Jas. Mingaye, until superseded in Sept. 1826, in consequence of a wound he had received from a spring-gun when in pursuit of a party of smugglers – and, 8 March, 1827, to the command of the Semaphore station at Holder Hill. He has been on half-pay since March, 1832.
Lieut. Knevitt’s testimonials are of a very flattering character, proving his gallantry to have been most exemplary, and his conduct at all times worthy of the highest commendation. He married, first, in Jan. 1820, Amelia, daughter of Capt. Thos. Morris; and secondly, in Dec. 1822, Miss Elizabeth Williams Price. He has issue nine sons and two daughters.
KNIGHT, K.H. (Commander, 1822. f-p., 20; h-p., 21.)
Christopher Knight entered the Navy, 25 Dec. 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Minotaur 74, Capt. Chas. John Moore Mansfield, successive flagship of Admirals Sir Chas. Cotton and Wm. Essington, under the latter of whom he served as Midshipman in the expedition of 1807 against Copenhagen. Joining next the Foudroyant 80, bearing the flag of Sir Wm. Sidney Smith, he was present under that officer off Lisbon when the Royal Family of Portugal took its flight to the Brazils. He afterwards proceeded himself to South America, and continued there, in the President 38, Capt. Chas. Marsh Schomberg, until ordered home in 1810 in the Elizabeth 74, Capt. Hon. Henry Curzon. Towards the close of the same year, having rejoined Capt. Schomberg on board the Astraea, of 42 guns and 271 men, he proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope; and, on 20 May, 1811, when in company, off Madagascar, with the Phoebe and Galatea frigates, similar in force to the Astraea, and 18-gun brig Racehorse, he assisted, after a long and warmlycontested action with the French 40-gun frigates Rénommée, Clorinde, and Néréide, and a loss to the Astraea of 2 killed and 16 wounded, at the capture of the Rénommée, and, on 25 of the same month, of the Néréide and the settlement of Tamatave. On the former of those occasions Mr. Knight received two contusions. Returning to England, in Sept. 1812, on board the Galatea 36, Capt. Woodley Losack, he was employed during the next two years on the Home and Canadian stations in the Thisbe 28, flag-ship of Sir Chas. Hamilton, El Corso 12, Lieut.-Commander Curry Wm. Hillier,Queen Charlotte 100, flag-ship of Lord Keith, and Princess Charlotte 42, Capt. Edw. Collier. In Sept. 1814, being still in Canada, he was nominated Acting-Lieutenant of the Prince Regent 56, Capt. Davies – an appointment which the Admiralty confirmed on 19 Dec. in the same year. In the summer of 1815 he came home with Capt. Wm. Walpole in the Thames 32; and in July, 1816, after he had been for nearly 12 months on half-pay, he became attached to the Impregnable 104, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral David Milne. Continuing in that ship for a period of nearly four months, he was in consequence present in the battle of Algiers, and on that occasion he had the misfortune to be contused in three places. Being next, in June 1818, appointed to the Tartar 42, Capt. Sir Geo. Ralph Collier, the Lieutenant sailed for the coast of Africa, where, on 8 June, 1821, he assumed command of the Snapper gun-brig, in which vessel he proceeded, without a pilot, 60 miles up the old Calabar river in search of slave-vessels – a greater distance, we believe, than accomplished by any other man-of-war before or since. In Nov. 1822, having been promoted to the command of the Morgiana sloop on 3 of the previous June, he returned home and paid that vessel off. His last appointments were, 1 Sept. 1828, and 18 March, 1834, to the Coast Guard, in which service he was each time employed for a period of three years. While so engaged he was very successful in the capture of smuggling-vessels and their crews; and in one instance, when in the execution of his duty, he broke his collar-bone. For his singular exertions on the occasion of the wreck of the Hound Revenue-cruizer, in Weymouth Bay, when by his own act he saved the whole of the crew, consisting of 40 persons, he was nominated a K.H. 1 Jan. 1837. Agents – Messrs. Ommanney.
KNIGHT. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 27; h-p., 13.)
John Ellis Knight was born 11 Sept. 1791.
This officer entered the Navy, 8 March, 1807, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Trompeuse corvette, Capt. Wm. Brooking Dolling, successively employed in the North Sea, off Lisbon, and in the Downs. During the expedition of 1809 to the Scheldt we find him engaged on shore in the defence of the fort of Balthz, when in vain attacked by a flotilla under the orders of the French Rear-Admiral Massiessy. Previously to the evacuation of the Walcheren he accompanied Capt. Dolling into the Beagle sloop, commanded afterwards by Capt. John Smith, with whom he continued until Oct. 1813, assisting during that period at the cutting out of two gun-boats under Cape Grisnez, the destruction of part of a convoy near Calais, the capture of three armed and other smugglers (services for which Capt. Dolling and a Master’s Mate were each promoted), and the reduction and fortification, during the investment of St. Sebastian, of the important island of Sta. Clara. From Nov. 1813 until Aug. 1815 Mr. Knight was further employed, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, in the Lightning 20, Capts. Bentinck Cavendish Doyle and Geo. Rennie, on the Channel and Cork stations. Being then awarded a commission dated on 1 of the previous March, he was appointed, 5 Jan. 1827, to the Coast Blockade, as Supernumerary-Lieutenant of the Ramillies 74, Capt. Hugh Pigot, from which, however,, he was obliged, in Oct. 1829, to retire, in consequence of a severe rupture of the left groin, received in the execution of his duty, but for which he has never been able to obtain remuneration. Since 22 April, 1831 (unable to procure other employment), Lieut. Knight has been in command of a station in the Coast Guard. His exertions in that service, as exhibited by numerous strong testimonials, have been most successessful. On 8 of the Oct. following his appointment he had the good fortune, at Atherfield, in the Isle of Wight, to save the lives of 19 of the crew and passengers belonging to the ship Bainbridge, of Halifax, which had been wrecked in a heavy gale.
He married, 7 Aug. 1816, Miss S. Mason, of Yealmpton.
KNIGHT. (Retired Commander, 1844.)
William Knight died 6 May, 1846.
This officer entered the Navy, 1 March, 1790, as a Boy, on board the Arrogant 74, Capt. John Harvey, from which ship, lying at Portsmouth, he was paid off in the following year. Rejoining Capt. Harvey, in 1793, on board the Brunswick 74, he took part, we believe, in the action of 1 June, 1794; after which he served for five years as Midshipman in the Robust 74, Capt. Edw. Thornbrough, and was ultimately promoted from the Royal George 100, flag-ship of Lord Bridport, to a Lieutenancy, 26 Aug. 1799, in the Fanny 18, Capt. Joshua Sydney Horton. While in the Robust Mr. Knight, besides accompanying the unfortunate expedition of 1795 to Quiberon, was present with the force under Sir John Borlase Warren at the defeat of Commodore Bompart’s squadron 12 Oct. 1798, on which occasion that ship compelled the Hoche 74 to strike, and sustained a loss of 10 men killed and 40 wounded. On 6 Feb. 1800, being then in the Fairy, and in company with the Loire 38, Danaé 20, Harpy 18, and Railleur 16, we find him witnessing the capture , 6 Feb. 1800, [errata 1] of the Pallas, of 46 guns and 362 men, with which frigate the Fairy and Harpy had previously sustained a very warm and spirited action of an hour and three-quarters, attended with a loss to the former of 4 men killed and 8 wounded. His subsequent appointments were – in 1800, to the Cambridge 74, flag-ship of Sir Thos. Pasley, and Naiad 38, Capt. Philip Wilkinson, both on the Home station – in Jan. 1802, to the
