been in command of the state barge in which the King of Prussia embarked at Woolwich on the occasion of His Majesty’s departure from England. He has since been on half-pay.
In reference to the wound Commander Holbrook received while belonging to the Alcmène, it may be further remarked, as indicative of its severity, that the ball entered before the left shoulder, passing under the shoulder-blade and out at the spine, and injuring, in its course, the clavicle bone – that, four years afterwards, the wound broke out afresh, and many pieces of bone were extracted from it – that an extraneous substance, frequently productive of pain, has been, in consequence, deposited in his left breast – and that the free use of his left arm has been lastingly affected. Not only has he never received any pay or remuneration for his sufferings, but even was his application refused for the repayment of his surgical expenses. Commander Holbrook is married, and has numerous issue.
HOLBROOK. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 24; h-p., 24.)
James Holbrook entered the Navy, 30 Oct. 1799, as Midshipman, on board the Abundance store-ship, Master-Commander Wm. Price; and in June, 1801, on his return from the Cape of Good Hope, he removed to the Unicorn 32, Capts. Chas. Wemyss and Chas. Stuart, attached to the force on the Home station; where, between Jan. 1803 and May, 1805, we find him employed on board the Ethalion and Melampus frigates, Capts. Chas. Stuart and Stephen Poyntz. In the course of the latter year he proceeded to the East Indies in the Woolwich 44, armée en flûte, Capt. Fras. Beaufort, with whom, we believe, he remained until April, 1807. From Nov. 1809, until Jan. 1813, he served on board the Magnificent 74, Capts. Geo. Eyre and Willoughby Thos. Lake, in the Mediterranean, and also on the north coast of Spain, where, in co-operation with the patriots, he assisted at the reduction of Castro, Puerta Galletta, Guetaria, St. Ano, &c. Until Sept. 1814, Mr. Holbrook was further occupied on the Channel station, in the Whiting schooner, Lieut.-Commander Geo. Hayes, and Insolent brig, Capts. Edw. Brazier and Wm. Kelly. He obtained his commission 15 Feb. 1815, but, with the exception of an appointment in the Coast Blockade, which he held as Supernumerary-Lieutenant of the Hyperion 42, Capt. Wm. Jas. Mingaye, from 4 Sept. 1826, until Aug. 1827, he was not again employed until 27 Jan. 1837; since which period he has been in charge of a station in the Coast Guard. Agents – Messrs. Chard.
HOLBROOK. (Commander, 1828. f-p., 16; h-p., 25.)
Thomas Holbrook, born in Dec. 1792, at Ledbury, co. Hereford, is son of Wm. Holbrook, Esq., a solicitor at that place; brother of Commander Thos. Holbrook, R.N.; and brother-in-law of Capt. J. W. Gabriel, R.N., K.H.
This officer entered the Navy, 24 Feb. 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Ocean 98, Capt. Fras. Pender, in which ship, and the Ville de Paris 110, bearing each the flag of Lord Collingwood, he served off Cadiz and in the Mediterranean, until April, 1809 – the last 20 months in the capacity of Midshipman. After further attachment with Capt. John Rich. Lumley to the Hind frigate,he joined, in April, 1810, the Pomone 38, Capt. Robt. Barrie, under whom, until wrecked, on the Needles Point, 14 Oct. 1811, he cruized with activity, also on the Mediterranean station, where – besides assisting at the destruction of L’Etourdie national brig of 18 guns and 200 men, and being on many occasions employed in the boats – he participated, 1 May, 1811, in a gallant action of an hour and a half in Sagone Bay, in which the Pomone, in company with the Unité 36, and Scout 18, accomplished the annihilation, with a loss to herself of 2 men killed and 19 wounded, of the two armed store-ships Giraffe and Nourrice, each mounting from 20 to 30 guns, and defended by a 5-gun battery, a martello tower, and a body of about 200 regular troops. Being appointed, soon after the loss of the Pomone, to the Alcmène 38, Capt. Edwards Lloyd Graham, he proceeded in that ship to the Adriatic; on which station, in the course of 12 months, he came at least 10 times into conflict with the enemy, either in the boats or on shore. On 22 May, 1812, while the boats under Lieut. Saurin, as alluded to in our memoir of Commander Chas. Holbrook, went in pursuit of an armed convoy, the subject of the present narrative was left with the launch at a neighbouring island for the protection of some prizes already taken. Immediately on hearing the report of firing he hastened to the assistance of his friends, and was of great service in securing their dearly-purchased capture, in towing her during the night, and in attending to the wounded. On 23 Sept. 1812, a few months after he had been appointed Acting-Lieutenant of the Alcmène, Mr. Holbrook was nominated to a death-vacancy in the Eagle 74, Capt. Chas. Rowley. In the following April he obtained warm mention for his conduct in the boats of that ship and the Elizabeth 74, at the capture of one and destruction of another of an armed convoy, who had run themselves on shore into a tremendous surf, under the protection of a galling fire from a 2-gun battery, two schooners, and three gun-boats, near Goro.[1] He also, on 8 June, 1813, contributed to the destruction, close to Omago, of a battery of 2 guns, and the bringing off of four scuttled vessels, loaded with wine; and he was next, between the latter period and May, 1814, present at the reduction of Fiume, Trieste, Boca Re, and nearly all the towns and forts on the coast of Istria, and at the mouths of the Po. During his continuance in the Eagle, Mr. Holbrook was likewise concerned in the capture and destruction of about 150 sail of the enemy’s vessels. His subsequent appointments were – 25 July, 1814, to the Wanderer 20, Capts. Fras. Newcombe, John Palmer, and Wm. Dowers, with whom he served in the Channel until Dec. 1815 – 5 Sept. 1818, as Senior Lieutenant, to the Fly 18, Capts. Jas. Tomkinson and John Townsend Coflin, in which sloop he was employed for three years and a half on the West India and Irish stations, where he contributed to the capture of several contraband traders – and, 22 Aug. 1825, to the Dryad 42, Capts. Hon. Robt. Rodney and Hon. Geo. Alfred Crofton. During the protracted illness of the former of those officers, he thrice had command of the Dryad at sea; and on his demise he again had temporary charge of her on the westem coast of Ireland. In Dec. 1827 we find him escorting Mr. Stratford Canning, H.M.’s Ambassador at Constantinople, from the Dardanells to Vorla, Corfu, and Ancona. He was promoted to the rank of Commander, on the representation made of his services by the last-mentioned personage, 6 May, 1828; but he has not been since employed.
Commander Holbrook was a student at the R.N. College, from the summer of 1829 until Dec. 1831. He married, in 1832, Mary, widow of the late Lieut. Wm. Stock, R.N. (1807).
HOLBURNE, Bart. (Lieutenant, 1813. f-p., 10; h-p., 32.)
Sir Thomas William Holburne is only surviving son of the late Sir Fras. Holburne, Bart, (whom he succeeded as fifth Baronet 13 Sept. 1820), by Alicia, daughter of Thos. Brayne, Esq., of co. Warwick; grandson of Fras. Holburne, Esq., Admiral of the White, Rear-Admiral of Great Britain, Governor of Greenwich Hospital, and M.P. for Plymouth; and cousin of Sir Alex. Holburne, Bart., a Captain in the R.N., who died 22 Jan. 1772. His elder and only brother, Francis, an officer in the 3rd Foot Guards, died of a wound he received before Bayonne, 14 April, 1814.
This officer entered the Navy, in July, 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Orion 74, Capts. Edw. Codrington and Sir Archibald Collingwood Dick-
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1813, p. 1793.
