Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/1136

1122 as Flag-Lieutenant to Sir Edw. Codrington at Portsmouth. He attained his present rank 2 Jan. 1843; and has since been on half-pay. – Messrs. Ommanney.

 STIRLING. 

is son of the late Lieut.-Col. Thos. John Stirling, R.M.; grandson of the late Lieut.-Col. T. Stirling, R.M.; and brother-in-law of the late Lieut. Chas. Joseph Cater, R.N. This officer entered the Navy 13 Nov. 1824; passed his examination 6 April, 1831; and was employed in the Coast Guard as Mate and Lieutenant (commission dated 11 Jan. 1843) from 18 Jan. 1840 until appointed, 24 Nov. 1843, to the steam-frigate, Capt. Wm. Fred. Lapidge. In that vessel, which was paid off at the commencement of 1847, he served on the south-east coast of America and in the Channel; and since 14 Sept. in the same year he has again had charge of a station in the Coast Guard. He was allotted a pension for wounds 5 March, 1847.

He is senior of 1843.

 STIRLING. 

entered the Navy, 15 Feb. 1809, as L.M., on board the 74, Capts. Graham Eden Hamond and John Talbot; in which ship, after assisting at the reduction of Flushing, he proceeded to the Mediterranean, where he attained the rating of Midshipman, and joined, 10 Feb. and 11 June, 1812, the 38 and  38, Capts. Jas. Alex. Gordon and Hon. Henry Duncan. Previously to following the latter officer, about Aug. 1814, into the 50, he contributed, we believe, to the destruction, 27 June, 1812, of a French convoy and of the batteries of Languelia and Alassio; was also, 17 Aug. in the same year, present in a spirited skirmish with a powerful Neapolitan squadron in the Bay of Naples; and, in 1813-14, witnessed the capture of Port d’Anzo, and the operations against Leghorn and Genoa. He left the, on her return from a voyage to Madeira, 21 Aug. 1815; was promoted, 20 Sept. following, to the rank of Lieutenant; and was afterwards, from 7 July, 1831, until the close of 1833, and from 4 April, 1840, until the summer of 1841, employed in the Coast Guard.

Lieut. Stirling is married and has issue. – Messrs. Ommanney.

 STOCKDALE. 

entered the Navy, 22 June, 1804, as Midshipman, on board the 74, Capt. Christopher Cole, fitting for the flag of Sir Edw. Pellew, Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies; where he became Master’s Mate, 9 July, 1808, and 31 Aug. 1811, of the 38, Capt. Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew, and  74, Commodore Wm. Robt. Broughton. In the he was present at the capture and destruction, 27 Nov. 1806, of a Dutch frigate, seven brigs of war, and about 20 armed and other merchant- vessels lying in Batavia Roads; also at the taking of ; and at the annihilation at Griessee, 11 Dec. 1807, of the dockyard and stores and of all the men-of-war remaining to Holland in India. He accompanied, in the, the expedition of 1810 against the Isle of France; and while co-operating, in that ship and the , in the reduction of Java, he landed and aided at the bombardment and storming of Fort Cornells 26 Aug. 1811. After acting for some time as Lieutenant of the, he was superseded by order of Rear-Admiral Sir Sam. Hood, 6 April, 1812; and in the course of the same year he returned to England in the 36, Capt. Wm. Jones Lye. Since 27 Aug. 1846 Mr. Stockdale, whose commission bears date 8 May, 1812, has been attached to the 80 and  72, guard-ships at Sheerness, Capts. Rich. Arthur and David Price. – Messrs. Chard.

 STOCKER. 

is brother of

This officer entered the Navy, 2 Feb. 1805, as A.B., on board the 18, Capts. Philip Carteret and Fras. Stanfell; under the former of whom, after blockading the Texel and assisting at the capture, 11 April, 1805, of L’Honneur, Dutch national schooner of 12 guns, he sailed with convoy, early in 1806, for the West Indies; where the watched a French squadron under Rear-Admiral Villaumez at Port Royal, Martinique, and, on the escape of the latter, dogged it for many days. She subsequently accompanied Sir John Borlase Warren in pursuit of the enemy to North America; and while cruizing next, on the Home station, made prize of, among other vessels, the privateers Bourgainville of 18 guns and 93 men (taken after a long chase and running fight of 45 minutes), La Glaneuse of 16 guns and 80 men, and Le Glaneur of 10 guns and 60 men. In March, 1809, Mr. Stocker removed as Midshipman, a rating he had acquired in Nov. 1806, to the 18, Capt. Rich. Henry Muddle; and in the course of the following month he joined the 32, Capts. Chas. Pelly and Joseph Drury. After commanding a boat in the attack upon Flushing, he sailed for the East Indies; where he assisted, in 1810, at the capture of the Mauritius, and in 1811 again.had charge of a boat at the reduction of Java. Being then left at Batavia, the, during her sojourn at that place, lost 128 officers and men, including her Captain, Pelly, from the effects of the climate; and on the occasion of her departure, about April, 1812, she had, out of a crew consisting originally of 264, only 56 capable of performing duty. Previously to following Capt. Drury as Master’s Mate, in August, 1812, into the sloop, Mr. Stocker, who had been nominated Acting-Lieutenant of the, 17 Nov. 1811, accompanied a highly successful expedition conducted by Capt. Jas. Bowen of the frigate against the pirates of Palembang, and aided in forming a settlement on the island of Banca. In the he united, and had command of a boat, in a series of arduous operations against the Sultan of Sambas, in Borneo, whose fortifications were destroyed and depredations effectually checked. From March, 1814, until paid off, on his return to England, in August, 1817, Mr. Stocker served with Capts. Drury, Henry Warde (acting), and John Reynolds, still in the East Indies, in the 22. Being strongly recommended by Capt. Drury for his general good conduct, and in particular for his exertions in the attack upon Sambas, he was during that period a second time, 16 March, 1815, ordered by Commodore Sayer to act as Lieutenant. Although not at the time aware of the circumstance, he had been promoted at home by a commission bearing date 1 of the preceding Feb. In the early part of 1817 the, while lying at , was hove down on both sides; and for his services on this occasion Mr. Stocker received the thanks of the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Rich. King. His appointments, after he left the, were – 20 Jan. 1823, to the Coast Guard – 27 Sept. 1828, to the command, for three years, of the Revenue-cruizer – 28 Jan. 1832, again to the Coast Guard, in which he remained until 12 March, 1843 – and 7 July in the latter year, and 22 May, 1845, to the  110 and  120, Capts. Fred. Wm. Burgoyne and Manley Hall Dixon, both stationed at Devonport, where he had charge of a division of the ships in Ordinary. He has been on half-pay since 10 Aug. 1846.

While serving in the Mr. Stocker fell from the main futtock-shrouds to the deck, owing to a ratline giving way, and injured his right leg. On the night of 14 Nov. 1828 the, which he then commanded, parted three chains in a heavy gale and drove on shore; and he and his crew were with difficulty saved. After being for a week on shore she was hove off.

