he landed, 15 March, 1842, in command of the small-arm men, and assisted with the troops and the rest of the naval brigade in escalading the walls of Tse-kee, and in subsequently driving the enemy from their entrenched position on the heights at the back of the town.[1] On 18 May following he contributed in a similar manner to the capture of Chapoo;[2] on 16 June and 21 July he was present at the attack upon the Woosung batteries and at the storming of Chin-Kiang-Foo; and in the month of Aug. he was off Nanking when the treaty of peace was concluded. He attained his present rank 23 Dec. 1842,[3] but remained in the Blonde until paid off in March, 1843. From 3 July, 1846, until put out of commission in 1848, he commanded the Hecla steam-sloop of 240 horse power in the Mediterranean.
STEAD. (Lieut., 181,5. f-p., 12; h-p., 30.)
Thomas Fisher Stead entered the Navy, 15 Sept. 1805, as Sec.-cl. Boy, on board La Virginie 38, Capt. Edw. Brace; in which ship he was for two years and a half employed, latterly in the capacity of Midshipman, in the North Sea and on the coast of Ireland. He then, in March 1808, joined the Revenge 74, Capts. Sir John Gore and Hon. Chas. Paget, off Cadiz; and from the following Aug. until Nov. 1814, he served (with the exception of a few months passed, between April and Nov. 1809, in the Circe 32, Capt. Edw. Woolcorabe) in the Pelorus 18, and Alcmène and Jason frigates, all commanded by Capt. Hon. Jas. Wm. King, on the West India, Newfoundland, and Home stations. In the Jason he escorted Louis XVIII. to the French shore in April, 1814; as he shortly afterwards did the Emperor Alexander, the King of Prussia, and the Duchess of Oldenburgh, on their return from England. In Nov. 1815, at which period he had been serving for 11 months on the Brazilian and Cape of Good Hope stations in the Centaur 74, Capt. Thos. Gordon Caulfeild, he was presented with a commission dated back to 27 Feb. preceding. Since 11 July, 1845, he has been employed as Admiralty Agent on board a contract mail steam-vessel. Agents – Messrs. Chard.
STEANE. (Commander, 1841.)
John Steane entered the Navy, in April, 1807, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Nemesis 28, Capt. Philip Somerville, with whom, after serving on the coast of North America, he removed, in March, 1809, to the Rota 38. In that frigate he was present as Midshipman in the attack upon Flushing and at the defence of Cadiz. In March, 1814, at which time he was serving as Master’s Mate in the West Indies, he removed to the Venerable 74, flag-ship of Sir Philip Chas. Durham; he joined next, in the course of the ensuing month, the Palma frigate, Capt. Jas. Andw. Worth; and from 1 Oct. in the same year until 26 July, 1815, when he took up a commission dated 18 Feb. preceding, he acted as Lieutenant, also in the West Indies, in the Spider sloop, Capts. Fras. Chas. Annesley and Robt. Caulfeild. His subsequent appointments were – 26 July, 1824, and 30 July, 1825, to the Valorous 26 and Beaver sloop, Capts. the Earl of Huntingdon and Chas. Croker, both in the West Indies – 7 April, 1831, to the Coast Guard – 11 June, 1833, to the command, which he retained until Aug. 1834, of the Sprightly Revenue cruizer – 27 June, 1836, again to the Coast Guard – 19 April, 1839, as Senior, far about two months, to the Hydra steam-vessel, Capt. Anthony Wm. Miilward, fitting for the Mediterranean – and 14 Aug. and 6 Oct. 1840, to the command of the Shearwater and Blazer steamers, the latter on the North America and West India station. He attained his present rank 22 Nov. 1841; and has since been on half-pay. Agents – Goode and Lawrence.
STEDDY. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 19; h-p., 20.)
John Steddy is a native of Ashford, co. Kent. This officer entered the Navy, 11 Jan. 1808, as Sec.-cl. Vol., on board the Leonidas 38, Capt. Jas. Donbar, stationed in the Mediterranean; where, in the following Dec, he became Midshipman of the Tuscan 16, Capts. John Wilson, Chas. Phillips, and Geo. Matthew Jones. On the night of 31 Oct. 1809 he served with the boats of a squadron under the orders of Lieut. John Tailour at the capture and destruction, after a fearful struggle, and a loss to the British of 15 killed and 55 wounded, of the French store-ship Lamproie of 16 guns and 116 men, bombards Victoire and Grondeur, and armed xebec Normande, with a convoy of seven merchant-vessels, defended by numerous strong batteries in the Bay of Rosas.[4] In the autumn of 1811 he was again employed in one of the Tuscan’s boats at the destruction, under circumstances of the greatest danger, of two vessels laden with coffee and sugar, which had been run on shore near the river Guadalquivir; in the winter of 1811 he was for six days and nights engaged in an open boat in landing troops at Algeciras and Tarifa; and in July, 1812, he was wounded in an attack made by the boats of the Tuscan, in company with the Encounter gun-brig, upon three privateers, lying under the protection of a battery and of troops posted in the houses at St. Lucar. On the latter occasion, although one of the vessels was brought out, the Encounter, having grounded, fell into the hands of the enemy, and the boats, one of which was destroyed, sustained a loss of 28, out of 43, killed and wounded. In all the above affairs Mr. Steddy was under the immediate orders of Lieut. Pascoe Dunn. He continued to serve in the Tuscan, as Master’s Mate, until Oct. 1813; and between that period and the date of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, 25 Oct. 1815, was employed on the West India, Cork, and North Sea stations, part of the time as Master’s Mate, in the Barham 74, Capt. John Wm. Spranger, Tanais 38, Capt. Joseph James, Buffalo store-ship, Master-Commander Rich. Anderson, and Snake sloop, Capt. Joseph Gape. He has had charge, since 18 Nov. 1835, of a station in the Coast Guard.
Lieut. Steddy has on all occasions had the good fortune to obtain the approval of his superiors. He is married and has one son, Mr. E. Steddy, now in practice as a surgeon at Chatham.
STEEL. (Lieut., 1825. f-p., 18; h-p., 21.)
David Steel entered the Navy, 31 March, 1808, as Midshipman, on board the Pompée 74, Capts. Geo. Cockburn and Wm. Chas. Fahie; in which ship he served at the reduction of Martinique, and assisted, 17 April, 1809, at the capture, after an arduous chase of two days and a close action of an hour and a quarter (wherein the Pompée, who was supported by the Castor 32, lost 9 killed and 30 wounded), of the D’Haupoult of 74 guns and 680 men, of whom between 80 and 90 were killed and wounded. In the following Aug. he removed as Master’s Mate to the Neptune 98, Capt. Jas. Athol Wood; and with that officer he was again, from 1810 until Nov. 1815, employed in the Pompée in the Channel and Mediterranean; on which latter station (having passed his examination in June, 1814) he served as Admiralty-Mate, from Dec. 1815 until May, 1819, in the Euphrates 36 and Albion 74, Capts. Robt. Preston and John Coode. He then joined, in the same capacity, the Vengeur 74, Capt. Fred. Lewis Maitland, and Dover 28, Capts. Arthur Batt Bingham and Sam. Chambers, both on the Leith station; where he was nominated, 7 Aug. 1824, Acting-Lieutenant of the Clio 18, Capt. Chas. Strangways. He was confirmed to that vessel, 10 Jan. 1825, but left her 3 March, 1826, and has not been since afloat.
During the time he was in the Pompée he took part in a variety of cutting-out affairs, and was employed in landing troops in the unsuccessful attack upon Tarragona in 1813. A wound he received on that occasion procured him a small pension which ceased on his promotion. While serving in the Albion Mr. Steel fell overboard in Malta Harbour and had it not been for the intrepid exertions of the
