the Revenge, as Signal-Lieutenant to his uncle, then Rear-Admiral Sir John Gore. From the latter ship he was promoted to the rank of Commander 26 Aug. 1814. On 18 April, 1820, we find him assuming command of the Shearwater 10; in which vessel, until paid off at the commencement of 1822, he served on the St. Helena station. On one occasion, being caught in a violent gale, he was obliged to throw all his guns overboard. His next appointment was, 14 June, 1822, to the Thracian 18, fitting for the West Indies; where, as a reward “for zeal and efforts which had commanded the applause of all,” he was posted, 16 June, 1823, into the Tyne 26. In the ensuing Dec. he returned to England with a freight of 500,000 dollars and a quantity of cochineal on merchants’ account. He did not afterwards go afloat.
Capt. Roberts married, in Nov. 1825, Frances, daughter of John Sargent, Esq., of Lavington Park, co. Sussex, formerly M.P. for Seaford.
ROBERTS. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 27; h-p., 16.)
Lazarus Roberts entered the Navy, 1 June, 1804, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Ville de Paris 110, Capts. Thos. Le Marchant Gosselin, John Whitby, and Geo. Aldham, bearing the flag in the Channel of Hon. Wm. Cornwallis; under whom he appears to have been present, 22 Aug. 1805, in an attack made upon the French fleet close in with Brest harbour. Being removed, in May, 1806, as Midshipman (a rating he had attained in Oct. 1804), to the Montagu 74, Capt. Robt. Waller Otway, he sailed in that ship with Sir Rich. Strachan in pursuit of a French squadron to the West Indies. On subsequently proceeding to the Mediterranean he assisted at the evacuation of Scylla, a fortified rock on the Faro of Messina, the garrison of which was embarked under a smart fire from the Calabrian shore. He also co-operated with the patriots on the coast of Catalonia, where he took part in the defence of Gerona, and aided in taking possession of the fortress of Rosas. On his return to England with Capt. Otway in the Malta 80, he joined, in Dec. 1808, the Revenge 74, Capt. Hon. Chas. Paget, part of the force employed in the following year in the expedition to the Walcheren. In June, 1810, he was received on board the Royal William, Capt. Robt. Hall, lying at Spithead; from May, 1811, to Jan. 1815, he served (the last 19 months as Master’s Mate) on board the Zealous 74, Capt. Thos. Boys, in the Baltic; and, on 7 Feb. in the latter year, being then at Cork in the Boyne 98, Capt. Fred. Lewis Maitland, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. On 30 June, 1834 (having had command since 27 June, 1831, of the Scout Revenue-cruizer), he obtained charge of a station in the Coast Guard, in which service he remained until appointed, 28 Jan. 1845, for two years and a half, to the Royal Charlotte, another Revenue-vessel. Since 19 June, 1847, he has again been in the Coast Guard.
ROBERTS. (Commander, 1814. h-p., 19; h-p., 35.)
Mitchell Roberts entered the Navy, in 1793, as a Volunteer, on board the Regulus 44, Capts. Edw. Bowater and Geo. Oakes; with the latter of whom, after having made a voyage to Quebec and served on the West India station, he removed to the Seahorse 38. In that ship, on Capt. Thos. Fras. Fremantle succeeding to the command, he accompanied the expedition to Teneriffe in July, 1797. He cruized subsequently for 15 months in the Channel in the Niger 32, Capts. Edw. Griffith, Matthew Henry Scott, and Hon. Philip,Wodehouse. He then, in Jan. 1799, joined L’Aimable 32, Capt. Henry Raper; and, on 13 March, 1800, while serving as a Supernumerary on board the Abergavenny 54, Capt. Robt. Mends, he was nominated Acting-Lieutenant of the Diligence 18, Capt. Chas. Bayne Hodgson Ross. Towards the close of 1799 L’Aimable sailed from Cork, in company with the Glenmore 44 and a fleet of merchantmen bound to the West Indies. On her passage she fell in, 17 Dec, with La Sirène, a heavy French frigate, La Bergère corvette, and the Calcutta, an extra East Indiaman, and, while the Glenmore was engaged in recapturing and retaining possession of the Indiaman, went in pursuit of the men-of-War, with whom, although they contrived in the end to make off, she maintained for 35 minutes a very spirited action. The Diligence, to which vessel he was confirmed 15 Oct. 1800, being lost in the course of that month off Cuba, Mr. Roberts, in the ensuing Dec, joined the Légère 18, Capt. Cornelius Quinton; under whom he was again, in April, 1801, wrecked, near Carthagena, in South America. On this occasion he was taken prisoner. In the following July, having regained his liberty, he was received as a Supernumerary on board the Lowestoffe 32, Capt. Robt. Plampin; but on 11 of the next month, while on his passage home with convoy, he had the misfortune to be a third time wrecked, on the island of Heneaga. His succeeding appointments were – in Nov. 1801, to the charge of a Signal-Station on the coast of Essex – 5 June, 1802, for a short time to the Eugénie in the Channel – 20 Sept. 1803, to the Britannia 100, bearing the flag of the Earl of Northesk on the same station – 1 March and 17 April, 1805, and 29 Sept. 1807, to the command of the Lucy lugger and Florence and Lord Keith cutters, all employed on Home service – and, 11 April, 1808, to the Elizabeth 74, Capts. Hon. Henry Curzon, Thos. Searle, and Edw. Leveson Gower. In the latter ship he served for some time at the blockade of Lisbon, escorted the Russian fleet to England after the convention of Cintra, assisted in embarking Sir John Moore’s army at Corunna, brought a large convoy home from the Brazils, and was actively employed in the Mediterranean. While on that station he took command, 29 April, 1813, of the boats of the Elizabeth and Eagle 74, and acquired much credit by his conduct, at the capture of one, and destruction of another, of an armed convoy who had run themselves on shore into a tremendous surf, under the protection of a galling fire from a 2-gun battery, two schooners, and two settee gun-boats, near Goro.[1] On 8 June, 1813, he succeeded, with the boats of the same ships, in destroying, close to Omago, a 2-gnn battery, and in there capturing four scuttled vessels loaded with wine. Twelve days afterwards he aided, at the head of 50 of the Elizabeth’s crew, in taking possession of the town of Dignano; and on 25 May, 1814, he made prize, in the boats of that ship alone and under the guns of the island of Vide, near the town of Corfu, of the Aigle French national xebec, mounting 6 guns, a howitzer, and 2 swivels, and having on board 41 men.[2] He continued in the Elizabeth until July, 1814; and on 24 Sept. following was advanced to the rank of Commander. He has since been on half-pay. Agent – F. Dufaur.
ROBERTS, Kt., C.B. (Captain, 1815. f-p., 27; h-p., 23.)
Sir Samuel Roberts, born in 1787, is son of the late Rev. John Roberts, Rector of Passage, near Waterford; and brother (with Capt. Thos. Roberts, R.N.) of Col. Abraham Roberts, C.B., of the Hon.E.I.Co.’s service.
This officer entered the Navy, in Nov. 1797, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Expedition, Lieut.-Commander John Hinton, lying at Waterford. Joining next, 17 Sept. 1798, the Anson of 46 guns and 327 men, Capt. Philip Chas. Durham, he was on board that frigate when she encountered, shortly afterwards, and for 17 days dogged, in company with the Ethalion 38, a French squadron under Commodore Bompart, consisting of La Hoche of 78 guns, eight frigates, a brig, and a schooner, destined for the invasion of Ireland. With five of the frigates, after the three others together with the line-of-battle ship had fallen into the hands of Sir John Borlase Warren, the Anson, on 12 Oct.,
