he took part, 11 April, 1804, in a very gallant conflict of an hour and a half, which terminated in her beating off, with a loss to herself of 10 men wounded, the French frigate-built privateer Psyché of 36 guns and 250 men, 11 of whom were killed and 33 wounded. Returning subsequently with Capt. Lambert to the St. Fiorenzo he assisted, 14 Feb. 1805, at the capture, after a desperate action of several hours, of the above named Psyché, which had been since added to the French navy, and whose loss on the present occasion amounted, out of 252 men, to 57 killed and 70 wounded, while that of the British did not exceed 12 killed and 36 (including himself) wounded. On 12 March, 1806, at which time he had been for nine months attached to the Culloden 74, bearing the flag, still on the East India station, of Rear-Admiral Sir Edw. Pellew, Mr. Marsingall was nominated Acting-Lieutenant of the Grampus 50, Capt. Jas. Haldane Tait, to which ship the Admiralty confirmed him 20 Aug. 1807. His last appointments were – 3 Nov. 1807, to the Camel store-ship, Capt. John Joyce, for passage to England – 14 May, 1808, to the Triumph 74, Capt. Sir Thos. Masterman Hardy, part of the Channel fleet – and 14 May and 4 Nov. 1809, to the Barfleur 98, flag-ship of Hon. Geo. Cranfield Berkeley, and Myrtle sloop, Capt. Thos. Innes, both on the Lisbon station. He invalided home in March, 1810; and accepted his present rank 1 Nov. 1843.
The wound received by Commander Marsingall at the capture of the Psyché was rewarded with a gratuity by the Patriotic Society. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
MARTEN. (Lieutenant, 1844.)
Francis Marten, born in 1814, is eldest son of the late Geo. Sulivan Marten, Esq., of Marshals Wick near St. Alban’s, Herts, by his second wife, Charlotte, daughter of Col. Tucker. He is half-brother of the present Geo. Robt. Marten, Esq., of Marshals Wick, a Magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant for co. Herts.
This officer passed his examination 28 Aug. 1837; and between 1840 and his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant 20 Nov. 1844, was employed as Mate in the Ferret 10, Lieut.-Commander Wm. Sidney "^l^homas, and Siren 16, Capt. Wm. Smith, on the African and East India stations. His appointments have since been – 18 Dec. 1844, to the Persian 16, Capt. Henry Coryton, from which vessel, fitting at Devonport, he was shortly afterwards superseded – and 16 Aug. 1845, to the President 50, now flagship of Rear-Admiral Jas. Rich. Dacres at the Cape of Good Hope.
MARTIN. (Lieut., 1811. f-p., 19; h-p., 33.)
Alexander Martin entered the Navy, in June, 1795, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Triumph 74, Capts. Sir Erasmus Gower and Wm. Essington, under the latter of whom he fought in the action off Camperdown 11 Oct. 1797. In Jan. 1799 he removed to the Formidable 98, Capts. Jas. Hawkins Whitshed, Edw. Thornbrough, and Rich. Grindall; and in that ship he served in the Channel, Mediterranean, and West Indies until Sept 1802 – towards the close of the period in the capacity of Midshipman. Rejoining Capt. Grindall, in 1803, on board the Prince 98, he was for upwards of three years employed with him in the Channel and off the Port of Cadiz, and was afforded an opportunity of sharing in the battle of Trafalgar 21 Oct. 1805. After an attachment of some months to the Glory 98, Capt. Wm. Albany Otway, and Prince 98, flagship of Rear-Admiral John Child Purvis, both stationed off Cadiz, he was nominated, about Dec. 1807, Acting-Lieutenant of the Terrible 74, Capt. Lord Henry Paulet, part of the force employed in the Mediterranean, where, in Feb. 1810, he joined, in a similar capacity, the Alacrity 18, Capt. Nesbit Palmer. In May, 1811, that vessel was unfortunately captured by the enemy, a catastrophe, however, Mr. Martin escaped, from the circumstance of his being at the time absent in charge of a Greek prize. He was confirmed a Lieutenant 29 Oct. in the same year; and was lastly, from 2 of the ensuing month until 18 Jan. 1815, employed on the Leith station in the Nightingale 16, Capt. Christopher Nixon.
MARTIN, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., K.S.J. (Admiral of the Fleet, f-p., 32; h-p., 39.)
Sir George Martin died 28 July, 1847, at his house in Berkeley Square, in the 83rd year of his age. He was third and youngest son of the late Capt. Wm. Martin, R.N., by Arabella, daughter of Sir Wm. Rowley, K.B., Admiral of the Fleet, and sister of Rear-Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley, the first Baronet of that name, father of the late Admiral Sir Chas. Rowley, Bart., G.C.B., G.C.H., and father-in-law of Admiral Sir Chas. Cotton, Bart. His grandfather, Bennet Martin, was a M.D.; one of his grand-uncles, Wm. Martin, died Admiral of the Fleet in 1756; and another, Roger Martin, also an Admiral, died in 1780. Sir George was brother of the present Wm. Martin, Esq., of Hemingston, co. Suffolk; and uncle of the present Capt. Geo. Bohun Martin, R.N., C.B. His mother married, a second time. Colonel Gibbs, of Horseley Park, Sussex, father of Major-General Sir Sam. Gibbs, K.C.B., who fell at New Orleans 8 Jan. 1815, and of Major-General Sir Edw. Gibbs, Governor of Jersey, and Colonel of the 68th Regt.
This officer (whose name had been borne from 13 Dec. 1771 until 30 April, 1774, on the books of the Mary yacht) embarked, 20 Nov. 1776, as Captain’s Servant, on board the Monarch 64, commanded by his uncle Capt. Joshua Rowley, and was present as Midshipman of that ship in Keppel’s action with the Comte d’Orvilliers 27 July, 1778. On next joining the Suffolk 74, Capt. Hugh Cloberry Christian, he was afforded an opportunity of sharing in Byron’s action with d’Estaing 6 July, 1779; and on 16 July, 1780, after having participated in three actions fought in the preceding months of April and May between Rodney and De Guychen, and been for short periods employed in the Camelion, Rover, and Alert sloops, Capts. Thos. Watson, John Thos. Duckworth, and Jas. Vashon, he was made Lieutenant into the Russel 74, Capt. Robt. Hanwell. His succeeding appointments, it appears, were, to the Princess Royal 98, Capt. J. T. Duckworth, Ulysses 44, Capt. John Thomas, and Sandwich, Capt. Silverius Moriarty. He was promoted, 9 March, 1782, to the command of the Tobago sloop; and on 17 March, 1783, was posted into the Preston 50. In April, 1784, Capt. Martin, whose services had hitherto been on the West India station, returned to England. He was subsequently appointed – 9 July, 1789, to the Porcupine 24, employed off the coast of Ireland until Aug. 1792 – 12 March, 1793, to the Magicienne 32, in the West Indies – 9 Nov. 1795, to the Irresistible 74 – 15 July, 1798, to the Northumberland 74 – and (after eight months of half-pay) 22 May, 1803, and 24 April and 21 Nov. 1804, to the Colossus 74, and Glory and Barfleur 98’s, on the Channel station. In the Irresistible Capt. Martin bore a conspicuous part in the battle off Cape St. Vincent 14 Feb. 1797, and towards the close of the action hoisted the broad pendant of Commodore Nelson, whose ship, the Captain, was completely disabled.[1] His conduct on the occasion procured him a gold medal and the thanks of Parliament. On 26 April in the same year the Irresistible, in company with the Emerald 36, pursued into Conil Bay, near Trafalgar, and, at the end of an hour’s engagement, succeeded in effecting the capture of the Spanish frigates 'Ninfa' and Santa Elena of 34 guns and 320 men each. The latter vessel, as soon as she had struck, cut her cable and ran on shore; her crew effecting their escape. Although eventually got off, she was found in too damaged a state to be kept afloat; and she accordingly went down. Part of the Ninfa’s crew also effected their escape to the shore. The loss sustained by the two frigates amounted to about 18 killed and 30 wounded: that
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1797, p. 212.
