Royal Naval Biography/Proby, William Henry Baptist
WILLIAM HENRY BAPTIST PROBY, Esq.
[Commander.]
Eldest son of the late Rev. John Baptist Proby, rector of St. Mary’s, Lichfield, co. Stafford[1], by Mary Susannah, youngest daughter of the late Sir Nigel Gresley, Bart.
This officer was born at Lichfield, on the 15th Oct. 1794; and entered the royal navy, in Mar. 1807, as midshipman on board the Centaur 74, hearing the broad pendant of his cousin-in-law, the late Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, K.B., under whose auspices he continued to serve until the demise of that highly distinguished officer, in Dec. 1814[2]. He was consequently present at the bombardment of Copenhagen, and surrender of the Danish navy, in Aug. and Sept. 1807; the occupation of Madeira, Dec. 26th, in the same year; and the capture and destruction of a Russian 74, on the Baltic station, in Aug. 1808[3]. He was also at the reduction of Walcheren, in Aug. 1809.
In 1810, M. Proby followed Sir Samuel Hood into the Hibernia 120, on the Mediterranean station. He subsequently accompanied him to the East Indies; and on the 28th June, 1813, then serving as midshipman of the Hussar frigate, Captain the Hon. George Elliott, assisted in storming the defences of Sambas, a piratical state on the western coast of Borneo[4]. The following is a copy of the senior officer’s official report to Captain George Sayer, commanding a squadron in the Eastern Seas:–
“ Sir,–
“It affords me much satisfaction to communicate the good conduct and indefatigable exertions of the party of seamen belonging to H.M. ship Hussar, which you did me the honor to place under my orders, to co-operate with the detachment of troops commanded by Colonel Watson, of H.M. 14th regiment, for the reduction of the batteries at Sambas.
“During a six hours’ march, in an almost impenetrable jungle, through which, for the greater part of the way, a path was cut by a division of the seamen (the remainder of the party having been appointed to carry the scaling ladders), that ardour so common to British sailors was eminently conspicuous; and in the assault made on five batteries successively, all of which were carried in half an hour, I cannot sufficiently commend their intrepid behaviour, while exposed to a heavy fire in advancing with the troops, as well as their spirited exertions in cutting down the fences which surrounded the batteries. The very animated exertions of Lieutenant Henry Hoghton, of the Hussar, and Mr. William H. B. Proby, midshipman, during the whole of this service, entitle them to my warmest thanks and every possible praise. I have the honor to be, &c.
For his gallant conduct on this occasion, Mr. Proby received the public thanks of Colonel Watson, and was appointed by Sir Samuel Hood acting lieutenant of his flagship, the Minden 74. He appears to have been confirmed into the Hesper sloop, Captain Charles Biddulph, Jan. 9th, 1814; and we subsequently find him serving on the same station, in the Leda 36, Wellesley 74, and Owen Glendower 36, which latter ship, commanded by Captain Brian Hodgson, was paid off May 23d, 1816.
Lieutenant Proby spent part of the ensuing six years in a free trader to India, being unable to obtain employment in the navy until Feb. 14th, 1822 when he was appointed to the Queen Charlotte 104, flag-ship of Sir James H. Whitshed, commander-in-chief at Portsmouth. His subsequent appointments were, about June 1823, to the Cambridge 82, Captain T. J. Maling, destined to the Pacific Ocean, in which ship he continued until June 21st, 1827; and Dec. 8th, 1828, to be first of the Southampton 50, fitting out for the flag of Sir Edward W. C. R. Owen, then recently nominated commander-in-chief on the East India station. After equipping the Southampton, he was advanced to his present rank, by commission dated Mar. 19th, 1829.
Commander Proby married, April 28th, 1831, Louisa Mary, only daughter of the late Rev. Samuel How, of Stickland, in Dorsetshire, and Southleigh, co. Devon. His brother, the Rev. John Caryfort Proby, is a chaplain in the Hon.E.I.Company’s service, at Bengal.
- ↑ Eldest son of the late Dean of Lichfield, and nephew to the late Commissioner Proby, of H.M. dock-yard at Chatham.
- ↑ Sir Samuel Hood married the eldest daughter of the Earl of Seaforth, governor of Barbadoes, by his Countess, the daughter of the above-mentioned Dean of Lichfield.
- ↑ See Vol. II. Part II. pp. 649–652.
- ↑ See Vol. II. Part I. p. 357, et seq.
- ↑ See Suppl. Part III. p. 90 et seq.