of King John, and took the name of Ussher to perpetuate the memory of the office he held near his Majesty’s person. Captain Ussher’s father was a distinguished Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin; first Astronomer Royal of Ireland, promoter and member of the Royal Irish Academy, and member of the Royal Edinburgh and many foreign Academies[1].
The subject of this memoir entered the service at an early age, under the patronage of Colonel Burton Conyngham, uncle to the present Marquis; and he first went to sea in the Squirrel of 20 guns, commanded by Captain William O’Brien Drury, on the Irish station.
At the commencement of the war in 1793, the Squirrel was sent to the coast of Guinea, where her commander resented an insult offered to the British flag, by driving the Portuguese governor of Prince’s Island, with severe loss, from the batteries defending the harbour, one mounting 22, the other 4 guns. Returning from the bight of Benin to England, she was becalmed near the line; and the provisions falling very short her officers and crew were reduced to a daily allowance of an ounce of bread and a single glass of water.
On his arrival at Spithead, Mr. Ussher was removed into the Invincible 74, commanded by Captain Thomas Pakenham, under whom he bore a part in the battles of May 29 and June 1, 1794. On the former day, the Invincible fought three sail of the line, and was twice set on fire by red-hot shot fired from the Brutus, a 50 gun rasée; her main-topmast was shot away, the fore and main-masts and lower-yards were crippled, 10 of her crew killed, and 21 wounded. On the glorious 1st of June, she encountered le Juste of 80 guns, sustained an additional loss of 4 men killed and 10 wounded, and was much cut up in her masts, sails, and rigging[2].
- ↑ The Usshers are related to the houses of Leinster, Wellesley, and Downshire; two of the family, John and James Ussher, were colonels in the King’s army, and lost their lives in the reign of Charles I.
- ↑ Earl Howe, observing the disabled state of the Invincible, May 29, sent the Venus and Aquilon, frigates, to tow her out of the line; Captain Pakenham, however, told their commanders that he wanted no assistance.
