brig, Lieut.-Commander Chas. C. Ormsby, then at Portsmouth. He was made Lieutenant, 19 March, 1805, into the Albacore sloop, Capt. Major Jacob Henniker, but, exchanging back a few months afterwards into the Dragon, continued in that ship, which was latterly commanded by Capt. Matthew Henry Scott, until paid off at the close of 1808. He then became First-Lieutenant of the Plover 18, Capt. Philip Browne, with whom (following him in July, 1811, into the Hermes 20) we find him employed, on the Home and South American stations, until the end of the war. He assisted during that period at the capture of many privateers, and was in the Plover in the expedition to the Walcheren, where he served under the broad pendant of the present Sir Geo. Cockbnm, who, both personally and by letter, expressed his acknowledgments for the meritorious conduct he had displayed. He accepted his present rank 15 July, 1837. Agents – Messrs. Chard.
LETHBRIDGE. (Lieutenant, 1827. f-p., 19; h-p., 19.)
John Lethbridge was born 24 Nov. 1793.
This officer entered the Navy, 11 Feb. 1809, as Jst.-cl. Vol., on board the Frederickstein 32, Capt. Joseph Nourse, on the Mediterranean station, where he followed the same Captain as Midshipman into .the Volontaire 38, and continued, latterly in the Hibernia 120, Capt. Edw. Kittoe, until Aug. 1811. , He then returned to England with Capt. Robt. Waller Otway in the Cumberland 74; and towards the close of the year, having been received on board the Andromache 38, Capt. Geo. Tobin, proceeded off the north coast of Spain. While there he served at the blockade of St. Sebastian, preparatory to its reduction, and, on 23 Oct. 1813, assisted at the capture of La Trave, of 44 guns and 321 men, which ship surrendered, after a short but smart action, and a loss of 1 man killed and 28 wounded. In the spring of 1814 Mr. Lethbridge participated in the operations up the Gironde, where, on shore and afloat, we-find him concerned in the destruction of a French line-of-battle-ship, three brigs of war, several smaller vessels, and all the forts and batteries on the north side of the river. In July, 1814, he removed to the Tanais 38, Capt. Joseph James, and during the two following years was stationed in the West Indies. Having passed his examination 3 July, 1815, he was next, between Oct. 1816 and the period of his advancement to the rank of Lieutenant 28 April, 1827, employed at Portsmouth, Plymouth, and the Cape of Good of Hope, and again on the Home station, as Admiralty-Midshipman and Mate, in the Queen Charlotte 100, Capt. Edm. Soger, Superb 74, Capt. Chas. Ekins, Tees 26, Capt. Geo. Rennie, Severn 40, Capt. Wm. M‘Culloch, Racehorse 18, Capt. Wm. Benj. Suckling (under whom he was wrecked on a reef of rocks, off Langness Point, Isle of Man, 14 Dec. 1822), Gannet 18, Capt. Wm. Simpson, and Ramillies 74, Capt. Hugh Pigot. At the period of his proemotion Mr. Lethbridge, who has since been on half-pay, was the oldest Mate, as to age, in the service.
LETHBRIDGE. (Lieutenant, 1811. f-p., 11; h-p., 33.)
Robert Lethbridge entered the Navy, 5 Dec. 1803, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Princess Royal 98, Capts. Jas. Vashon, Herbert Sawyer, and Robt. Carthew Reynolds; of which ship; stationed in the Channel, he became Midshipman 7 April, 1804. Removing, in May, 1805, to the Unité 36, Capts. Chas. Ogle and Pat. Campbell, he was for five .years and a half employed under those officers on the Mediterranean station, where – besides assisting, in May, 1808, at the taking of Il Ronco brig of war, of 16 guns and 100 men, and, in June following, at the simultaneous capture of the Nettuno and Toulie, of similar force – he commanded one of six boats belonging to the Unité and Topaze in an affair near Toulon, and was officially commended for his conduct in defending, in a 10-oared cutter, four prizes, taken on the occasion, against the subsequent attacks of six armed boats. On 29 Oct. 1810, and 17 Jan. 1811, he was successively appointed an acting and a confirmed Lieutenant of the York 74, Capts. Robt. Barton and Alex. Wilmot Schomberg, with whom we find him successively employed in the Mediterranean and North Sea until May, 1813. His last appointment was, on 9 Nov. in the latter year, to the Conquestador 74, Capt. Lord Wm. Stuart, stationed at first in the Channel and then in the West Indies, whence he returned in Sept. 1814. Agents – Pettet and Newton.
LETT. (Lieutenant, 1826.)
Stephen Joshua Lett was born 2 Nov. 1801, at Enniscorthy, co. Wexford.
This officer entered the Navy 15 July, 1815; passed his examination in 1821.; and,. as a reward for his meritorious services as Mate of the Arachne 18, Capt. Henry Ducie Chads, during the war in Ava, was made Lieutenant, 26 Dec. 1826, into the Larne sloop, Capt. Wm. Burdett Dobson, with whom he returned home and was paid off in April, 1827. He has been in charge, since 3 April, 1837, of a station in the Coast Guard.
LEVELL. (Retired Commander, 1847. f-p., 14; h-p., 33.)
Thomas Levell was born 19 Jan. 1788, at Bildeston, in Suffolk.
This officer entered the Navy, 25 Oct. 1800, as Fst.-cl. Vol,, on board the Excellent 74, Capts. Hon. Robt. Stopford, Robt. Tucker, and John Nash, with whom he served in the Channel and West Indies until May, 1803 – the-last two years in the capacity of Midshipman. After a short attachment to the Topaze frigate, Capt. Willoughby Thos. Lake, he rejoined Capt. Stopford,.in the course of the latter year, on board the Spencer 74, in which ship, commanded subsequently by Capt. John Quilliam, he was for upwards of five years employed. During that period we find him assisting at the blockade of Ferrol, Corunna, and Toulon; uniting in Lord Nelson’s pursuit of the combined fleets to the West Indies and back; participating in Sir John Duckworth’s search after the celebrated Rochefort squadron; present, 6 Feb. 1806, in the action off St. Domingo; escorting General Crawford and. a body of troops to the Cape of Good Hope; and serving on shore, in the erection of batteries, at the siege of Copenhagen. Having passed his examination 1 July, 1807, Mr. Levell was nominated, 14 Sept. 1808, Sub-Lieutenant of the Attack gun-brig, Lieut.-Commander Thos. Swain; and on 27 Jan. 1809 was promoted to the full rank of Lieutenant. Being then appointed to the Little Belt of 20 guns and 121 men, Capts. John Crispo and Arthur Batt Bingham, it was his fortune, on 16 May, 1811, to be on board that sloop in the furious and well-known action fought between her and the American 44-gun frigate President, whose fire in half an hour killed and wounded 32 of the British. He was paid off from the Little Belt in Sept. 1811; and was afterwards appointed – 25 Jan. 1812, to the Osprey 18, Capt. Tim. Clinch,iin the boats of which sloop he was occasionally, employed up the river Elbe – 12 Jan. and 28 June, 1813, to the Fervent 12, Capt. Chas. Hope Reid, and Flamer, of similar force, Capts. John Baldwin and Job Hamner, with whom he served until put out of commission in Aug. 1814 – and, lastly, 8 May, 1815, to the command of a Telegraph station in the county of Surrey, where he was relieved in the following March. While in the Flamer, Mr. Levell was engaged in escorting convoys to Gottenborg; and on one occasion, when off the Skawe, look command of her boats, and drove a Danish privateer cutter on shore. He accepted the rank he now holds 3 Feb. 1847.
Commander Levell is married, and has issue three sons and two daughters.
