Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/861

Rh On the latter vessel from her defective condition being paid off, Capt. Owen obtained command, 25 March, 1833, of the 6. He continued employed as before in the West Indies until advanced to his present rank 10 Jan. 1837; and has since been on half-pay.

Capt. Owen was lately employed as Auditor of the Poor-Law Commissioners. He married, 4 July, 1837, Susannah Charlotte, eldest daughter of John Walker, Esq., Ordnance Storekeeper at the Bahamas.

 OWEN. 

is brother of

This officer entered the Navy, 4 June, 1788, as Midshipman, on board the 74, Capt. Sir Thos. Rich, attached to the force on the Home station; where, and for a short time in the West Indies, he continued to serve in the sloop, Capts. Chas. Boyles and Hon. Robt. Forbes, 50, Capt. Lord Cranstoun,  74, Capt. John Ford,  74, Capt. John Colpoys, and  again, Capts. Sir T. Rich, Isaac Schomberg, and Rich. Randell Burgess, until the close of 1794. In the last-mentioned ship he fought under Capt. Schomberg in the famous action of 1 June. On his return to England from the Cape of Good Hope, whither he had gone in the 64, Capt. Hon. Henry Edwin Stanhope, he joined, in Nov. 1795, the  98, bearing the flag in the Channel of Vice-Admiral John Colpoys. For his conduct during the mutiny at Spithead he was promoted, 12 June, 1797, to the rank of Lieutenant; and at the same time placed in command of the gun-vessel. He was next, between Dec. 1798 and Oct. 1801, employed, principally in the Channel, on board the 44, Capt. John McKellar,, Capt. Robt. Williams, and, flag-ship of Earl St. Vincent, and for seven months in command of the fire-vessel. Assuming command, 8 July, 1803, of the brig of 14 guns, Lieut. Owen, after serving for a time on the French coast, sailed for the East Indies, where he effected the capture, 15 July, 1806, of Le Charles French national ketch. In the following Sept. he explored part of the Maldiva Islands, and their separating channels, which had never been investigated; and on 10 Nov. in the same year he discovered an excellent channel, now bearing the name of his brig, situated between the islands of Sai Berout and Poulo Pora, near the west coast of Sumatra. On 27 of the latter month, having conducted Sir Edw. Fellow’s squadron through a very intricate navigation into Batavia Roads, he there distinguished himself by his gallantry in command of a division of boats at the capture and destruction of a Dutch frigate, seven brigs-of-war, and about 20 armed and other merchant-vessels. We subsequently, 11 Dec. 1807, find him contributing to the destruction of the dockyard and stores at Griessee, in the island of Java, and of all the men-of-war remaining to Holland in India. In Sept. 1808 Lieut. Owen had the misfortune to be taken captive by the French, who detained him in the Mauritius until June, 1810; from Aug. to Nov. in which year he was employed, we believe, in superintending the transports sent from Madras to the Isle of France. He then, having been awarded a second promotal commission bearing date 20 May, 1809, obtained command of the 18, part of the force employed in the summer of 1811 at the reduction of the island of Java, where he assisted at the debarkation of the troops at Chillingchiug, and continued attached to the army until after the surrender of Batavia. In Dec. 1811 Capt. Owen, who had been advanced to Post-rank on 2 of the preceding May, and had held for a short time the command of the frigate at Bombay, was appointed to the  32. In 1812 he took possession, with a squadron under his orders, of the island of Palembang. He returned to England with a China convoy in June, 1813; and was subsequently appointed – 27 March, 1815, to the Surveying service on the lakes of Canada, whence he came home in May, 1816 – 10 Aug. 1821, to the 24, in which vessel he was for upwards of four years employed in conducting a survey of the coast of Africa – 2 Feb. 1827, to the  26, fitting for another expedition to the African coast, where, prior to his departure for South America, he was engaged in forming a settlement at Fernando Po – and (having paid the last-mentioned ship off at the close of 1831), 22 April, 1847, to the  steam surveying-vessel, of 100 horse-power, stationed in North America. Since 21 Dec. 1847, the date of his elevation to Flag-rank, he has been on half-pay.

Assisted by various officers. Rear-Admiral Owen, during his command of the, constructed the following charts and views: viz. 22 of the West Coast of Africa, 31 of the East Coast of Africa, 12 of the East Coast of Madagascar, 17 of the West Coast of Madagascar, and 1 of the Harbour of Grand Port, in the Mauritius. He also, we understand, surveyed the coast of Asia from Cape Comorin, along the shores of Malabar and Surat, together with the whole extent of the sea-side of Persia and Arabia. In 1828 he constructed two charts of the Seychelles, and one of the port and bay in the island of Mahe. He has executed a chart of the mouth of the river Demarara, and published, in conjunction with Capt. Rich. Owen, ‘Tables of Latitudes and Longitudes by Chronometers of Places in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, with an Essay on the Management and Use of Chronometers.’ – Hallett and Robinson.

 OXENHAM. 

entered the Navy 8 Jan. 1812; passed his examination in 1821; and on the occasion of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, 14 April, 1826, assumed command of the schooner, on the Jamaica station; where he was next, 5 Sept. 1828 and 4 July, 1829, appointed to the  20, Capts. Henry Gosset and Chas. Parker, and receiving-ship, Capts. Robt. Milborne Jackson and John Paget. He returned to England in the early part of 1832, and was subsequently, from 27 Feb. 1841 until paid off in 1845, employed on the Brazilian station in command of the schooner. He has since been on half-pay.

He married, 15 June, 1835, Mary, only daughter of the late Mr. Peter, of Kelso, N.B., and niece of Sir John Peter, formerly H.M. Consul for the Netherlands. – J. Hinxman.

 OXFORD. 

entered the Navy, 6 April, 1807, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 74, Capt. Sam. Hood Linzee; and in the following Nov., after having witnessed the fall of Copenhagen, became Midshipman of the 98, Capt. Sir Thos. Williams, attached to the Channel fleet. From Nov. 1808 until Nov. 1815 he served on the West India, Home, Mediterranean, Brazilian, and African stations, in the 74, Commodore Geo. Cockburn, 10, Capt. Henry Thos. Davies, 74 and  100, both flagships of Sir Thos. Williams, 74, Capt. Edw. Durnford King,, Capt. Geo. Fowke, and 24, Capts. Robt. Elliot and John Coode. In the he assisted at the reduction of Martinique and Flushing in 1809; and in the  he was present at the memorable entrance into the Adour of the flotilla under Rear-Admiral Chas. Vinicombe Penrose, and at the forcing of the Gironde. After a servitude of two years at Plymouth in the 80, Capt. Thos. Gordon Caulfeild, and, as Admiralty-Midshipman,