A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Owen, Edward William Campbell Rich

by William Richard O'Byrne

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OWEN, G.C.B., G.C.H. (Admiral of the Blue, 1846. f-p., 50; h-p., 22.)

Sir Edward William Campbell Rich Owen is son of Capt. Wm. Owen, R.N., a gentleman of high Welsh extraction, who lost his right arm, when a Midshipman, at the taking of Pondicherry from the French in 1760, and who, after assisting in command of the Cormorant at the second capture of that town, was accidentally killed at Madras, while returning to England with despatches, in 1778. Sir Edward is brother of the present Rear-Admiral Wm. Fitzwilliam Owen; and first-cousin of Sir Arthur David Owen, Kt., of Glan Severn, a Deputy-Lieutenant for co. Montgomery, and High Sheriff in 1814, who for many years prior to his death, which took place in 1816, commanded the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry Cavalry under the Right Hon. Chas. W. W. Wynn.

This officer entered the Navy, 11 Aug. 1775, as Captain’s Servant, on board the Enterprize, commanded in the Mediterranean by Capt. Sir Thos. Rich, with whom, from 1780 until 1782, he served in the West Indies in the Princessa, Sandwich, and Princess Royal. In July, 1786, he rejoined the same Captain, as Midshipman, on board the Culloden 74, lying at Plymouth; and while on the books of that ship he was on two occasions lent to the Fairy sloop, Capt. Isaac Geo. Manley, and Leander 50, bearing the broad pendant at Halifax of Commodore Herbert Sawyer. In the early part of 1790, after a servitude of two years on the Channel and Mediterranean stations in the Lowestoffe frigate, Capt. Edm. Dod, he passed his examination. He then became in succession attached to the Thisbe 28, Capt. Rupert George, Dido frigate, Capt. Edw. Buller, Vengeance 74, Capt. Sir Thos. Rich, Hannibal 74, Capt. John Colpoys, Porcupine 24, Capt. Edw. Buller, and Culloden again, Capt. Sir Thos. Rich; in which ships he served on the North American, Home, and West India stations, until made Lieutenant, 6 Nov. 1793, into the Fortunée 36, Capt. Wooldridge, off Cadiz; where he soon removed to the Hannibal, still commanded by Capt. Colpoys. His next appointments were, 22 July and 15 Dec. 1794, to his old ship the Culloden, and to the London 98, bearing the flags in the Channel of Admirals Sir Thos. Rich and J. Colpoys; by the latter, we believe, of whom he was nominated, after having enacted a part in Lord Bridport’s action, Acting-Captain, in March and May, 1796, of the Impregnable 98, and Queen Charlotte 100. Being awarded a second promotal commission, bearing date 19 Sept. 1796, Capt. Owen, in Jan. 1797, rejoined his friend Admiral Colpoys, as a Volunteer, on board the London; on leaving which ship in the ensuing May he was for two months employed in command of the gun-brigs stationed in the river Thames and at the Nore, under the orders of Commodore Sir Erasmus Gower. He obtained Post-rank, 23 April, 1798, in the Northumberland 74, lying at Sheerness; and he was subsequently appointed – for a short period in the summer of the same year, to the Irresistible 74, stationed in the river Medway – 1 Jan. 1801, to the Nemesis 28 – 11 May, 1802, to the Immortalité 36 – 21 March, 1806, to the Clyde 38 – 6 Dec. 1810, to the Inconstant 36 – 17 Feb. 1813, to the Cornwall 74 – 30 July, 1814, to the Dorset yacht, off Deptford – 12 Dec. 1814, to the chief command on the lakes of Canada – 6 Feb. 1816, for six years, to the Royal Sovereign yacht – and 25 Nov. 1822, to the Gloucester 74. In the Nemesis Capt. Owen commanded a detachment of vessels off the Scheldt and in the neighbourhood of Dunkerque; and in the Immortalité he was at first employed, as Senior Officer, during the peace of Amiens, of a squadron of frigates lying in readiness for service in the Downs. On the renewal of hostilities we find him stationed with several sloops and smaller vessels under his orders on the coast of France, where his activity and zeal kept the enemy in a constant state of alarm. In June, 1803, he drove on shore, near Cape Blanc-nez, Le Commode and L’Inabordable, a French brig and schooner, each mounting 4 guns.^[1] On 14 Sept. following he bombarded with effect the towns of Dieppe and St. Valery-en-Caux;^[2] and in July, 1804, he directed an attack upon a powerful division of the French invasion flotilla, consisting of 45 brigs and 43 luggers, part of which was endeavouring to effect a passage from Boulogne to Etaples.^[3] In Aug. of the same year he was for several days engaged with the enemy, particularly on the 25th and 26th, when the interchange of fire with their vessels and batteries in the vicinity of Boulogne was frequent and heavy. On 23 Oct. 1804 the Immortalité and her consorts sustained a running action of an hour, between Capes Blanc-nez and Gris-nez, with three praams, seven brigs, and fifteen luggers,^[4] and in July, 1805, they took part in a very smart affair with the enemy near Ambleteuse. On the latter occasion the Immortalité had her foremast, maintopmast, spanker-boom, and three boats shot through, her rigging and sails much cut, her hull struck in several places, 2 carronades disabled, and 4 men killed and 12 wounded, several of them severely. She had previously, 7 March, 1805, captured El Entrepeda Corune Spanish privateer of 44 guns and 66 men. On his removal (after having had command of a squadron stationed in the rivers Elbe and Weser, for the purpose of embarking the troops under Lord Cathcart) to the Clyde, Commodore Owen (he had been ordered to hoist a broad-pendant) superintended, in Oct. 1806, a decisive and very successful experiment made with Congreve’s rockets on the town of Boulogne, where many of the buildings and several vessels were destroyed.^[5] Accompanying the expedition of 1809 to the Walcheren, the Commodore throughout the operations which there took place distinguished himself in a high degree by his gallant and animated conduct, and obtained warm commendation for the manner in which he discharged the various arduous duties he had to perform. His skill and judgment were in particular demonstrated in the position he assigned to the bomb and other vessels under his orders in the attack upon Flushing, and his activity and zeal in the assistance he afforded the St. Domingo, the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, when aground under the enemy’s fire, which, through his exertions, was speedily slackened.^[6] In the Inconstant Commodore Owen made a voyage to Vera Cruz and back, and was for some time attached to the fleet off the Scheldt; where, on his appointment to the Cornwall, he assumed command of the advanced portion of the shipping. At the close of 1813 he rendered himself conspicuous by his exemplary conduct at the head of a body of seamen and marines landed to co-operate with the Dutch royalists in the defence of the island of South Beveland.^[7] While in command of the Royal Sovereign yacht he had the honour of conveying to this country the present Queen Dowager, the Dukes and Duchesses of Kent, Cumberland, Cambridge, and Hesse Homburg, and the Grand Duke Michael of Russia. With the exception of some months in 1823-4, Sir Edw. Owen (who had been nominated a K.C.B. 2 Jan. 1815, invested with the honour of Knighthood 14 May, 1816, and appointed a Colonel of Royal Marines 19 July, 1821) continued in the Gloucester, on the West India station (where the House of Assembly at Jamaica passed a vote of thanks to him for his prompt attention to commercial and naval interests), from the date above mentioned until that of his promotion to Flag-rank 27 May, 1825. On 20 Dec. 1828 he was appointed to the chief command on the East India station, whence he returned in Oct. 1832; and he was next, from 14 Oct. 1841 until Feb. 1845, intrusted with the chief command (he had attained the rank of Vice-Admiral 10 Jan. 1837) in the Mediterranean, with his flag successively in the Queen 110 and Formidable 84. His nomination to the G.C.H. took place 24 Oct. 1832; and to the G.C.B. 8 May, 1845.

Sir Edw. W. C. R. Owen sat in Parliament in 1826 as Member for Sandwich. In May, 1827, he was appointed Surveyor-General of the Ordnance; he was selected, in March, 1828, to form a member of the Council of the Lord High Admiral; and in Dec. 1834 he was called to office as Clerk of the Ordnance. He married, in 1829, Miss Selena Hey. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.

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1. Vide Gaz. 1803, p. 711.
2. Vide Gaz. 1803, p. 1273.
3. Vide Gaz. 1804, p. 891.
4. Vide Gaz. 1804, p. 1320.
5. Commodore Owen had very zealously and usefully cooperated in the famous Catamaran display made in Oct. 1804 against the enemy’s flotilla. – Vide Gaz. 1804, p. 1237.
6. Vide Gaz. 1809, p. 1325, 2006, 2055.
7. Vide Gaz. 1813, p. 2676-77.