Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/505

Rh , always seeking opportunities of distinction, and on one occasion actually bidding defiance to two first-class French frigates, lying in Basseterre, Guadeloupe – 19 April, 1805, by exchange, to the 36, for a passage to England, whither he escorted a convoy of 101 sail – 21 March, 1807, to the Sea Fencibles in the Isle of Wight – and, 13 Feb. 1808, and 28 April, 1812, to the  64, and  74. In the former of those ships he immediately sailed, in charge of 14 Indiamen, for Bengal and China, and in many instances during his sojourn in the East did he again display the character of an efficient and spirited officer. On his first arrival there, after having parted company with the Bengal division of the convoy, he volunteered to conduct the remainder to their destination, notwithstanding that a French squadron, consisting of three sail of the line, had been reported (although, as it was subsequently discovered, erroneously) to have just before passed through the straits of Malacca into the China sea. After remaining for some time at Chuenpee with two frigates under his orders, and arranging, by his firmness, a dispute which had arisen between the natives and a select committee of Hon. Company’s supercargoes, Capt. Heathcote returned with the trade to England. As soon as his ship had been re-fitted, he was again ordered to India, and directed to convey to Persia their Excellencies Sir Gore Ouseley and Mirza Abdul Hassan, the Persian ambassador. When afterwards at Bombay, in June, 1811, Capt. Heathcote, owing to the absence of Commodore Broughton, the Commander-in-Chief, on the expedition to Java, was induced to open a set of despatches from England, from whose contents he learnt that a large force from France might reasonably be expected to be on its way to Java, for the purpose of defeating any attack on that settlement. From a feeling of zeal for the public service, which was subsequently approved by court-martial, Capt. Heathcote at once left his station for the purpose of communicating the intelligence to Commodore Broughton, and, in so doing, actually surrendered his right to a freight from China to India, worth the sum to him of at least 10,000l. On his return to England, after the subjugation of Java, and his appointment to the, our officer joined the fleet in the Mediterranean, where, in the autumn of 1813, he assumed command of the in-shore squadron off Toulon, and conspicuously participated, on 5 Nov. in that year, in Sir Edw. Pellew’s skirmish with the enemy’s fleet. On the conclusion of the war he was sent with four sail of the line to Marseilles, for the purpose of thence conveying the British prisoners of war to Port Mahon. He was paid off in Oct. 1814, and has not been since employed. He became a Rear-Admiral 27 May, 1825; a Vice-Admiral 10 Jan. 1837; and a full Admiral 9 Nov. 1846.

Sir Henry Heathcote (upon whom, at the joint request of the diplomatic personages he had formerly conveyed to Persia, the honour of Knighthood was conferred 20 July, 1819) had the satisfaction, during the term of his career afloat, frequently to receive the thanks of the Directors of the Hon.E.I.Co., the Governor in Council of Bombay, the West India merchants, and the Committee at Lloyd’s. In 1823 he took out a patent for an improvement of the stay-sails between the masts of ships and other square-rigged vessels, and the better security of the masts; and in 1824 he published a treatise on the subject, which was by permission dedicated to the King. The plan, we understand, was tried on board two frigates, and reported to the Admiralty as worthy of its acceptance. Sir Henry Heathcote married, 10 Nov. 1799, Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Thos. Guscott, Esq., many years Naval Storekeeper afloat at Sheerness, by whom he has issue, living, three sons (the eldest in the army) and seven daughters. His second son, Henry, a Major in the 88th Foot, died in 1829. – Coplands and Burnett.

 HEDDINGTON. 

entered the Navy, previously to the year 1786, as a Boy, on board the 74, and, after an intermediate servitude in the  and  frigates, Capts. Sam. Marshall and John Sam. Smith, became Midshipman, in Feb. 1791, of the, Lieut.-Commanders Wm. Robt. Broughton and Peter Puget, under whom he made a voyage of discovery round the world, and was for a considerable time engaged in surveying the coast of America. He was promoted, on his return home, to a Lieutenancy, 6 Nov. 1795, in the 18, Capt. Hon. Courtenay Boyle; and, between July, 1796, and the early part of 1802, he was next employed, on the Channel and Irish stations, in the  36, Capt. Lord Amelius Beauclerk,, Capt. Philip Bartholomew,  94, Capts. Jacob Waller and Thos. Totty, frigate, Capt. Thos. Graves, and 74, Capt. Robt. Carthew Reynolds. Attaining the rank of Commander, after having for two years and a half had charge of a Signal-station at Hawkesley Point, 25 Sept. 1806, he was subsequently, between Feb. 1808 and April, 1814, employed at various places as Regulating Captain, and Agent for Prisoners of War. He has since been on half-pay.

 HELBY. 

entered the Navy, 1 June, 1807, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 32, Capt. John Ayscough; during an attachment of nearly four years to which frigate he cruized off Havre de Grace, attended the expedition of Dec. 1807 to Madeira, afforded protection for some time to the Greenland fisheries, assisted in 1809 at the reduction of Ischia and Procida, and co-operated, as Midshipman, in the defence of Sicily against the threatened invasion of Murat. He also, among other boat-services, contributed, 4 April, 1810, to the destruction, with a loss to the British of 2 men killed, of two vessels laden with oil, and protected by a heavy fire of great guns and musketry, on the beach, near Castiglione; and, on 25 of the same month, he assisted at the capture of an armed ship and three barks, under the castle of Terracina. On the being ordered to England in 1811, Mr. Helby volunteered to continue in the Mediterranean, and he was therefore received on board the  32, Capts. Henry Whitby and Thos. Garth. By those officers he appears to have been again employed on many cutting-out affairs, some of them of a very dashing nature, on the coasts of Corfu and Italy. On one occasion, however, while absent in a prize, he had the misfortune to be wrecked on the Calabrian shore, and taken prisoner, although he was happily not detained beyond a period of three months. He ultimately, in July, 1814, returned to England and was paid off, but, before he had been many weeks at home, he again sailed for the Mediterranean, in the 36, Capt. Chas. John Austen; under whom, after having been very actively employed, in particular at the port of Pavos, where he had served in the boats in a sharp action which had preceded the capture of two pirate vessels, he was once more wrecked, near Smyrna, 20 Feb. 1816. On the occurrence of the latter catastrophe, Mr. Helby, we find, distinguished himself in an especial manner by his daring conduct in swimming on shore through a violent surf with a hauling-line, for the purpose of receiving a hawser to save the ship’s company. Volunteering again to remain in the Mediterranean, our officer there became successively attached to the 98, and  100, both flagships of Lord Exmouth, whose favourable notice he had the good fortune to attract by the extreme gallantry of his behaviour at the ensuing battle of Algiers. Towards the close of 1816 he joined the 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Robt. Plampin at St. Helena, where, on 19 Sept 1818, he was appointed Acting-Lieutenant of the 24, Capt. Robt. Wauchope. He was