349
FARRANT—FAWCETT—FAYRER—FEAD.
serving for some months, in 1802, on board the Amazon 38, Capt. Sam. Sutton, he became Midshipman of La Déterminée frigate armée en flûte Capt. Alex. Becher, under whom he was wrecked, near Jersey, 24 March, 1803. He then joined the Dreadnought 98, successive flag-ship, in the Channel and off Cadiz, of Admirals Hon. Wm. Cornwallis and Cuthbert Collingwood; and, on accompanying the latter officer into the Royal Sovereign 100, was wounded in the battle fought off Cape Trafalgar 21 Oct. 1805.[1] After a further servitude with Lord Collingwood in the Queen and Ocean 98’s, and with Capt. Wm. Landless in the Morgiana sloop, Mr. Farrant was nominated Acting-Lieutenant, 15 July, 1808, of the Scout 18, Capt. Wm. Raitt – his appointment to which vessel was confirmed 30 Nov. following. On 14 June, 1809, he assisted, and, as he had done on other occasions, elicited the warmest thanks of his Captain for the determined bravery of his conduct as second in command of the boats under Lieut. Henry Robt. Battersby, at the cutting out of seven well-protected vessels from a harbour near Cape Croisette, during their entrance into which the British were exposed to a heavy fire of grape and musketry from both sides;[2] and, on the night of 31 Oct. in the same year, he contributed, in the boats of a squadron under Lieut. John Tailour, to the capture and destruction, after a desperate struggle, and a loss to the British of 15 men killed and 55 wounded, of the armed store-ship Lamproie of 16 guns and 116 men, bombards Victoire and Grandeur, and armed xebec Normande, with a convoy of seven merchantmen, defended by numerous strong batteries, in the Bay of Rosas.[3] Mr. Farrant’s succeeding appointments appear to have been – 2 Dec. 1809, to the Bulwark 74, Capts. Hon. Chas. Elphinstone Fleeming and Joshua Sydney Horton, employed off Cadiz and at Vera Cruz – 4 Sept. 1812, to the Borer sloop, Capts. Rich. Coote and Wm. Rawlins, with whom he served most actively for two years off the coast of North America – and, 15 Nov. 1814, to the Plantagenet 74, Capt. Robt. Lloyd, one of the ships attached to the expedition against New Orleans. He accepted his present rank 3 Nov. 1846.
In consideration of the wound he received at Trafalgar, Commander Farrant at the time obtained a gratuity from the Patriotic Fund. Agent – Joseph Woodhead.
FARRANT. (Lieut., 1810. f-p., 16; h-p., 32.)
William Farrant entered the Navy, in Sept. 1799, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Canada 74, Capt. Hon. Mich. De Courcy, whom, after attending the expedition to Quiberon, he accompanied, the year following, into the Namur 98. During the peace he successively joined, as Midshipman, the Winchelsea armée en flûte, Capt. John Hatley, and Captain 74, Capt. Chas. Boylea; after which, from April, 1803, until Aug. 1807, he served with the late Sir Thos. Louis in the Conqueror 74, Leopard 50, Ambuscade 32, and Canopus 80. In the latter ship he appears to have assisted in the battle off St. Domingo, 6 Feb. 1806 – the capture, 27 Sept. following, of the French frigate Le Président of 44 guns – and the passage of the Dardanells in Feb. 1807. He then served for 14 months in the Queen 98, Capt. Thos. Geo. Shortland, and Ocean 98, flag-ship of Lord Collingwood, and, after an attachment of two years, as Acting-Lieutenant, to the Alceste 38, Capt. Murray Maxwell, under whom he saw much service on the coast of Italy, was confirmed, 3 Dec. 1810, into the Ville de Paris 110, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Thos. Fras. Fremantle. He subsequently joined – in the course of 1811, the Ajax and Conqueror 74’s, Capts. Robt. Waller Otway and Edw. Fellowes, both in the Mediterranean – 7 June, 1813, the Mutine brig, commanded in North America and the West Indies by Capts. Nevinson De Courcy and Jas. Mould – and, 28 March, 1815, the Pompée 80, Capt. Sir Jas. Athol Wood. He returned home from the Mediterranean in Nov. 1815; and has not since been employed.
FAWCETT. (Lieut., 1811. f-p., 9; h-p., 34.)
Henry Augustus Fawcett was born 18 Jan. 1791.
This officer entered the Navy, 18 Aug. 1804, as Midshipman, on board the Tigre 80, Capt. Benj. Hallowell, in which ship he served, on the Mediterranean, West India, and Home stations, latterly as Master’s Mate, until Nov. 1810. On the night of 31 Oct. 1809, he assisted in the boats of the Tigre, and of a squadron under Lieut. John Tailour, at the capture and destruction, after a fearful struggle, and a loss to the British of 15 men killed and 55 wounded, of the armed store-ship Lamproie of 16 guns and 116 men, bombards Victoire and Grandeur, and armed xebec Normande, with a convoy of seven merchantmen, defended by numerous strong batteries, in the Bay of Rosas.[4] He obtained an Acting-Lieutenancy, 29 Nov. 1810, in the Sultan 74, Capt. John West, also in the Mediterranean, where he was confirmed 17 Jan. 1811. Since April, 1813, he has been on half-pay.
FAYRER. (Lieut., 1808. f-p., 16; h-p., 29.)
Robert John Fayrer entered the Navy, 11 Nov. 1802, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Caroline 36, Capt. Benj. Wm. Page, stationed in the East Indies; where, from Sept. 1803 until his return home in 1807, he served with the present Sir Josiah Coghill, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, in the Rattlesnake sloop, and Concorde 36. While in the Rattlesnake, he appears to have been in action with some Malay proas; and, on his removal to the Concorde, he commanded the launch of that frigate at the cutting out of the French brig Vigilante of 4 guns. Joining next the Impérieuse 38, Capt. Lord Cochrane, he served with great activity on the coasts of France and Spain, until compelled to invalid in Feb. 1807, from the effects of several wounds (among others a shattered arm) received when in the act of boarding, in open day, off Bastia, an enemy’s vessel, carrying 8 guns and 52 men. Being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, 19 Dec. 1808, while serving as a Supernumerary in the Royal William, Capt. Hon. Courtenay Boyle, flag-ship at Spithead, Mr. Fayrer was afterwards appointed, in that capacity – in Feb. 1809, to the Nayaden, Capt. Fred. Cottrell, employed off Greenland and in the East and West Indies – 1 Feb. 1811, to the Orpheus 36, Capt. Hugh Pigot, under whom he witnessed the earlier operations of the last American war – 22 Sept. 1813, to the Andromeda 22, Capt. Rich. Arthur, stationed off the coasts of Spain and Portugal – and (for passage home from the Mediterranean), 4 July, 1814, to the Pompée 80, Capt. Sir Jas. Athol Wood. Lieut. Fayrer, who had been on half-pay since Aug. 1814, was appointed Superintendent, 3 April, 1843, of the Tenedos convict-hulk at Bermuda, – in which capacity he is still employed.
A gratuity from the Patriotic Fund was presented to him in 1808, in consideration of his severe wounds. Agents – Goode and Lawrence.
FEAD. (Captain, 1826. f-p., 16; h-p., 31.)
Francis Fead died 31 Jan. 1847, at Woolwich. He was son of Gen. Fead, of the Royal Artillery; and uncle of Commander W. F. Fead, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 1 May, 1800, as a Volunteer, on board the Mercury 28, Capt. Thos. Rogers, and, after escorting the present King of the French to Minorca, joined Sir Wm. Sidney Smith in the Tigre 74. Subsequently to the evacuation of Genoa, he took part in the hostilities against the French in Egypt; where he witnessed the landing of the troops on 8, and served on shore in the battle of 21 March, 1801. On the day previous to the latter event he had brought an Arab in the Tigre’s gig across Lake Mareotis, with intelligence from the
