Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/705

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M‘CLURE—M‘CORMICK—M‘CORNISH—M‘COY.
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Union, and formerly M.P. for the borough of Athlone, and for co. Louth, by his first wife, Jane, only daughter of the late Wm. Bunbury, Esq., of Moyle, M.P. for co. Carlow, and sister of the late Thos. Bunbury, Esq., also M.P. for that co. The Commander, a first-cousin of Lieut. F. L. M‘Clintock, R.N., is connected with the noble houses of Anglesey and Beaufort, and nearly allied to many others of distinction. One of his half-brothers, Charles, died a Captain in the 74th Regt.; another, George, is at present an officer in the 37th Regt. He assumed the name of Bunbury, in addition to his patronymic, on the death of his uncle, Thos. Bunbury, Esq., M.P., in 1846.

This officer entered the Navy, in July, 1813, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Ajax 74, Capts. Robt. Waller Otway and Geo. Mundy, under the former of whom we find him co-operating in the siege of St. Sebastian and contributing, 17 March, 1814, to the capture of L’Alcyon French corvette, of 16 guns and 120 men. Towards the close of the year last mentioned, after he had been for a short time employed on the American coast, he sailed for the Cape of Good Hope in the Niger 38, Capt. Peter Rainier. Quitting that ship in 1815, he next, until promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 12 Sept. 1822, served on the Home, Mediterranean, Brazilian, and Newfoundland stations, chiefly as Midshipman, in the Pactolus 38 and Severn[1] 40, both commanded by Capt. Hon. Fred. Wm. Aylmer, Britomart sloop, Capt. Hon. Geo. Jas. Perceval, Favorite 20, Capt. Hercules Robinson, Grasshopper sloop, Capt. David Buchan, Queen Charlotte 100, bearing the flag of Sir Jas. Hawkins Whitshed, and Apollo and Royal George yachts, each under the orders of Hon. Sir Chas. Paget. His subsequent appointments were – 11 Sept. 1823, to the Tamar 26, Capt. Sir Jas. John Gordon Bremer, fitting in the river Thames – 2 Feb. 1824, to the Samarang 28, Capts. Sir Wm. Saltonstall Wiseman and David Dunn, employed at Halifax and the Cape of Good Hope – 21 Aug. 1828, to the Procris 10, Capts. Chas. Henry Paget and Sir Thos. Sabine Pasley, stationed off Cork and in the Mediterranean – and, 3 June, 1831, again to the Samarang, Capt. C. H. Paget, in which vessel he officiated for three years as First-Lieutenant in South America. He was promoted to the rank of Commander, on being paid off, 9 Feb. 1835, and has since been on half-pay.

In July, 1846, on the death of his uncle. Commander Bunbury was elected M.P. for co. Carlow. He was again returned in 1847. He married, 3 Nov. 1842, Pauline, second daughter of Sir Jas. Matthew Stronge, Bart., of Tynan Abbey, co. Armagh.



M‘CLURE. (Lieutenant, 1837.)

Robert John Le Mesurier M‘Clure passed his examination in 1830; and obtained his commission 30 Nov. 1837. His appointments have since been – 1 Feb. 1838, to the Hastings 74, Capt. Fras. Erskine Loch, fitting at Portsmouth – 16 June following, to the Niagara 20, Capt. Williams Sandom, on the Lakes of Canada – 17 Aug. 1839, as First-Lieutenant, to the Pilot 16, Capt. Geo. Ramsay, attached to the force in North America and the West Indies – 18 June, 1842, to the command of the Romney receiving-ship at the Havana, where he remained until the early part of 1846 – and, 29 Dec. in the latter year, to the Coast Guard, in which service he is now employed.



M‘CORMICK. (Commander, 1841. f-p., 12; h-p., 32.)

Shepherd M‘Cormick was born in Jan. 1794. This officer entered the Navy, 17 Sept. 1803, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Repulse 74, Capts. Hon. Arthur Kaye Legge and John Halliday, to which ship he continued attached in the capacities of Midshipman and Master’s Mate until Feb. 1811. It was his fortune to be present, in consequence, in Sir Robt. Calder’s action 22 July, 1805; at the capture of the 'Marengo' of 80 guns, bearing the flag of Admiral Linois, and 40-gun frigate Belle Poule, 13 March, 1806; at the taking, 27 Sept. following, of Le Président French frigate; at the passage of the Dardanells, and the destruction of the Turkish squadron at Point Pesquies, in Feb. 1807; at the siege of Flushing in Aug. 1809; and on 30 Aug. 1810, when the Repulse gallantly rescued the Philomel sloop from capture, by interposing herself between that vessel and an advanced division of the Toulon fleet, which she compelled to put back. In Oct. 1811, after he had been for eight months employed with Capts. Halliday and Joseph Bingham in the Montagu and Egmont 74’s, he joined the Swiftsure of similar force; in the boats belonging to which ship, when off the island of Corsica, we find him assisting at the capture of a privateer, whose resistance occasioned her assailants a heavy loss. Being appointed Acting-Lieutenant, in March, 1813, of the Volcano bomb, Capts. Wm. Fairbrother Carroll, David Price, and John Wyat Watling, Mr. M‘Cormick (whose promotion was confirmed 25 June following, and who continued in the same vessel until Aug. 1815) was at first very actively employed in co-operation with the army on the coast of Catalonia, where he frequently landed and was wounded during the arduous investment of the fort of St. Philippe in the Cul de Balaguer, mounting 12 pieces of ordnance, wiith a garrison of 101 officers and men. Proceeding subsequently to the coast of America, he was afforded an opportunity, previously to participating in the operations against New Orleans, of serving with the boats of a squadron at the capture, on Lake Borgne, 14 Dec. 1814, of five American gun-vessels, after a very desperate struggle in which the British sustained a loss of 17 men killed and 77 wounded. On 31 of the preceding Oct., the Volcano, at the time in charge of a transport, had succeeded, with a loss to herself of 2 persons killed, in beating off the U. S. privateer Saucy Jack, a vessel of far superior force, 7 of whose people were slain and 14 wounded. During the insurrection of 1837 in Canada, Mr. M‘Cormick received five balls through the body and a sabre-cut across the right loin while effecting the capture of a piratical steamer, the Caroline. This led to his promotion to the rank he now holds, 23 Nov. 1841. He is at present on half-pay.

Commander M‘Cormick is in the receipt of a pension of 91l. 5s. for his wounds. He married, in Dec. 1821, Miss Charlotte Roe, a lady by whom he has issue six children. Agents – Burnett and Holmes.



M‘CORNISH. (Lieutenant, 1827.)

James M‘Cornish died in the early part of 1846. This officer entered the Navy, 10 Jan. 1810, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Rhin 38, Capt. Chas. Malcolm. Continuing in that ship until paid off in Aug. 1815, he oo-operated with the patriots on the north coast of Spain, was for some time employed in the West Indies, and cruized off the coast of France during the war of 100 days. He passed his examination 7 Feb. 1816, and between that period and the date of his advancement to the rank of Lieutenant, 21 Nov. 1827, was employed in vessels of different descriptions – from 1817 to 1820, as chief officer, in a Revenue-cruizer. At the period of his promotion he was with Capt. Malcolm in the Royal Charlotte yacht. He did not afterwards go afloat.



M‘COY. (Commander, 1814. f-p., 20; h-p., 33.)

Robert M‘Coy is son of Daniel M‘Coy, Esq., Master R.N. (1788), who died in April, 1835, at Southsea, aged 75.

This officer entered the Navy, in Nov. 1794, as Captain’s Servant, on board the Hannibal 74, Capt. John Colpoys, attached to the force in the Channel, whence, in 1794, he sailed for the West Indies in the Ganges 74, Capt. Wm. Truscott. Quitting that ship in June, 1795, he next, between 1797 and Oct. 1801, served on the Home and Mediterranean stations as Midshipman in the Juste 80 Capt. Hon. Thos. Pakenham, Royal William,

  1. In the Severn he fought at Algiers.