Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/55

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

41

BAKER—BALDEY—BALDOCK.

BAKER. (Lieutenant, 1839.)

Vashon Baker entered the Navy 4 Nov. 1824; passed his examination in 1831; served latterly, as Mate, in the Howe 120, flag-ship at the Nore of Sir Robt. Waller Otway; and obtained his commission 18 Oct. 1839. His appointments have since been – 9 Nov. 1839, to the Winchester 50, bearing the flag of Sir Thos. Harvey, in North America and the West Indies – 18 Feb. 1840, to the Serpent 16, Capt. Arthur Mayne Noad, in which vessel he returned to England – 14 Jan. 1841, to the Endymion 44, Capt. Hon. Fred. Wm. Grey, on the East India station – and, 11 March, 1845, as First, to the Espiègle sloop, Capt. Thos. Pickering Thompson, with whom he still serves in the East. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.



BAKER. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 8; h-p., 32.)

William Baker (b) entered the Navy, 16 Dec. 1807, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Halcyon 16, Capts. Henry Whitmarsh Pearse and Thos. Stamp, under the former of whom, in Sept. 1808, he witnessed, as Midshipman, the capture of a flotilla of 38 vessels, four of them large gun-boats, in Diamante Bay, near the Gulf of Policastro; as also, 30 Aug. 1809, of the St. Anna, French privateer, of 2 guns and 46 men. From Dec. 1811, until Aug. 1815, he afterwards served, in the Pylades (subsequently Carlotta) gun-brig, Lieut.-Commanders Newdigate Poyntz and Rich. Howell Fleming, on the Mediterranean station. Acorn sloop, Capt. Geo. Miller Bligh, for passage home, Raisonnable 64, Capt. Edw. Sneyd Clay, lying at Sheerness, Zealous 74, Capts. Thos. Boys and Jas. Anderson, employed in the Baltic and Basque Roads, and Kangaroo 16, Capt. Wm. Sumner Hall, on the Halifax station. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 20 Feb. 1815; and, since the date of his quitting the last-mentioned vessel, has not been afloat. Agent – J. Hinxman.



BAKER. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 27; h-p., 14.)

William Henry Baker entered the Navy 6 Aug. 1806, on board the Bristol, Lieut.-Commander Joseph Coxwell; and, in Oct. 1807, joined the Proserpine 40, Capt. Chas. Otter, under whom he escorted Lord Lcveson Gower, the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg, from Gottenborg to England. In Dec. 1808, after having been nearly lost during an attachment of a few months to the Cygnet sloop, Capt. Edw. Dix, he became Midshipman of the Rochester prison-ship, Lieut.Commander John Hindes Sparkes; but early in the following year was transfered to the Sceptre 74, Capt. Joseph Bingham, bearing the broad pendant afterwards of Commodore Sam. Jas. Ballard. Subsequently to the fall of Flushing, Mr. Baker proceeded to the West Indies, where, in 1809-10, he witnessed the destruction of the two French frigates Loire and Seine, and the capture of the island of Guadeloupe. Between March, 1812, and the receipt of his commission, which bears date 18 Feb. 1815, we next find this officer serving on board the Montagu, Stirling Castle, Venerable, and Majestic 74’s, Capts. Manley Hall Dickson, Sir Jahleel Brenton, Augustus Brine, Sir Home Popham, David Milne, and John Hayes. While in the last-mentioned ship, he assisted at the blockade of Boston, when the Constitution was lying in that port ready for sea; wm also present at the capture, 3 Feb. 1814, after a running fight of two hours and a half, of the French frigate Terpsichore, of 44 guns and 320 men; and, on 15 Jan. 1815, was in company with the Endymion at the taking of the United States 44-gun frigate President. From 13 Dec. 1823, until 1827, he was further employed on the Coast Blockade, as Supernumerary-Lieutenant of the Ramillies 4, Capts. Wm. M‘Culloch and Hugh Pigot; and since 14 Oct. 1833, with the exception of one interval, from 18 Nov. 1839, to Jan. 1845, when he commanded the Ranger Revenue-cruizer, has been in the Coast Guard.



BALDEY. (Commander, 1821. f-p., 20; h-p., 27.)

Robert Baldey entered the Navy, in Oct. 1798, as Midshipman, on board the Renown 74, Capt. Albemarle Bertie, stationed in the Channel, where he continued to serve, until April, 1802, in the Barfleur 98, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Collingwood, Windsor Castle 74, commanded by various Captains, bearing the flag for some time of Sir Andrew Mitchell, and, as Master’s Mate, in the Malta 80, Capt. A. Bertie. Joining, in Nov. of the latter year, the Calcutta armee-en-flute, Capt. Dan. Woodriffe, he proceeded to Van Diemen’s Land, and, after witnessing the formation of the settlement at Hobart’s Town, was employed for 17 weeks, on the Africa and Jamaica stations, in the Success 32, Capt. Geo. Scott. He then, in 1806, returned home with convoy, as Acting-Lieutenant of the Atlas 74, Capt. Sam. Pym; after which he officiated, for two years and a half, as Master’s Mate and Acting-Lieutenant, in La Virginie 38, Capt. Edw. Brace, and Bellerophon and Leopard, flag-ships of Rear-Admiral A. Bertie, on the Irish, Channel, and Cape stations. Being at length promoted by the Admiralty, 27 Sept. 1809, into the Sapphire 18, he continued to serve in that vessel, in the West Indies, under different- officers, until 1814; in the summer of which year we find him assuming the successive command of the Variable and Découverte schooners. Having returned to England, in Sept. 1815, on board the Rinaldo 10, Capt. John Undrell, he was next appointed First Lieutenant, 1 Sept. 1818, of the Leven 24, Capt. David Ewen Bartholomew, on whose death, after surveying the coast of Africa, the Azores, and Cape Verd Islands, he succeeded to the acting-command, 19 Feb. 1821. He was confirmed, on his arrival at Spithead, by commission dated 26 July, 1821, but has not since been employed.

He is married, and has issue. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.



BALDOCK, K.T.S. (Commander, 1841. f-p., 25; h-p., 16.)

Thomas Baldock is son of the late Rev. Thos. Chaloner Byng Baldock, M.A., Rector of Milton, in Dorsetshire; and nephew, maternally, of the late Rear-Admiral Thos. Western, of Tattingstone, co. Suffolk.

This officer (who had previously served with the fleet of Indiamen under Commodore Dance, when that officer so memorably discomfited the French squadron under Admiral Linois) entered the Navy, 25 Oct. 1806, as Midshipman, on board the London 98, commanded by his uncle, Capt. Thos. Western, bearing the flag of Sir Wm. Sidney Smith; and, in Nov. 1807, after blockading the Tagus, escorted the Royal Family of Portugal to the Brazils. He removed, in June, 1809, to the Nemesis 28, Capt. Wm. Ferris, employed in the Baltic; joined next, for a few months in 1810, the Tonnant 80, Capt. Hassard Stackpoole, off Cadiz; was then sent to assist in navigating a Spanish squadron to Minorca; and on returning, in October, to Cadiz, was for 11 consecutive months actively engaged with the flotilla, latterly in command of a gun-boat, at the defence of that place. From Sept. 1811, until June, 1813, he further served in the Barbadoes 24, Capt. Wm. Rushworth, and in the Dragon 74, Tribune 36, and Grampus 50,flag-ships of Sir Fras. Laforey, all on the West India station, where, on 10 Nov. in the latter year, he was promoted into the Arachne 16, Capts. Chas. Hope Watson and Wm. M‘Kenzie Godfrey, of which sloop he soon became First Lieutenant. As Senior of the Herald 28, Capt. Clement Milward, Mr. Baldock subsequently took part in many operations on the coast of North America; and, during the expedition against New Orleans, captured the advanced guard of the enemy at the Belize previous to the arrival of the forces – commanded also every detached operation at the mouth of the Mississippi, including the capture of a privateer,