Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/960

946 In the, although with his name on the books of the and , he remained, the greater part of the time as officer in charge, until 1833. During that period he had opportunities of becoming First-Lieutenant of the 28,  20,  18, and  24, but, considering his position in the yacht to be one that ensured promotion, he felt bound to decline them. A change, however, in the administration caused him to be superseded, unrewarded with the boon he coveted; and he has ever since remained on half-pay.

In Sept. 1831 Lieut. Rabett was invested, by Sir Thos. Foley, with the temporary command of the tender, for the purpose of attending upon Her present Majesty and the Duchess of Kent. Independently of the services we have recorded, he appears to have taken part in others of a fatiguing and hazardous character; and to have been, on one occasion, severely hurt in the execution of his duty. In addition to the ships above-mentioned he was for a short time employed with Capt. Hyde Parker in the 120 and  84. He is the inventor of the “Substitute Rudder” – a contrivance which, in case of the total loss or damage of a ship’s rudder, may be made to answer all the purposes of one without the assistance of either carpenter or shipwright. The Lieutenant married, 12 Sept. 1835, Lady Lucy Louisa Maria Turnour, daughter of the late and sister of the present Earl of Winterton, by whom he has issue. – Messrs. Halford and Co.

 RADCLIFF. 

entered the Navy, 23 Dec. 1807, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 74, Captain, afterwards Rear-Admiral, Hon. Robt. Stopford, stationed in the Channel. From Dec. 1808 until June, 1816, he served in the East Indies, off Lisbon and Cork, and in the Mediterranean, in the 38 and  74, both commanded by Capt. Thos. Briggs. In the former ship he assisted, as Midshipman, at the capture, 28 Jan. 1810, of L’Henri privateer, of 8 guns and 57 men, and at the reduction, in Dec. 1810, of the Isle of France. During the last two years and a-half of his attachment to the, he filled the rating of Master’s Mate. On leaving her he was nominated Admiralty-Midshipman of the 74, Capt. John Coode; for his conduct under whom at the bombardment of Algiers he was promoted, 16 Sept. 1816, to the rank of Lieutenant. His last appointments were to the 38, and  36, Capts. Jas. Whitley Deans Dundas, Robt. F. Preston, and Robt. Bruce. In those vessels he served in the Mediterranean from Nov. 1816 until June, 1817. – Hallett and Robinson.

 RADCLIFFE. 

was born 27 Dec. 1796. His father, Thomas Radcliffe, was an officer in the Royal Dockyard at Portsmouth.

This officer entered the Navy, 17 June, 1809, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 40, Capt. Hon. Thos. Bladen Capel, employed in cruizing among the Western Islands and on the north coast of Ireland. Quitting her in Oct. 1810, he served during the next 12 months as a Supernumerary in the 74, Capt. John Nash, and  100, bearing the flag off L’Orient of Sir Thos. Williams. In the he was stationed off Cherbourg, and assisted in conveying a body of troops to Lisbon. In Oct. 1811, he again joined Capt. Capel on board 74; in which ship he continued for two years off Brest and Flushing and on the North American station. While in her and in charge, as Midshipman, of a prize, he was captured, but was retaken before entering an enemy’s port. After an attachment of 10 months to the 74, Capt. Zachary Mudge, on the Brazilian coast, he joined, in Aug. 1815, the  36, Capt. Hon. Anthony Maitland, lying at Spithead. For his conduct in the 50, also commanded by Capt. Maitland, at the battle of Algiers, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 16 Sept. 1816. His succeeding appointments were – 3 Sept. 1818, to the 26, Capt. Gordon Thos. , on the South American station, whence he returned in Oct. 1820 – 6 Feb. 1822, to the 20, Capts. Hon. Henry John Rous and Lord Henry John Spencer Churchill, fitting for the Mediterranean – 12 Sept. 1823, as First, to the 20, Capt. Henry Eden, with whom he served, on the station last named, until Feb. 1825 – and 2 Jan. 1829, in a similar capacity, to the  46, Capt. Augustus Wm. Jas. Clifford, employed on particular service. Attaining his present rank 22 July, 1830, he served in that capacity in the Coast Guard from 7 Sept. 1836 until 12 Nov. 1839, and since 3 March, 1845, has been actively employed in the troop-ship in all parts of the globe. When in the Rio de la Plata, and in company with the 50 and French war-steamer Gazendi, he landed the ’s men, and, by throwing up a battery, contrived for several days to defend the east point of Maldonado against a strong detachment of Oribe’s army. His exertions in bringing the safely out of Waterloo Bay, Cape of Good Hope, with the 73rd Regt. on board, after she had lost all her anchors from the effects of tremendous rollers which had set in, have, we understand, been noted at the Admiralty.

Commander Radcliffe, during the earlier part of his career, was struck by lightning and supposed for some time to be dead: he also, while lying at St. Helena, fell from the cross-jack to the deck and was severely hurt; and on another occasion a block from aloft fell on his head. The effects of these accidents he still feels. He married, 11 May, 1840, Julia Pittis, daughter of the late W. Dore, Esq. – Collier and Snee.

 RADFORD, K.H.

entered the Navy, in April, 1796, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 32, Capts. Wm. Edw. Cracraft and Thos. Boys, with whom he was employed in the Channel and West Indies, part of the time as Midshipman, until transferred, in Aug. 1800, to the 74, Capts. Elias Harvey and Sir Robt. Barlow. On leaving that ship, after having served in her on the Home and, Mediterranean stations, he was nominated, in Dec. 1804, Master’s Mate, a rating he had held for some time, of the 98, Capt. Geo. Martin, lying at Spithead. For conduct he had displayed on board the he was appointed, at the recommendation of Sir R. Barlow, Sub-Lieutenant, 29 Jan. 1805, of the  gun-brig, Lieut-Commanders Sir Geo. Mouat Keith and Fras. M‘Lean. He was ordered, 24 May, 1806, to act as Lieutenant of the 20, Capts. Lord Viscount Falkland and Arthur Farquhar, employed on the Home and Baltic stations; was confirmed to that vessel 18 Aug. following; and was next, in the course of 1809, appointed to the 74, Capt. Geo. Parker, and 36, commanded by his former Captain, Farquhar. In the he accompanied the expedition to the Walcheren; and in the  (of which ship and the  he was for nearly eight years First-Lieutenant) he found frequent opportunities of distinguishing himself. In command of her boats, and of those of the 32,  sloop, and  gun-brig, he made an attack, on the night of 29 May, 1810, on several armed vessels lying in the Vlie. One of them, a French lugger, of 6 guns and 26 men, was driven on shore and burnt, and four (a French lugger of 12 guns and 42 men, a schuyt privateer, of 4 guns and 17 men, a Dutch gun-boat, and a small row-boat) were captured and brought out. A few days previously to this he had burnt on the beach, near Haarlem, the British schooner, which had been cast away, and was then in possession of