Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/1341

Rh to Quebec, and the Queen Dowager to and from the island of Malta; and under Capt. Lawrence he took an active part in the operations of ISIO on the coast of Syria. In command of the boats of his own ship and of the 72, he led a gallant and hazardous attack upon the castle and magazine at Beyrout, and succeeded in destroying a train which had been laid to the latter for the purpose of exploding it on the landing of the British. He afterwards, having handsomely volunteered his services, united in a second attack made by the boats of the same ships, under the orders of Commander Fras. Decimus Hastings of the Edinburgh; and on this occasion he received a severe contusion. As a reward for his conduct he was promoted to the rank he now holds 5 Nov. 1840. He left the in the following Jan.; and has been in command, since 12 Dec. 1845, of the  18, in the Pacific.

Capt. Worth married, 2 Oct. 1838, Charlotte Augusta, daughter of the late Rear-Admiral Thos. Searle, C.B. He was left a widower 31 Dec. 1841. – Messrs. Stilwell.

 WORTHINGTON. 

entered the Navy, 18 Jan. 1804, as Midshipman, on board the 64, Capts. John Wentworth Loring and Fras. Pickmore, stationed in the Downs. From April, 1805, until Feb. 1813 he was employed in the 50, Capt. Geo. Argles, 38, Capt. Jas. Athol Wood, 74, Capt. John Irwin,  store-ship, Master-Commander Sam. P. Pritchard, 44, Capt. Rich. Curry, and  sloops, Capts. Chas. Thurlow Smith and Geo. Wickens Willes, and 120, flag-ship of Sir Wm. Sidney Smith. In the he circumnavigated the globe; and in the other ships he served on the Home, West India, and Mediterranean stations. He acted as a Lieutenant in the ; and on 2 Feb. 1813, the date of his commission, he was appointed to the 74, Capt. Edw. Stirling Dickson, from which ship he removed, in the following month, to the 74, Capts. Sir Robt. Laurie, Robt. Waller Otway, and Geo. Mundy. In her he co-operated in the siege of St. Sebastian, assisted at the capture, 17 March, 1814, off Scilly, of L’Alcyon corvette, of 16 guns and 120 men, and escorted from Bordeaux to Quebec a squadron of transports, having on board 5000 troops, destined to reinforce the English army in Canada. He has been on half-pay since 23 Nov. 1814.

 WRAY. 

entered the Navy, 19 June, 1798, as Midshipman, on board the sloop, Capt. Henry Wray, stationed in the Channel. From May, 1799, until Jan. 1801, he served on the coast of North America in the 32, Capt. John Erskine Douglas; and in the course of the latter year he joined the  36, Capt. Henry Vansittart; with whom, after cruizing in the North Sea and Channel, he sailed for the West Indies, where he removed in 1804 to the  74, flagship of Sir John Thos. Duckworth, and was made Lieutenant, we believe, 14 April, 1805, into the 74, Capt. Temple. His next appointment was to the sloop, Capt. Sam. Chambers. In that vessel he united, 25 June, 1806, in chasing the San Josef Spanish letter-of-marque brig (armed with 1 long 18-pounder on a pivot amidships, and 4 12-pounder carronades and 2 long 4-pounders on her sides, with swivels, pikes, and muskets, and 30 men) into the intricate harbour of Banes, in the island of Cuba; and then, in the boats under Lieut. John Marshall, assisted, with the utmost gallantry, in cutting her out, without the loss of a man, although the vessel was protected by the fire from, and moored by a line to, a tower mounting 2 heavy guns, and notwithstanding too, that, in conducting her out of the harbour, she grounded within pistol-shot of the battery, and was struck by several shot from it. Mr. Wray had previously contributed to the capture, among other vessels, of the El Galgo Spanish packet. He continued to serve in the West Indies, as First-Lieutenant, in the 18, Capt. Peter John Douglas,  20, Capt. Thos. Edw. Symonds, and 40, Capt. Alex. Skene, until 1809 : he was next, until Feb. 1813, employed, in a similar capacity, in the Channel, Baltic, East Indies, and again in the Channel, in the and  frigates, and  and  74’s, all commanded by Capt. Skene; and on 1 Nov. 1821 he was appointed Senior of the  44, fitting for the broad pendant of Commodore Joseph Nourse, whom he accompanied to the Cape of Good Hope. On the death of the Commodore, 4 Sept. 1824, he appointed himself to the command of the, then returning to the Mauritius from the eastern coast of Africa. He was made Commander, 29 Dec. following, into the 18; and came home in that vessel from the Cape of Good Hope in Dec. 1825. He has since been on half-pay.

Commander Wray married, in 1838, Charlotte Elizabeth, eldest daughter of  – Messrs. Stilwell.

 WRAYFORD. 

died about the commencement of 1847.

This officer entered the Navy, 7 May, 1777, as Captain’s Servant, on board the, Capt. John Raynor, with whom he continued to serve on the coast of North America and in the Channel, in the and , until 1780. He was next, from 1783 until 1786, stationed at Plymouth in the 90, flag-ship of Vice-Admiral Milbank,  64, Capt. Symonds, and  cutter, Lieut.-Commander Webber. In June, 1794, he was received on board the 32, Capt. John Hill, in the West Indies: he was confirmed in the rank of Lieutenant (after having acted for some time as such) 10 Nov. 1795; and he was subsequently appointed – 6 Jan. 1797 and 24 June, 1799, to the  sloop and  frigate, Capts. Sam. Warren and Sir Fras. Laforey, employed in the Channel and again in the West Indies – 27 March, 1801, for about 12 months, to the 74, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Thos. Totty in the North Sea and West Indies – 15 March, 1803, to the 74, Capt. Sir Arch. Collingwood Dickson, in which ship, after cruizing in the Channel, he proceeded to the East Indies, whence he invalided in Aug. 1807 – in the course of 1809-10 to the frigate,  98, bearing the flag of Sir Alex. Cochrane, sloop, Capt. Andrew Hodge, and another vessel, all on the West India station – 1 Nov. in the year last mentioned, to the charge of a Signal station at the Saintes – 29 Dec. 1813 and 8 June, 1814, to the  74 and  80, flag-ships of Hon. Sir Alex. Cochrane on the coast of North America – 9 June, 1814, to the acting command of the sloop, on the same station – and, in June, 181.5, for a short time, to the  100, Capt. Wm. Robt. Broughton, at Plymouth. He was placed on the Senior List of Retired Commanders 28 April, 1836.

 WRIFORD. 

entered the Navy, 1 March 1797, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 100, Capt. Wm. Bedford, flag-ship of Sir Alan Gardner and Sir Henry Harvey in the Channel, where he continued to serve, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, until April, 1802. He was next for upwards of six years, employed under the late