2383258Royal Naval Biography — Dent, DigbyJohn Marshall


DIGBY DENT, Esq.
[Commander.]

Son of the late Commander Dent, R.N., who died on the 15th Nov. 1798, leaving a widow and eight children.

This officer entered the navy a short time previous to the battle of Trafalgar, on which memorable occasion he was a youngster on board the Achille 74, Captain (now Sir Richard) King, under whom he appears to have served the whole of his time as midshipman. He passed his examination, at Portsmouth, in Mar. 1811; obtained a lieutenant’s commission in Feb. 1812; joined the San Josef 120, bearing the flag of his patron, about May 1813; was second of the Minden 74, Captain William Paterson, at the battle of Algiers; and subsequently flag-lieutenant to Sir Richard King, on the East India station. His promotion to the rank of commander took place Oct. 30th, 1820. He married at Jersey, in 1821, the daughter of Colonel Hawker. One of his brothers, Charles Calmady, is also a commander; another, Arthur Philip, now deceased, was a purser in the navy.