Rodd – 15 Oct. following and 28 Oct. 1816, to the Myrmidon 20, Capt. Robt. Gambier, and Tagus 38, Capt. Jas. Whitley Deans Dundas, both in the Mediterranean – 26 Aug. 1818, to the Rochfort 80, flag-ship of Sir Thos. Fras. Fremantle and Sir Graham Moore on the same station – 11 Jan. 1820, to the Révolutionnaire 46, Capt. Hon. Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew – and 15 April, 1820, again to the Rochfort. He assisted in the Niobe at the capture, 20 Oct. 1810, of L’Hirondelle privateer of 4 guns and 30 men; took part, in the following Nov., in a gallant attack made, in company with the Diana 38, upon the French 40-gun frigates Amazone and Eliza, who were driven under the batteries of La Hogue, where the latter was ultimately burnt; aided in taking, 4 March, 1811, Le Loup Marin privateer of 16 guns and 64 men; and witnessed, at the close of the same month, the self-destruction, near Cape Barfleur, of the above-named Amazone. While serving as Second-Lieutenant in the Warrior he experienced a furious hurricane, which dismasted that ship, filled her hold with 11 feet water, and nearly sunk her. In endeavouring on the occasion to clear her of one of a convoy which had run on board of her, he was washed into the sea; but his exertions nevertheless materially contributed to extricate her from her critical situation. As First-Lieutenant of the Forester, Myrmidon, Tagus, and Rochfort, Mr. Sparshott acquired much professional reputation and succeeded by his eminent good qualities in securing the friendship and esteem of his superiors. He attained the rank of Commander 29 Jan. 1821; was appointed, in 1824, to the Coast Guard; served as Second-Captain of the Prince Regent 120, flag-ship of Hon. Sir Henry Blackwood at Chatham, from 28 Aug. 1828 until posted, 22 July, 1830; and from 4 June, 1834, until paid off in June, 1838, commanded the Winchester 52, as Flag-Captain to Hon. Sir Thos. Bladen Capel In the East Indies. The latter appointment he obtained at the recommendation of William IV. In 1837 he was sent with a body of troops and two steamers and a corvette of the Indian Navy under his orders, to suppress an insurrection in the province of Canara; and so prompt and successful were his arrangements that he received the written thanks of the Governors in Council of Madras and Bombay, and the fullest approbation of his Commander-in-Chief. He was nominated a K.H. 19 April, 1831; and admitted to the out-pension of Greenwich Hospital 4 Nov. 1846.
Capt. Sparshott is a Knight of the Red Eagle of Prussia. Agents – Messrs. Ommanney.
SPARSHOTT. (Commander, 1818. f-p., 15;[1] h-p., 29.)
Samuel Sparshott is brother of Capt. Edw. Sparshott, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 1 May, 1803, as A.B., on board the Prince of Wales 98, Capt. John GifFard; in which ship and in the Ville de Paris 110 and Caledonia 120, he continued employed as Midshipman and Master’s Mate under the flags, on the Home station, of Admirals Sir Robt. Calder, Edw. Thornbrough, Sir Jas. Saumarez, and Lords Gardner and Gambier, until promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, 22 Aug. 1809. He was present, in the Ville de Paris, in the action with the combined fleets of France and Spain off Cape Finisterre 22 July, 1805, and in the Caledonia, as Signal Mate, at the destruction of the French shipping in Basque Roads in April, 1809. His appointments in the capacity of Lieutenant were – 31 Aug. 1809, to the Ganymede 26, Capts. Robt. Carteret, Hassard Stackpoole, Edw. Crofton, Robt. Preston, and John Brett Purvis, employed on the Home, Mediterranean, and West India stations – 26 Dec. 1811 to the Aquilon 32, Capt. Wm. Bowles, stationed at first in the North Sea and Baltic, and next on the coast of South America, whence, in 1814, he returned to England, with the same officer, in the Ceres 32 – 5 Aug. in the latter year, to the Euphrates 36, Capt. R. Preston, in which ship he cruized among the Western Islands – and 22 Sept. and 3 Oct. 1815, to the Menelaus 38 and Amphion 32, both commanded by Capt. Bowles, the latter again in South America. While serving in the Aquilon he commanded the boats of that ship at the destruction of a convoy off the island of Rugen. He acquired the rank of Commander 16 Oct. 1818; and, on 13 Sept. 1826, he was appointed to the Nimrod 18; which vessel, by the breaking of her anchor, drove on the rocks in Holyhead bay and bilged, during a gale from the N.N.W., on the night of 14 Jan. 1827. She was got off; however, by the utmost exertion on the part of her Commander, officers and crew, was placed in a dry dock, and on 3 March following was sold. On 16 May in the same year Commander Sparshott was appointed Deputy Inspector-General of the Coast Guard – a post he still retains. Agents – Messrs. Ommanney.
SPECK. (Commander, 1843. f-p., 29; h-p., 18.)
William Speck (whose name had been borne from 1787 until 1789 on the books of the Barfleur 90, Capt. Robt. Calder) embarked, 4 May, 1800, as A.B., on board the Mercury 28, Capt. Thos. Rogers, with whom he served in the Mediterranean until April, 1802 – the latter part of the time as Master’s Mate and Midshipman. In the following Sept. he became Second-Master of the Censor, Lieut.-Commander Arthur Aitchison, stationed in the North Sea; and from June, 1803, until Oct. 1808 he served, chiefly in the capacity of Master’s Mate, in the Britannia 100, Capt., afterwards Rear-Admiral the Earl of Northesk, Royal George 100, flag-ship of Sir John Thos. Duckworth (under whom he passed the Dardanells), and Neptune 98, Capt. Sir Thos. Williams. He was then nominated Acting-Lieutenant of the Belleisle 74, Capts. Edw. Woolcombe, Wm. Chas. Fahie, and Edw. Pelham Brenton; and while in that ship, to which he was confirmed 28 Feb. 1809, he assisted at the reduction of Martinique, and commanded a party of seamen on shore in the attack upon Flushing. From Oct. 1809 until Aug. 1814 he was actively employed in the Channel in the Scylla of 18 guns (16 32-pounder carronades and 2 6’s), Capts. Arthur Aitchison, Colin Macdonald, and Geo. Bennett Allen; under the first mentioned of whom he assisted, as Senior Lieutenant, 8 May, 1811, and was mentioned for his conduct, in boarding and carrying (after a running fight of some length, a loss to the British of 2 killed and 2 wounded, and to the enemy of 6 killed and 16 wounded) the French gun-brig Canonnière of 10 long 4-pounders, 1 24.pounder carronade, 4 swivels, and 77 men.[2] Under Capt. Macdonald, he was present, 21 Oct. 1813, in company with the Royalist 18, in a spirited action which lasted one hour and 40 minutes, and terminated in the surrender, on the approach of the Rippon 74, of the French frigate Le Weser, of 40 guns and 340 men, at the time under jury main and mizen masts.[3] From 9 Nov. 1831 until promoted to the rank of Commander, 11 Jan. 1843, Mr. Speck had charge of a station in the Coast Guard. He had previously commanded for three years the Shamrock Revenue-vessel.
SPENCE. (Lieut., 1812. f-p., 14; h-p., 30.)
Henry Francis Spence entered the Navy, 13 Jan. 1803, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Leviathan 74, Capt. Henry Wm. Bayntun, attached to the fleet in the Mediterranean. In Jan. 1805 he joined the Diana 38, Capt. Thos. Jas. Maling, on the coast of Portugal; and from the following Nov. until 1811 he served aa Midshipman and Acting-Lieutenant in the Captain 74, Capt. Geo. Cockburn, Achille 74, Capt. Sir Rich. King, Pompée and Belleisle 74’s, both commanded by Capt. Cockburn, Achille again, Capt. Sir R. King, and Implacable and Milford 74’s, Capts. Cockburn and Edw. Kittoe. He assisted, in the Pompée, at the reduction of Martinique; was present, in the Belle-
