successively, all of which were carried in half an hour, I cannot sufficiently commend their intrepid behaviour, while exposed to a heavy fire in advancing with the troops, as well as their spirited exertions in cutting down the fences which surrounded the batteries. The very animated exertions of Lieutenant Henry Hoghton, of the Hussar, and Mr. William H. B. Proby, midshipman, during the whole of this service, entitle them to my warmest thanks and every possible praise. I have the honor to be, &c.
For his gallant conduct on this occasion, Mr. Proby received the public thanks of Colonel Watson, and was appointed by Sir Samuel Hood acting lieutenant of his flagship, the Minden 74. He appears to have been confirmed into the Hesper sloop, Captain Charles Biddulph, Jan. 9th, 1814; and we subsequently find him serving on the same station, in the Leda 36, Wellesley 74, and Owen Glendower 36, which latter ship, commanded by Captain Brian Hodgson, was paid off May 23d, 1816.
Lieutenant Proby spent part of the ensuing six years in a free trader to India, being unable to obtain employment in the navy until Feb. 14th, 1822 when he was appointed to the Queen Charlotte 104, flag-ship of Sir James H. Whitshed, commander-in-chief at Portsmouth. His subsequent appointments were, about June 1823, to the Cambridge 82, Captain T. J. Maling, destined to the Pacific Ocean, in which ship he continued until June 21st, 1827; and Dec. 8th, 1828, to be first of the Southampton 50, fitting out for the flag of Sir Edward W. C. R. Owen, then recently nominated commander-in-chief on the East India station. After equipping the Southampton, he was advanced to his present rank, by commission dated Mar. 19th, 1829.
Commander Proby married, April 28th, 1831, Louisa Mary, only daughter of the late Rev. Samuel How, of Stickland, in Dorsetshire, and Southleigh, co. Devon. His brother, the Rev. John Caryfort Proby, is a chaplain in the Hon.E.I.Company’s service, at Bengal.
