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AIRD—AIREY—AITCHISON—AITKIN. Aug. 1844, as First Lieutenant, to the steam-sloop, Capt. Thos. Fisher, now employed on particular service. – Messrs. Stilwell.

 AIRD. 

passed his examination 5 April, 1839; and was appointed Mate, towards the close of 1841, of the surveying-vessel, Capt. Francis Price Blackwood, on the East India station. He was promoted to the rank he now holds 9 Dec. 1845; rejoined the, which he had but recently left, 23 Jan. 1846; and is at present employed in her tender, the schooner, Lieut.-Commander Chas. Bampfield Yule.

 AIREY. 

entered the Navy 4 April, 1823; passed his examination in 1823; and obtained his commission 10 Feb. 1830. His subsequent appointments were – 22 Aug. 1831, to the 50, flag-ship at the Cape of Good Hope of Rear-Admiral Fred. Warren – 16 Dec. 1834, to the 16, Capt. Edw. John Carpenter, on the North America and West India station – and, 23 Feb. 1836, to the 120, bearing the flag at the Nore of Hon. Chas. Elphinstone Fleeming. He has been on halfpay since the early part of 1837.

Lieut. Airey at present holds the appointment of Crown Commissioner at Port Philip.

 AIREY. 

entered the Navy, 12 June, 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 74, Capt. Pulteney Malcolm, and on removing to the  3d, Capts. Robt. Lloyd and Alex. Skeene, sailed, after attending Lord Gambler’s expedition of 1807 to Copenhagen, for Halifax and the West Indies. From June, 1810, two years previously to which period he had attained the rating of Midshipman, he served, until the receipt of his commission, dated 17 Feb. 1813, latterly as Master’s Mate, in the 74, Capt. Jas. Macnamara, 74, Capt. Thos. Alexander, troop-ship, Capt. Geo. Wyndham, and 14, Capt. Jas. Wallis, all on the Home station. He has not since been officially employed.

He now commands the Hon. E.I.C.’s steam-ship.

 AIREY. 

entered the Navy 1 Jan. 1821, and passed his examination in 1827. Being made Lieutenant, 13 May, 1829, into the 20, Capt. Edw. Webb, on the African station, he afterwards joined, in that capacity, 25 June, 1831, and 28 Oct. 1833, the 10, and  74, Capts. Wm. Smith and Jas. Rich. Dacres, both in the Mediterranean. Since his return to England, in 1837, he has been on half-pay. – Goode and Lawrence.

 AITCHISON. 

was born 15 Oct. 1794. This officer entered the Royal Naval College 16 Feb. 1808; and embarked, 21 Dec. 1810, as a Volunteer, on board the 38, Capt. John Quilliam, with whom he continued to serve, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, on the Baltic, Newfoundland, and West India stations, until April, 1815. During that period he saw a good deal of boat service, was often in collision with the enemy’s batteries, and assisted at the capture, 16 Sept. 1813, of the Elbredge Gerry, American privateer, of 14 guns and 66 men. He afterwards joined the 74, Capt. John Halliday, and  and, bearing the respective flags of Admirals Lord Keith and David Milne. On his return, in the latter ship, from Algiers, where, during the bombardment, he had been intrusted with the charge of a boat, for the purpose of burning one of the enemy’s frigates, and had been wounded, Mr. Aitchison was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, by commission dated 16 Sept. 1816. His next appointment appears to have been, 13 Sept. 1819, to the 10, Capts. John Wm. Montagu and Edw. Stewart; in which sloop, of whose boats he had command on the river Tyne during a serious dispute between the colliers and the civil authorities, he remained until transferred, 22 Sept. 1321, to the Coast Blockade, as Supernumerary-Lieutenant of the 40, Capt. Wm. M‘Culloch. With his name afterwards on the books of the 74, and  42,Capts. Wm. M‘Culloch and Wm. Jas. Mingaye, he continued to be employed on the Coast Blockade until Aug. 1326; but since that period he has not held any further appointment.

Lieut. Aitchison married in March, 1825.

 AITCHISON. 

is son of Wm. Aitchison,Esq., of Drummore, East Lothian.

This officer entered the Navy, 3 Dec. 1808, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 38, Capt. Geo. McKinley, in which frigate he was wrecked, off the Island of Malta, 10 Aug. 1810. Until confirmed in the rank of Lieutenant, 6 May, 1815, he afterwards served, as Midshipman, Master’s Mate, and Acting-Lieutenant, in the 36, and  74, both commanded by Capt. Patrick Campbell,  74, Capt. Edw. Fellowes,, , , and 74’s, Capt. David Mane,  80, flag-ship of Sir Alex. Cochrane, and 74, Capt. Tristram Robt. Ricketts. While in the, we find Mr. Aitchison commanding her tender for the annoyance of the enemy’s trade off Boston, and also witnessing (during a boat expedition up the Penobscot) the attack on Bangor and the destruction of the John Adams frigate. He was subsequently employed for six weeks in the boats of the during the operations against New Orleans; and further commanded the small-arm men landed from the  to assist in the reduction of Fort Bowyer in Feb. 1815. Being appointed, 1 May, 1816, to the 60, Capt. Edw. Chetham, Mr. Aitchison served at the ensuing bombardment of Algiers, and on that occasion commanded the forecastle and gangway guns. After a subsequent servitude of nearly three years as Flag-Lieutenant to Sir David Milne on the North America station, he was promoted to the rank of Commander, by commission, dated 17 July, 1819; and on 3 April, 1826, was next appointed to the 18, in the North Sea. Since his Post-promotion, which took place 30 April, 1827, Capt, Aitchison has been on half-pay.

He married, first, 13 Dec. 1321, Eliza, daughter of the late Matthew Munro, Esq., of the island of Granada; and, secondly, 23 April, 1838, Catherine, daughter of Henry Combe Compton, Esq., M.P. for South Hampshire. – Messrs. Halford and Co.

 AITKIN. 

entered the Navy, 10 Dec. 1804, on board the 44, Capt. Geo. M‘Kinley, bearing the flag in Yarmouth Roads of Admiral Billy Douglas. He afterwards served for nine years (including a short period as Acting-Lieutenant), in the 64,  74,  74,  36, and  again, flag-ships, in the North Sea, Baltic, and Mediterranean, of Admirals Thos. Macnamara Russell, Sir Jas. Saumarez, Sir Edw. Pellew, Sir John Gore, and Sir Chas. Vinicombe Penrose. In the, commanded at the time by Capt. Robt. Campbell, he attended the expedition to Copenhagen in 1807; and (on that ship’s hard-wrought extrication from a mass of ice in which she had been blocked up during the whole winter) was present, in company with the 64, at the capture and destruction, 22 March, 1808, of the Danish 74-gun ship Prindts Christian Frederic, after a running fight of great length and obstinacy, in which the  sustained a loss of two men killed and 16 wounded. He obtained his commission 11 Feb. 1815, and has not since been employed.

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