Aug. 1812. On 9 Oct. 1813, on her return from the coast of Valencia, and while proceeding from Portsmouth to Woolwich for the purpose of being paid off, the Thunder was attacked and boarded by Le Neptune privateer, of 16 guns and 65 men; the enemy, however, were driven back, and their own vessel boarded in return and captured.[1] Capt. Pell’s Post commission bears date 1 Nov. 1813. His succeeding appointments were – 4 Oct. 1814, to the Menai 24, in which vessel, prior to being paid off in Feb. 1817, he served on the Irish station, cruized with a small force under his orders in the Bay of Fundy, and was employed off the Chesapeake and in visiting different American ports – 6 May, 1833, to the Forte 44, fitting for the West Indies, where he had command of the Jamaica station from Dec. following until ordered home in March, 1837, a period rendered important by the emancipation of the slaves – 1 Oct. 1840, to the Howe 120, equipping for service in the Mediterranean – 24 Aug. 1841, to the Superintendentship of Deptford Victualling Yard – next, to that of the Dockyard at Sheerness – and, 17 Dec. in the same year, 1841, to the command of the Royal Sovereign yacht, and the office of Superintendent of Pembroke Dockyard. While in command of the Forte, Capt. Pell had the honour of receiving on board Her present Majesty, then the Princess Victoria, together with the Duchess of Kent, and the Earls of Yarborough and Durham, and of making an excursion with them to view the Eddystone. He resigned his appointment at Pembroke on being appointed a Commissioner of Greenwich Hospital 18 Feb. 1845.
During his command of the Thunder, Capt. Pell received the thanks of the Admiralty for his services at Cadiz and Tarifa, and also for the capture of Le Neptune. In Jan. 1813, the Duke of Wellington addressed a letter to Lord Melville, from which the following is an extract: – “I enclose a letter from General Cooke, in regard to the services of Capt. Pell of the Thunder bomb during the late blockade of Cadiz. I assure your Lordship that when I was at Cadiz all descriptions of persons concurred in their praises of that officer, and of those under his command; and I therefore take the liberty of drawing your attention to his merits during a most harassing service of nearly three years’ duration.” In April, 1837, Capt. Pell received from Sir Herbert Taylor a notification of his late Majesty’s intention of conferring upon him the honour of Knighthood and the insignia of a K.C.H. The King’s illness and death prevented the royal wish from being carried into effect; but upon the accession of Queen Victoria to the throne, Capt. Pell had the gratification of being the first naval Knight created by her Majesty. The K.C.H. was also conferred upon him by the King of Hanover. Sir Watkin is in the receipt of a pension of 300l. per annum for the loss of his leg. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
PELLEW, Kt., C.B., K.C.H. (Rear-Admiral of the Blue, 1846. f-p., 18; h-p., 30.)
The Honourable Sir Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew, born 13 Dec. 1789, is second son of the late Admiral Viscount Exmouth, G.C.B.,[2] by Susannah, second daughter of Jas. Frowde, Esq., of Knoyle, co. Wilts; brother of Pownoll Bastard, second Viscount, a Captain R.N. (1806), who died 2 Dec. 1833; and uncle of the present Peer. One of his sisters was the wife of the late Admiral Sir Lawrence Wm. Halsted, G.C.B.; and another of the late Capt. Rich. Haward, R.N. Sir Fleet-
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1813, p. 2011.
- ↑ Lord Exmouth, originally Mr. Edward Pellew, was born at Dover 19 April, 1757. He entered the Navy in 1770 on board the Juno frigate. Capt. Stott; served in the Carleton schooner in the battle fougnt on Lake Chaplain 11 Oct. 1776; was present with General Burgoyne’s array at the convention of Saratoga 17 Oct. 1777; obtained, soon afterwards, his first commission; and for his gallant conduct as senior of the Apollo frigate, commanded by Capt. Philomen Pownoll, who was killed, in an action with a letter of marque of 32 guns, on the Flemish coast, was made Commander into the Hazard sloop. For services he performed on his removal to the Pelican, another sloop, particularly in driving on shore several privateers inside the Ile de Bas, he was advanced to Post-rank 31 May, 1782. He afterwards commanded the Artois 64, Winchelsea 32, Salisbury 50, Nymphe Of 40 guns and 240 men, Arethusa of 44 guns and 277 men, Indefatigable 46, Impétueux 74, and Tonnant 80. His valour in the Nymphe, in effecting the capture, 18 June, 1753, of the Cléopâtre of 40 guns and 320 men, procured Capt. Pellew the honour of knighthood. In the Arethusa he occasionally commanded a squadron of frigates, and either took, or assisted in taking, among other vessels, La Pomone of 44 guns and 341 men, Le Babet of 22 guns and 178 men, L’Engageante of 38 guns and 300 men, La Félicité, alias Volontaire, of 40 guns and about 300 men, L’Espion and Alert corvettes of 18 guns and 140 men each, and La Révolutionnaire of 44 guns and 361 men. The wonderful heroism and humanity displayed by Sir Edward Pellew, when on shore at Plymouth at the commencement of 1796, in permitting himself to be hauled, during a violent storm, on board an Indiaman, which had been driven under the citadel, and was fast going to pieces, whereby he was enabled to send a hawser to the shore and save the crew, had the effect of obtaining for him the freedom of the borough of Plymouth, and the dignity of a Baronet of the United Kingdom. During his command of the Indefatigable, Sir Edward was present at the capture or destruction of La Volage of 26 guns, L’Unité of 38 guns and 255 men, and La Virginie of 44 guns and 339 men; and on 13 Jan. 1797, participated, in company with the Amazon 36, in a very gallant engagement with the French 74-gun ship Les Droits de L’Homme, which, together with the Amazon, was in the end wrecked in Hodierne Bay, In the summer of 1800, Sir Edward Pellew, then in the Impétueux, was sent with a squadron consisting of seven ships of the line, one of 50 guns, nine frigates, a sloop of war, and a cutter, having on board a detachment of troops under the command of Major-General Maitland, to co-operate with the French Royalists and Chouans, in Quiberon Bay and the Morbihan; and in the following autumn he accompanied Sir John Borlase Warren in an expedition against Ferrol. In 1801 he was nominated a Colonel of Marines, and in 1802 elected M.P. for Barnstaple in Devon. Attaining flag-rank in April, 1804, he proceeded in the course of the same year as Commander-in-Chief to the East Indies, where he succeeded in obliterating from the Indian seas the tricoloured flag of Holland, by destroying, first at Onrust, in Batavia Roads, the Phoenix frigate and several smaller vessels; and next, at Griessee, two 70’s and one 68-gun ship, the Revolutie, Pluto, and Kortenaar. On 28 April, 1808, Sir Edward Pellew was advanced to the rank of Vice-Admiral, and in the following year he returned to England. He was next, in 1810, employed, with his flag in the Christian VII. 80, in the blockade of Flushing. In April, 1811, he succeeded Sir Chas. Cotton in command of the Mediterranean Fleet; during his tenure of which he fought two partial actions with the Toulon fleet, 5 Nov. 1813 and 13 Feb. 1814, and proved a constant source of annoyance to the enemy. His flag during the period was flying in the Caledonia 120. On 1 June, 1814, as a reward for his long and valuable services, he was raised to the peerage, as Baron of Exmouth, of Cannonteign, co. Devon, and granted at the same time a pension of 2000l. per annum. On 4 of the following month he became an Admiral of the Blue; in Jan. 1815 a K.C.B.; and in March, 1816, a G.C.B. On the escape of Buonaparte from Elba, his Lordship, with his flag in the Boyne 98, was immediately ordered back to the Mediterranean, where he materially contributed to the restoration of the legitimate government of Naples, and to the support of the Royalist cause along the southern coast of France. In March, 1816, he had the satisfaction of coneluding treaties with the Deys of Tunis and Tripoli relative to the abolition of Christian slavery, in virtue whereof 1792 persons were released from bondage. He also entered into arrangements with the Dey of Algiers, but the atrocities perpetrated by that potentate subsequently to his Lordship’s return to England, being such as to induce Great Britain to inflict upon him a signal mark of her displeasure, a fresh armament was equipped, and the command of it again given to the noble Admiral. He accordingly hoisted his flag on board the Queen Charlotte 100, and on 27 Aug. reappeared, with, including his own, five ships of the line, one 50, four frigates, five sloops, and four bombs, accompanied by five Dutch frigates and a corvette, before the colossal fortifications of Algiers. The result of the awful conflict that ensued who but knows? It is sufficient for us to record, that the gallant and veteran Baron became a Viscount, that he received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament, a sword from the City of London, and a piece of plate, valued at 1400 guineas, from his officers, that he was created a Knight of various foreign orders, and beyond all, that he secured for ever the admiration and gratitude of the Christian world. He had been previously presented by the flag officers and captains who had served with him in the Mediterranean, with a table ornament worth 500 guineas, as a token of their respect and regard. From the autumn of 1817 until Feb. 1821, he held the chief command at Plymouth. He was appointed Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom 15 Feb. 1832, and died an Admiral of the Red 23 Jan. 1833.
