Wm. Mitchell. During that period he assisted in fitting out a variety of frigates and other vessels. In the Isis he was present as Master’s Mate in the action off Camperdown 11 Oct. 1797; on which occasion he was placed on board one of the prizes and sent with her into Sheerness. On 19 Dec. ensuing he accompanied the grand procession of thanksgiving to St. Paul’s. He was made Lieutenant, 17 Dec. 1798, into the Babet 20, Capt. Jemmett Mainwaring; was next, in Oct. 1800 (about three months after he had invalided from the Babet), appointed to the Atalante sloop, Capt. Anselm John Griffiths; and was subsequently placed in command – 15 Aug- 1801, of the Raison 20, lying at Sheerness, where he remained until April, 1802 – 10 March, 1803, of the Enterprise receiving-ship off the Tower – and, 19 June, 1806, of the Vigilant 64, prison-ship at Portsmouth. While serving in the Babet, in the boats of which ship he was at different times actively employed on the coast of France, he accompanied the expedition to Holland (where he landed with the army and witnessed the surrender of the Dutch squadron under Rear-Admiral Storey), and was present in an attack made in July, 1800, on four French frigates, lying in Dunkerque Roads, one of which, La Désirée of 40 guns, was taken. On 29 Jan. 1801, Mr. Somerville, then in the Atalante, was severely wounded in the right thigh in boarding a Spanish privateer; in consequence whereof he was under the necessity of being sent to the hospital at Plymouth. On leaving the Enterprise in May, 1806, he was presented at the hands of Alderman Lucas, Captain-Commandant of the River Fencibles, with a piece of plate valued at 50 guineas, as a token of the acknowledgments of that corps for the very essential services he had on all occasions rendered it. He resigned command of the Vigilant 16 Nov. 1812; was admitted to the out-pension of Greenwich Hospital 3 Oct. 1825; and accepted his present rank 1 Oct. 1840.
From Feb. 1813 until April, 1815, Commander Somerville superintended the Marine Society’s ship. He has been twice married and has had issue three sons and two daughters.
SOTHEBY. (Rear-Admiral of the Blue, 1848. f-p., 21; h-p., 31.)
Charles Sotheby is eldest son of Wm. Sotheby, Esq., F.R.S., of Fairmead Lodge, co. Essex. This officer entered the Royal Naval Academy 5 Sept. 1795; and embarked, 31 March, 1798, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Alexander 74, Capt. Alex. John Ball, attached to the force in the Mediterranean; where he removed, 12 Dec. 1800, to the Foudroyant 80, flag-ship of Lord Keith, and was nominated, 21 Oct. 1801, Acting-Lieutenant of the Penelope 36, Capts. Hon. Henry Blackwood and Wm. Robt. Broughton. In the Alexander he was present as Midshipman at the battle of the Nile, at the capture of Le Généreux 74 and Ville de Marseilles store-ship, at the blockade and surrender of Malta, and on shore, as Aide-de-Camp to Capt. Ball, at the siege of the castle of St. Elmo; and in the Foudroyant he took an active part in the operations of 1801 in Egypt. Being confirmed a Lieutenant in the Penelope by a commission bearing date 25 Jan. 1802, he continued in that ship, in the Mediterranean and North Sea, until transferred, in 1803, to the Princess Royal 98, flag-ship in the Channel of Admirals Sawyer and Reynolds. His next appointments were – 25 April, 1807, to the Thetis 38, Capts. Wm. Hall Gage and Geo. Miller, under whom he took part in a variety of operations against the Turks – 18 Oct. 1808, to the Trident 64, as Flag-Lieutenant at Malta to Rear-Admiral Sir A. J. Ball – and, in March, 1809, to the acting command of the Pilot 18, which vessel, on her return from the Mediterranean, formed one of the advanced squadron in the expedition to the Scheldt. He was confirmed in the rank of Commander 8 Jan. 1810; was next, from 6 July in that year until posted 28 Feb. 1812, employed off Lisbon and again in the Mediterranean in the Latona 38, armée en flûte; and was afterwards appointed – 24 Aug. 1814, to the Slaney 20, lying in the River Medway – 1 Oct. 1814, to the Tamar 24, in which ship he served, on the Halifax, South American, and Cape of Good Hope stations, until 27 March, 1816 – and, 18 May, 1824, to the Seringapatam 46, fitting for the Mediterranean, where, during a stay of more than three years, he was very active in the suppression of piracy, and on one occasion, in May, 1825, forced the Bey of Rhodes by his spirited conduct to acknowledge an insult which had been offered to the British Consul. He attained Flag-rank 20 March, 1848.
Rear-Admiral Sotheby married first, 15 Feb. 1819, Hon. Jane Hamilton, third daughter of William, seventh Lord Belhaven and Stenton; and secondly, 18 Nov. 1830, Mary Anne, daughter of the late Admiral and Lady Mary Anne Sotheby, by whom he has issue.
SOTHEBY. (Commander, 1841.)
Edward Southwell Sotheby entered the Navy 3 Aug. 1826; passed his examination in 1832; and was made Lieutenant, 3 Oct. 1835, into the Caledonia 120, flag-ship of Sir Josias Rowley, in the Mediterranean; where he served, from 5 April, 1837, until 1841, part of the time as Senior, in the Dido 18, Capt. Lewis Davies. His next appointment was, 21 Aug, 1841, in the capacity last mentioned, to the Madagascar 44, Capt. John Foote, fitting at Portsmouth. He acquired his present rank 30 Oct. in the same year; and commanded the Racehorse sloop in the East Indies from 26 June, 1846, until paid off in 1848.
SOUTH. (Lieut., 1809. f-p., 18; h-p., 30.)
William Wilson South entered the Navy, 16 Aug. 1799, as Midshipman, on board La Forte 44, Capt. Ferdinand Lucius Hardyman, stationed in the East Indies, where, on that ship being wrecked, he joined in succession, in the course of 1801, the Leopard 50, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral John Blankett, and Fox 32, and Chiffonne 36, Capts. Henry Stuart, Chas. Adam, and Patrick Campbell. On his return in the latter frigate to Europe we find him, in June, 1805, present in company with the Falcon sloop. Clinker gun-brig, and Francis armed cutter, and assisting, after a chase of nine hours (during which the British suffered some loss from the incessant fire of the forts along shore) in driving under the batteries of Fécamp a division of the French flotilla, consisting of 2 corvettes and 15 gun-vessels, carrying in all 51 guns, 4 8-inch mortars, and 3 field-pieces, accompanied by 14 transports. When subsequently with Capt. Adam in the Resistance 38, he witnessed the surrender, 13 March, 1806, of the Marengo 80, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Linois, and 40-gun frigate Belle Poule; and on removing to the Mediator frigate, Capt. Wm. Furlong Wise, he aided in taking, in the early part of 1807, the fort of Samana, St. Domingo, a notorious nest for privateers. Joining next the Veteran 64, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Jas. Rich. Dacres, he served in the boats of that ship on various occasions, and was for some time employed in her tender the Gipsy, under the orders of the present Sir Rich. Grant. He was nominated, 2 June, 1808, Acting-Lieutenant of the Bacchante 20, Capt. Wm. Ward, with whom he returned to England; was promoted officially 13 June, 1809; and from 20 of the same month until 29 April, 1815, was employed on the Home, West India, and Cape of Good Hope stations, in the Dannemark 74, Capts. Jas. Bissett and Henry Edw. Reginald Baker, part, at first, of the force engaged in the expedition to the Walcheren. He has filled the appointment, since 4 July, 1845, of Admiralty Agent on board a contract mail steam-vessel.
In 1818-19 Lieut. South was chief Mate and Commander of the East India ship Java of 1175 tons; and in 1825-6 he commanded the Mexican frigate Libertad at the siege of San Juan de Ulloa. He married Louisa, daughter of Mr. John Rhodes, Sur-
