tion he continued to hold with the highest credit and honour to himself, till the year 1802; when, in consequence of an ophthalmic complaint, he was under the necessity of retiring from the fatigues of public service.
On the promotion of Flag-Officers, which took place Nov. 9, 1805, Commissioner Schanck was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral. He became a Vice-Admiral, July 31, 1810; and an Admiral of the Blue, July 19, 1821.
Our officer married Miss Grant, sister to the late Master of the Rolls.
Residence.– Dawleish, Devon[1].
HON. MICHAEL DE COURCY,
Admiral of the Blue.
The noble family of De Courcy is allied to most of the Princes of Europe, deriving its descent in the male line from the house of Lorraine, of the race of the Emperor Charlemagne, or Charles I, surnamed the Great, who obliged the Saxons, and all other heathens whom he conquered, to receive the Christian faith; and so made the grand revolution of Europe[2].
The subject of this memoir is the third and eldest surviving son of John, the 25th Lord Kingsale, Baron Courcy, of Courcy, and Baron of Ringrone, premier Baron of the kingdom of Ireland, by Martha, daughter of the Rev. Isaac Heron, of
- ↑ The subject of the foregoing memoir was one of the original members of the Society for improving Naval Architecture, set on foot by the late eccentric John Sewell, the bookseller; and some of the papers published by that Institution were the productions of this ingenious officer. He appears also have been the inventor of gun-boats with moveable slides, for firing guns in any direction. He likewise fitted the Wolverine sloop with the inclined plane in her gun-carriages, which is justly considered as the greatest modern invention in gunnery.
- ↑ Charlemagne was born April 2, 742; succeeded his father as King of France, in 768; was made King of Italy in 774; of Germany, in 785; and crowned Emperor of the West, by Pope Leo III, at Rome, in 800. He died Jan. 24, 814.
