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257

DACRES—D’AETH.

not he prevailed upon to leave the deck. By the court-martial which, on 2 Oct. following, assembled on board the Africa 64, at Halifax, to try Capt. Dacres for surrendering his ship to the enemy, he was, as may be readily imagined, “unanimously and honourably acquitted of all blame on account of her capture.” We afterwards find him in command, from 23 July, 1814, until 18 Sept. 1818, of the Tiber 38, on the Cork, Newfoundland, and Channel stations, and, from 28 Oct. 1833, until 1837, of the Edinburgh 74, in the Mediterranean. In the former ship Capt. Dacres took, 8 March, 1815, the Leo American privateer, of 7 guns and 93 men. He attained Flag-rank 28 June, 1838; and, on 9 Aug. 1845, was appointed Commander-in-Chief at the Cape of Good Hope, where he is at present serving with his flag in the President 50.

Rear-Admiral Dacres, who was presented with a gratuity from the Patriotic Fund at Lloyd’s in consideration of his wound, married, 25 April, 1810, Arabella Boyd, sister of the present Sir Adolphus John Dalrymple, Bart., and sister-in-law of the late Vice-Admiral Sir John Chambers White, K.C.B. By that lady, who died 11 April, 1828, he has, with other issue, two daughters, of whom one is the wife of Lieut.-Col. Butler, and the other of Lieut. Thos. Belgrave, R.N. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.



DACRES. (Commander, 1841.)

James Richard Dacres entered the Royal Naval College, 5 Feb. 1824, and, embarking in Nov. 1825, served, as Midshipman, in the Druid and Forte frigates. He passed his examination in June, 1830; was subsequently employed, as Mate, in the Undaunted 46, Capt. Edw. Harvey, at the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Vincent 120, Capt. Sir Humphrey Fleming Senhouse, in the Mediterranean; and obtained his first commission 3 June, 1833. He was next, after officiating for a short time as Supernumerary-Lieutenant of the last-mentioned ship, appointed in succession – 1 Sept. 1833, to the Rover 18, Capt. Sir Geo. Young, on the same station – 5 Dec. 1834, to the Pelican 16, Capt. Brunswick Popham, off the coast of Africa – and 31 Oct. 1840, to the Vernon 50, Capt. Hon. Wm. Waldegrave, again in the Mediterranean. He attained his present rank 23 Nov. 1841; and since 26 Nov. 1845, has been in command of the Nimrod 20, on the coast of Africa.



DACRES, K.L.H., K.R.G. (Captain, 1840.)

Sidney Colpoys Dacres is son of Vice-Admiral the late Sir Rich. Dacres, G.C.H.,[1] by Miss Martha Phillips Mllligan; brother of Capt. R. I. Dacres, of the Royal Artillery; brother-in-law of Capt. Wm. Fairbrother Carroll, R.N., C.B.; and first-cousin of Rear-Admiral Jas. Rich. Dacres.

This officer entered the Navy 8 Feb. 1817; passed his examination in 1824; received his first commission 5 May, 1827; and was appointed, 18 Jan. 1828, to the Blonde 46, Capt. Edm. Lyons. In Oct. following he landed in command, with Lieut. Alfred Luckraft, of a party of seamen, and, by erecting batteries and otherwise, effectively co-operated with the French in reducing Morea Castle, the last hold of the Turks in the Peloponnesus,[2] Obtaining a second promotal commission, 28 Aug. 1834, Capt. Dacres assumed command, 16 Aug. 1836, of the Salamander steamer; for the importance of his services in which vessel off the north coast of Spain in 1839-40, he was promoted to Post-rank on 1 Aug. in the latter year. He has since been on half-pay.

Capt. Dacres is a Knight of the Legion of Honour, and of the order of the Redeemer of Greece. He married, 1 Oct. 1840, Emma, daughter of D. Lambert, Esq., of Tavistock Square, London, and has issue.



D’AETH. (Lieutenant, 1845.)

Edward Henry Hughes d’Aeth is third son of Capt. G. W. H. D’Aeth, R.N.

This officer entered the Navy in 1836; and while attached, in Aug. 1844, to the Dido 18, Capt. Hon. Henry Keppel, he served very creditably in an attack made by that vessel and the Hon.E.I.Co.’s steamer Phlegethon, on a settlement of pirates in the island of Borneo, where the British lost 32 men killed and 30 wounded, but inflicted a condign punishment on their opponents. He afterwards joined the Queen 110, flag-ship at Devonport of Sir John West; was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 25 Sept. 1845; obtained an appointment, 27 Nov. following, to the Scourge steam-sloop, Capt. Jas. Crawford Caffin, employed on the Home station; and since 11 March, 1846, has been serving at the Cape of Good Hope in the Brilliant 22, Capt. Rundle Surges Watson.



D’AETH, formerly Hughes. (Captain, 1815. f-p., 12; h-p., 36.)

George William Hughes d’Aeth, born in April, 1786, is only son of the late Wm. Hughes, Esq., of Betshanger, co. Kent, by Harriet, eldest daughter of Josiah Hardy, Esq., Consul at Cadiz, and great-grand-daughter, maternally, of Admiral Sir John Narborough, one of the Commissioners of the Navy in the time of King Charles II. Capt. d’Aeth assumed his present surname on inheriting the estates of his cousin, Sir Narborough d’Aeth, Bart., of Knowlton Court, co. Kent, 4 June, 1808.

This officer entered the Navy, in June, 1799, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Amethyst 36, Capts. John Cooke, Henry Rich. Glynn, Alex. Campbell, and John Wm. Spranger, on the Home station; where, besides being much employed in the conveyance of royal and diplomatic personages, he assisted in taking three privateers, carrying 34 guns and 270 men, and was present, as Midshipman, at the capture, 27 Jan. and 9 April, 1801, of the French 36-gun frigate La Dédaigneuse, and national corvette Le General Brune, of 14 guns. In Aug. 1805, he rejoined Capt. Cooke in the Bellerophon 74, and for his conduct as Master’s Mate of that ship at the battle of Trafalgar, was promoted, 30 Jan. 1806, to a Lieutenancy in the Ruby 64, Capts. Temple, Hardy, and Draper. He next, in the ensuing June, removed to the Resolution 74, Capt. Geo. Burlton, under whom he attended the expedition to Copenhagen, in Aug. 1807; after which he became Flag-Lieutenant, in the Hibernia and San Josef, to Sir Chas. Cotton, and continued to be employed in that capacity, off Lisbon and in the Mediterranean, until Jan. 1811 – with the exception of a half-pay interval in 1809, and of a few months in 1808, and again in 1810, when he held the acting command of the Eclipse 18, and of the Eijderin 16, Swallow 18, and Shearwater 10. While in the Eijderin and Swallow in 1810, Mr. d’Aeth served at the defence of Messina, and commanded a division of mortar-boats in an attack on the enemy’s flotilla under the batteries of Scylla and Reggio. From Feb. to Jlay, 1811, he had further charge of the Termagant 18, during the blockade of Barcelona. Obtaining a second promotal commission 16 Aug. 1811, Capt. d’Aeth was next appointed, 4 April, 1814, to the command of the Bucephalus troop-ship. He subsequently served on shore in the attack on New Orleans; and on 13 June, 1815, attained Post-rank. His acceptance of the Retirement took place 1 Oct. 1846.

Capt. d’Aeth married, 20 Aug. 1816, Harriot, sister of the present Sir Edw. Knatchbull, Bart.,

  1. Sir Richard Dacres, born in Sept. 1761, was brother of the late Vice-Admiral J. R. Dacres. He entered the Navy in 1775; served during the early part of the first American war as Midshipman in the Renown, 50; shared afterwards, as First Lieutenant of the Alcide 74, in Admiral Graves’ action off the Chesapeake, in the different skirmishes with the Comte de Grasse’s squadron, at St. Christopher’s, and in Rodney’s glorious victory; commanded the Pompée 74, in the expeditions to the Dardanella and Copenhagen, in 1807; and, from a Feb. 1808 until Nov. 1816, offciated as Governor of the Royal Naval Asylum. He became a Rear-Admiral 29 March, 1817; a Vice-Admiral 22 July, 1830; and a G.C.H. 25 Jan. 1836. Sir Richard died at Bath 22 Jan. 1837.
  2. Vide Gaz. 1828, p. 2201.