Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 03.djvu/93

 Ballard had fourteen killed and fifty-two wounded, including Captain Robinson, who lost a leg. The ship afterwards returned to the West Indies with Sir Samuel Hood, and was with him in the operations at St. Kitts in January 1782, after which she had to be sent to Jamaica for repairs. On 10 Feb. 1783, whilst still at Jamaica, Ballard was made a lieutenant by Admiral Rowley, and was actively employed in different ships during the ten years of peace. When war again broke out he was a lieutenant of the Queen, which carried Rear-admiral Gardiner's flag through the last days of May and 1 June 1794. This great victory won for Ballard his commander's rank (5 July), and on 1 Aug. 1795 he was further advanced to the rank of post-captain. Early in 1795 he was appointed to the Pearl frigate, and during the next two years was continuously and happily employed in convoying the trade for the Baltic or for Newfoundland and Quebec. In March 1798 he accompanied Commodore Cornwallis to the coast of Africa and to Barbadoes, from which station he returned in June of the following year. In October he carried out General Fox to Minorca, and remained attached to the Mediterranean fleet for the next two years. The Pearl was paid off on 14 March 1802, after a commission of upwards of six years, during which time she had taken, destroyed, or recaptured about eighty vessels, privateers and merchantmen. Captain Ballard was now kept with no more active command than a district of sea fencibles for more than seven years; it was not till October 1809 that he was appointed to the Sceptre, of 74 guns, and sailed shortly afterwards for the West Indies. Here he flew a commodore's broad pennant, and on 18 Dec. 1809 commanded the squadron which captured the two heavily armed French frigates Loire and Seine, and destroyed the protecting batteries at Anse-la-Barque of Guadeloupe. At the reduction of Guadeloupe in January and February 1810 he escorted one division of the army, and commanded the naval brigade, which, however, was not engaged. Commodore Ballard returned to England with the Sceptre in the following September, and was for the next two years attached to the fleet in the Channel and Bay of Biscay, but without being engaged in any active operations. His service at sea closed with the paying off of the Sceptre in January 1813, although in course of seniority he attained the rank of rear-admiral, 4 June 1814, and of vice-admiral, 27 May 1825. He died at Bath, where he had for several years resided, on 11 Oct. 1829. He was twice married, and had by the first wife several children, of whom only three survived him.

 BALLARD, VOLANT VASHON (1774?–1832), rear-admiral, a nephew of Admiral James Vashon, served as a midshipman with Vancouver in his voyage to the north-west coast of America. Shortly after his return to England he was made a lieutenant, 6 June 1795; and in 1798, whilst commanding the Hobart sloop, on the East India station, was posted into the Carysfort frigate. He subsequently commanded the Jason frigate, the De Ruyter, of 68 guns, and the Beschermer, of 50 guns, but without any opportunity of special distinction. In 1807, whilst commanding the Blonde, a 32-gun frigate, he cruised with great success against the enemy's privateers, capturing seven of them within a few months; and in 1809-10, still in the Blonde, served under the command of his namesake, Commodore Ballard of the Sceptre, at the capture of the French frigates in Anse-la-Barque, and the reduction of Guadeloupe [see ], for which he was honourably mentioned by both the naval and military commanders-in-chief. He obtained his flag rank in May 1825, and died at Bath 12 Oct. 1832.

 BALLENDEN or BALLANTYNE, WILLIAM (1616–1661), prefect-apostolic of the catholic mission in Scotland, was a native of Douglas, Lanarkshire, of which parish his father was the minister. His paternal uncle was a lord of session, with the title of Lord Newhall. He studied in the university of Edinburgh, and afterwards travelled on the continent. At Paris he was converted to the catholic religion. He entered the Scotch college at Rome in 1641, and, having received the order of priesthood, left it in 1646, and then stayed in the Scotch college at Paris, preparing himself for the mission, till 1649, when he returned to his native country. At this period the secular clergy of Scotland were in a state of utter disorganisation, and dissensions had arisen between them and the members of the religious orders, particularly the Jesuits. Ballenden, perceiving the disastrous results of this want of union, despatched the Rev. William Leslie to Rome to solicit the appointment of a bishop for Scotland. This request was not granted by the holy see, but in 1653, by a decree of propaganda, the Scotch secular clergy were freed from the jurisdiction of the