A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Harvey, Edward (a)
HARVEY. (Captain, 1811. f-p., 24; h-p., 30.)
Edward Harvey, born 3 March, 1783, is third and youngest son of John Harvey (who was mortally wounded in command of the Brunswick 74 on the glorious 1 June, 1794, and whose services are recorded by a public monument in Westminster Abbey), by Judith, daughter of Hen. Wise, Esq., of Sandwich, co. Kent. He is brother of the late Admiral Sir John Harvey, K.C.B.;[1] brother-in-law, as well as first-cousin, of the late Vice-Admiral Sir Thos. Harvey, K.C.B.; and uncle of Commanders Thos., Hen., and John Harvey, R.N., and of Commander Hen. Boteler, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, in 1793, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Brunswick 74, commanded by his father, on the books of which ship his name continued until 1794. Re-embarking, in April, 1796, on board the Prince of Wales 98, bearing the flag of his uncle, Rear-Admiral Hen. Harvey, and commanded by his brother, Capt. John Harvey, he proceeded to the West Indies, where, in Feb. 1797, we find him assisting, as Midshipman, at the capture of Trinidad, and the seizure and destruction of four line-of-battle ships and a frigate in Chaguaramas Bay. On his ensuing return to England in the Zebra sloop, Capt. John Hurst, he was received on board the Beaulieu 40, Capt. Fras. Fayerman, under whom, on 11 Oct. in the same year, he shared In the action off Camperdown. In 1798 he rejoined his brother in the Southampton 32, and, proceeding again to the West Indies, was present in that frigate, of which he soon became Acting-Lieutenant, at the reduction of the Danish and Swedish islands in March, 1801. He was confirmed, shortly after accompanying his relative into the Amphitrite 28, by commission dated 24 July, 1801, and afterwards appointed – 14 Oct. following, to the Iris 32, Capts. Hon. Philip Wodehouse and David Atkins, stationed in the North Sea – 21 Nov. 1802, to the Apollo 36, Capt. John Wm. Taylor Dixon, which frigate, with her Captain and 60 of the crew, was lost on the coast of Portugal 1 April, 1804, the remainder of the men being in a great measure saved through the instrumentality of Mr. Harvey – next, to the Amethyst 36 and Amaranthe 18, Capts. John Wm. Spranger and Edw. Pelham Brenton, on the Home station – 17 Aug. 1805, to the Intrepid 64, Capt. Hon. P. Wodehouse, under whom he commanded a detachment of seamen and marines at the capture of the island of Capri, and was also present at the defence of Gaeta – and, 24 Nov. 1807, to the Trident 64, Capt. Campbell, lying at Chatham. Being promoted to the command, 7 Jan. 1808, of the Cephalus 18, and re-ordered to the Mediterranean, Capt. Harvey there succeedied in capturing four privateers and several small merchant-vessels, and, while, co-operating in the defence of Sicily, came frequently into contact with the gunboats on the Calabrian shore. After having acted for a short time in command of the Cumberland 74, he was officially posted, 18 April, 1811, into the Topaze 36, which frigate he brought home from the Mediterranean and paid off 30 Jan. 1812. His succeeding appointments were – 3 Nov. 1830, to the Undaunted 46, successively employed, until put out of commission in Feb. 1834, on the Cape of Good Hope, African, and East India stations, during which period he commanded a squadron at the time of an insurrection in the Isle of France – 14 Feb 1838, to the Malabar 74, attached to the force in North America and the West Indies--and, 1 Feb. 1839, to the Implacable 74 in the Mediterranean, where his services in 1840, on the coast of Syria and at the blockade of Alexandria, procured him a gold medal, sabre, and decoration from the Grand Turk. He has not been afloat since he was paid off, 31 Jan. 1842.
Capt. Harvey married Miss Cannon, of Sandwich, and by that lady has had issue six children. Agents – Messrs. Ommanney.
- ↑ Obtaining his first commission in 1790, Sir John Harvey served as a Lieutenant of the Iphigenia 32, at the hard-wrought capture, by the latter ship and the Penelope 32, of the French 36-gun frigate Inconstante 25 Nov. 1793. He commanded L’Actif sloop when that vessel foundered in Nov. 1794, and, being shortly afterwards posted, in honour of his father’s valour in the action of the 1st of June, he subsequently officiated as Captain of the Prince of Wales 98 (employed, as above, at the reduction of Trinidad), Southampton 32, Agamemnon 64 (one of Sir Robert Calder’s most distinguished ships in the action of 22 July, 1805), Canada 74, Leviathan 74 (part of the squadron under Sir George Martin at the destruction, in Oct. 1809, of the Robuste 80 and Lion 74), and Royal Sovereign 100. As a Rear-Admiral, which rank he attained in Dec. 1813, he commanded in chief in the Leeward Islands from 1810 until 1819. He was nominated a K.C.B. 6 June, 1833, and died an Admiral of the Blue, at Upper Deal, 17 Feb. 1837, in the 65th year of his age.