his examination in June, 1812, he was presented, in Sept. 1815, with a commission bearing date 23 Feb. preceding. He has since been on half-pay.
Lieut. Thompson married in March, 1818; and has issue two daughters.
THOMPSON. (Lieut., 1810. f-p., 9; h-p., 34.)
John Last Thompson was born 9 Dec. 1779.
This officer entered the Navy, 20 Jan. 1804, as Acting-Master, on board the Snipe 12, Lieut-Commander Chas. Champion, employed on the Home station; where, and at Newfoundland and in the West Indies, he served as Master, from May, 1805, until April, 1810, in the Volcano bomb, Capt. Edw. Killwick, Leveret 18, Capt. Geo. Burgoyne Salt, Camilla 20, Capt. John Bowen, Dart receiving-ship (at Barbadoes), Capts. Duller and Bremer, and Blonde 42, Capts. Volant Vashon Ballard and Wm. Paterson. When in the Volcano he was often in action with the enemy’s batteries and flotilla at Boulogne, and saw, as a volunteer, much hazardous boat-service. On 24 Sept. 1809, being then in the Blonde, he offered, of his own accord, to cut out a privateer schooner from under two batteries in the south-east part of Guadeloupe; and while endeavouring to accomplish this object he lost his right arm, and was otherwise much injured in the side by a grape-shot shattering his musket. He was in consequence presented by the Patriotic Society with the sum of 150l, and was allotted, 7 May, 1810, a pension of 91l. 5s. per annum. Prior to uniting in the Blonde in the operations immediately connected with the reduction of Guadeloupe, Mr. Thompson aided, in Dec. 1809, in destroying, in Anse la Barque, the French 40-gun frigates Loire and Seine, together with a heavy battery by which they had been defended. He had witnessed in the same ship the surrender, in Dec. 1807, of the Danish islands of St. Thomas and Ste. Croix. In May and July, 1810, he was nominated Acting-Lieutenant of the Statira 38 and Neptune 98, both commanded by Capt. V. V. Ballard; with whom, in Nov. of the same year, he returned to England. He was officially promoted 17 Dec. following; and was lastly, from 1 Aug. 1812 until 30 Nov. 1814, employed in command of a Signal station at Gunton, near Lowestoffe.
Lieut. Thompson is married and has an only child.
THOMPSON. (Lieut., 1841. f-p., 18; h-p., 3.)
John Rowley Thompson was born in May, 1813, in co. Fermanagh.
This officer entered the Navy, 26 Aug. 1826, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Victory 104, Capt. Chas. Inglis, guard-ship at Portsmouth. From April, 1827, until Nov. 1830, and from Aug. 1832 until Oct. 1834 (in the course of which latter month he passed his examination) he served in South America and the Mediterranean in the Sapphire 28, Capt. Henry Dundas, and Boxer 18, Capt. Sir Geo. Young; and he was afterwards employed as Mate, In the station last named – from Aug. 1835 until Nov. 1836, in the Edinburgh 74, Capt. Jas. Rich. Dacres – from Nov. 1836 until April, 1839, in the Barham 50, Capt. Armar Lowry Corry – from Aug. 1839 until Oct. 1840, in the Belleisle 72, Capt. John Toup Nicolas – and from Oct. 1840 until June, 1841, in the Calcutta 84, Capt. Sir Sam. Roberts. He then joined the Excellent gunnery-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Sir Thos. Hastings; and on 23 Nov. 1841 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. His appointments have since been – 22 March, 1842, and 21 April, 1844, to the Ringdove 16 and Thunder surveying-vessel, Capts. Sir Wm. Daniell and Edw. Barnett, both in the West Indies – 11 Dec. 1844, as Additional, after four months of half-pay, to the Caledonia 120, flag-ship of Sir David Milne at Devonport – 2 Jan. 1845 and 3 March, 1846, as First, to the Pantaloon 16, Capt. Edm. Wilson, and Hydra steam-sloop, Capts. Horatio Beauman Young and Arthur Morrell, on the African station, whence he returned in 1847 – and 27 July, 1848, again as Additional Lieutenant, to the Crocodile, Capt. Geo. Augustus Bedford, receiving-ship at Cork, to which he continues attached.
THOMPSON. (Commander, 1838. f-p., 23; h-p., 26.)
Josiah Thompson entered the Navy, 2 July, 1798, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Tigre 74, Capt. Sir Wm. Sidney Smith. In that ship he co-operated in 1799 in the defence of St. Jean d’Acre, and took part in 1801 in the operations connected with the expedition to Egypt, when he served on shore with the army in the battles of 8, 12, and 21 March. He continued employed in the Tigre, part of the time in the capacity of Midshipman, until Oct. 1802; and in March, 1803, he again joined Sir W. S. Smith, whose broad pendant was flying on board the Antelope 50. On 16 May, 1804, he was present in a gallant attack made by a squadron under the orders of the Commodore on a division of the enemy’s flotilla passing alongshore from Flushing to Ostend. After serving for about four months in the Channel and at Plymouth in the Powerful 74, Capt. Robt. Plampin, and Pompée 74, fitting for the flag of Sir W. S. Smith, he was made Lieutenant, 31 Jan. 1806, into the Belleisle 74, Capt. Wm. Hargood; whom he followed next into the Northumberland 74. When in company, in the Belleisle, with the Bellona 74 and Melampus 36, he contributed, 14 Sept. 1806, to the destruction, off Cape Henry, of the French 74 L’Impétueux. In the Northumberland, of which ship he was for several months First-Lieutenant, he was stationed, until Nov. 1809, in the Mediterranean. Joining, in May, 1810, the Medusa 32, Capts. Wm. Bowles and Hon. Duncombe Pleydell Bouverie, he landed in the following July on the north coast of Spain, with a party of seamen and marines under the immediate command of the former officer, and shared in a successful engagement with a strong detachment of the enemy’s troops, consisting of between 700 and 800 men, near Santona. On the night of 5 June, 1812, Mr. Thompson, who was then Senior of the Medusa, and had volunteered his services, ascended, with four boats under his orders, the harbour of Arcasson, the entrance of which was protected by a 4-gun battery on each side, for the purpose (although there was but little hope of her being brought out clear of the shoals that beset the navigation) of attacking the French 400-ton store-ship La Dorade, laden with ship timber, and mounting 14 guns, with a complement of 86 men. Although the enemy was in every way prepared, and hailed the boats in their approach, the latter dashed alongside under a heavy fire of great guns and musketry, boarded, and, after a desperate struggle, carried La Dorade, 63 of whose crew were either killed or compelled to jump overboard. The loss on the part of the British amounted to only 5 wounded, one of whom, a brother of Mr. Thompson, had his left arm shot through in two places. At daylight the prize was got under weigh, but after proceeding about a league down the harbour she grounded, as had been anticipated, near the two batteries, and, it being found impossible to get her off, she was set on fire and blown up. For the manner in which he had conducted this very brilliant enterprise Mr. Thompson was strongly recommended by Capt. Bouverie to the notice of the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Keith, as “a most active, zealous, brave, and good officer;” and his Lordship in return expressed his high approval of the “gallantry, zeal, and judgment” he had evinced.[1] This, however, was all he got – the rank of Commander, which his valour so richly deserved, being deferred, incredible as it may seem, for 26 years. He left the Medusa in Aug. 1813; and was subsequently placed in command – 16 Oct. in the same year and 27 Aug. 1814, of the Mullet schooner and Nimble cutter, employed until Nov. 1815 in conveying despatches to the coast of Spain, the West Indies, the west coast of France, and Newfoundland – 7 Sept. 1817, of the Castle Coote Revenue cruizer, stationed on the
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1812, p. 1175.
