Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/58

 controller-general of the coast-guard, and held this post until 1854, when, on the outbreak of the Russian war, he commissioned the Eurydice as senior officer of a small squadron for the White Sea, where he blockaded Archangel, stopped the coasting traed, and destroyed government property at several points. In 1855 he was appointed to the Hawke, block ship, for the Baltic, and was employed chiefly as senior officer in the gulf of Riga, where the service was one of rigid blockade, varied by occasional skirmishes with the Russian gunboats and batteries. In October 1857 he was appointed to the Brunswick, of eighty guns, going out to the West Indies, and was senior officer at Colon when the filibuster William Walker attempted to invade Nicaragua. The Brunswick afterwards joined the Channel fleet, and in 1859 was sent as a reinforcement to the Mediterranean during the Franco-Italian war. Ommanney was not again afloat after paying off in 1860, but was senior officer at Gibraltar from 1862 until promoted to flag rank on 12 Nov. 1864. In March 1867 he was awarded the C.B.; on 14 July 1871 he was promoted to vice-admiral, and accepted the retirement on 1 Jan. 1875. He was advanced to admiral on the retired list on 1 Aug. 1877. To the end of his life Ommanney continued to take a great interest in geographical work and service subjects, being a constant attendant at the meetings of the Royal Geographical Society, of the Royal United Service Institution, of both of which bodies he was for many years a councillor, and of the British Association. He was also a J.P. for Hampshire and a member of the Thames conservancy. In June 1902 he was made K.C.B.

Ommanney died on 21 Dec. 1904 at his son's residence, St. Michael's vicarage, Portsmouth, and was buried in Mortlake cemetery. He was twice married: (1) on 27 Feb. 1844 to Emily Mary, daughter of Samuel Smith of H.M. dockyard, Malta; she died in 1857; and (2) in 1862 to Mary, daughter of Thomas A. Stone of Curzon Street, W.; she died on 1 Sept. 1906, aged eighty-one. His son, Erasmus Austin, entered the navy in 1863, retired with the rank of commander in 1879, took orders in 1883, and was vicar of St. Michael's, Portsmouth, from 1892 to 1911. A portrait by Stephen Pearce is in the National Portrait Gallery.

 OMMANNEY, GEORGE DRUCE WYNNE (1819–1902), theologian, born in Norfolk Street, Strand, on 12 April 1819, was younger brother of Sir Erasmus Ommanney [see above]. After education at Harrow (1831–8), where in 1838 he won the Robert Peel gold medal and the Lyon scholarship, he matriculated as scholar from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1838; graduated B.A. as senior optime and second class classic in 1842; and proceeded M.A. in 1845. Taking holy orders in 1842, he was curate of Edwinstone, Nottinghamshire (1843–9); of Cameley, Somerset (1849–52); of Oldbourne, Wilts (1852–3); of Woodborough, Wilts (1853–8); vicar of Queen Charlton, near Bristol (1858–62); curate in charge of Whitchurch, Somerset (1862–75); and vicar of Draycot, Somerset (1875–88). He was made prebendary of Whitchurch in Wells Cathedral in 1884. He died on 20 April 1902 at 29 Beaumont Street, Oxford, where he had lived in retirement since 1888, and was buried at St. Sepulchre's cemetery, Oxford. He married Ellen Ricketts of Brislington, Bristol, and had no issue.

Ommanney was a voluminous and lucid writer on the Athanasian creed, to which he devoted a large portion of his later life, studying Arabic and visiting the chief European libraries for purposes of research. He was a vigorous champion of the retention of the creed in the church of England services. He supported its claims to authenticity against the critics who ascribed its composition to the eighth and ninth centuries. His published works include:
 * 1) 'The Athanasian Creed: Examination of Recent Theories respecting its Date and Origin,' 1875; new edit. 1880.
 * 2) 'Early History of the Athanasian Creed,' 1880.
 * 3) 'The S.P.C.K. and the Creed of St. Athanasius,' 1884.
 * 4) 'Critical Dissertation on the Athanasian Creed, its Original Language, Date, Authorship, Titles, Text, Reception, and Use,' 1897.

 ONSLOW, WILLIAM HILLIER, fourth (1853–1911), governor of New Zealand, born at Bletsoe, Bedfordshire, on 7 March 1853, was only son of George Augustus Cranley Onslow (d. 1855) of Alresford, Hampshire, who was great-grandson of, first earl [q. v.], grandson of Thomas Onslow, second earl, and nephew of Arthur George Onslow, third earl. His mother was 