July, 1819, he did not again go afloat until appointed, 20 Oct. 1841, to the Alfred 50; in which ship he hoisted the broad pendant of a Commodore of the Second Class, and sailed in the spring of 1842 for the purpose of assuming command of the squadron on the south-east coast of America. From Feb. 1843 until June, 1844, he was employed in the Rio de la Plata, where the furious nature of the hostilities maintained between Buenos Ayres and Monte Video occasioned the utmost interruption to commerce and endangered the lives and property of the residents along both banks of the stream. Under such circumstances the senior British officer, as may be imagined, was surrounded with difficulties of no ordinary character, and placed in a position which called forth the exercise of the greatest firmness and discretion. A history of the valuable services performed by Commodore Purvis at this epoch we should have felt a pleasure in recording had our limits not forbidden it. The manner, however, in which he acquitted himself of the perplexing duties that devolved upon him is sufficiently evinced in the fact that it called forth the gratitude, as well of all foreigners as of the English; from the latter he received, on the occasion of his departure for Rio de Janeiro, an address expressive of “the high sense they entertained of the way in which he had maintained the fair fame of the British character and upheld the honour of his country;” and from the Government of the Oriental Republic he received the copy of a resolution registered in the archives of the state, testifying “the sentiments of respect, gratitude, and attachment, which the noble, generous, and magnanimous manner in which he had conducted himself during his lengthened sojourn in the country, at the most difficult and hazardous period of its existence, had excited in the minds of the supreme authorities of the state.” On the return of the Alfred to England in Aug. 1845, the Commodore hauled down his broad pendant; and on 9 Nov. 1846 he was advanced to Flag-rank. He is now on half-pay.
Rear-Admiral Purvis is a Magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant for co. Southampton. He married, in 1815, his cousin Renira Charlotte, sister of the present Commander G. T. M. Purvis, R.N., by whom he has issue two sons – the elder a Lieutenant in the 78th Highlanders; and the younger, Richard, a Lieutenant R.N. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.
PURVIS. (Lieutenant, 1846.)
Richard Purvis is second and youngest son of Rear-Admiral J. B. Purvis.
This officer, while Midshipman of the Blonde 42, Capt. Thos. Bourchier, served as Aide-de-Camp to that officer at the storming of the heights of Canton, and was wounded in the attack on the Woosung batteries. His name was twice officially mentioned. He passed his examination 8 Nov. 1845; and at the period of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, which took place 29 June, 1846, had been serving for several months as Mate on board the Excellent gunnery-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Henry Ducie Chads. His appointments have since been – 7 July, 1846, as Additional, to the Vindictive 50, flag-ship of Sir Fras. Wm. Austen in North America and the West Indies – 20 Feb. 1847, to the America 50., Capt. Sir Thos. Maitland, employed on particular service – and 12 Oct. following to the Penelope steam-frigate, of 650-horse power, bearing the broad pendant on the coast of Africa of Commodore Sir Chas. Hotham, under whom he has been officiating, since 20 Dec. in the same year, as Flag-Lieutenant.
PYE. (Lieutenant, 1810.)
William Pye obtained his commission 28 Dec. 1810.
PYKE. (Commander, 1841. f-p., 24; h-p., 13.)
John Pyke is brother of Lieut. Joseph Pyke, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 7 July, 1810, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Implacable 74, Capt. Geo. Cockburn, bearing the flag at Cadiz of Sir Rich. Goodwin Keats, whom he followed, in Sept. of the same year, into the Milford 74, and in July, 1811, into the Hibernia 110. The ship last mentioned was stationed off Toulon, where, from Sept. 1812 until March, 1814, Mr. Pyke served as Midshipman (a rating he had attained in Jan. of the former year) on board the Curaçoa 36, Capt. John Tower. He was next, until Aug. 1819, employed on the Newfoundland and Home stations in the Bellerophon 74 and Salisbury 50, both flag-ships of Sir R. G. Keats, Bulwark 74, bearing the flag of Sir Chas. Rowley, and Rochfort 80, Capt. Sir Archibald Collingwood Dickson. He then sailed in the Leander 60, flag-ship of Hon. Sir Henry Blackwood, for the East Indies, whence, in March, 1821, he returned to England as Acting-Lieutenant (a rank he had held for more than six months on board the Leander) in the Alligator, Capt. Wilkie. He was confirmed a Lieutenant, shortly after his arrival in England, by a commission bearing date 18 Nov. 1821. His succeeding appointments were – 6 Feb. 1822, to the Ranger 28, Capt. Peter Fisher, fitting for Newfoundland, whence he returned about 1824 – 30 March, 1826, to the Hyperion 42, Coast Blockade ship, Capt. Wm. Jas. Mingaye – 20 Nov. 1828, as First, to the Dispatch 18, Capts. Wm. Bohun Bowyer and Edw. Augustus Frankland, in which vessel he continued, part of the time on the Irish station, until paid off in Feb. 1832 – 23 July, 1832, in a similar capacity, for seven months, to the Scout 18, Capt. Wm. Hargood, employed on particular service – and, 15 May, 1833, as Senior, to the Castor 36, Capt. Lord John Hay. In the latter ship he served for about three years on the coast of Spain during the civil war. He has since been on half-pay. He attained the rank he now holds 23 Nov. 1841.
Commander Pyke married, 18 April, 1827, Caroline Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Chancellor Yonge, of Staddon, near Bideford, Devon.
PYKE. (Lieutenant, 1826. f-p., 17; h-p., 19.)
Joseph Pyke was born 13 Nov. 1797. He is brother of Commander John Pyke, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 10 May, 1811, as a Volunteer, on board the Rhin 38, Capt. Chas. Malcolm, and in 1812-13 was employed in co-operation with the patriots on the north coast of Spain. In July, 1814, being then in the West Indies, he removed as Midshipman to the Cydnus 38, Capts. Fred. Langford and Hon. Robt. Cavendish Spencer, in which ship he accompanied the ensuing expedition against New Orleans. The Cydnus being paid off in Jan. 1816, he sailed in the spring of that year for St. Helena in the Newcastle 60, flag-ship of Sir Pulteney Malcolm, and there continued to serve (with the exception of a short period in 1817, during which he returned to England and passed his examination) as Mate and Admiralty-Midshipman in the Redpole 10, Capt. Wm. Devereux Evance, and Conqueror 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Robt. Plampin, until Oct. 1820. After having been employed for three years and nine months in the Aurora 46, Capt. Henry Prescott, on the South American station, and for upwards of a year in the William and Mary yacht, commanded at Dublin by his friend Capt. C. Malcolm, he was promoted, 19 May, 1826, to the rank of Lieutenant, and was subsequently appointed – 11 Dec. 1826, to the Coast Blockade, in which service he continued, with his name on the books of the Hyperion 42, Capt. Wm. Jas. Mingaye, until June, 1828 – 17 Dec. 1832, as a Supernumerary, to the Isis 50, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Fred. Warren at the Cape of Good Hope – and next, to the Curlew 10, Capt. Henry Dundas Trotter. In a boat belonging to the latter vessel, manned with 4 kroomen, Mr. Pyke was surprised and, after receiving 10 wounds, taken by the natives off Cape Lopez, on which occasion he was stripped naked and robbed of everything. At the end of three days he was ransomed and enabled to join his
