42
BALDWIN—BALFOUR.
&c. – and negotiated the exchange of prisoners on the withdrawal of the army. After a continued servitude of some months, in the Royalist 18, Capt. Houston Stewart, and Sabine 16, Capt. Alex. Campbell, both on the Jamaica station, he invalided home in March, 1816; and was next in succession appointed, 13 Sept. 1824, 25 Nov. 1831, and 9 Nov. 1832, to the command of the Swallow packet,[1] and Firebrand and Firefly steamers, the first and last employed on the Falmouth, the other on the Mediterranean station. On 9 March, 1839, having been for three years on half-pay, he assumed command of the Snipe cutter, in which vessel he served, off the coast of Ireland, until promoted to his present rank, 23 Nov. 1841. He has been in discharge, since 19 Aug. 1846, of the duties attached to the superintendence of the Packet service at Dover, with his name on the books of the Ocean 80.
Commander Baldock, in Aug. 1836, formed part of a Committee of three officers appointed by the Admiralty to effect an organization of the steam department of the Navy. He was granted, 1 May, 1837, the royal permission to accept and wear the Cross of a Knight of the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword, for the services rendered by him, and the great skill he displayed, while conveying Her Most Faithful Majesty’s August Consort Prince Ferdinand of Portugal to Lisbon. The Order of Ernest of Saxe Coburg appears to have been also conferred upon him.
BALDWIN. (Captain, 1817. f-p.,20; h-p.,33.)
Augustus Baldwin entered the Navy, in May, 1794, on board the Trompeuse sloop, Capt. John Erskine Douglas, with whom he continued uninterruptedly and actively to serve, on the Home and Halifax stations, in the same vessel, and in the Garland 28 and Boston 32, of which latter frigate he was created a Lieutenant, 28 June, 1800, until Dec. 1804. He then joined the Prince of Wales 98, bearing the flags, in succession, of Sir Robt. Calder, Sir Jas. Saumarez, Sir Edw. Thombrough, and Lord Gambler; and while in that ship was present in the action of 22 July, 1805, and also at the attack upon Copenhagen in Sept. 1807. Early in Jan. 1808, he became First of the Implacable 74, Capt. Thos. Byam Martin, and, on 26 Aug. following, he highly distinguished himself, and was officially reported as being a most thoroughly deserving officer for his conduct, in a gallant engagement of 20 minutes with the Russian 74-gun ship Sewolod, which was completely silenced, and shortly afterwards, with the assistance of the Centaur 74, captured and burnt, in sight of the whole Russian fleet near Rogerswick; on which occasion the enemy sustained a total loss of 303 men, and the British, in both ships, of not more than 62.[2] Mr. Baldwin, whose behaviour was rewarded with a Commander’s commission, dated 19 Sept. in the same year, did not however succeed in procuring further employment afloat until 7 Feb. 1812, when he was appointed to the Tyrian brig, in which he served in the Channel until posted, 1 Jan. 1817. He accepted the Retirement 1 Oct. 1846.
Capt. Baldwin married Augusta Mary Melissa, daughter of John Mills Jackson, Esq. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
BALFOUR. (Commander, 1846.)
Charles James Balfour entered the Navy 16 Aug. 1829; passed his examination in 1834; and obtained his first commission 28 June, 1838. His succeeding appointments were – 12 July, 1838, to the Cornwallis 72, bearing the flag of Hon. Sir Chas Paget, in North America and the West Indies – 3 April, 1839, to the Inconstant 36, Capts. Dan. Pring and Fred. Thos. Michell, employed for some time on the same, and then on the Home station – and 7 May, 1844, to the Collingwood 80, flag-ship in the Pacific of Sir Geo. Fras. Seymour. He rose to the rank of Commander 9 Nov. 1846. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
BALFOUR. (Lieutenant, 1841.)
Edwin Robert Joseph Balfour entered the Navy (from the Royal Naval College) 25 June, 1830; passed his examination 24 Oct. 1834; served for some time, as Mate, on board the Sparrowhawk 16, and Vesuvius steam-vessel, Capts. John Shepherd, Granville Gower Loch, and Erasmus Ommanney, on the South America and Mediterranean stations; and obtained his commission 23 Nov. 1841. He appears to have been since appointed – 31 Dec. 1841, and 24 Oct. 1842, to the Jaseur 16, and Geyser 16, Capts. Wm. Alex. Wallis and Edw. John Carpenter, both in the Mediterranean – 17 May, 1844, to the Agincourt 72, bearing the flag in the East Indies of Sir Thos. John Cochrane – and, 16 May, 1846, to the President 50, now flagship of Rear-Admiral Jas. Rich. Dacres at the Cape of Good Hope. Agent – Joseph Woodhead.
BALFOUR. (Ret. Capt., 1840. f-p., 11; h-p., 40.)
William Balfour was born 8 Dec. 1781, and died in 1846. He was only surviving son of the late Thos. Balfour, Esq., of Elwick, a Colonel in the Army, by Frances Ligonier, niece of Field-Marshal John Earl Ligonier, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces, and only sister of Edward, second Earl Ligonier. His elder brother, Capt. John Edw. Ligonier Balfour, of the 9th foot, fell at Alkmaar, 19 Sept. 1799. Capt. Balfour was the representative of a family of high antiquity and large possessions in Scotland, whose chiefs, long heritable Sheriffs of Fife, were directly traceable to Siward, of Balfour Castle, in that county, who flourished so early as the reign of Duncan I.
This officer entered the Navy, 9 July, 1795, as Midshipman, on board the Malabar, Capt. Thos. Parr. From that year, until the receipt of his first commission, 4 Sept. 1801, he served, on the Home, Mediterranean, and Baltic stations, in the Magicienne 32, Irresistible and Northumberland 74’s, Seahorse 38, Royal William guard-ship, and Vengeance 74, Capts. Geo. Martin, Edw. Jas. Foote, Fras. Pickmore, and Geo. Duff. While in the Irresistible, besides being wounded in the action off Cape St. Vincent,[3] Mr. Balfour assisted, in company with the Emerald 36, at the capture, 26 April, 1797, after a smart contest of an hour and a half, of the two Spanish frigates Ninfa and Santa Elena. He also, when in the Northumberland, witnessed the surrender, during the blockade of Malta in 1800, of the French 74-gun ship Le Généreux and frigate La Diane. Between Sept. 1801, and April, 1805, we find him further employed, on the Home and North America stations, in the Hound and Lynx sloops. Amethyst 38, and Cleopatra 32, Capts. Geo. Sarradine, John Willoughby Marshall, Alex. Campbell, and Sir Robt. Laurie. On the occasion of the capture, 16 Feb. 1805, of the last-mentioned ship, by the 46-gun frigate Ville de Milan, after a self-sought action of nearly three hours, in which the British sustained a loss of 22 men killed and 36 wounded, he bore a distinguished part as First Lieutenant, and was again wounded,[4] The Cleopatra being soon, however, re-taken, Mr. Balfour obtained for a few months the acting-command of the Bermuda sloop. He was officially promoted 22 Jan. 1806; but from that period, with the exception of a brief command, in 1808, of the Cockatrice sloop, was not afterwards employed. His retirement with the rank of Captain took place 10 Sept. 1840.
Capt. Balfour was twice awarded a gratuity for
- ↑ The Swallow was built in 1819 by Mr. Baldock, who commanded her, under the authority of the Post-Office, from that period until the date above mentioned, when he sold her to the Admiralty, by whom he was re-appointed. The gallant manner in which Mr. Baldock and his crew, when at New York, in the autumn of 1826, extinguished a fire that had broken out on board a vessel laden with tar and rosin, and thereby preserved a vast amount of property from destruction, was so highly appreciated by the different Insurance Companies of that city, that they united in presenting the former with a handsome piece of plate, and the men with a sum of money.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1808, p. 1283.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1797, p. 212.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1805, p. 542.
