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16

SUPERANNUATED REAR-ADMIRALS.

North Sea station, where he served under the orders of Lord Duncan, and made many captures.

His next and last appointment was at the close of 1799, to the Mars of 74 guns, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Berkeley; and he continued to serve as Flag-Captain to that officer until Jan. 1801; when a misunderstanding having arisen between the Rear-Admiral and Earl St. Vincent, commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet, the former resigned his command, and Captain Monkton was in consequence superseded. His superannuation took place June 18, 1814.

Rear-Admiral Monkton remained a batchelor until he was more than forty years of age, when he married Miss Charlotte Slade, of Burstock, co. Dorset, first cousin to the present Lieutenant-General Slade. By this lady, who died May 6, 1806, he had four children, three of whom are now living. His second wife was Charlotte, widow of his old messmate, Mr. Mackie, Purser of the ill-fated Ardent^[1], and only daughter of George Button, Esq., a gentleman of considerable property, who had formerly kept an academy at Deptford. He married, lastly, Dec. 14, 1818, Elizabeth Patience, daughter of Thomas P. Phillips, of Tiverton, co. Devon, Esq., and sister of Thomas J. Phillips, of Landau House, near Launceston, Cornwall, Esq.

Residence.– Havre de Grace.

↑ In the course of the foregoing memoir, we have alluded to the fate of the Aurora and Calypso. Of the other vessels in which Rear-Admiral Monkton served, it is remarkable, that no less than six were afterwards lost; viz. the Lark, in America, during the colonial war; the Three Sisters, in the North Sea; the Ardent, burnt at sea; the Marlborough, wrecked on the coast of France; the Colossus, on the Scilly Isles; and la Lutine, on the Dutch coast. Whilst in the latter, he discovered and corrected an error in the compasses, which he explained to his successor, the unfortunate Captain Skynner; but that officer paid no attention to his advice, and actually undid what Captain Monkton had completed, saying that compasses were of no use in the North Sea. However, the contrary proved to be the case. La Lutine sailed from Yarmouth Roads at nine A.M. on the 9th Oct. 1799, with a fair wind for the Texel, having a considerable sum of money on board; and in the course of the ensuing night, struck on the outer bank of the Vlie passage, where all hands perished, with the exception of two men taken up alive, one of whom died soon after.

[1] In the course of the foregoing memoir, we have alluded to the fate of the Aurora and Calypso. Of the other vessels in which Rear-Admiral Monkton served, it is remarkable, that no less than six were afterwards lost; viz. the Lark, in America, during the colonial war; the Three Sisters, in the North Sea; the Ardent, burnt at sea; the Marlborough, wrecked on the coast of France; the Colossus, on the Scilly Isles; and la Lutine, on the Dutch coast. Whilst in the latter, he discovered and corrected an error in the compasses, which he explained to his successor, the unfortunate Captain Skynner; but that officer paid no attention to his advice, and actually undid what Captain Monkton had completed, saying that compasses were of no use in the North Sea. However, the contrary proved to be the case. La Lutine sailed from Yarmouth Roads at nine A.M. on the 9th Oct. 1799, with a fair wind for the Texel, having a considerable sum of money on board; and in the course of the ensuing night, struck on the outer bank of the Vlie passage, where all hands perished, with the exception of two men taken up alive, one of whom died soon after.

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