1828 (he was then in the Pickle), Acting-Lieutenant of the Ferret 10, Capts. Henry Gosset, Henry Smith (a), Chas. Ramsay Drinkwater (now Bethune), and Chas. Deare. That vessel, to which he was confirmed 29 March following, he left in Nov. of the same year. He was lastly, from 15 July until Dec. 1835, and from 1 May, 1836, until May, 1839, employed in the North Sea and at Plymouth in the Fairy 10, Capt. Wm. Hewett, and Royal Adelaide 104, flag-ship of Lord Amelius Beauclerk.
Lieut. Watts married, 29 May, 1832, Mary Anne, youngest daughter of the late Rev. Chas. Philpot, Rector of Ripple, co. Kent, by whom he has issue five children.
WAUCHOPE. (Rear-Admiral of the Blue, 1849. f-p., 18; h-p., 27.)
Robert Wauchope is fifth son of the late Capt. Andrew Wauchope, of Niddrie, co. Mid-Lothian, by Alicia, sister of the late General Sir David Baird, Colonel of the 24th Foot, who was created a Baronet for his gallantry at the storming of Seringapatam, was afterwards Commander-in-Chief at the Cape of Good Hope, and lost an arm at Corunna. His eldest brother, Andrew, was killed at the battle of the Pyrenees in command of the 20th Foot; his next, the late Lieut.-Colonel Wm. Wauchope, died in 1826, leaving, with other issue, a daughter, Hersey Susan Sidney, married to Capt. Geo. Elliot, R.N., son of Vice-Admiral Hon. Geo. Elliot, C.B.
This officer entered the Royal Naval Academy in Dec. 1802; and embarked, in Dec. 1805, on board the Resistance 38, Capt. Chas. Adam, with whom he continued employed as Midshipman and Master’s Mate until promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, 21 Dec. 1808. The Resistance, while he was in her, formed part of the squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren at the capture of the Marengo 80, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Linois, and 40-gun frigate Belle Poule, 13 March, 1806. She brought a quantity of freight home, also, from Vera Cruz; made prize of L’Aigle privateer, of 14 guns and 66 men; and conveyed a large body of general officers to the coast of Portugal. Being appointed, 9 Jan. 1809, to the Magicienne 36, Capt. Lucius Curtis, fitting for the Cape station, Mr. Wauchope assisted in that ship at the reduction, in July, 1810, of the Ile de Bourbon; and in the following month he was engaged, in company with the 36-gun frigates Néréide, Iphigenia, and Magicienne, in a series of gallant but unfortunate operations which terminated, with a loss to the Magicienne of 8 killed and 20 wounded, in the self-destruction of her and the Sirius, the capture of the Néréide, and the surrender, to a powerful French squadron, of the Iphigenia, at the entrance of Port Sud-Est, Isle of France. After the Magicienne had been destroyed, he was sent in a boat with intelligence of that which had occurred to Commodore Josias Rowley, of the Boadicea 38, at the Ile de Bourbon, a distance across of 140 miles. On the following morning he fell in with the Commodore at sea, and was by him picked up. On 31 of the same month he was appointed to the Emma 12, Lieut.-Commander Henry Lynne; and in the ensuing Dec, having removed to the Nisus 38, Capt. Philip Beaver, he co-operated in the reduction of the Isle of France. He returned to England in the Iphigenia frigate in the spring of 1811; and on 21 March, 1812, at which period he was again serving at the Cape of Good Hope, in the Lion 64, flag-ship of Hon. Robt. Stopford, he was promoted to the rank of Commander. He was afterwards employed – from 23 June, 1813, until advanced to Post-rank 6 June, 1814, in the Swinger 12, in the Channel – from 19 April, 1816, until 20 Dec. 1819, in the Eurydice 34, at St. Helena – and, from 30 May, 1834, until 6 June, 1838, in the Thalia 46, flag-ship of the late Sir Patrick Campbell at the Cape of Good Hope. He has since been on half-pay. He attained Flag-rank in May, 1849.
Rear-Admiral Wauchope is the inventor of the “Time-Ball,” for ascertaining the rates of chronometers, in use at the Greenwich Observatory, and at Portsmouth, St. Helena, and the Cape of Good Hope. He married, 17 April, 1822, Anne, daughter of the late Sir David Carnegie, Bart.
WEALE. (Commander, 1827. f-p.,25; h-p., 26.)
Edward Taylor Weale was born 10 April, 1785, at Farnham, in Surrey.
This officer entered the Navy, 2 March, 1796, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Orion 74, Capt. Sir Jas. Saumarez, under whom he fought in the action off Cape St. Vincent 14 Feb. 1797, and, as Midshipman, at the battle of the Nile 1 Aug. 1798. He served next, from Jan. 1799 until April, 1802, latterly as Master’s Mate, in the Success 32 and Unicorn 32, Capts. Philip Wilkinson and Chas. Wemyss, on the Channel station; and in Sept. 1803 he joined the Galatea 32, Capt. Henry Heathcote. On the morning of 14 Aug. 1804, being then in the West Indies, he took part, in command of one of four boats belonging to the latter frigate, carrying in the whole about 90 men, in a most desperate attempt made to out out, from the neighbourhood of Anse-a-Mire, in the Saintes, the late British 14-gun ship-sloop Lily (newly-named the Général Ernouf), defended by several powerful batteries, having a privateer schooner moored across her hawse, so as to enfilade the assailants completely in their approach, and in every way prepared for a fierce resistance. After having nobly struggled and sustained for nearly an hour a murderous fire of great guns and musketry, which killed and wounded 65 of their number (including the commanding officer, Lieut. Chas. Hayman, and the Master), the British, deprived of every hope of success, retired. In May, 1805, Mr. Weale, who had been directed by Capt. Heathcote to act as Lieutenant in the room of Mr. Hayman, was received on promotion on board the Hercule 74, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Jas. Rich. Dacres at Jamaica; and on 1 July following he was nominated Sub-Lieutenant of the Sandwich cutter, Lieut.-Commander D. Barnideny; with whom he removed, in the course of the same month, to the Découverte schooner, of 7 guns and 32 men. While in that vessel, to the acting-command of which he succeeded 8 Nov. 1805, he assisted in driving a Spanish privateer on the rocks on the coast of Cuba, and then boarded and brought her off. A few days afterwards he was for about two hours in action with a brig of 14 guns, which in the end escaped, with a loss, it was understood, of 15 killed and 25 wounded, and with only part of her foremast standing. While in personal command of the Découverte, Mr. Weale attacked a privateer schooner of far superior force, carrying 112 men, and, under a heavy fire, retook a sloop, her prize. By the aid of her sweeps the privateer, although pursued until sunset, got off. Her other guns being dismounted early in the action, the Découverte achieved this victory with 1 long 18-pounder on a pivot; the same gun, indeed, with which she had put to flight her previous opponent. As a reward for his conduct, Mr. Weale was promoted by the Commander-in-Chief into a death vacancy 1 Jan. 1806; but he did not leave the Découverte until the ensuing May; and he then joined the Fortunée 36, Capts. Henry Vansittart and Geo. Fras. Seymour. Soon after this, the Fortunée having driven a large privateer of 100 men on shore on the south coast of Cuba, he was sent with the boats to bring her off. Success crowning the enterprize, he was allowed for a time to command the prize as a tender. In the summer of 1806 the Fortunée, in company with the Surveillante 38, Hercule 74, Supérieure schooner, and about 200 merchantmen, sailed for England. When off the Havana, a number of Spanish vessels were discovered under the protection of a 74-gun ship and two guarda-costas. The Fortunée, {sc|Supérieure}}, and a number of boats, were instantly despatched in pursuit; and the result of their united efforts was the capture and destruction of the guarda-costas and 20 vessels deeply laden with sugar, &c. After serving for three years in the Channel and on the coast of Ireland, the Fortunée, towards the close of 1810,
