employed on particular service – and, 9 Nov. 1847, to that of the Porcupine, another steam-vessel, of 140 horse-power, now in the Mediterranean.
ROBERTS. (Lieut., 1811. f-p., 16; h-p., 27.)
Francis Roberts, born 28 Sept. 1789, is nephew of Capt. Fras. Roberts, R.N., who was wounded, when Lieutenant of the Quebec 32, in an action fought with the French frigate Surveillante, and died in command of the Success 32, in the West Indies, in 1794. One of his brothers was a Midshipman of the Victory at Trafalgar.
This officer entered the Navy, 6 July, 1804, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Princess of Orange 74, Capt. Thos. Rogers, employed on the Home station, where he continued to serve as Midshipman in the Resolution 74, Capt. Geo. Burlton, and Sampson 64, Capt. Thos. Masterman Hardy, until transferred with the latter officer, in May, 1806, to the Triumph 74.[1] He then sailed for the West Indies, and, after cruizing along the North American shores, was ordered to the coast of France. In Jan. 1809, being off L’Orient, he was placed as Prize-Master in a captured galliot and sent with her for adjudication to Plymouth. Before he could reach that port he was wrecked in a gale, a quarter of a mile from the shore, on the coast of Cornwall, where many of the crew perished. Having lashed himself to the belfry, he remained on the broken hull in a state of utter insensibility from noon until rescued at dusk by a boat from the land. On leaving the Triumph in the ensuing May, Mr. Roberts followed his Captain as Master’s Mate into the Barfleur 98, bearing the flag at Lisbon of Hon. Geo. Cranfield Berkeley. In the early part of 1810 he was detached with four Midshipmen and a party of seamen under his orders for the purpose of distributing them to the different telegraph posts on the lines of Torres Vedras; where he was personally intrusted with the charge of the extreme station at Alhandra and allowed to retain a key to the signals. On 3 Sept. 1810 (about the period that the British army retired upon Alhandra) he was nominated, for his services, Acting-Lieutenant of the Doterel sloop, Capt. Anthony Abdy; under whom it appears he served for a short time at the defence of Cadiz. On the return of the Doterel to Lisbon he was again sent up the Tagus and employed with the flotilla under the present Capt. M. F. F. Berkeley in co-operating with the right wing of the army under Lord Hill concentrated between Alhandra and Villa Franca. His promotion not being confirmed, Mr. Roberts, on the arrival of the Doterel. in England, went back to his old ship the Barfleur in the capacity of Master’s Mate. From her he was soon afterwards deputed, with Lieut. John Geddes and a detachment of carpenters and sailors, to construct a pontoon-bridge over the river Guadiana; the bed of which, however, being found dry, the party returned to the Barfleur. On 11 April, 1811, Mr. Roberts was again ordered to act as Lieutenant in the St. Fiorenzo frigate, Capt. Hon. Edm. Sexton Pery Knox; and on 3 of the ensuing May he was officially advanced to that rank. He invalided in Sept. of the same year; and was afterwards appointed – 2 Sept. 1812, to the Espiègle sloop, Capt. John Taylor, employed in the Baltic and Bay of Biscay – 6 March, 1813, to the Derwent 18, Capts. Geo. Manners Sutton and Thos. Williams, stationed, until Nov. 1815, in the Channel, off the north coast of Spain (where he was sent with a flag of truce in the Earl Moira transport to procure the release of 30 or 40 British prisoners from the French garrison at Santona), and at Newfoundland – 5 Jan. 1820, for three months, to the Tamar 26, Capt. Arthur Stow, lying at Portsmouth – 22 Dec. following, to the command, which he retained until Sept. 1825, of the Tartar Revenue-cruizer – 2 Feb. 1837, to the Coast Guard – and, 10 Oct. 1838, to the command of the Adelaide Revenue-cruizer. He has been on half-pay since July, 1839.
Lieut. Roberts married, 14 June, 1814, Amelia, daughter of Lieut. G. Davies, R.N., by whom he has issue three sons and four daughters. Two of his sons are chief officers in the Peninsula and Oriental Steam-packet Company’s Service.
ROBERTS. (Lieutenant, 1827.)
Henry Roberts is cousin of the late Admiral Sir Henry Digby, G.C.B.
This officer entered the Navy in June, 1815, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Caledonia 120, Capt. Sir Arch. Collingwood Dickson, lying at Plymouth, and shortly afterwards sailed in the Eurotas 38, Capt. Jas. Lillicrap, for the Mediterranean, where he continued employed in the Queen 74, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Chas. Vinicombe Penrose, Reynard 10, Capt. David St. Clair, Ister 36, Capt. Thos. Forrest, Albion 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Penrose, and Scout 18, Capt. Wm. Ramsden. He passed his examination in June, 1821; and between that period and the date of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, 30 April, 1827, performed the duties of Mate in the Albion 74, guard-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Sir Wm. Hoste, and, on the South American station, in the Mersey and Menai of 26 guns each, Capts. John Macpherson Ferguson and Michael Seymour. We understand that before he joined the Menai he acted for a time as Lieutenant in the Wellesley 74. Since 29 Jan. 1836 he has filled an appointment in the Coast Guard. He had assisted, in the Mersey, in surveying the western coast of South America.
ROBERTS. (Retired Commander, 1840.)
James Wolfe Roberts entered the Navy, in 1772, as a Boy, on board the Cumberland 74. In May, 1775, he joined the Barfleur 90, flag-ship of Sir Jas. Douglas at Spithead. Between the following Aug. and Nov. 1778 he was actively employed on the coast of North America in the Phoenix 44, Capt. Hyde Parker; and on 1 Dec. in the latter year, a few days after he had been removed to the Ardent 64, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Gambier, he was made Lieutenant into the {sc 32}}, Capt. John Orde. In the course of 1779 he had the misfortune from the effects of ulceration to lose the sight of both eyes. He was admitted to the out-pension of Greenwich Hospital 22 Sept. 1806; and invested with his present rank 9 July, 1840.
He married a daughter of the late Mr. John Irwin, of Deptford, and was left a widower 28 March, 1845.
ROBERTS. (Lieut., 1816. f-p., 11; h-p., 28.)
John Roberts entered the Navy, 8 May, 1808, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Invincible 74, Capts. Ross Donnelly and John Hollinworth, the latter of whom he followed as Midshipman into the Resistance 36, commanded afterwards by Capts. Philip L. J. Rosenhagen and Chas. Hole. In the Invincible he served in the North Sea and at the blockade of Toulon; and in both ships he took an active part in the defence of Cadiz, where he came into frequent contact with the enemy’s batteries and witnessed the siege, by the French, of Fort Matagorda. After he had been for a while employed with Capt. Hole in the Badger 10, he returned to England in the Resistance under the command of Capt. Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew. He served subsequently in the Devonshire 74, Capt. Ross Donnelly, fitting at Sheerness – Jason 32, Capt. Hon. Jas. Wm. King, flag-ship for some time of H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence, under whom, we believe, he escorted Louis XVIII. to the coast of France – Centaur 74, Capt. Thos. Gordon Caulfeild, in which ship he made a voyage to the Cape
- ↑ While serving in the Triumph Mr. Roberts was intrusted for some time with the command of the Hamilton despatch schooner. In that vessel he was employed in watching the movements of several French ships blockaded in Chesapeake Bay. After the affair between the Leopard and the U.S. ship Chesapeake (see Sir Salusbury Davenport), he contrived, by dint of great perseverance, to reach the town of Norfolk during a dark night, and bring off to his ship Capt. John Erskine Douglas of the Bellona 74, the senior British officer in the Chesapeake (who happened to be on shore), before the intelligence arrived.
