Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/383

FORBES. FORBES. 

was born in Nov. 1793.

This officer entered the Navy, 17 Nov. 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 32, Capt. Chas. Malcolm, and (with the exception of an attachment of a few months in 1811 to the 50, bearing the flag at Leith of Rear-Admiral Wm. Albany Otway) served under the late Sir Pulteney Malcolm, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, from March, 1807, to Oct. 1813, in the  74,  74,  110, and  100. While in the he escorted Sir Arthur Wellesley’s army from Cork to Portugal in 1808; was present at the destruction, 24 Feb. 1809, of three frigates under the batteries of Sable d’Olonne; served in the boats during Lord Gambier’s ensuing operations against the French shipping in Basque Roads; and, on 15 Nov. 1810, assisted in an attack made by Capt. Chas. Grant, of the, on the two French frigates Amazone and Eliza, protected by the fire of several strong batteries, near Cherbourg. Being appointed Acting-Lieutenant, in Oct. 1813, of the 74, Capt. Tristram Robt. Ricketts, Mr. Forbes in the following year accompanied the expedition to New Orleans, where he took command of the ship’s boats, and was very active on the Mississippi. In Feb. 1815 (on 17 of which month he was officially promoted) he appears to have been similarly employed during the investment of Fort Bowyer, and to have made prize of several vessels. He left the in Oct. 1815, and, as Lieutenant, was afterwards appointed – 18 Feb. 1821, to the  26, Capt. Jas. Kearny White, fitting at Portsmouth – and, 13 Feb. and 5 July, 1822, to the 20, and  18, Capts. Edw. Purcell and Jas. Wigston, on the West India station. He was there promoted to the command, 16 June, 1823, of the 18, in which sloop he continued to serve until Oct. 1825. Capt. Forbes, who has not since been afloat, attained Post-rank 27 Aug. 1834.

 FORBES. 

entered the Navy 22 Aug. 1820; and obtained his first commission 1 1 March, 1826. He afterwards joined – 11 March, 1828, the 10, Capt. Leonard Chas. Rooke, in the Mediterranean – 3 Dec. 1831, the 18, Capt. Spencer Lambert Hunter Vassall, fitting for the East Indies – and 3 April, 1834, the  24, Capts. Jas. Hanway Plumridge and Geo. Wm. St. John Mildmay, to which vessel, on her being paid off on her return from the latter station, he was re-appointed, as First-Lieutenant, 13 May, 1835. After serving for upwards of three years on the Lisbon station, Mr. Forbes was promoted to the rank of Commander 27 Dec. 1838. From 18 Aug. 1841 until 1845 he officiated as Second-Captain of the 72, bearing the flag of Sir Chas. Adam on the North America and West India station; but since the latter date he has been on half-pay. His elevation to the rank he now holds took place 27 Aug. 1846.

 FORBES. 

, born 3 April, 1819, is second surviving son of

This officer entered the Navy 14 Aug. 1833; passed his examination 5 Jan. 1839; and served, as Mate, in the West Indies, South America, and the East Indies, on board the schooner, Lieut.-Commander Augustus Chas. May, 18, Capt. Rich. Byron, 26, Capt. Sir Jas. Everard Home, and 72, flag-ship of Sir Wm. Parker. Since his promotion, which took place 29 Aug. 1843, his appointments have been – 7 Sept. 1843 and 2 July, 1844, to the 16, Capt. Wm. Nevill, and 18, Capts. Geo. Evan Davis and Jas. Alex. Gordon, both in the East Indies – and, 19 Oct. 1846, to the steam-frigate, bearing the broad pendant of Sir Chas. Hotham on the coast of Africa, where he is at present serving.

 FORBES. 

is youngest son of Gen. Gordon Forbes, of Ham, co. Surrey.

This officer entered the Navy, 26 June, 1799, as a Volunteer, on board the 40, Capts. Hon. Arthur Kaye Legge and Geo. Henry Towry; and, in Oct. 1802, became Midshipman of the 56, Capt. Hon. Thos. Bladen Capel. In 1804 he appears to have been wounded in the Mediterranean, at the cutting out of a man-of-war brig; after which he bore a part in the battle of Trafalgar, 21 Oct. 1805, and officiated as Acting-Lieutenant of the 74, Capt. Pulteney Malcolm, in the action off St. Domingo, 6 Feb. 1806. Being confirmed to the latter ship by commission dated 9 April, 1806, Mr. Forbes, in 1808, escorted Sir Arthur Wellesley’s army from Cork to Portugal; and, in the early part of 1809, besides assisting at the destruction of three frigates under the batteries of Sable d’Olonne, was present at the discomfiture of the French shipping in Basque Roads. In the course of 1810-11 he joined the 36, Capt. Edw. Sneyd Clay, and  frigates, both commanded by Capt. John Quilliam, and  100, bearing the flag of Sir Jas. Saumarez. Attaining the rank of Commander 1 Feb. 1812, he was afterwards appointed, on the Channel, East India, Halifax, and Mediterranean stations – 23 March, 1814, to the 12 – 1 Dec. 1814, to the  16 – 1 May, 1816, to the  18 – 4 Feb. 1818, to the  18 and, 24 May, 1819, to the  18. Capt. Forbes, who assumed Post-rank on 7 Dec. in the latter year, was next invested with the command, 14 Nov. 1841, of the 36; from which ship, stationed in the West Indies, he was superseded 1 Aug. 1842. He accepted the Retirement 1 Oct. 1846.

Capt. Forbes, in 1804, was presented with a grant from the Patriotic Fund, in consideration of the wound we have above noticed. At present he is Commissioner of Pilotage at Shoreham. He married, 28 Sept. 1822, Jane, eldest sister of the present Sir Jas. Everard Home, Bart., Capt. R.N. – Messrs. Stilwell.

 FORBES. 

is nephew of Capt. Edw. Hodder, R.N. (1814), who died in the early part of 1829. Another uncle was a Captain in the Army.

This officer entered the Navy, 1 Jan. 1807, as Midshipman, on board the 64, Capt. Henry Hill, and after an intermediate servitude in that ship, the  74, Capt. Hon. Henry Blackwood, and  64, Capt. Thos. Brown, chiefly on the Home station, became Master’s Mate, in 1809, of the 36, Capts. Wm. Selby, Edw. Henry A’Court, and Brian Hodgson. During the five years of his continuance in that frigate, Mr. Forbes assisted at the capture of the island of Anholt in May, 1809; was in frequent skirmishes with the Danish and Russian gun-boats in the Baltic; took a prize on one occasion to Oporto; and, independently of escorting a Convoy to and from the Cape of Good Hope, conveyed Sir Sam. Hood to Madras. On his return home, in 1814, on board the 74, Capt. Stephen Thos. Digby, he immediately joined the 98, bearing the flag of H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence;. and, on the occasion of the grand naval review at Spithead, he received from his Captain, Chas. Adam, a high testimonial of his meritorious conduct. Not long after that event (the being at the time at the mouth of the Garonne) Mr. Forbes’ health sustained a very severe shock in consequence of his intrepid exertions in descending into the water at midnight for the purpose of rescuing a boat’s crew belonging to H.M.S., all but one of whom were, through his instrumentality, happily saved. For this service he had the satisfaction of receiving the public