice-gates of the Bruges Canal; in 1799 he accompanied Sir Andrew Mitchell to the Coast of Holland; and in 1601 he assisted, from the Red Sea, in driving the French out of Egypt. In 1802 Sir Home was returned to Parliament as Member for the Borough of Yarmouth. Through Lord Melville’s patronage he was appointed to the superintendence of a scheme for destroying a fleet by means never before heard of. This experiment was ludicrously called the ‘Catamaran expedition,’ and two vessels were destroyed by it off Boulogne in 1804. An attack on a larger scale was subsequently attempted at Fort Conge, but did not succeed. In the course of 1806 we find Sir Home Popham commanding the naval force employed at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope and the capture of Buenos Ayres. He afterwards joined in the expedition of 1809 to the Scheldt; and in 1812 commanded a squadron employed in co-operation with the patriots on the North coast of Spain. From 1817 to 1820 he commanded in chief at Jamaica. Devoted to the service of Government for forty years in the East and West Indies, Africa, America, and several parts of Europe, and worn out by the Indefatigable and intense anxiety of his mind, he died at Cheltenham 11 Sept. 1820. Sir Home Popham was the inventor of a code of signals adopted in the navy.
