124
BRIGGS.
Capt. Philip Chas. Durham; attained the rating of Midshipman in Oct. following; and, after serving for upwards of four years off L’Orient, and in blockading the Rochefort and Toulon squadrons, was paid off 28 March, 1810. He joined, in Aug. of the same year, the Armada 74, Capt. Adam M‘Kenzie, employed off Cadiz and in the North Sea; removed, as Master’s Mate, in Nov. 1811, to the Hannibal 74, flag-ship off the Texel of his former Captain, Rear-Admiral Durham; was discharged, in Feb. 1812, into the Christian VII. 74, Capts. Thos. Browne and Hen. Lidgbird Ball; passed his examination in March following; rejoined the Rear-Admiral, soon afterwards, in the Bulwark 74; and, while subsequently proceeding with him to the West Indies, in the Venerable 74, assisted at the capture, off Madeira, by that ship and the Cyrene sloop, of the French 44-gun frigates Iphigénie and Alcmène, 16 and 20 Jan. 1814. On 28 of the ensuing month Mr. Briggs became Acting-Lieutenant of the Fox sloop, Capt. Frank Gore Willock; and, on arriving in England, he was officially promoted by commission dated 8 July in the same year. After attending, in 1814-15, as First of the Fox, the expedition to New Orleans, whence he conveyed back to Jamaica part of the 2nd West India Regiment, he returned to the Vehekable 10 Aug. in the latter year, and came home and was paid off 3 May, 1816. He has not since been employed.
Lieut. Briggs married in Nov. 1841, and has issue one daughter.
BRIGGS. (Retired Commander, 1837. f-p., 16; h-p., 34.)
Francis Briggs, born 18 May, 1784, is nephew, maternally, of the late Sir Boss Donnelly, K.C.B., Admiral of the Blue, who died, 30 Sept. 1840, in his 77th year; and first cousin of the Dowager Lady Audley.
This officer entered the Navy, 11 Aug. 1797, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Vestal 28, Capt. Chas. White, on the North Sea station; served from May, 1798, to Aug. 1803, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, in the Maidstone and Narcissus 32-gnn frigates, commanded by his uncle, Capt. Ross Donnelly, in the West Indies, Channel, and Mediterranean; passed his examination in Sept. 1803; was immediately appointed by Lord Nelson Acting-Lieutenant of the Halcyon 18, Capt. Henry Whitmarsh Pearse; and received his official promotion by commission dated 8 May, 1804. While First-Lieutenant of the last-mentioned vessel, he was present in various engagements with the gun-boats in the Gut of Gibraltar; assisted at the capture, 20 Sept. 1804, of L’Esperance French privateer, of 10 guns and 54 men; retook, when in charge of one of the Halcyon’s boats, a brig which had just before been captured by a privateer; contributed, after the battle of Maida, to the destruction of the enemy’s batteries along the coast of Calabria, where, vpith a party of seamen under his orders, he served on shore at the reduction of Reggio; drove on shore several merchant-vessels when in command of a gunboat in the Faro of Messina; acquired credit and was wounded by a splinter in the arm, 13 Dec. 1806, in an action, fought with great spirit for three hours, between the Halcyon, singly, and three Spanish national vessels of far superior force, which terminated in the capture of one of the latter, the Neptuno corvette, of 14 guns and 72 men; received in consequence a pecuniary reward from the Patriotic Fund, but no promotion, although recommended by his Captain;[1] and on subsequently attending the expedition to Copenhagen, in Aug. and Sept. 1807, witnessed the bombardment of that city and seizure of the Danish fleet. Lieut. Briggs’s next appointment was, in March, 1808, to the Invincible 74, Capts. R. Donnelly and Chas. Adam, in the Mediterranean, from which ship he was detached in command of a gun-vessel to assist at the defence of Cadiz, where the latter was unfortunately sunk by a shell falling into her while engaging the batteries. In Oct. 1812, he joined the Merope 16, commanded by Capts. Edw. Flinn, – Roberts, and ultimately, for two months, by himself, on the east coast of Spain. He was placed on half-pay in Dec. 1813; remained unemployed from that period; and accepted his present rank 25 Jan. 1837.
BRIGGS. (Lieutenant, 1838.)
George Campbell Briggs was born in 1819, and died 1 April, 1845. He was eldest son of Vice-Admiral Sir Thos. Briggs, G.C.M.G.
This officer entered the Navy 2 April, 1832; passed his examination 11 May, 1838; served for some time, as Mate, on board the Pique 36, Capt. Edw. Boxer, in North America and the West Indies; was promoted out of the Vanguard 80, Capt. Sir David Dunn, on the Mediterranean station, 10 May, 1841; rejoined the latter ship 13 June following; and was next appointed, 31 Aug. 1843, to the Pilot 16, Capt. Wm. Henry Jervis, on board which vessel he died, as above, off Pointe de Galle, in the East Indies, from the effects of a coup-de-soleil. His remains were interred, on 2 of the same month, at Pointe de Galle, with the honours due to his rank, and followed by the officers of the garrison and the officers and crew of the Pilot. Lieut. Briggs was an officer of the greatest promise. Agents – Messrs. Chard.
BRIGGS. (Retired Commander, 1844. f-p., 12; h-p., 34.)
Stephen Briggs entered the Navy, 1 March, 1801, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Loire 38, Capt. Jas. Newman Newman, stationed in the Channel. He joined, in June, 1802, the Cambrian 38, Capt. Wm. Bradley, at Halifax; there removed, as Midshipman, in Jan. 1804, to the Leander 50, flag-ship of Sir Andrew Mitcheller [errata 1], afterwards commanded by Capt. John Talbot, under whom he assisted at the capture, 23 Feb. 1805, of the Ville de Milan, of 46 guns, and retaking of her prize the Cleopatra 32; and, on his subsequent transference to the Northumberland 74, bearing the flag of the Hon. Alex. Cochrane, was present, 6 Feb. 1806, in the battle off St. Domingo. His succeeding appointments were – 19 Nov. in the same year, as Acting Sub-Lieutenant, to the Maria 10, Lieut.-Commander John Anderson – 14 Jan. 1807, as Acting-Lieutenant, to the Galatea 32, Capt. Geo. Sayer, in which frigate he was confirmed 20 Oct. following – 13 Oct. and 6 Dec. 1808, to the command of the Mozambique 14, and Grenada 10 – and 7 April, 1813, after nearly two years of half-pay, to the Cleopatra 32, all on the West India station, where he obtained charge, 23 July ensuing, of a Signal station in the Saintes. Having been unemployed since 14 Dec. 1814, Mr. Briggs at length, on 30 April, 1844, accepted the rank he now holds. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.
BRIGGS, G.C.M.G. (Vice-Admiral, of the White, 1841. f-p., 43; h-p., 13.)
Sir Thomas Briggs, born in 1780, is only surviving son of the late Stephen Briggs, Esq., formerly Chief Surgeon at Madras, by Magdalene, youngest daughter of the late Jas. Pasley, Esq., of Craig, co. Dumfries; nephew, maternally, of the late Sir Thos. Pasley, Bart., Admiral of the White, who died 29 Nov. 1808; and first cousin [errata 2] of the present Sir T. S. Pasley, Bart., Capt. R.N., and of Rear-Admiral Sir Chas. Malcolm, Kt.
This officer entered the Navy, 10 Sept. 1791, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Bellerophon 74, commanded by his uncle, Capt. Thos. Pasley, whom he soon afterwards accompanied, as Midshipman, into the Vengeance 74, lying in the river Medway. We next find him, from April, 1793, until the year 1798, attached, under Capt. Chas. Tyler, to the Meleager 32, Diadem 64, and L’Aigle frigate, and participating, during that period, in the operations
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1807, p. 52.
