Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/98

BISHOP—BISSET—BLACK. Ayres, and where he continued to serve, in the lugger, Capt. John Thompson,  64, bearing the broad pendant of Sir Home Popham, Snd  38, Capt. Robt. Honyman, until the final evacuation of Spanish America in 1807. We are informed that towards the close of the latter year he was also present at the bombardment of Copenhagen and seizure of the Danish fleet. He became attached, in March, 1808, to the 74, flagship on the North American station of Sir John Borlase Warren; rejoined Capt. Thompson, in June, 1809, as Master’s Mate, on board the ; and in the following October was transferred, with the same officer, to the  18, of which sloop he acted for some time as Master. At the commencement of the war with the United States in 1812, the was the vessel that, on 12 July, brought away from New York the formal declaration of hostilities, and, with it, the British Ambassador, Mr. Foster, and Consul, Col. Barclay. In the course of that and the following months she captured six privateers, carrying in the whole 31 guns and 283 men. On 18 Sept. in the same year Mr. Bishop was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant; and, on 16 of the ensuing Nov., he was appointed to the 38, Capt. Hassard Stackpoole. During the pursuit, in 1813, of four large armed schooners, in the Chesapeake, by the boats of a squadron under Lieut. Jas. Polkinghorne, he commanded that frigate’s cutter, and, supported by Lieut. Matthew Liddon in the launch of the, boarded and carried, in most gallant style, the largest of the enemy’s vessels, the Dolphin, of 12 guns and 98 men. On leaving the, in Aug. 1814, he joined the 38, Capt. Jas. Rich. Dacres, with whom he served on the Cork, Channel, and Newfoundland stations, until 14 Sept. 1817. He has since been on half-pay.

 BISHOP. 

entered the Navy, in May, 1804, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 98, Capt. Manley Dixon, attached to the fleet in the Channel, and afterwards flag-ship in the Mediterranean and off Cadiz of Rear-Admirals John Knight and Sir Rich. Hussey Bickerton, as also, immediately subsequent to the battle of Trafalgar, of Lord Collingwood – previously to joining whom she appears to have had a slight brush with the batteries, and the Argonaute 74, at the entrance of the Bay of Cadiz. In Nov. 1805, Mr. Bishop removed, as Midshipman, to the 100, Capt. Fras. Pender; and, in 1806, he proceeded, in the 74, Capt. John Harvey, to the West Indies, where for three years he served with Capt. Wm. Chas. Fahie, in the 36, and, , and  74’s. He witnessed, while in the Ethation, the surrender, 21 and 25 Dec. 1807, of the Danish islands of St. Thomas and Santa Croix – was present in the, at the reduction of Martinique, in Feb. 1809 – and, on 17 April ensuing, in the , assisted at the capture, after an arduous chase of two days, and a close action of an hour and a quarter, in which the latter ship, who was supported by the 32, lost 9 men killed and 30 wounded, of the D’Haupoult, of 74 guns and 680 men, of whom between 80 and 90 were killed and wounded. Mr. Bishop was next transferred in succession, as Master’s Mate, to the 74, Capt. F. Halliday, with whom he returned home, and, bearing the flag at Plymouth of Admiral Wm. Young; and, on 1 Oct. 1810, was made Lieutenant into the 38, Capt. Norborne Thompson, employed in the West Indies. His subsequent appointments were – 23 Sept. 1811, to the 36, Capts. Henry Vansittart and Geo. Fras. Seymour, under the former of whom, while cruizing on the Home station, he contributed to the capture, 11 Oct. in the same year, of a notorious privateer, Le Vice-Amiral Martin, of 18 guns and 140 men – and 16 Sept. 1813, to the 38, Capt. Hon. Fred. Wm. Aylmer, in which frigate he served in the Bay of Biscay and on the coast of North America. He has been on half-pay since 1815. – Hallett and Robinson.

 BISSET. 

entered the Navy, 16 July, 1799 as Third-cl. Boy, on board the 16, Capt. Wm. D’Urban, employed on Particular Services off Jersey and in the Mediterranean; attained the rating of Midshipman 28 Aug. 1801; and, in Oct. 1803, removed, with the same Captain, as Master’s Mate, to the 32, in which we find him assisting, towards the close of 1804, at the capture of a Spanish convoy, with troops, stores, &c., on board, intended for the defence of Minorca. In May, 1807, he became attached to the 98, bearing the flag of Lord Collingwood, and on 9 Jan. 1808, was appointed Acting-Lieutenant of the  16, Capt. Philip Cosby Handfleld. While endeavouring, on 30 of the same month, to recapture four Sicilian gun-boats, the latter sloop grounded under the batteries of Reggio, and, after losing her Captain, was burnt by the surviving crew to prevent her falling into the hands of the enemy; whereupon Mr. Bisset was appointed, also as Acting-Lieutenant, to the 16, Capt. Abel Ferris. On 1 Aug. following, it having been determined to bring out a convoy of ten deeply-laden coasters lying at anchor, under protection of a gun-boat, close to the beach abreast of the town of Noli, on the coast of Italy, he was detached in command of the Wizard’s boats to co-operate with those of the 74, in effecting their capture. Although the vessels were fastened to the shore by ropes from their keels and mastheads, and were further defended by the fire of two adjacent field-pieces, of a heavy gun in front of the town, and of a continued volley of musketry, yet were they all, together with the gun-boat, boarded and carried by the resistless intrepidity of the British, headed by Lieut. Bisset, and Lieuts. Jas. Lindsay and Fairfax Moresby, of the Kent, while another party, having landed, dislodged a considerable body of regular troops, and took and destroyed the guns. For his gallant conduct on this occasion, Mr. Bisset, on 27 Dec. in the same year, obtained his official promotion. He was subsequently appointed – 19 May, 1809, to the sloop, Capt. Jas. Donner, also employed in the Mediterranean – 25 Jan. 1810, to the 44, Capt. Henry Edw. Reginald Baker, on the Lisbon station, bearing the flag, afterwards, of Vice-Admiral Philip D’Auvergne, Prince de Bouillon, off Jersey – and, 15 Sept. 1812, to be Agent for Transports afloat. He has not been employed since 11 Feb. 1814.

 BLACK. 

was born 16 Dec. 1770.

This officer entered the Navy, 30 Dec. 1794, as Midshipman, on board the 74, Capt. Chas. Powell Hamilton, whom he shortly afterwards accompanied into the 98, both ships attached to the fleet in the Channel. He next joined the 98, bearing the flag of Sir Hyde Parker on the Jamaica station, where, from 1797 to 1800, he served as Acting-Master in the  16, Capt. John Parkins,  44, Capt. Robt. Rolles and 32, Capt. Ross Donnelly. On his return to the West Indies in 1801, after having been employed for a few months on board the guardship at Plymouth, during which period he passed his examination, Mr. Black became Master’s Mate of the  80, bearing the flag of Lord Hugh Seymour. He subsequently obtained command, as Acting-Lieutenant, of tiie prison-ship at Port-Royal, and at the peace returned home in a similar capacity on board the 74, Capt. Stevenson, but could not procure his commission, in consequence of recent regulations which neutralized his servitude as Acting-Master. In