here observe, occasioned Capt. Strachey a severe disappointment; the hero having more than once promised that in the event of a general action and of his obtaining the victory he would give him one of the first Post-vacancies. His next appointment was, 18 Oct. 1806, to the Dauntless praam of 22 guns; in which vessel he was directed, in the early part of 1807, to take under his orders at North Yarmouth the Valorous and Combatant, Capts. Reuben Caillaud Mangin and Alex. Rich. Mackenzie, and proceeded to the Baltic. On 19 May in the same year, while gallantly endeavouring to force her way up the Vistula, for the purpose of throwing supplies of powder and oats into Danzig, the Dauntless took the ground, and after exhausting, during nearly an hour’s contest with the batteries on both sides of the river, every means of defence, was reduced to the necessity of striking her colours. So conspicuous was Capt. Strachey’s conduct on the occasion that Napoleon Buonaparte himself declared that “it was worthy of being placed on the page of history.” He remained a prisoner in France until the end of the war; and on his return to England he had the gratification of being honourably acquitted by sentence of court-martial of all blame on account of the surrender of his ship, and of being praised by that tribunal for the gallantry and spirit he had displayed. Notwithstanding, however, the manner in which he had distinguished himself, and his long captivity, he was only allowed to take Post-rank from 28 June, 1814, although he considered he possessed a claim to earlier promotion both in accordance with the terms of the Jubilee brevet of 1810, and from the circumstance of a fellow-prisoner, the present Vice-Admiral Henry Gordon, who had been captured as a Commander in 1804 and liberated in 1811, having been advanced to Post-rank by a commission dated back to 8 April, 1805. In addition to the grievance we have above noticed, it should be likewise stated that on 7 June, 1814, Capt. Strachey was informed by the First Lord of the Admiralty that he had been that day advanced to Post-rank, and that his commission would be given to him as soon as he chose to apply for it. This, from certain conscientious scruples, he did not do until June, 1815, when to his surprise he found that the date of his commission had been altered to 28 June, 1814, and that 60 in consequence had been placed over his head. He accepted the Retirement 1 Oct. 1846.
On 20 March, 1820, Capt. Strachey obtained the Royal permission to accept and wear the insignia of a Knight of the Order of St. Vladimir of Russia conferred upon him for his services before Danzig by the Emperor Alexander; who, in according him this mark of favour, acquainted him, through his Ambassador, Count Lieven, that, had it not been for the rupture between the two countries, the honour would have been granted sooner. He married at Verdun-sur-Meuse, during the period he was detained in France, Marguerite, daughter, by Marie Madelaine Charlotte d’Aubermesnil d’Aubermesnil [errata 1], of the Chevalier Philippe Henri de Roche, a Lieut.-Colonel of Infantry and Knight of the Order of St. Louis, the scion of an ancient family of Perigord and Normandy, who retired from active service at the commencement of the French Revolution. By that lady he has had issue four sons and three daughters. Two of the former, Theophilus William and Francis Ferdinand, died in the Hon.E.I.Co.’s Service in Feb. and May, 1843, the one a Lieutenant in the 29th Madras Native Infantry, the other an Ensign in the 9th Bombay Native Infantry; ill health obliged the third, Leonard, a Lieutenant in the 1st Madras Infantry, to throw up his commission; and the youngest, Louis Henry Placid, a Naval Cadet, is now with Sir Wm. Parker in the Hibernia 104, and is, we are told, progressing satisfactorily.
STRANGE. (Commander, 1842. f-p., 15; h-p., 5.)
James Newburgh Strange was born 2 Oct. 1812.
This officer entered the Navy, 18 April, 1827, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Hussar 46, Capt. Edw. Boxer, stationed on the coast of North America. He next, in Aug. and Nov. 1830, joined the Prince Regent 120 and Undaunted 46, Capts. Jas. Whitley Dean Dundas and Edw. Harvey; and after serving for about three years in the latter ship at the Cape of Good Hope, he was appointed, in April, 1834, Mate (he had passed his examination 13 May, 1833) of the Excellent gunnery-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Thos. Hastings. From June, 1835, until April, 1837, he was employed in the Mediterranean in the Barham 50, Capt. Armar Lowry Corry; on his arrival home in June of the latter year in the Revenge 78, Capt. Wm. Elliott, he joined the Britannia 120, Capt. J. W. D. Dundas, lying at Portsmouth; and in the following Sept. he was placed on board the Pearl 20, Capt. Lord Clarence Edw. Paget, on the North America and West India station. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 23 Feb. 1838, and was subsequently appointed – 24 Feb. and 29 July, 1838, to the Cornwallis 74, flagship of Hon. Sir Chas. Paget, and Inconstant 36, Capt. Dan. Pring, both on the station last named – 30 July, 1840, as Additional, after four months of half-pay, to the William and Mary yacht, Capt. Phipps Hornby – and in Oct. 1840 and Nov. 1841, to the Wilberforce and Albert steamers, Capts. Wm. Allen and Edm. Gardiner Fishbourne, in which vessels he continued employed on the Niger expedition, latterly as First-Lieutenant, until advanced to his present rank 30 March, 1842. He has since been on half-pay.
STRANGE. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 9; h-p., 32.)
Thomas Strange (a) entered the Navy, 9 Dec. 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Fortunée 36, Capts. Henry Vansittart and Seymour; in which ship, after serving for nearly four years on the Channel and Irish stations, he conveyed Rear-Admiral Thos. Fras. Fremantle, towards the close of 1810, to the Mediterranean, and on 11 Oct. 1811, having returned with an Algerine Ambassador to England, assisted at the capture of a most notorious privateer, Le Vice-Amiral Martin, of 18 guns and 140 men. In July, 1812 (he had attained the ratings of Midshipman and Master’s Mate in Aug. 1808 and Oct. 1810), he was again placed under Capt. Vansittart, in the Clarence 74. In that ship he continued employed in the North Sea and off Brest and Rochefort until 30 July, 1813, when by some means he fell into the hands of the enemy. On his return from France in April, 1814, he again joined the Clarence, then commanded by Capt. Fred. Warren; in the following Aug. he removed to the Redwing 18, Capt. Thos. Young, stationed off Lisbon and in the West Indies; and in May, 1815, he was presented with a Lieutenant’s commission bearing date 15 Feb. preceding. He has since been on half-pay.
Lieut. Strange married Eliza, daughter of Joseph Taylor, Esq., and sister of Thos. Taylor, Esq., M.D., of Dunkerrow Castle, co. Kerry. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
STRANGWAYS. (Lieutenant, 1842.)
Edmund Ludlow Strangways entered the Navy 5 Feb. 1830; passed his examination 10 July, 1837; and for his services in the Hon.E.I.Co.’s war-steamer Nemesis under the present Capt. Wm. Hutcheon Hall, during the war in China (where he landed, 27 Feb. 1841, and assisted at the capture of 54 pieces of cannon on the enemy’s works close to Whampoa Reach[1]), was promoted, after he had been further, for about 12 months, employed in the Mediterranean in the Formidable 84, Capt. Sir Chas. Sullivan, to the rank of Lieutenant 23 Dec. 1842.[2] His succeeding appointments were – 29 April, 1843, as Additional, to the Illustrious 72, flag-ship of Sir Chas. Adam in North America and the West Indies – 1 Nov. following, to the Electra 18, Capt. Arthur Darley, on the same station – and 16 March, 1846, after a few months of half-pay, to the Favorite 14, Capt. Alex. Murray, fitting for the coast of Africa, where he was superseded about May, 1847. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
