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Rh John Hamilton, grand uncle of the present Earl of Haddington. At the commencement of the war with France in 1793, we find him serving as Lieutenant of the Syren, in which frigate the Duke of York proceeded to Holland for the purpose of taking the command of the British troops sent thither to co-operate with the Dutch against the republican armies; and H.R.H. was so much pleased with the zeal and activity displayed by Mr. Halkettin assisting the garrison of William stadt, at that time besieged by the French, that he soon after obtained for him the rank of Commander; and on his return from the continent, that of Post-Captain. The Prince of Orange also, as a mark of the high sense he entertained of the eminent services performed by him in the gun-boats, ordered him to be presented with a medal, with a suitable inscription, value 500 guilders.

Captain Halkett’s post commission bears date Aug. 13, 1794; he was soon after appointed to the Circe, of 28 guns, stationed in the North Sea; where nothing material occurred until the spring of 1797, when an alarming mutiny broke out amongst the crews of the ships under the orders of Admiral Duncan, and at the Nore. Happily the Circe escaped the contagion, and Captain Halkett received the thanks of the Admiralty, and the freedom of the town of Hull, for the conduct of his ship during that alarming period.

