A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Thruston, Charles Thomas
THRUSTON. (Retired Captain, 1844. f-p., 14; h-p., 35.)
Charles Thomas Thruston is second son of the late Framingham Thruston, Esq., of Market Weston Hall, co. Suffolk, by Frances, second daughter of Sam. Holworthy, Esq., and wife afterwards of Major Valentine Gardner, brother of Admiral the first Lord Gardner.
This officer entered the Navy, 19 Dec. 1798, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Volage 24, Capt. Hon. Philip Wodehouse, whom he accompanied to the West Indies. In July, 1799, having returned home with the latter as a passenger in La Rénommée frigate, and been nearly lost, he joined the Cruizer sloop, Capt. Chas. Wollaston, on the North Sea station, where he served for about two years, and contributed to the capture of several privateers. Being again, in the course of 1801, placed under the command of Capt. Wodehouse as Midshipman on board the Brii.i.iant 28, he continued employed with him in that frigate and in the Iris and Resistance[1] until wrecked, near Cape St. Vincent, 31 May, 1803. In the following Aug. he joined the Camelion 18, Capt. Thos. Staines; in Dec. of the same year, after having seen much boat service along the coasts of France and Italy, he was received, at the recommendation of Capt. Wodehouse, on board the Canopus 80, bearing the flag, also in the Mediterranean, of Rear-Admiral Geo. Campbell; and on 31 Aug. 1805, at which period he had been serving for a few months with Capt. Rich. Grindall in the Channel in the Prince 98, he was nominated Sub-Lieutenant of the Charles armed ship, Capt. Geo. Davies, engaged in affording protection to the Baltic trade. He was promoted to the full rank of Lieutenant 15 Nov. 1806; and on 26 Dec. ensuing was appointed First of the Ringdove sloop, Capt. Geo. Andrews. In her he was present, in 1807, in the attack upon Copenhagen. Becoming Second-Lieutenant, in May, 1808, of the Endymion 40, Capt. Hon. Thos. Bladen Capel, he assisted, in Jan. 1809, in embarking the remains of General Moore’s army at Corunna, and in the course of the same year waa employed in active co-operation with the patriots on the north coast of Spain, particularly in the neighbourhood of Corcubion, where he landed, and, by organizing the peasantry and otherwise, rendered much important service. In describing the scenes which took place at this period, the late Capt. Basil Hall, who belonged to the Endymion, thus expresses himself:– “He (Capt. Capel) was fortunate in having a very good supporter, while his own professed ignorance of the language afforded him leisure to reflect before he was called upon to reply. I allude to our grand interpreter and the mainspring of all our operations, the Second-Lieutenant, Chas. Thruston, an officer who had seen much active service both afloat and on shore, and who, to the important advantages of experience in this peculiar line of warfare, added a knowledge of the Spanish language and a heartiness of address peculiarly suited to win the confidence of the people we were amongst. To give efficacy to these qualifications, he was gifted with talents and resources which it is a thousand pities should not have found higher exercise in the service of his country than in this inglorious campaign of Corcubion. It was of the greatest importance, however, to the cause to have one man amongst us whom all parties esteemed and were quite willing to follow, and who likewise understood the habits and language of the natives so thoroughly that no misapprehension of their meaning was ever likely to arise.” After making a voyage to Madeira Mr. Thruston sailed, in 1810, for the Cape of Good Hope on promotion in the Scipion 74, flag-ship of Hon. Robt. Stopford. Proceeding, in 1811, to join the expedition against the island of Java, he was sent on shore, on his arrival at Batavia, for the purpose of keeping up a communication between the naval and military head-quarters. On 26 Sept. in the same year he was nominated Acting-Commander of the Hester sloop; and while in that vessel, to which he was confirmed 7 Feb. 1812, he succeeded, with a crew much reduced by sickness, in obtaining the surrender of Coupang, in the island of Timor, and in securing it to the British Government.[2] The judgment, the ingenuity, and the energy of action which enabled Capt. Thruston, without a single blow, to make this acquisition, reflected upon him the very highest honour. He returned home an invalid, from inflammation of the liver, towards the close of 1812, in the Doris 36, Capt. Wm. Jones Lye, and was not afterwards able to procure employment. He accepted his present rank 11 March, 1844.
Capt. Thruston married, first, in 1815, the only surviving child and heiress of Lewis Edwards, Esq., of Talgarth, Merionethshire, sister-in-law of the present Earl of Macclesfield; and, secondly, 5 Sept. 1829, Eliza, second daughter of the late Admiral Sotheby. By the former lady he has issue. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.