Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/18

ADAMS. Kinross; was First Naval Lord of the Admiralty from April, 1835, until Aug. 1841; obtained the Lord Lieutenancy of Kinross 1 April, 1839; was appointed in 1840 one of the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House; and since July, 1846, has been again employed as First Sea Lord of the Admiralty. He married, 14 Oct. 1822, Elizabeth, daughter of the late Patrick Brydone, Esq., and sister of the Countess of Minto. – John P. Muspratt. 

ADAMS. 

is cousin of

This officer entered the Navy 8 May, 1807, as Fst.-cl. Vol. on board the 24, Capt. Hon. Henry Duncan, with whom he continued to serve in the  28, and  38, on the Mediterranean station, until the conclusion of hostilities in 1814. During his attachment to the, Mr. Adams was instrumental to the cutting out, on the night of 10 July, 1808, of a large polacre ship of 8 guns and upwards of 20 men, moored close to the beach on the coast of Romania, within pistol-shot distance of two batteries and a tower, and of three heavy gun-boats, to whose conjoined fire, as well as that of a body of troops, he was for a considerable time exposed. He subsequently, when in the, in the spring of 1809, assisted at the capture of Capo d’Istria, a town near Trieste, and in an attack made in company with the 38, on Pesaro and Ceseratico, where the fortifications were destroyed, and 25 sail of merchantmen taken. While in the, Mr. Adams further participated in the gallant capture and destruction, 2 Nov. 1811, in conjunction with the 32, of 10 gun-boats and 22 richly-laden feluccas, defended by a strong tower and two batteries in the harbour of Palinuro, on the coast of Calabria, at which place the British were opposed by a land force of 700 men. He next contributed, 27 June, 1812, to the destruction of a French convoy, and of the batteries at Languelia and Alassio – was also present, on 17 Aug. in the same year, 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 then returned home on board the 38, Capt. Edwards Lloyd Graham, and since his promotion, 6 March, 1815, has been unemployed. – Joseph Woodhead. 

ADAMS. 

, born in 1807, is second son of the late Henry Cadwallader Adams Esq., of Anstey Hall, co. Warwick, by Emma, eldest daughter of the late Alderman Sir Wm. Curtis, Bart., M.P.; brother of Henry Wm. Adams, now of Anstey, Lieut.-Colonel of the 49th foot, and of Capt. Frank Adams of the 28th; nephew of the present Sir Wm. Curtis, Bart.; and cousin of Lieut. A. J. Curtis, R.N.

This officer passed his examination in 1830, and obtained his commission 21 Feb. 1837. His appointments have since been – 16 April, 1838, to the 44, Capt. Provo Wm. Parry Wallis on the North America and West India station – 24 Feb. 1840, to the 24, Capts. Wm. Burnett, Fred. Thos. Michell, and Rich. Laird Warren, in the Mediterranean – 9 Nov. 1843, to the 90, Capt. Nich. Lockyer, employed for some time off Lisbon – and, 2 Feb. 1846, to the 120, bearing the broad pendant in the Channel of Sir Francis Augustus Collier. – Hallett and Robinson. 

ADAMS. 

is cousin of

This officer entered the Navy, 8 June, 1806, as a Volunteer, on board the 18, Capt. Wm. Raitt, under whom, during a period of three years and a half, he saw much active service, bore a part in many gun-boat actions, and, among other vessels, assisted in destroying, After a sharp engagement, a notorious privateer, the Fort of Gibraltar. He was also present, as Midshipman, in a very gallant encounter off Genoa between the boats of the and a French squadron, consisting of a brig of 20 guns, one of 18, and seven gun-boats, protected by a heavy fire from several batteries on shore, in face of which the largest of the enemy’s vessels was sunk, and the remainder beaten off, with a loss, however, to the British of the Master and 11 men killed, and upwards of 30 wounded. On the night of 31 Oct. 1809, Mr. Adams further served in the boats of the, and of a squadron under Lieut. John Tailour, at the capture and destruction, after a fearful struggle and a loss to the Assailants of 15 men killed and 55 wounded, of the Armed store-ship Lamproie, of 16 guns and 116 men, bombards Victoire and Grundeur, and armed xebec Normande, with a convoy of seven merchantmen, defended by numerous strong batteries, in the Bay of Rosas. Removing next in succession to the and  frigates, both commanded by Capt. Chas. Bullen, he joined in various other cutting-out affairs; witnessed the reduction of the island of Pomegue, near Marseilles; and co-operated in the defence of Tarragona in May and June, 1811. Until the receipt of his first commission, dated 16 Feb. 1815, Mr. Adams afterwards served in the Channel and Mediterranean, on board the 74, Capts. Sir Rich. King and Thos. Browne, 80, Capt. Henry Lidgbird Ball, and, 18, Capts. Henry Robt. Battersby and Sir Chas. Burrard. .His subsequent appointments were – 31 May, 1815, to the 74, Capt. Geo. Mundy – 17 April, 1819, to the 20, Capt. Sir Chas. Burrard – 24 Sept. 1822, to the 74, Capt. Chas. Dashwood, of the tender belonging to which ship he was for some time intrusted with the command – 12 Jan. 1824, as First Lieutenant, to the 18, Capt. John Geo. Aplin – 3 Nov. 1824, to the command, on the Newfoundland station, of the gun-brig – 1 March, 1826, to the  74, Capt. Hugh Pigot, by whom he was also invested with the charge of a tender – 20 Oct. 1826, and 17 Sept. 1828, as Senior, to the  and  sloops, both commanded by Capt. Wm. Morier, for his exertions in saving the latter of which, when nearly wrecked in a violent gale off Yarmouth, he received the approbation of the Admiralty – 4 May, 1829, in a similar capacity, to the 28, Capt. Alex. Gordon, on the coast of Africa – 6 Jan. 1830, to the command of the 12, on the same station, where, in a small gig with only five men, he gallantly effected the capture, 7 Nov. following, of the Maria, of 6 guns and 44 men, having on board 512 slaves, and was otherwise very successful – 23 July, 1831, as First, to the  50, Capt. Robt. Maunsell, in the Mediterranean – and, 17 Nov. 1834, to the command of the 10, in which vessel he served under the orders of Lord John Hay on the north coast of Spain, and was again successful in his anti-slavery exertions on the African station. Attaining the rank of Commander, 10 Jan. 1837, Capt. Adams was next, on 19 Jan. 1839, appointed to the 16, destined for the same service as was latterly the. Returning, therefore, to the coast of Africa, he renewed his operations against the negro traffic, and during a prolonged servitude of four years and eight months, during part of which period he had charge of the station and squadron at Mozambique, cruized with wonderful activity and good fortune. Among the prodigious number of prizes made by the we may instance the capture, 6 July, 1841, after a running fight, of the Gabriel, a piratical slave brig,