Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/449

GRIFFITHS—GRINDRED—GRINT—GROOM. in the 120, flag-ship of Sir Edw. Pellew, 74, Capt. Walter Bathurst,  36, Capt. Edwin Henry Chamberlayne,  32, Capt. Henry Whitby, and  40, Capt. Chas. Bullen. In April, 1812, he rejoined Capt. Whitby on board the 38, at Chatham, whence he almost immediately sailed for North America, as Midshipman, in the  38, Capt. Hyde Parker, under whom we find him, in Jan. 1815, witnessing the capture of the U.S. frigate President. From Oct. in the latter year until Feb. 1818, Mr. Griffiths, with the exception of a few months at Portsmouth, was employed, at Plymouth, on board the 74,  84, and  and  74’s, Capts. Chas. Ogle, Aiskew Paffard Hollis, and Henry Chas. Pemberton. He then proceeded to the West Indies in the sloop, Capt. Henry Shiffner; and was afterwards, during the years 1819-23, attached to Capt. Parry’s polar expeditions, in the  brig, Lieut.-Commander Matthew Liddon, and  bomb, Capt. Geo. Fras. Lyon. Since the attainment of his present rank, 13 Nov. 1823, Lieut. Griffiths has been on half-pay.

 GRIFFITHS. 

is son of the late Lieut.-Gen. J. Griffiths.

This officer entered the Navy 29 Jan. 1814; passed his examination in 1821; and obtained his first commission 16 Aug. 1825. His subsequent appointments were – 17 Dec. 1826 and 12 April, 1830, to the 18, and  28, Capts. Fred. Thos. Michell and Wm. Fanshawe Martin, on the Mediterranean station – 2 April, 1833, after an interval of more than two years, to the 78, Capt. Arthur Fanshawe, off Lisbon – 8 May, 1833, and 21 March, 1834, to the  120, Capt. Peter Rainier, and  50, Capt. Hugh Pigot, again in the Mediterranean, whence he came home shortly after joining the latter ship – 13 Jan. 1837, again to the, bearing the flag at Portsmouth of Sir Philip Chas. Durham, with whom he served until the summer of 1838 – and 29 June, 1843, to the steam-vessel, Capt. Wm. Jones, employed on particular service. He was superseded in the following Sept.; and, on 9 Nov. 1846, was advanced to his present rank.

Commander Griffiths married, 17 Nov. 1831, Louisa Catherine, daughter of the late J. Griffiths, Esq., of Argyll Street, London. – Messrs. Stilwell.

 GRINDRED. 

entered the Navy, 28 June, 1805, as A.B., on board the 74, Capt. Sam. Pym, under whom, after serving for some time with the flag of Sir John Thos. Duckworth, he fought in the action off St. Domingo, 6 Feb. 1806. In July of that year he joined the 74, bearing the flag off Lisbon of Earl St. Vincent; and he next, from Jan. 1807 until Oct. 1811, performed the duties of Midshipman and Master’s Mate in the  and  74’s, flag-ships of Lord Collingwood and Sir Rich. John Strachan, off Cadiz, Toulon, and Sheerness. Until confirmed in his present rank, 28 Sept. 1815, Mr. Grindred was subsequently employed, alternately as Master’s Mate and Acting-Lieutenant, in the sloop,  again, Capt. Alex. Shippard,, , and , flag-ships in the North Sea of Rear-Admiral Thos. Williams, and, bearing the broad pendant of Sir Jas. Lucas Yeo on Lake Ontario. In Aug. 1814, while detached from the latter vessel, he obtained the particular mention of Capt. Alex. Dobbs, his commanding officer, for his gallant conduct at the capture on Lake Erie of the American armed schooners Ohio and Somers, and his skill in carrying one of them into the Niagara, through shoals and rapids, and under a constant and heavy fire. The British on this occasion, who numbered only 75, and were altogether inferior in force to the enemy, sustained a loss of 2 men killed and 4 wounded.

Lieut. Grindred has not been afloat since his promotion. – Messrs. Stilwell.

 GRINT. 

entered the Navy, 1 Nov. 1800, as Sec.-cl. Vol., on board the 14, Capts. Wm. Burgundy Champain and Clotworthy Upton, of which vessel, stationed in the Baltic and North Sea, he soon became Midshipman. We are informed that on 2 April, 1801, he fought at Copenhagen on board the 38, Capt. Henry Riou. In Oct. 1803, after having served for exactly two years, on the Home and West India stations, in the 54, Capt. John Ferris Devonshire, and the  and  74’s, in the latter of which he appears to have witnessed the surrender of Ste. Lucie, he joined the  100, Capt. (afterwards Rear-Admiral) the Earl of Northesk, under whom he was wounded at the battle of Trafalgar, 21 Oct. 1805. Removing, as Master’s Mate, in May, 1806, to the 38, Capt. Jas. Athol Wood, Mr. Grint was next present at the celebrated capture of Curaçoa, 1 Jan. 1807, on which occasion he was invested with the rank of Acting-Lieutenant. He was confirmed, 27 July following, into the 44, Capts. Fred. Langford and Chas. Lydiard, and afterwards appointed, on the Channel and Cadiz stations – 10 March and 28 Sept. 1808, to the and  sloops, both commanded by Capt. Joseph Pearce – 3 Nov. 1810, to the  74, Capt. J. A. Wood – 20 Nov. 1811, to the  sloop, Capts. Alex. Rich. Mackenzie and Rich. Foley – and, in July, 1814, to the command, for a few weeks, of No. 1 gun-boat. He attained the rank of Commander 7 Dec. 1818; but has not since been employed.

Commander Grint has had the honour of receiving a gratuity from the Patriotic Fund. – Hallett and Robinson.

 GROOM. 

was born in April, 1797. He is nephew, maternally, of the late Roger Sutton, Esq., uncle of Admiral Sir John Sutton, K.C.B.

This officer entered the Navy, 8 Dec. 1810, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 74, Capt. Thos. Brown, flag-ship in the Channel and off Lisbon of the late Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke. He next joined in succession the 74, bearing the broad pendant of Sir Rich. King, and, as Midshipman, the 38, Capt. Brown. In the autumn of 1814, while absent in a prize – the second with which he had been intrusted – Mr. Groom had the misfortune to he himself captured by the Americans, who detained him a prisoner until the end of the war. He then joined the 80, bearing the flag of Sir Alex. Cochrane, and before long sailed for China in the 38, Capt. Wm. Henry Dillon. Passing his examination in Jan. 1817, he next served, between April, 1818, and the date of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant 22 Oct. 1823, on the East India, Home, and West India stations, part of the time as Acting-Lieutenant, in the 46, Capts. W. H. Dillon, Sir Wm. Augustus Montagu, and Henry Evelyn Pitfield Sturt, 10, Capt. Rawdon Maclean, and  26, Capt. John Lawrence. He continued to be employed in the latter ship until Jan. 1825. He then invalided, and has since been on half-pay. On 25 July, 1834, he was nominated First of the 74, Capt. Sir W. A. Montagu; but, his health at the time preventing the possibility of his joining, the appointment was cancelled.

Lieut. Groom, prior to his promotion, appears to have been in the enjoyment of a small pension for injuries received in the service. – J. Chippendale.

